.masterpiece.

So, prints are all finished and laying on the drying rack in the printmaking studio! Phew! Our professor gave out enough paper to make 8 prints, so I took advantage of all the paper and made all 8 (our project requires 4 finished, final prints). The first two prints were strictly collage and then I went back into the plate and added wet media (mostly glue drawing). I took two more prints with the wet media and still felt like I needed more contrast... the image I worked from was super high contrast and dramatic, so that's the effect I wanted on the plate. FINALLY, for my last four final prints, I decided to tint my ink with red. I also decided the best way to get the contrast I wanted was to manually draw the highlights in on the plate while inking it. The result was pretty good! Of course, I have no pictures to show what I am talking about, but I will be bringing my camera into the critique tomorrow to show you what I'm talking about!

Right now I'm struggling between work and school. It's so hard to balance the two... right now I just want to be working on my projects and really growing in my art... however, realistically, I have to work a good amount to pay for these classes! What a pickle! I recently looked back at my goals that I set for this year... I don't need to stress, right? I need to look at the positive...

1. I have a supportive family! My parents have been so great and have supported me throughout my college career. They have taken so much extra stress from me, which is such a blessing. Many of my friends are not only dealing with the stress of school work and paying for school and working, they are having to pay rent, cook all their own food, and worry about dirty roommates... It's so amazing how much more stable I feel living at home.

2. I have my health... obviously, I should always be thankful for life. I am blessed everyday to wake up and see a new day. Just waking up everyday gives us new opportunities... we have a new choice everyday to be positive or negative, be optimistic or pessimistic, or looking for new opportunities versus stressing over failures or short comings.

3. I have gifts... This might sound strange... it felt weird typing it... but it's true... we all have gifts in some area! Some of us are gifted musically, some artistically, some are expert communicators, some are good at making money, and others are great at just drawing people in. We are all gifted and that includes me. I was created with an artistic mind and creativity... I believe that the reason God made me this way is for me to better understand Him, since He of course, is the great Creator of all we see. I've always felt special in this way... I was created in His image to create! I love this fact about me!

4. I am a hard-worker! Even though I have my occasional waves of laziness, I always desire to work hard for what I have. I work hard at my job, school, and art work. Although this gets me in trouble a lot since I work myself until I am overwhelmed, I know this is an important trait to have... it was instilled in me by my parents and I am so grateful for it!

5. God loves me. He wants to know me. He reveals Himself to me daily (if I let myself see it). The Creator of the Universe calls me His Masterpiece... Now that, my friends, is something to be thankful for.

6. I have a boyfriend who really loves me... you might be thinking "well, I would hope he loves you, he's dating you" but really... it's so great to be with someone who really supports you and loves you for who you are. He encourages me everyday to be a better person and artist. He inspires me by how he follows what he loves (he's a musician) and dedicates himself to getting better at what he does everyday.

Wow, I really encourage everyone to talk about positive things when you are stressing! I already feel better. As promised, print photos will be up tomorrow night or Friday!

Here's a picture of my and Jay :)

.eggs and oranges.

Hello everyone! So, I guess this is the start of week three of school! The busyness has begun! As promised... I pulled my first print and took a quick snapshot! (Don't judge me, I took it with my phone and it's terrible):

So, this is the first print! I constructed my plate with masking tape and craft paper from Joann's Fabrics. This is just one of those projects that comes together easily... Making the plate was effortless and I really enjoyed it! My next step is to go back into the face and add more depth using glue and different variations of modeling and molding pastes. Glue bottle drawings are my favorite because they are so painterly in the prints. More photos to come here!

On the other side of the spectrum, I am struggling in my drawing class. I just can't seem to get it. It's hard for me not to outline things... in real life, people don't have outlines, we don't walk around with big black lines dividing us from the space around us.. our bodies are visually divided from the space around us by our mass. But how do you capture that with a stick of charcoal or a pencil? I don't know.. I guess it's pure magic... My drawing teacher wants us to pick a master to copy. So, here are just a few painters/drawers that I admire and aspire to be like...

Albrecht Durer. I think this man rocked my world when one of my drawing class saw a series of his prints at the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts. It was so fun to go around with the little magnifying glasses and look at all the details in the prints, but my favorite part was drawing the compositions of his prints and drawings. Durer to me was a master in the art of creating compositions that convey depth and space. In the particular print, I feel the man's knee coming towards me and can relate with the way his body is contorting to look at the small figure above his head. 

Mary Cassatt. Okay, so I'm not sure if she is what they call a classic master, but I think she's a master painter. I have always loved looking at Cassatt's intimate spaces and figures. Her paintings portray women and I just love the way she displays the female figure. She has such a way of bringing the viewer in and making them a vital part of her spaces. She is another master of composition. If I could combine her way of creating intimate spaces and Durer's masterful way of portraying space and depth in his compositions, I would be in heaven!

Well, that's it for now, I think. I am sitting in Einstein's waiting for the line to go down to get some of their Vanilla Hazelnut coffee.. deeelish!

Oh, and I had to draw eggs and oranges for my drawing class this weekend.. not my finest homework assignment... 

.testing, testing.

Hello everyone! It's finally Thursday! I am currently sitting in the printmaking studio getting ready to pull my first test print of my new collagraph plate! I am so excited :) We've definitely had some problems getting the plate sealed and ready, but today is the day for a test run!

Things have been going pretty well, minus the lack of sleep... but here is a quick picture of my plate before the inking...

So, we'll see how it goes! Been keeping super busy getting this plate ready for today. And by the way, for those of you not familiar with collagraph printmaking. it's amazing! Dickblick.com has a good little section on Collagraph where they teach you how to make your own plates :)

.the late nights.

Hello all!

Thought I'd write a quick blog before bed today. The semester is already getting into full swing and I have already been pulling some late nights working on projects.

My big project right now is my first printmaking project of the semester. In my paintings during last spring, I really focused more on self-portraits. The fun thing about taking lots of different classes is that you can transfer ideas into other mediums and see what they convey. We'll see how it turns out. Recently I've been really inspired by

Alphonse Muchas' way of portraying the female figure:

 and also the structure of Constructivist Posters:

Hopefully I will be pulling a print later this week so I can post photos! 

Good night :)

.source.influence.style.

Alright, so first day of school. Almost over. Just one more class to go. I have extremely long breaks today between classes with nothing to do.. oh wait! I have a blog! So, recap thus far... went to my Printmaking class today... it was good to be back in the printmaking world.. and I also went to my drawing class right after that. Nothing unusual. Just the regular, here's the syllabus, don't be late, here's your mile long list of supplies... but my drawing class really got me to thinking...

The first exercise we did in class today was to start with three sheets of paper. The instructions given for the first sheet of paper were to draw an object in class.. any object we wanted for 10 minutes. I feverishly drew a wooden step stool (when I say feverishly, I mean I was stressed... my brain was firing so many instructions: remember how to measure your angles! remember how to calculate proportion! watch the clock! keep moving! it doesn't have to be perfect! make this look three-dimensional! but I was ok... it looked half descent). We were then instructed to pass this image we masterfully copied down to one of our neighbors to copy. The goal was to copy the image already drawn, not the object itself. This continued one last time to make three images. This exercise was used to show us three main ideas: what is a source? what is an influence? what is style? These three ideas are what our class will be pondering the whole semester.

What sources do I draw from in my art? What are some of my influences? And in the end, how does this all effect my style or "hand" in my creating as an artist?

By the end of the semester, I must answer this (or get some sort of answer or get some direction toward an answer).

So, we'll see how the semester goes! These two classes will be the meat of my work and energy, so I will post mostly about these two classes and my progress... until my next post, here are some influences or sources of mine.

Wayne Thiebaud. 

Jenny Saville. 

Giorgio Morandi.

Alfred Hitchcock.

I'm sure this list will grow and become more refined as time passes, but here are my thoughts. Happy Tuesday!

.goals.

At the beginning of new things (New years, new jobs, new projects) I love to sit down and think about my goals. Well, this is the start of a brand new school year, and my last, at that. So, what would I like to accomplish this year? Well, here are some thoughts on some goals I am setting for myself (academic or otherwise)..

1. Be involved - It's been hard for me to be involved since I currently do not live on campus and am a commuter. However, I do have a flexible job this year and have the ability to volunteer at campus galleries and the big museum on campus.

2. Focus - So many times when school starts, I get super flustered and when projects are thrown at me, I cringe. This year, I believe it is my time as an artist to really flourish, try new things, and yes I will say it: FAIL. I don't want to be afraid to fail.. I want to focus on something I want and go for it.

3. Relax - I guess this goes with my failing thought.. I become very uptight when school whips through. This is my last year. These are my last two semesters. Enjoy the ride.

4. Take advantage of resources - I've been privileged to attend a university where my teachers are active members of the art community. They are vast resources for us as students. As students, we have tons of brains to pick as far as the art world goes. I want to take advantage of the teachers I have around me during this year.

5. Take care - I really need to learn how to take care of myself - mentally, physically and spiritually. If not, I am useless to the world. This means exercise, rest when I can, and do enjoyable activities. Look for the simple things in life that make us smile. There are lots of little things out there...

6. Paint sunset clouds - Random, I know, but sunset clouds are my favorite thing. The sky is the most vibrant, electrifying, bursting thing I've ever seen... during the day, the sky is bright, neon blue and when the sun is setting, the event causes the clouds to take on this sort of bubble gum, cotton candy pink quality.

Alright, here's to a new school year! I'm sure I won't always be so focused on these goals, but they will be here to remind me...

Here are some clouds I found while Googling clouds. Enjoy!

.new adventures.

So, this has kind of become a forgotten blog for me. It actually started as a class project in college and after the class, I let it go... Well, not anymore! I am now currently in my last year of college and have decided this blog will be a great way to kind of work through my ideas and inspirations and especially challenges. I currently don't have a way to upload images easily, but once school starts I will have a better computer and will be regularly updating here with sketches and notes.

This summer I had the wonderful chance to go to New York for the first time and see the Museum of Modern Art, The Guggenheim, and I also visited the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. Of course, the New York museums were wonderful, and I must say too much to take in for just ONE DAY, however, the most remarkable "museum" that we had the chance to see was by far the Barnes Foundation. There is a lot of controversy flying around this landmark in Philadelphia, but I am so glad we had the chance to see it in its original state before it is moved into the city of Philadelphia. You can read more about the Barnes Foundation here. This entry would be too long if I explained all of the history behind this great place, but I will give a summary. All of the artwork in the building is arranged and best described as a "salon style". Paintings and drawings line the walls and the way up to the ceiling and are arranged around chairs, desks, and numerous other housewares. The founder, Albert C. Barnes established the Barnes Foundation to "promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts." We learned that both music and art classes were held in this building and the art the adorned the wall was organized to enhance these art classes. It was just a really cool experience!

Needless to say, I had a great summer and saw lots of great art! Tomorrow, the craziness of school begins once again! I am excited to be around my fellow classmates and artists once more as I begin my final two semesters. More to come!