so it goes

http://lhs.loswego.k12.or.us/z-mcbrides/AP/2009/09APbreadthconcentration.htm

This past year has been great! So much better than last year for me...I was making better art, feeling better about it, and managing my time better (for the most part) all in all, I was a much happier person. I wasn't completely happy with all my art, in fact I rarely feel like I absolutely accomplished what I set out to, but final results were more successful than not, and there were the rare times I was fully satisfied in what I had done.

I know artistically I was much better this year. I don't think I've necessarily gotten better, but I do think I've put together prior knowledge and compositions and everything together now, and my pieces look better. Also: at least in my case, doing things from life/pictures tend to look better than things purely from my head, especially people. I would really suggest to others that they do something like "skin", something concrete that varying elements can be explored rather than a broader topic. Then you can really get to know that specific thing-y and know the details of it. that was a really sucky way of putting it.

My favorite favorite favorite piece I did this year, perhaps ever, was my last concentration piece, of alex puckering up. I whipped it out, and did it with a palate knife on what was a fairly large canvas (for me, I guess it was a pretty average sized piece though). I zoomed in more than I usually do, and got more specific details. My favorite part of it is how from up close-ish, like when I was working on it, it looked pretty good, but when small and far away it comes alive because of all the variations and coloring and dimension. It was a nice end to the year/concentration. I know it could be better, I think the lips could use a bit of work, but part of it's appeal is how the colors mixed and the feeling that I had when I made the piece, so I don't think it would be worth risking making it worse.

Favorite, right there.

i need an art break! but i can't

so i've been arting all weekend, and i'm actually really enjoying it - it's all i've done, with little bits of roller blading, frisbeeing, eating, and hangin' mixed in

lately i've been too busy to allot serious time to art, becaues i've been working on something else (graduation requirement>art)

but now art is my main stress!

i have to finish 5 pieces - two i'm really close to being done with (what i've been up to this weekend), one i'm halfway done with(my cousin sean), and two i have yet to start(that will be of my parents)

eek!

it's going to be an art-crazy couple of weeks!

just for kicks:

baby me, with one of my old doggie's puppies

my cute animals!

chicks (when we first got them. they are huge now! like nerf football size, and in a refrigerator box)

a stuffed robot i made for alex

Steve Tilden

http://www.blackfish.com/Artist-Detail.cfm?ArtistsID=23
(This shows his work that is in Black Fish)
When we had the Portland field trip, either this year or last, one of the galleries had Steve
Tilden's art. I admire his experimentation with materials, e.g. the use of violins, and his layering and colors used in his painting. Antonius Stradivarihorse was my favorite of his 3D pieces, and I generally like the clean lines and long limbs/neck he gives his horses. I was less fond of the paintings that he did, although I did like Io and Prometheus because it was messy yet precise, and I really liked the colors and texture that he used. I like the shading on the face, but I feel as though, on a whole, his painting is less developed than his sculpture, and therefore less appealing to me.

Jasper Johns

Jasper Johns! I'd most like to emulate Jasper Johns out of, like, everyone. He is super experimental - his style and mediums change pretty drastically from time to time, and he has done painting, mixed media, print making, molds, etc. I think he is probably a part of the reason I have started layering paint semi-recently (which I feel has made my art more successful) because when I visited DC a few years ago I saw an exhibition of his art, and (obviously) really liked it, and I think it motivated me to experiment. I believe that his art is many times unsuccessful, but I admire his ability to experiment so freely and seemingly without inhibition, and when everything falls together well, his art is stunning.

february critique

My concentration is...

folds of skin and the relationship of fat, muscle and bone in regards to how it affects the appearance of skin.

This month, I did Alex's back and my grandfather's face. I've been doing pretty obvious folds - the fat under the boobs, creases where there are joints, etc, so I thought I would develop pieces that showed relationships that were more subtle and relied a little less on fat - aka muscle/bone and sagging old person skin. I also worked on a couple things that I needed more of in my concentration - males (I tripled the amount of males in my concentration!), heads (though now I suppose I should do some female heads), and color (in my gramps).

I feel like the top one is done, and I really like how it turned out. I have never worked with charcoal, except on the rare life drawing, so it took some getting used to, but it was just like prettier, darker, messier graphite.

The bottom one is not done. There isn't really a composition, but I guess I'll leave it like that. I'm not planning on doing any more backround. I need to find myself a detail brush (I couldn't finish it because I was working with a brush that was too big for the glasses and eyes). I need to finish the eye, glasses, and ear, but once I finish them I'll call it done. It looks like him, and I like the colors and some of the shading, but I don't feel as though it is as successful as the first.

yes!

i actually started working early ish in the month, amazing!

i did this today, obviously the backround needs work. I like how the back turned out, a lot. i wonder, though, if it would be better if i blended it?also, i don't think the face turned out very successfully, and i know i need to rework the jaw a little, but i don't know how else to make it better.

overall i really like this one, plus it has a face.

i don't know what i'm going to do for number two. I would like to do some hyper realism, but i don't have the time or patience. I think i'll focus on color, as i've been stuck in a monocromatic phase.

it's nice to have a day dedicated to art! i wish i had more free time - i forgot how stress relieving it is.

so i've reached that point again

where i'm kind of lost with my concentration. i like the idea, but i can't decide if i want to go through with it and just to folds of skin, or if i want to expand it to include all creases, or change it to be the "relationships in the skin", which could include images without creases, just with muscle and fat intonations. i'm also kind of concerned about the variety of images i do, i have none with head. i'm planning on doing a portrait, and a back, and both will have heads, but i wonder if my pictures are starting to look too similar, in a boring way. i also don't want to experiment in style too much, so i'm graphic in some and drawing in others. the croch shot was/is kind of pushing it, to me. this winter break sucked for my art, because i didn't have supplies, and my models were either snowed in, or out of town. i hope i won't get in trouble for using my fat baby,because i do think it should go in my concentration, and don't know how to incorporate old pieces like that.