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    Macro Assignment


    2010 - 05.15

    Okay, this is probably going to be just a quick post because it’s a busy weekend for me… Graduating in 4 hours, going to Guatemala in less than 72… whee! I still had time for one more assignment before I left the country… This week’s assignment was Macro, any medium, any size, any subject…just zoom in really really close. (sorry the photo is a little off with the color but I don’t think it would fit in our scanner…)

    lion fish fin

    I’m really happy with how it turned out. I got to use my inktense pencils again and really test them out. It was challenging to guess how the colors would interact with each other when I got around to using my water brushes because the pencil colors differ from the ink colors once they’ve been watered down. The image is a zoomed in look at a Lion-fish I photographed at the zoo a few weeks ago. I loved the colors and structure of the fin.

    Fun assignment! Back to packing and getting dressed… whee!

    Oh, shameless plug… keep track of my ventures in Guatemala at this blog… http://mcadguatemala2010.wordpress.com

    Scratchboard: The Peacock


    2010 - 05.05

    Okay, I’m going to be a little lazy and just copy paste a post I wrote for another blog detailing this latest project that I finished. But to Preface it I’ll explain what it’s for. A few weeks ago my friends Mike and Megan decided that we missed art classes so we started meeting at a cafe in St. Paul once a week to devote an evening to doodle, sketch, experiment and get the creative juices flowing a bit. The first night we challenged each other to do something we don’t usually do. I was told to do a landscape with pastels, Mike was told to do a landscape with inks (red, teal and black only) and Megan got to do a self portrait with charcoal. Thus, the assignments were born, we immediately began writing down as many ideas as we could think of, themes, mediums, locations, subjects, anything that could be mixed and matched as we saw fit. We had a great time and came up with assignments that could last us well through the summer. This endeavor also got a name, we’re calling it Art Pandemonium. Last week we created a wordpress blog in order to keep track of our work and our thoughts on it. This post is about our second assignment, I’m hoping to scan and write about the first assignment tonight or tomorrow. But for now… here’s the scratchboard assignment:

    Two weeks ago we chose scratchboard as our assignment and I think we were all a little nervous yet still excited to try a medium that was rumored to be completely unforgiving. I was inspired by a woman that works at The Wildcat Sanctuary where I volunteer every other saturday. Trista Campbell is a very talented artist and an incredibly wonderful woman, she works tirelessly for the cats at the sanctuary!

    Lately I’ve been thinking about peacocks a lot, partially because of a performance that I have coming up that I might end up incorporating their feathers into my costume. While bumming around flickr, looking for ideas. I came across this image by dee_r and instantly knew it was perfect.

    My process involved changing the image to black and white and making sure the levels were just right on photoshop, gridding off the image and creating a sketch on regular paper, tracing the image and then finally using transfer paper to get the image onto the scratchboard. Then the real work began…scratchboard is definitely a labor of love, but it felt like a medium that was well suited to my line quality (read: “I can’t draw a straight line to save my life!”).

    I learned a lot about  line work, cross-hatching and how to treat foreground, middleground and background with this assignment. I think next time I do scratchboard I will be using a picture of my cat Midnight Moon and do a portrait of him. He is the Prince of Darkness after all and deserves his own personal portrait artist to catch him an all his glory…or at least he thinks so…

    The PeacockFor my first scratchboard, I’m exceedingly happy with the results. I owe it all to wonderful inspiration and a very talented photographer.

    Mission Accomplished! (finished the apron!)


    2010 - 01.13

    One quick post for the night because I accomplished my mission and got the apron done. thought I’d show it off a bit!

    Aaaaaaaaannnnnnnnddddddd It’s time for bed…I need to start getting more than 6 hours of sleep a night…I’m getting old. but hey, getting farther in season 2 of Lost and now know enough about making this apron that I can make another for my friend quickly before she starts traveling. I really hope she likes it!

    Toys for the new haircut!


    2010 - 01.03

    New Years Eve day I got my hair cut. Now it’s fun, spunky and remarkably versatile! Today I decided to run out to Target and get some new headbands for it but when I got there I realized I didn’t want to drop $5+ on each pretty new one I got. Instead I bought a pack of three plain black ones for $3 and took them home to decorate with whatever I had around the studio… so for my “drawing of the day” I’m breaking the rules a little…but this was a really fun creative act that turned out to be quite rewarding. so :p

    the three together

    the three together

    feather fascinator headband

    feather fascinator headband

    detail of feathers

    detail of feather

    lacy

    lacy

    magazine clippings

    magazine clippings

    magazine detail

    magazine detail

    feathers!

    I did do a drawing yesterday and I’ll put that up later tonight when I get the chance. I promise :p

    The New Year: Some Goals for 2010


    2010 - 01.01

    I hate the idea of making New Years Resolutions. The stat that I found said that 78% of people who make New Years Resolutions fail to follow through with them. The quarter that do, use tools like journaling their progress, asking their friends for support, rewarding milestones and focusing on all the benefits of achieving their goals. (Resource Link)

    But regardless, the idea of making goals for the upcoming year is very appealing. A new year feels like a fresh start, the chance to make changes for the betterment of your life.

    With that in mind, I have made goals for this year. And I’m asking any readers I have out there for help and support. Comments, ideas, recommendations and whatever else you feel like offering, heck, just showing me numbers on Google Analytics is enough to make me happy. :p

    The First goal is to start doing a drawing a day. A concept made known to me by a lovely blogger named Daisy. I attempted this last year and made it about 30 days in before I let life get the better of me. I’m hoping that by making it slightly more official, making daily updates here and getting feedback from readers, I will start making art more a part of my daily life. Currently, I’m working on covering up a journal I wrote in a year or so ago, some therapy for covering up past demons. The journal itself is beautiful with a deep dark blue slip cover and heavy cold-pressed watercolor paper. It was a joy to write in but now I think I can make something more beautiful out of it.

    See! Darn Purdy!

    Some Extra Credit, pages I did about a month ago:

    This is the one I did today:

    The Second goal is to follow the concepts in the book I’m reading at the moment called “The Four Agreements” by don Miguel Ruiz (full book review to come when I finish it). I think Ruiz makes very valid points in this book, providing ways to destress and improve your own life, creating your own heaven. The four agreements you choose to make with yourself are:

    1. Be impeccable with your word
    2. Don’t take anything personally
    3. Don’t make assumptions
    4. Always do your best

    Sounds so simple when it’s just those four ideas written on paper but already today I have felt myself stress out about things I took personally and I made assumptions that put someone in a negative light (I asked for clarity and my assumption was wrong, I felt silly, but was really glad I made the effort to get clarification.) If you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend it.

    Third big goal is to reconnect, get together with friends more often and build stronger friendships based on trust and good experiences. I lost touch with a lot of people over the course of the years I’ve been in college and it’s proven to be a great disservice to me.

    And last but not least, the Fourth goal is to really start working on my career. I start my new job on Monday and it’s going to be amazing. The doors that it will open and the experience I will gain will be limitless. It’s time to put all that hard work done at MCAD to work and start building on it.

    Life is good… very good. I’m blessed with a close family that’s helped me through a lot of hard times and a core group of friends that has stuck by me, I also met some amazing people last year that have welcomed me into their lives with so much joy. 2009 was a really hard year that taught me a lot about myself. I am determined to grow more this year and learn more about what I’m capable of achieving.

    Happy New Year everyone! May 2010 bring you great happiness and success in all your endeavors!

    Another year wiser


    2009 - 11.07

    It’s official, I’m another year older as of this past Monday, November 2. Reflecting on what this past year has meant is pretty daunting.  I’ve grown so much as an individual, coming closer to realizing who I am and where I’m going. I’ve gotten to meet so many wonderful people and find myself just over a semester away from getting that marvelous piece of paper that will open countless doors for me. 23 years old, with the rest of my life to look forward to. I wonder what’s next, what new challenges, what new people and what new adventures I have around the corner.

    On another note, I really need to get better about blogging more consistently with more interesting topics of conversation. I’m not too worried yet because I don’t have any readers…at least I don’t think I do…       >.>    <.<

    I guess blogging is still a strange concept to me, it feels entirely too much like the days of old with Livejournal and all the wonderful memories attached to that. I should start reading more blogs to understand what is “good blogging” and what is not so good. People think that being young and mildly tech savvy means you automatically know everything about everything but there is always something to learn, always something uncomfortable about a technology. Everyone is a beginner at some point.

    That’s all for now. More to come soon as I get all this stuff figured out.