Actual drawings! Three cheers for more art! I must say, drawing in a college dorm is quite fun while listening to your Pandora account. I felt like I was getting a little rusty with my artistic-ness so I sat down and just drew for a couple of hours. It was strangely liberating and not so strangely enjoyable. The reason why the last two are a slightly different color is because it's cream paper.
Since I love drawing the features of the face more than the entire head itself, I'm enjoying drawing minimalist portraits. Doing it makes focus on each individual part of the face and its placement on the face. And the one of the portraits is a girl and one is a boy. Guess which one! I tried hard to make them distinct but it was hard once I added the eyelashes. The ear was also fun to draw. It's weird seeing that I've never really fully drawn an ear. Yeah I've drawn it with less details but I never focused on the ear alone.
Literature is art too! And I must admit, I'm getting a little lazy making new posts since I'm in college and all. I have been drawing, it's just that my camera's batteries are dead and I haven't felt like going down to the scanner in the computer lab. Therefore, I've decided to share some of my poetry. They are all past works, most of them written for my creative writing class that I did in high school. I try to be funny sometimes in my poetry since I think poetry doesn't just have to be somber, serious, and depressing all the time. It can be lighthearted too. So here's to being artistic in many ways! *toast*
Writer's Block a penny for your thoughts a nickel for your dreams a dime for all ideas that burst forth like the streams
a quarter for your musings half dollar for your views golden dollar coin for notions of different hues
dollar bill for your whims five for all your feelings ten for your sentiments that work best with dealings
twenty for a great plan fifty for all your quirks a hundred for your brain since mine no longer works This is one of my most favorite poems that I wrote. I really wanted to start a poem off with a well-known quote and then kind of...run away with it. And besides, who wouldn't want to pay to get rid of writer's block? Art My love, my passion starts with a blank And patiently it waits for my command To smear it with all the thoughts I drank And adorn it with marks from my own hand.
Just for my beloved, only the best, The highest quality money can buy. In prismatic gems is my love dressed And with lavish strokes that catch the eye.
But at times it defies my instruction This rainbow ignites an inner flame. But its hues unite and lead in seduction, So I'm weak to oppose this colored frame.
In creative frustration, my feelings I shove Yet art still remains my passion, my love Yes, it's about art. Yes, it's a sonnet. If I Were Your Best Friend I'd be there for you all the time Except from 9:00 to 9:30. That's when Modern Family comes on. I'd encourage you to do well in school So I could copy off your homework. I'd go with you to your annoying, second cousin's wedding in Florida And then probably spend it with the groom's hot nephew.
I'd comfort you when your boyfriend breaks up with you By hitting him upside the head and asking him what's wrong with him. Then we'd share earbuds and listen to Kelly Clarkson's break-up songs. And possibly Taylor Swift too.
I'd listen to your complaints about your parents being unfair, Help you sneak out, And then cover for you when they call my house wondering where you are (I'd probably do a bad job, but I'll try).
We'd go shopping, and we'll try on clothes That we'll never buy 'cause we don't have any money to speak of.
Then we'd end the day texting each other until we go to sleep, Forget about our homework, And then rush to get it done before second period, 'Cause it always has to be done before second period.
But since we're not best friends anymore, I can only sit here behind you, And remember all the good times we had, All the bad times we laughed off, And that you haven't given back that sweater you borrowed from me last week. No, this is not in reference to any bad friend or anything like that. Hoped you enjoyed these poems. There will probably be more to come in the future.
I haven't updated in a while, and for that I apologize. I'm getting ready for college so I haven't had much time to draw. I will be working on that bull commission for my mom today so you will most likely see the finished product sometime this week (it actually must be finished this week since I'm leaving for college next week. But don't worry, I'll still update from college).
Last night and this morning, I did a few portrait sketches; I haven't done those in a while. And here they are.
The one on the right was just from my imagination and the one on the left is a picture we took in Hawaii. They aren't the best sketches in the world but they satisfied my itching to draw.
After hours of drawing, measuring, editing, and waiting, I have a video of a drawing!! *fanfare* It took longer to edit the video and make it viewable on the internet than actually drawing the picture. I wanted to draw something relatively familiar to me and easy to do. Thus, the portrait of Alicia Keys. She's one of my favorite singers and I admire her for her awesome piano/singing skills and for her general awesomeness. In case you don't notice, the music that's accompanying the art is what she has sung in the past. They are, in order, "Harlem's Nocturne", "As I Am [intro]", "Like You'll Never See Me Again", and "Superwoman". Not only do you get hear her awesome songs, you get to have a little taste of my iPod playlist. I'm sure more songs will follow.
A photo of the finished drawing is below the video. I drew her portrait with sketching pencils (4H-4B) and graphite sticks (HB-8B). The pencils were mostly for the initial line work and shading while the sticks were used for darker shades and better blending. I used 18"x24" Strathmore Drawing paper but I only used about 17.5"x20.25" (yes I measured for the correct proportions).
In the video, you see the paper with a fine layer of graphite to start even though it's not the "true" beginning. I'm pretty sure you didn't want to see me measuring and drawing reference lines and sharpening the graphite sticks to get the graphite to rub on the paper. That would be boring.
In retrospect, the video's not the best quality, sorry. And I might have to fix the picture a little bit more.
I have finally finished the bear painting for my mom. One more painting (of a bull) to go! I might go back later and do more finishing touches; for art is never truly finished, it's only paused for a while (I think a famous artist said this, but I'm just paraphrasing). And I'm sorry for the lack of posts during the week, sometimes I just get lazy.
Yes, those are currency symbols in the background. The bear is a financial symbol you know. And very sorry for the bad lighting. My camera is in no way professional and my studio lacks good lighting.
Today, I've included some pictures of my material set-up and my "studio" space, and I use the term studio very lightly. It mostly consists of my art desk in a messy corner of my room, and if I have to paint on a large canvas, like these commissions, I go upstairs to our little storage/attic space. It's also quite messy and a little cramped. But I have no problem making room for myself and my iPod.
The space I use to work on large canvased works
My collection of paints etc.
My beautiful palette. Really, it's just a plastic party tray I got from Iparty.
A clean art desk is a rare thing indeed.
I was thinking about posting a video one day of a complete piece of art. I'm not sure what I would do but stay tuned for said video!
