Well, I finally got my auction pieces completed and sent out. I finally cleaned up the detritus from my final projects as well. So, on Friday morning, looking down the barrel of a 4 day weekend, I sat down at my totally clean art table ready to make some art. This is usually the point at which my mind goes completely blank and I can’t think of a single thing that I want to paint or do. Luckily, though, in the last weeks of school I’d started »

The final project of the semester is always entertaining. After a semester of fulfilling requirements, it’s usually an opportunity do something that is all me. And to me, the texture assignment, similar to the monochromatic texture project I had last semester, is a time to just kind of go wild, to experiment. On the other hand, this is where I always seem to hit a rough spot. As soon as I am let loose from restrictions, I head toward the kind »

Oh man, I haven’t posted in awhile. Guess I’d better catch up! Here’s a roundup of some of the projects we did in painting class this semester: The finished product of the Impressionist still life: Transparent layers. This one started out as a grisaille underpainting in burnt umber, followed by a buttload of thin layers. Very tedious process, but I like how it turned out. Plein Air. The requirements for this was that it had to be »

Got started on a new painting today. I had this experience as I was painting it of ease, actually. Like, I think day to day in class, I don’t really think about what I’m learning, I’m just concentrating on doing. So, I don’t notice how much I’ve learned until I actually sit down to do a painting outside of class. It still took me forever to draw it out and all, but then it only took me about an hour – although it »

This is not a great shot, but I wanted to stick up a picture of what we’ve been working on in painting class this week. I’ve secretly always wanted to be an impressionist, so I’m enjoying this assignment. It also makes me really glad that I’ve switched over to oil. The vase is leaning in a strange way, but whatever. Techinically, this assignment is about seeing colors things that are white, and about using “broken color”. »

Ah, switching back to oil was like coming home. I enjoyed it so much, I’ve actually picked back up on a couple of unfinished oil paintings that have been sitting lonely in my little dining room studio. So, another still life. It’s more of a challenge to get distinct lines with the oil, obviously, so I feel like my lines look kind of cartoony. For the critique for this, the teacher did something pretty cool: she had each of us write comments »

This was my first still life ever! It’s terrifying to try to just sketch straight onto the canvas. It’s amazing how the shift of just a brushstroke or two totally changes the look of the painting. It’s so cool how my eyes are learning to see. On the other hand, I hate acrylics. Hate. And of course, I have no idea how to use them, so that has a lot to do with it. I was talking to the teacher about it, and she was like “If you’re »

She was doing pretty well on her little island, plenty of fish, plenty of sun. She would’ve invited him to join her, but there was no room for all he carried with him. She could not be convinced that the boat would be better, even if it meant they could be together.

Yay! After last semester’s slog of prerequisites, I am finally in painting class! Hooray! Our first assignment was to do a quick sketch gesture painting in black and white. I had a hard time deciding whether I wanted to go with oil paints or acrylics for this class. I decided to go with acrylics for the ease of use, and, well, everyone keeps telling me that acrylics can be made to act like oils. I’d like to learn how to do that. I had »

Here’s another 2D assignment. In all honestly, this doesn’t exactly fit the parameters of the assignment: 3 works, one indicating a focal point, one indicating unity, and one indicating balance. I’m pretending this one is my focal point. Once again, I had an idea and just kind of went with it, rather than worrying too much about the assignment. Seriously, I am so over this class and this teacher. It has been kind of fun to randomly »