sleepyhead

i have updates for you.
i promise i do.
but today i'm just a sleepyhead.


so i started drawing my to-do list in my hair (to justify the drawing time)
though it ended up getting mixed up in a stream of consciousness.

also, i drew this while listening to this song.
you're welcome.

six small studies still simmering

i don't even know what that alliteration was about.

anyway, i talked to chris thornock last week and he suggested i make 6 small paintings (5x7 inches) within the week to just explore and experiment before I really get into the big pieces for my project. i made them diptychs and it's been really fun! i've used different processes on each one and have done lots of stuff i've never tried before. the subjects relate to my actual paintings.

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picture 1: halfway through the process of diptych 1

picture 2: early stages of diptych 2

picture 3: what diptych 2 currently looks like

picture 4: early stages of diptych 3

picture 5: what diptych 3 currently looks like

by tomorrow, these will all be done. so be excited? or not. or whatever.

but i'm not gonna lie...i'm pretty excited about that last one especially.

small portion

so it's still slow. BUT. i had a good inspiring weekend so hopefully i'll whip stuff out like nobody's business.

monday/tuesday/wednesday of last week, i just wanted to get my hands drawing so i could actually see what i'm doing. i was a drawing fiend. here are two of the studies.

most of 'em were meh-looking. but, the book art and fear notes that an artist’s failed pieces are just as relevant as their good ones. it also claims that a lot of art must be created to make a small portion of it good. so i'mma go with that.

i tell you what, after not drawing for 7 months, it's hard to hit your stride again. but when you do, it feels great.

real-life pinboard

as i mentioned in the last post, it's been a little slow starting my project. the other day i was having a hard time visualizing what i wanted some of my pieces to look or feel like. so i perused my art pinboard, and decided to make a physical one, which really helped. i also took screen shots of music videos, paintings i've already done, and other random stuff that helped my ideas grow into something substantial, and printed those off too. there's something about stuff coming off the screen and being tangible that is somehow empowering.

i put some of them next to thumbs for pieces that i'm creating, as some inspiration. inspiration is great, not just for subject matter but for techniques, color schemes, and compositional ideas. as long as we remember the difference between inspiration and imitation.

most of these images are from my online pinboard, plus the hundley and mucha books.

now i just have to find my paintbrushes and acrylic paints, both crucial elements which i seem to have legitimately lost. nope, i'm not freaking out about it....... #lies

it's time to begin

it is high time that i tell you i'm working on my illustration bfa final show.

i'm partially terrified because i've taken a sort of art-hiatus since...january...because i needed to put more emphasis on other important parts of my life that i'd been neglecting. i learned lots of valuable things that aren't necessarily art-related, but life-related, so i think it counts. and so the bfa project has been going super slow.

but --

i made swanky little calendars today to strike [motivational] fear into my heart.

i fake-graduated college two weeks ago (as in, i walked).
i quit my graphic design job that i've had for 4.5 years.
i'm putting my photography jobs on hold.

i'm going to treat this project like a full-time job.
it's going up november 1, so be excited....

a study i did on monday. i'm rusty, but that feeling of creating is coming back, which provides great fuel. 

confession

so...i kind of haven't really done art in like...um...six months. i got really burned out and needed a break. then life just got crazy with health and home problems. sooo now i'm trying to graduate! yesterday i went to two figure drawing classes just to get back into it. it was super helpful but also really hard because i've digressed so much. below is one drawing i did. it has a ton of proportion issues as well as other stuff. but i need to just post it so that i'm obligated and accountable to get better. i just need to start drawing again; i'm hoping the skills will eventually come back.

my first full-length figure drawing in...a year? 

exhausted after attending those classes and two meetings regarding my final bfa show, i ran into my wonderful friend and fellow illustrator melissa, who asked me if i'd like to "play art". the tired, puzzled look on my face told her she needed to expound on that idea, and she explained that it's her term for doing art just for fun. i had kind of forgotten about that novel idea. below is what i drew in the few minutes i had. it was fun and low-pressure exploratory and very imperfect. a good re-start. (while i did that, she was busy with THIS. clearly, she's been keeping busy with her art and it certainly pays off!) 

s o l o // s h o w ::

so i probably should have announced this awhile ago, but i have a solo show up in downtown provo! it went up on may 4 as part of what was formerly called the first friday downtown gallery stroll, and is now the art chase.

the opening on the 4th was great; a lot of people showed up as it got going, and there were some live performers, which i loved. humus, veggies and crackers made it a party. and i really couldn't have pulled it all together without the help of my friends and support of my family.

so, even if you missed the opening, it's still up for two more weeks! probably til may 29. i hope you can make it! if you come, please sign the little book there by my business cards, so that i know you came. :)

information is here and directions are here, compliments of jake parker's iphone.

{before the art was on the wall.
go check out the after at The IN: 44 W Center Street, Suite 301}