Random happenings (in pictures)
Im still proceeding with my musician series and really happy with how my print quality and registration has improved. I'm also starting to work on some old linoleum cuts, which will be a nice change of pace.
[.C.M.Y.K.][.SOUP.]
I took a week off for a quick vacation to Florida (and catch a photography convention) and also haven't posted in a while so I thought I'd just post a few pics from tonight.
[.life.drawing.2.9.16]
This was an 1.5 hour pose broken into 3 sittings. It was drawn with pencil on small paper, 9x12. I like it.
[.life.drawing.2.7.26]
These are large drawing with charcoal and a 2 of them have some pencil too, but really they're mostly charcoal. I'm digging them though. They are in order that they were drawn. Each was a 25 minute pose.
[future'ing]
I'm hoping to get back to printing more regularly- I took a week off and totally feel like I'm behind.
Regarding Prints-
I think I need to:
1- continue collage screen images
2- print editions of food
3- document work from previous year
4- get back to copper plate work
I really need to figure out how much I want to continue screen printing while I get back into metal plate work....... I'd like to say one way or another but I know what will end up happening is the exact opposite of what I predict.... honestly I think it would be cool if I continue screen printing while I work on dry point work but i'm not sure if ill be okay with splitting my time that much.
[life.drawing.1.3.2016]
Welcome 2016! Today we did 20-40 minute poses and I initially tried blind-line drawing but immediately felt unconfident and unhappy with my start. I quickly decided to just draw with a pencil. There are somethings I like about these drawings, and things I dislike too. I really like the 1st image- It just has lovely distortion and line quality. It really makes me want to draw with pencil more... but I haven't decided what to draw with next....
2015 in review
Lately I've been thinking about the fact that I've had an incredibly productive year. I've even said those words a dozen times lately.
This year I've turned the volume to 11 on my screen printing, participated in a couple art shows, and had a chance to really grow as an artist. I'm incredibly happy with this year and can't wait to see what 2016 will hold.
Things are changing quickly in my life and I'm very pleased with how everything has turned around. I'm both excited and nervous to go back to school for something other than art- however I firmly believe that creating art will always be a major part of my life and maybe having a job that is less dependent on creativity will save some energy for me to create in my spare time. I think a career change will also open tons of possibilities for me, especially since I'm going to school for a mobile occupation; there are CNC positions in every state. I am chomping at the bit to do CNC prints!
I think I've basically exhausted my exploration of what I can do with a photoshop job. I haven't learned anything new and haven't been inspired from photoshop for the past 3 years. I come home creatively burnt out, feeling like I'm drudging the bottom of an empty well. I'm excited to do something different and feel alive again. I think it will also be cool to do something that will keep me diverse and well rounded (I'm going to have to get better with numbers and math!).
This year has also brought me a serious relationship with a girl that I find myself falling deeper and deeper in love with. I never would have guessed I'd find someone that is so encouraging and inspiring to me. Half of my artistic growth this year is directly connected to this person and for this I am grateful.
I cant wait to get new stuff posted! In the past 2 months I've created 10+ printed images!
October 17th: Coe Alum Show, The Cherry Building, Cedar Rapids, IA
November 17th: Margins of the Multiple, Public Space one, Iowa City
The theme of this art show was graffiti (specifically wheat paste). Since I had already been working on images of food, and had a cmyk print of a hot dog, I thought approaching the "Flying Wienie" would be a great way to; 1-legally paste up my art up, and; 2-use a place that I like. It seemed like a no brainer to me.
I heard the owner was kind of tough but I really had no problem getting him to agree to letting me do this. Feel free to check out the hot dog wheat paste behind the restaurant.. and get a Chicago dog while you're there!
[life.drawing.11-21.15]
Whoa~ It's been a LONG TIME since I've posted anything here. I'd like to say that I will be posting more stuff and more regularly but honestly I'll probably be posting sporadically as usual.
I hadn't attended life drawing group in a while but had a decent session. Here are the two drawings that I felt were worth posting.
I've been super productive in the last two months. I'll be updating my galleries soon with finish work. Check back!
[life.drawing.9.13.15.]
not much to say.
[Life.Drawing:August]
My studio has been under construction for a month and a half, so i've been unable to photograph any work until now!
I think August was a great month for life drawing!
[.life.drawing:9.6.15.]
Life Drawing seemed like a struggle today. We did 20-30 minute poses. The images below are in order as I drew them. In hindsight I think I rushed into the charcoal drawings and committed too early in my drawing process; drawing hard bold lines before finding the form I wanted capture & convey.
After feeling discontent about my charcoal work I switched to mechanical pencil. It really felt good switching- It's so radically different from Charcoal & pencil. It demands a certain finesse and lack of pressure.
I'm not sure the mechanical pencil drawings are any better; they seem just as distorted and also lack some of the spontaneity and expression; however I really responded to the change of pace! It felt nice to acknowledge when something wasnt working and do something different, and even if the results aren't quite what I aspired to achieve, at least the process was more enjoyable.
a few new adds to [.Street.Photography.]
I finally got a chance to take a vacation and travelled to Indiana Sand Dunes and Chicago.
[life.drawing]
Here are a coupe from a few weeks ago.
6-9-15
6-22-15
[exposing.myself]
Yeah.... My set up is pretty ghetto. One of these days Ill finish my vacuum exposure unit.
[life.drawings.]
Sunday Life drawing. 30 minute poses.
I arrived a bit late so I missed the gesture drawings but I would say today was a generally successful session.
I felt like I'm having a hard time getting the full figure in a drawing; it seems like I'm better with 1/2, 3/4, or portraits. I think this might be because 1- the scale is a bit smaller than im used to; 2- charcoal doesn't lend itself well to smaller size and finer detail; and 3- I can crop out hands or feet.
I did try a higher contrast subtractive drawing but wasn't happy with the results. I am still really enjoying the combination of charcoal and pencil work.
The next session (Tuesday) will be and extended pose with two models. I think I might try to find a nice composition that croups out at least half the figure.
[Life.Drawings] + [thoughts/reflections]
I came into this session (5-26-15) basically in a normal mood but after starting to draw furiously I began to get incredibly frustrated with my work; I hated this distortion and couldn't refine anything.
This experience made me think about my current drawing style- I'm almost manic in my search; trying to capture everything as quickly as possible in hopes to capture spontaneity and emotion in the immediacy of the moment. I approached it like a tornado. This even applied to gesture drawings, which I usually hate to do. I just wanted to commit my drawing to paper as quickly as possible.
At this moment I started to realize that this approach was also holding me back from making real revisions and letting my drawings breathe. Half of the time I either finished my drawing in no time or couldn't finish it at all. I felt walled of from revision because everything was done so quickly and drawing became an all or nothing proposition.
The following week (6-2-15) i decided I wanted to take a different approach. I wanted to:
1- start taking gestures more seriously, and
2- draw with a more deliberate hand. I decided to slow down (at least enough to stop my frustration and begin to allow my drawings to evolve)
While these geuture drawings aren't as precious as some of the more skilled/controlled artists who attend they are still mostly proportionate and have a nice lyrical line quality.
This is the drawing I ended up with for our extended pose (1 hour 20 min). While it's not quite as drawmatic or high contrast of some of my other drawings, it felt a lot better to work on. There is also still quite a bit of spontaneity and distortion. I didn't feel like I was racing to finish it and I didn't feel super-frustrated when I got stuck. I just kept in the moment, and calmly drew.
I think during the next session I'd like to work with higher contrast charcoal subtractive work.
[Life .drawings]
Ugh... my day job seems to have taken over a lot of my free time lately but luckily I got to do some life drawing 2x this week.
I'm still really digging charcoal and pencil drawings. I first use charcoal to roughly block in the general proportions and then smear it to create a grey-base I can then draw and erase highlights back into. Vine charcoal is incredibly forgiving- I don't even need an eraser; just wiping the paper with my hand obscures any mistakes enough to continue.
I've really been working in my studio a lot lately- i've exposed a few more screens and printed a few things.
More to come soon.
|Sundaze|
I got so many random things done today. Not all were art related but definitely necessary. In non related news- i found ghost pepper plants at a local nursery!
Beware the carnies
Redo of trumpet man. I made the lines a bit bolder and it seems to have helped. The only other thing I did different was expose the screen without vacuum table.
All the coasters! I'm re coating them... Unfortunately I ran out of epoxy today.
[.Tuesdays.]
If you look closely you can see the flaws. Email me one flaw and I'll send you a free tee.
Sunday Funday
Stencil for umbrella screen
Stretching paper for upcoming prints
Almost done with coasters!