A Month

Hello everyone. I'm sorry that I have not posted anything for over a month. Things have been so crazy. So...I am going to fill you in on the happenings of the last month. I left you on November 17, so we will start there.

November 19th-20th:  Anniversary/Birthday Weekend in OKC

It was out one year and my birthday, so we planned a weekend trip to OKC to do some fun stuff. We went to the zoo, stayed at a bed and breakfast, did some shopping, and went to a few galleries. It was a great weekend.

November 23:  No classes today, so I bought and set up all of our Christmas decorations. It was so weird having to start from scratch!

November 24:  Thanksgiving in Arkansas with my family.

The rest of November /December:  Art, school, art, and work.

My 3D Fundamentals Final: (Ply-wood)

My 3D Fundamentals Tile Project (finally finished!): (Plaster)

A commission I did for a motivational speaker/speech coach: (Ink)

My Drawing 2 Final, Narrative Diptych: (Colored Pencil)

First Panel:  Before

Second Panel:  After

It's been a busy busy month with finals and work craziness. A lot has happened and I am looking forward to the new year and a ton of new opportunities. As you go about your day today, don't ever give up, just keep persevering, it will pay off. And, as always, it's the random reasons.

Just another...ooh Shiny....Still Life

Good Wednesday everyone! Hope you all are ready for art post 2 of 3 because it is here! Today's art post is another Drawing 2 assignment. We had to pick a portion of an already set up still life and render it in colored pencil or chalk pastel. Once again, I picked colored pencil. This piece had to be completed on colored paper, I picked black. Are you thinking...boring? Wondering what the awesome "college-level" catch is? Well, the still life was made completely out of shiny objects. I suppose that could be considered a tad bit difficult.

I enjoy painting and drawing shiny objects...to me they are easy. Draw the shape. Find the lightest lights. Find the darkest darks. Fill. Ok, ok, so it isn't really that simple, but pretty close. Anyhoo, here is the angle I was working from:

I picked this spot because of the colors, the red object's "roundness" and the Christmas balls. They are always a lot of fun.

Working from the actual still life and my photo references I started my project, carefully drawing it with pencil and then painting it in. I then mapped out where all of the lightest lights were. See...the objects are already looking shiny!

Notice the lighting change? Well, I actually completed the painting in a hotel in Kauffman, Texas. My family and I went to the Canton Trade Days the weekend before the project was due, so it got to tag along. I loved making the red object! The colors and the curves were all really intriguing.

One of the most frustrating parts about shiny objects is that it is difficult to make metallic objects. You don't want to use a metallic colored pencil because it will look extremely out of place with all of your other colors, so you just have to start in one place, make the marks you see and step back and hope that everything came together. See the reflection of the red thing in the silver vase?

For some reason I did not take a picture of the final piece, but I will upload it when I get it back from my professor. As you go about your day find something shiny and study it. Find the lights and the darks, it is kind of neat when you realize that they are all just shapes inside a big shape. Have a great day, and remember...it's the random reasons.

Midnight Snack

Hello everyone. Before you start wondering if this is going to be another movie or something with a promise at the end about an art post, don't worry! This is an art post! It is actually one of three that I have ready to go. I will post one a day until all three are posted. My apologies for the lack of art updates on the blog. :)

Nevertheless, here is Art Post 1:3--

The assignment was to take a picture of a lit building at night, and then complete the drawing on black paper. We could use colored pencil or chalk pastel. I chose colored pencil.

This is one of the pictures I took and the one I worked from. It is of the frozen custard shop on 6th street in Stillwater, and I just loved all of the colors combined with the silhouette of the building. I hadn't ever eaten at the shop before taking this photo, but have since been there more times than I can count. It's pretty good!

I started by cropping my photo for a more interesting composition, then carefully got all of the lines with the correct angles on the paper using a pencil. When drawing architecture it is extremely important to be accurate. No matter how great your drawing is, if the building is wrong, people will know and it will be a turn off.

I have always LOVED little details that a lot of people tend to generalize in art. One example of this is bricks. To make a building look like it is covered in bricks, all that one needs to do is add a few bricks here and there...but being my complicated self, I had to add each and every brick. In the end it always turns out for the best. I also had a ton of fun with the pictures of the treats. I believe that after this photo was taken we made a trip to the custard shop for an art break/midnight snack.

Drum roll please!.......da da dadadda...dum dumm......

The finished product!

This is one of those pieces that I will love forever. It was an absolute blast to create and I love every part of it from the detail of the bricks to the ice cream to the lights at the top to the use of the black paper within the subject to the subtle shading of the umbrella. I am in LOVE! Now all I need is a good home for this piece and a fun frame.

Hopefully you enjoyed this piece, I know I have and will. Stay tuned for an art post tomorrow looking at something shiny and still and arranged....hmmm. As you go about you day, go grab yourself a treat! Whether your treat is healthy or super sweet, enjoy it--that's what life is about! Have a fabulous rest of your Tuesday! Oh...and remember...it's the random reasons.