Monday, December 3, 2012

My First Reversal!!!

So here's my first Reversal from Ani 24. It's a great rendering practice in both seeing and creating a photo-realistic look. Shape, Value, Edges, and Squinting is engraved into my brain! :) Since it's a photo a lot of information is lost unfortunately.


Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Skull painting #2

Here's a second skull painting from my sketchbook that I just finished. Pretty satisfied but there's always room for improvement. I was listening to Mahler's 5th symphony while painting this, it definitely helps me focus.


Saturday, September 29, 2012

Skull painting

Here's a skull painting from my painting sketchbook. It's in Ultramarine Blue Gouache. I find the painting smaller really tests my shape understanding. In class I'm really struggling with my edges where I tend to resort to a painterly quality when I get lazy or sidetracked. More painting mileage will help me a lot with that. I like listening to videos on the CTN channel on Vimeo.com for inspiration before, during and/or after painting. The talks really drive me to work harder to achieve my dream.

Hopefully more skull paintings will be posted soon as I've been doing a loooot of skull painting studies lately, and I honestly love it. Skulls are very interesting to me.



Sketch from Paris

Here's a long overdue sketch from my summer in Paris. I had a couple free days during the month and this sketch of Notre Dame was the most fun to draw. It was the last week of the trip and I was at my most relaxed. Taking walks by the Seine River almost every day, adventuring around the city, people watching, and relaxing in a city filled with cheerful music, beautiful people and of course illuminating art.

I had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back again. I count the trip as merely brushing the surface to my European experiences. I can confidently say that this is not the last time I will be in Paris. :)

So as far as this sketch goes, after this semester ends, I will be doing a finished painting inspired by this sketch. I'm taking an awesome painting class that I know will give knowledge to a better interpretation of this sketch.


Friday, August 24, 2012

First Assignment of the Semester!

It's the start of the semester and I'm STOKED!! I'm taking Ani 24 - Drawing for Sequential Art with Angela Wu and Ani 14 - Color Fundamentals with Cameron Chun. I'm also taking Art of Film and a Yoga class for pure enjoyment and interest.

For Ani 24 the first homework assignment is a Self Portrait in charcoal as representational as possible. Over summer I've been studying the human face a lot so I was pretty excited to hear to do this, in fact drawing this was the first thing I did when got home from class. I think I was so excited to draw I rendered a bit too early and misjudged the proportions. I feel knowing that, the next one will be a little more accurate. Anyway, thought I'd post my progress. Need to get into the habit early so I continue to post!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Long time no post

So I just remembered I had a blog and realized it hasn't been updated since my first update! oh dear.... the good news is I'm drawing all the time, the bad news is I'm not posting it!!! Sooo, as a new goal for the semester, I will commit to selecting my top 5 figure drawings each week and post my progress.

But coming very very soon, I'll be posting some silly drawings I drew while in the awesome city of Paris. It was a great experience going to France and experiencing the different culture, language, and sights during the entire month of July! The thing I found the most interesting about the trip was how much I grew to appreciate small aspects of the american culture that I had taken for granted before. This trip definitely opened my eyes to new people and places. Not to mention the fantastic museums, architecture, and history of France. Learning about the complex and particularly promiscuous history of the French Royalty is thoroughly entertaining, it's like a royal soap opera. Kings with multiple mistresses, Queens with cruel intentions, and Nobles with hushed secrets... oh boy. The stories are almost too much to take in and then seeing the actual castles and gardens of these historical figures is completely unreal. I was constantly looking around thinking "Someone actually LIVED here?!". Hearing about their lifestyles make me appreciate these times so much more!!

Overall one of my favorite places in France that I visited was Monet's Garden and his house. I will definitely go back to his garden in the future and spend an entire day looking, relaxing, and drawing. Walking into his house seemed like a dream. Japanese woodblock prints covered the walls and the color of the rooms were all different and vibrant. Entering the side room where Monet painted was a hit of AWESOMENESS. every inch of this room was Monet's paintings. I had to remind myself to breathe because my breath was literally taken away! Paintings with so much life, movement, color, harmony, emotion, and beauty was too much to handle. I've seen these paintings hundreds of times in books, online, and films.... but seeing them in person was unlike anything I've seen before. My favorite painting was "Les Bateaux rouges, Argenteuil". The vibrant colors, moving brush strokes, and relaxing setting made me feel like I was seeing exactly what Monet was seeing. And that was beyond cool! Even when I went to Musee d'orsay, I saw a ton more AWESOME paintings but whenever I saw a painting by Money, I felt relaxed and at ease. I just love him! The thing that really stuck me was actually how few painters I know. On the map of Musee d'Orsay, I noted ALL the painters I liked but didn't know. Maybe I'll complete something similar to the Ani50 book and study them in the same manner. There's just so much talent and greatness in the world and in history that's in my reach. (thank you internet!) Seeing all those masterpieces, I am excited to get back to school to learn more and answer a LOT of questions I formed while drawing and seeing. 

Thursday, January 26, 2012

YAY it's my first post! This is my Ani 28 final from Fall 2011. I learned so much and had a lot of fun in that class! I can't wait for the next semester.