a little bit

some more work on the shapes and also some s!ght S!ze we started in class.

day one..rough

I was happier with these shapes than I was the other one. Blurring it a little or squinting and of course stepping back really helps uncomplicate things for me. Luckily, we also do that in S!ght S!ze so it seems like one is helping the other this semester. It's all really fun...really excited to see where all this leads. I surprised the lady at the art store today when she saw me buying more clay (I have about 60 lbs plus right now and every other week I need to get more because I burn through it, along with sketchpads and all that) and heard me talking to a staff member about a drawing workshop (he literally came up to me and said "you're the workshop girl..you know all about the ones around town..so tell me... hahaha!) and she said "so you draw and sculpt.." and I added "and paint. I'm learning oils...". She was pretty dumbstruck afterwards and all she could say with a genuine smile was "wow. Good for you!". Ya know what..not to put myself in the same category at all, but if it was good enough for E@k!ns, M!chaelagelo and a TONNE of other artists before me to do all three, then why the heck not? They really complement each other (in my mind or the way I learn, which is by associations rather than in a linear way) anyways.

L0ne drawings

Yeah..this girl is going to be on the big screen soon with a famous movie star..she has a role in a big movie coming out and we think her scene wasn't cut so it will be a real treat to see. She is always a pleasure, although last night people were kind of complaining about the light and the new drapes (not her problem..she was great anyways) and she was sitting and lying down a lot (we didn't get any upright poses of her because her leg is on the mend..last time it was in a cast!). She's still such a darling, though. And one of my profs (who lives right in the area) came again to the workshop..love having him around! I've been struggling as the long pose/s!ght s!ze/painting is really distorting my notion of time...so I find that I'm getting less done in the same amount of time than last term, but it's good because I'm tending to focus more on accuracy of shapes and going over the same lines over and over and....it's good though...good for training my eye and the speed will come on its own (not worried about that). This week is super busy for me but I'll still be putting in the time. Methinks I'll be on most of the major lots this week alone...oy! Summer is BBQ time around town and it's nice, but everything becomes too much to do and you end up turning down things or cutting your time at one event to go to another two...Can't complain, though...:) Oh, and I may be going to see a cool sculpture show this Saturday evening (after heading over to P@r@mount which is after my painting class), and I notice J@mes Turre!! is at L@CM@ again! Yipee!!! LOVE him!!!!

h@ter@de

So...working on this but some days geez, you just hate everything. Ugh. Whatever. One of my profs was saying something in a tutorial about a size that is 'most natural' to him in which to sculpt. I can totally believe that..in some sizes/scales it's such a struggle every single step. Couple that with learning, and well...anyways, I hope everyone was productive this weekend..mwahaha.

Memori-able weekend

Yep, it's the holiday...a long one..three whole days. Did a workshop Friday (left my sketch book at the location, sadly, had painting class this Saturday (which turned out a lot better than I expected even though I got burnt umber on one of my tshirts...haha. It's a good thing that next weekend some lovely people at P@r@m0unt are giving me more (aka free swag). Celebrated a birthday with a friend after Saturday class, got home and did a bit of sculpting and tomorrow heading over with her to a Sc0tt!sh fair! So excited! But I seriously hope to do laundry, still make it to the gym (which yes, I do get up at 4:30 on a morning during the week to do even with work/classes/life, etc) and still get work done on Monday. My S!ght S!ze also came out pretty well Thursday night. My prof was very pleased. It was the foot plate, and we'll be doing a head in our next class. Anyways, the Universe wishes you well and all the best! (and some rest, too!)

more creaturez-urez...

For this one, we took one of my prof's (failed? He thought so) maquettes, painted it up and put it in an environment. It was fun! He seriously turned to me and asked "are you an environment artist or something?" after he really liked my background. He said it was really painterly. Too bad I haven't really learned to paint yet haha. I really enjoy this kind of stuff though...could do it all day, especially if one day I learn to sculpt really well :)

10s to one 25

This was from workshop. The 10s really seemed to go by too quickly, but I chocked it up to my taking more longer poses this semester, so it feels like I have less time in workshop these days. Oh and s!ght s!ze class and painting class makes you want to draw/redraw/draw/redraw to get it right (my prof says the best is a combination of both; if you spend too much time only on long poses your work can end up looking 'stiff', so you 'loosen up' by doing the shorter pose/gesture work. I was looking at other people's interpretations of this model before workshop over the internet (and double-checking that I knew who the model was...I don't know why but it's important for me to know their names and interact with them and they typically remember me afterwards), and I noticed a lot of people have issues with nailing the exact shape of her face. Yes, beautifully rendered, etc, but her basic primary shape is challenging, and if you don't nail it it doesn't look like her at all. She was also selling some rare art books, and I saw a wonderful one by artist J!@ Lu who has an amazing sense of colour. One of the girls in the workshop (my friend, Lisa) said that when I draw she likes that it looks like I"m 'carving (the figure). I was reading Sl0b0dk!n's book and he was saying that when you carve in stone you will typically sketch out the figure first and then carve into it, following the 'drawing' on the stone. I would like to think of the blank piece of paper as a stone, and that you are drawing out the basic figure first (ie gesture/primary form) and then 'carving' into it. I like that idea a LOT. And when I went home I also did a teeny tiny bit of reshaping of my sculpt...taking it slowly. Being an apprentice sculptor/enthusiast/whatever I am right now (and she doesn't even know I do that) it was quite a treat. On the last day of my semester last term (just a few weeks ago), the model who was posing remarked the same; that my drawings looked like I was 'sculpting' and that was part of why she really liked them. I'll take it as just a sign to keep up the drawing painting and sculpting..I have a long way to go but I really do enjoy the sessions so much! The people are quite wonderful! My teacher also visited last night (he lives walking distance) and he may be teaching a class at the Guild, because they liked him and his work (and of course he did a bit of teaching in between haha) so much! So everything is falling into place nicely. It's wonderful to be around such inspiring, positive, generous people!

I started a sculpt...

which started the whole world crying...or something like that. Anyways, I was reading Sl0b0dk!n today and he was saying the shape is the most important thing (ie primary forms) and that the apprentice should start doing that about a dozen times first before getting into detail. Kind of like drawing, I guess. You learn how to get the structure down and if you don't, typically you may not know what to do with three hours or a long pose. It's a great book and I know, I know, can't spend TOO much time reading books, blogs, looking at artwork etc etc because at some point you just have to DO the work. But I like reading...and drawing,painting, sculpting, so I guess c'est la vie. I love that sculpture helps you to see shape and negative space and form. That's really cool :)

my first

real beginning of an effort with Super $cu!pey. I am super slow with this one, as it is a lot softer so requires a really gentle touch. For now I prefer WED, but I need to learn to use both just as another tool. But it was so much fun, and the time went really quickly. I still have a lot of work to do on this, but...it's a new tool that I learned today and really enjoyed learning. And oy..the intimidation...six other people and they were all (except one person) either Art Director of um..major movies from the 90s, or worked at companies like M@ttel or WD!. But I learned a lot and they were SO nice so I made some new friends! :)

more draw-erings

Friday night 5 to 15 minute drawings. Was a bit tough because it was costumed and I don't enjoy it as much as nudes but oh well...also been balancing my S!ght S!ze and painting homework as well as drawing and sculpting...I was thinking tonight it's that time again...time to schedule out when I'm going to do what so I won't freak out thinking I'm not spending enough time doing or the other. Have to dedicate a decent amount of time to each. Anyways, time to head to sleep early for once. Sculpty class tomorrow (and Sculpey) Yayy!

I got

Got about two hours of sleep last night which is always awesome (*sarcasm*), but we did another character in class. My prof liked that it looks like I did it in pastels and was kind of shocked (did you really just do this in my class?), but I just like the character (anything with smoke, bits of metal and boots is always great for me Haha :) Then I got home and did some more oil painting. Really really trying to stay away from PS, and frankly, I have absolutely NO desire to use it at all lately. It's funny..my other prof said that painting is about touch (and of course, shape, edges and all that other stuff) but I really don't get that as much as when it is done traditionally. There is so much LIFE in a painting, especially in oils. So much ENERGY in the brushstrokes! In PS, You're wondering if you're pressing too hard, if the brush is large enough or has the right opacity, etc. The depth never really seems real to me even in the matte painterly type pieces I see compared to a real painting, but that's another conversation. Oh, and I got a new sculpting kit for a sweet $2 deal yesterday..that should get to me by Friday afternoon (in time for my seven-hour class/workshop :) My friend Neil (who actually worked on one of he cars for T4...of course right now all of town is/we are working on that but I'll digress because no work on my blog no work...lol...) is a GREAT sculptor and was kind enough at the end of my drawing class (which we took together) to show me the tools he uses on a daily basis and that he has kept for 20 to 30 years of sculpting. Also, I've been bugging my prof more and more (he's an accomplished sculptor, also) and he's been really kind about helping to give advice, suggest things and just be a great source of information. I am SERIOUSLY looking into taking a class with him because he has a GREAT eye and draws really well. Interestingly, the people who either have been dropping out of his class or struggling are the people who have admitted that they need to take more life drawing (and this class is a PS class!). And the best part is that he prefers traditional people/ that environment, also (even though he does everything and is one of the best in town). He was complaining the other day that he was teaching Zbr*sh to a bunch of professionals who had never sculpted or couldn't draw and it was so frustrating to him. He thought "you guys should KNOW this stuff! This is foundation!" and was relaying his frustration to us. Anyways, I really have gotten quite the bug for drawing, painting and sculpting. How can you not? It's so much fun and it's something you can do for the rest of your life!