An Overview

I would like to use this this blog to just spread out some thoughts and an overview of my spring semester, since it's about to end. My oil painting class is just great. Never in my life, would I have ever thought that I could paint like this. And maybe I do have a little knack for paint. I just didn't have the right instruction. I'm finishing up my final oil painting in class. It is based off a photograph that my instructor took. I have the photograph and my painting posted up next to each other. I'm satisfied with what I have. It's not quite done yet but it almost is. A lot of things are off but I'll just work with what I have.
It could be a lot better, but for my first semester of oil painting, I won't beat myself up :P


My generous boyfriend also bought me a new camera :) We're currently testing it out because it was advertised as a great camera... but it isn't quite living up to that description and we're wondering why.... hmm...
But I have some new drawings that I did at the portfolio prep program that I would like to post up. I'll get those when I figure out this mysterious camera.

I haven't posted for in a while because of my hectic dance schedule. Irvine Valley College had their spring dance concert during the second weekend of May and I was in 2 of the dances. And it was so much fun. I almost wish that it didn't end. It was my first time on stage too. It was just an unforgettable experience and I am so so happy that I had the opportunity to perform before I have to put dance away. I don't have rehearsals anymore, and my last dance class is next week. It's pretty sad because I've met some great dancers and most of us are going our own ways. And I would've loved to perform for IVC's fall dance concert.
It really is such a bittersweet moment. But at least I will be attending dance classes for the summer semester. And I will finally be taking a ballet class after 3 years of only jazz :P
shame on me... no wonder why I don't know how to properly use my strength to dance.

I guess some good things just have to end. There will be photos and even a dvd of the performance later on that will be available to purchase. And I would definitely love to post some pictures of the performances.
My secret wish is to somehow end up back at IVC again for dance classes and perform once more :)
After art school of course.
I'm really soaking in my last few months of dance and Irvine. I will miss this so much.
But life moves on and for the better.

Next post will hopefully have more pictures!

Street Painting Week

For this week, our oil painting class was assigned to do a street painting of a master copy. The art instructors Julie Kirk and Melanie Stimmel do street painting on the side and are quite famous for them. So maybe they want their students to get a taste of what it's like.
I chose Caravaggio's St Jerome. Drapery + human figure = fun.
Turns out, I had mega fun doing the street painting. They were done with pastel. At first, I didn't have a very good relationship with pastel... but oil painting has really helped. And mucho thanks to the lovely weather that was provided for us while we were out drawing away.
We weren't required to finish, but we still had to give it our all. We were provided 3' x 5' rectangles to draw in.
And it really wasn't that bad. I didn't get to finish but I'm still happy with the results.
I can't even imagine the humongous street paintings that Julie and Melanie do :P
Mucho props to them!




St Jerome looks a little wide...
Haha. I think it would've been nice if I included the book so that it looks like he's at least holding something.
But that's ok. This really was a fun turn of events.
And next week, back to regular oil painting.

Dance is the hidden language of the soul - Martha Graham

I may be having a crummy drawing week, but I am most certainly having a great dance week.
For as long as I can remember, dance has always been just a hobby and something that I greatly admired.
And taking some dance classes here and there was my way of being involved with it.
It never got serious.
But here I am, dancing 12 hours per week now in preparation for the spring dance concert at Irvine Valley College. I was chosen to be in a work in progress, and wasn't going to be formally shown.
But soon after, I was asked to take the place of another girl in another piece.
A few days later, same thing happened. Today, I attended my first rehearsal for a modern piece. It's fast, it's challenging and it's fun :)
It's my first time being taught by a professional dancer. He is stern, strict and straightforward but does not hesitate to answer questions. I guess I'm really lucky that my jazz teacher saw something in me and recommended me to the choreographers who ended up with people dropping out.
I'm also really glad that I'm doing all that I can with dance before I enter art school.
I know that there are priorities in life, but dance is something that I never want to stop doing.

Anyways... I just had to document this day. It was really great :D

I can't draw!

It's only Wednesday, but I couldn't help but notice that I'm having a very weird off week.
Yesterday was my life drawing class, and I wasn't feeling my gestures. I was excited about having life drawing
but I was drawing the model out of proportion.
I was making her legs too short, which I normally don't do.
And at the last session, I tried to do a quick portrait study, but it was terrible.
Usually I'm pretty confident about portrait studies... yesterday was a bit of struggle.
And I struggled in my oil painting class this morning too. We're finally painting a full color still life but from a photo. If all goes well, my painting will turn out something like this:
I was just not feeling this painting either today. I hope I snap out of it soon, I have drawings and paintings to finish!
But on the other note, I finally borrowed my parent's camera to take pictures of my recent work.

We finally finished our limited palette oil painting, and it turned out really well.
I noticed I forgot to fix the shape of the bottle :P But what I really liked about this painting was the drapery.
At first, I was just blocking in the drapery and kind of struggling with it. Then I decided that I would just finish it the next day. But when I came in the next class, I liked the way the drapery looked and I didn't touch it after all. That's always a nice feeling :)Also, I've been wanting to post up my work from the portfolio program.
The first piece is a still life using graphite and is a work in progress. It's been taking a while but I'm liking the way it's turning out. I'm very comfortable with graphite but I've never done such an extensive still life before :P
I don't know why blogger decided to rotate the next 2 pictures...
but the next few drawings are also from the portfolio program.
I've been having a lot of fun with ballpoint pen.




The one above is a portrait study of the model. I think some of the color needs to be toned down a bit so her nostrils and face don't look like they're glowing. She's supposed to be hugging her knee, but I'll probably get rid of that because it doesn't really matter in the end, it might just end up looking like some strange body part.

The next two were done at a figure drawing workshop in Costa Mesa.
http://www.meetup.com/ocfiguredrawing/
It's a great workshop to go to if you're looking for a small group to draw with.
I've only gone once and we had a great model. It's Monday and Wednesday nights, $15 per session.
I would like to finish this piece, add some more shadow and whatnot.
At first I used green for the face. Which was a bad idea because it made her look like an evil sea queen.
It's a cool idea, but not what I'm going for in this drawing.

The next piece was done on a cut up grocery bag and different pieces of pastel.
I also need to tone down the color because the blue turned out really bright towards the bottom.
Which reminds me of Mystique from X-men...
And my teacher said maybe the glowing nipples aren't such a good idea
XD
Enough blabbering for now.. I need to rest or something.
I hope this weird drawing streak won't last for too long..

Good Morning

For my birthday, my boyfriend decided that he would get me a new art box. Because the one that I currently have is not really an art box.... more like a craft box. The handle is on the lid which makes it look like my art box will fall at any time. And it was 4.99 :P
But I've been wanting a new art box and I got one.
Or more like... a boom box. My boyfriend thought that this behemoth art box would be best for me.
And I thought I would take a few pictures of it before I return it.
Haha... my boyfriend had an inkling and knew that I might want another art box.
So he kept the receipt and we're returning it tomorrow for a more practical art box
XD
It really does crack me up though. As cool as it is, it isn't very practical in the end
I would'nt even be able to fill up all the compartments.

I think I will name this art box Zeus.
My camera is currently dying right now. I was very lucky to get these pictures.
And I've been meaning to take pictures of my most recent work because I've been experimenting a lot
with color and different media.
It's been a lot of fun and puts a whole other twist on figure drawing :)
Maybe next time, I plan on borrowing my parents' camera.

Good bye Zeus.. you really were the life of the party last night.

Otis!!

On Friday, I received a call from Otis. The admission counselor left me a message saying that she wanted to talk about my application with me. When I received the message, I thought...I didn't do anything wrong...
if they wanted to reject me why not do so with a letter?
But I called back and turns out, they wanted to accept me as a sophomore. My portfolio and transcript showed that I was ready to jump right into my major :)
I'm really excited and I want to take the offer.
But on the other note, I'm still enrolled in the portfolio program. I still want to make my portfolio stronger because I promised myself that I would apply to CalArts one more time.
I thought about it and I knew that I would regret it if I didn't try again.

This fall, I will be attending Otis and majoring in Digital Media. But at the same time, I will be applying to CalArts. If CalArts decides to not accept me, then I will still be at Otis and already finishing up my sophomore year. In the case that CalArts does accept me, then I have the option of going there as well.
I'm happy about this plan because I don't have to waste another year waiting for CalArts. I will be productive as an artist :)
My parents support my decision. It's time to take out those loans and get to work!

I'm currently working on an illustration piece at the portfolio program right now.
I posted up my thumbnail sketch. Ignore the huge circle in the middle of the drawing.
This was an idea that I had a while ago that I doodled into my sketchbook.
I guess it can be part of my... guy-in-dress-shirt-with-no-head series.
The object covering his head is a wind chime.

I decided to use oil paint for this piece.
So I made another glass palette :)
This palette has a 14" x 14" piece of glass and is a pretty good size.
The other palette that I have is MUCH bigger.
I recommend a 14" x 14" piece of glass. You will be taping the edges of the glass anyway, so what's left is about a 13" x 13" glass palette. Which is still a really good size.


Such a huge change of plans means that I won't be living in Irvine anymore :(
I will miss Irvine.
But I'm looking forward to finally attending art school. I've been spoiled as a part time student :P
It's time to go into art student mode!

Creativity

Recently, I joined a portfolio prep program to revamp my portfolio for CalArts. I decided to try once more with the help of this program. After some conversations with the instructors there, I realize that my portfolio really was not ready. I currently do not have my portfolio, but I do remember most of my pieces that went in. And I see that my portfolio was very traditional. Maybe much too traditional. I had my life drawings, my animal drawings, my landscapes, and a sketchbook. So maybe I did have everything but I didn't show creativity. I was so set on the gestures and animal drawings that I didn't realize that my portfolio was actually boring in a sense. My portfolio didn't stand out in the end. Even the sketchbook that I submitted consisted of mostly observational drawings.
I remember viewing other people's portfolios; the ones who were accepted into CalArts character animation program and I am beginning to see a trend.
My goal for the next time I apply is to show that I have the ability to be creative, quirky and traditional.
While I am attending the portfolio prep program, I will have the opportunity to explore the themes that I have been keeping on this blog. I'm pretty excited about that. I've been sketching some thumbnails of some concepts that have been shut away in my head.

I realize that I am in a very pivotal point in my life right now. Whether or not Otis chooses to accept me, I don't think I will be attending Otis this year. I will apply to Otis again when I apply to CalArts again so that I have options. But this time, I want to try CalArts again. And if it truly doesn't work out, I would like to attend Otis and major in Digital Media. I wish the process didn't have to take an entire year, but I can wait one more year. I think that either way, it will be good and I will be on my way to an art school.

I am currently on my spring break, but not really. I'm still attending classes at the portfolio program.
But I've had some time to read through the book that I had to buy for my oil painting class.
It's called Oil Painting Secrets from a Master.
This book is filled with notes and pictures from an artist named David Leffel. The author, Linda Cateura, took notes during his painting class while he critiqued and assembled them into this book.
I wanted to share 2 of my favorite things about the book:





The drawing below is by Karl Gnass. I took it from his website gallery because I thought it stood out the most.
Another drawing that shows disembodiment :)
The way the drapery hangs from the head of the figure and is so large is very intriguing.
I remember flipping through his book Spirit of the Pose and I saw another drawing with the same elements.



I'll be working very hard until the next time I apply. It's always a good time to be inspired.
and Happy St. Patrick's Day!
(I almost forgot). It's also a good time to bust out the corned beef and cabbage soup.... yum...