Where I Am Headed

Here is a succession of life and head drawings. Through the whole process, I have been trying to get used to the pencil (it's different from what I've used before), absorb new techniques and ways of drawing, try to merge my own way of drawing with these new techniques, and try not to lose what I liked about my drawings originally. It's to say the least, a difficult task. . .but then again, nothing worth achieving comes easy. These drawings reflect that struggle. I have to acknowledge the teachers there who have been so helpful. Some of these drawings reflect their input as they are ever so generous with their time and feedback, readily willing to sit down and do overlays and draw on your drawing to help you see and draw better.

Where I Started

Here are two drawings I did just to guage where I was at and to compare for later on: these reflect my prior teachings, drawing style, and ability. Before Watt's, I hadn't done longer than a 20 minute pose in years.

Back to School: Watt's Atelier

Hi everyone. I want to post some of the work I have been doing in school to show my progress and what I have been up to. Time flies when you're having fun. . .though moving 3,000 miles to a new place is never easy, I have found attending Watt's Atelier to be a rewarding and enjoyable experience so far. I can't believe my first term there is already more than halfway over. It's such a positive creative environment, the teachers are awesome, and I am learning a lot. I wish I found this school a long time ago. Earlier this week, I was thumbing through an old sketchbook and found a list I had made of things I wanted to do about a year ago. One item said "Get better at art." and next to it was scribbled "Check out Watt's Atelier." I had run into it on the internet, and when I saw the description, I thought "gee. . .wouldn't that be nice to move back to California and do this." And so here I am.

Also. . .check out the school's website: I highly reccomend it if you're looking to learn true representational art, if you're trying to improve on the ability you already have, if you're also interested in illustration and entertainment arts, if you just want to get "good." This is the best way to go about it. . .

"The West-Going Heart"

It has only been 2 months since I've been back to my birth-state. I am no longer Californian. I have a little New Yorker in me. . .I have maybe even a little New Jersey in me. I have the cold Atlantic crashing into the warm Pacific of childhood dreams.

I had a west-going heart and took the train across country when I moved. I had flown over the U.S. enough in the past three years- it was time to see the glorious details of everything I flew over. So, with the decision to move, I decided to take the opportunity to travel across on land. It was an experience I highly reccomend to anyone who is up for a traveling adventure and doesn't have to get somewhere real fast. It gives you the opportunity to appreciate the varied beauty of these great united states. . .it gives you the opportunity to slow down, meet people of different walks of life, and enjoy the act of traveling.

My train trip consisted of 4 trains. I first took the Lakeshore Limited 22 hours (we were 4 hours delayed on the tracks due to freight traffic) to Chicago. Then I took the Texas Eagle 4 hours south to Springfield, IL. I spent 3 days in Springfield visiting all of the Lincoln sites. I am so glad I made the stop here as I not only had the opportunity to learn more and be closer to my hero, but also discovered new creative kin: Vachel Lindsay, the poet/artist known for his performances of his poetry in the early part of the last century. Leaving Springfield, I took the Anne Ruteledge 9 hours to Kansas City, MO. Then I transfered to my final train, the Santa Fe Chief- 38 hours to Fullerton, CA.

While on the train, I did little watercolor and ink sketches of the scenery passing by.
Here are the sketches. . .I hope you enjoy.

Alien Invasion

Here's the alien project all finished up. . .for baby Veronika. This is a somewhat 3-D piece~ the top part was cut out of plywood by hand.

Update from Cali

Hi everyone. As is evident, I have not posted here in quite a while. Where have I been, you may ask? Well, I've been in the process of a move from east coast to west coast. After a long train ride across the country and all the holidays, I am now happy to say that I am settled in California and am attending Watts Atelier full time. I've only gone a week and it's very intense. I have quite a bit to post, so when I get my scanner hooked up and everything figured out, do look forward to: The Alien Project completed, Watercolor sketches aboard Amtrak, drawings from class, etc.

I hope everyone is doing well and many thanks for checking out my blog!

Alien Invasion *in Progress*

Yup. . .definitely a work in progress :)

((Scroll down to find post with original drawing for this project))

"Someone told me it's all happening at the zoo. . ."

I'm taking an animal drawing class at SVA. . .turns out to be more like a animal painting class as we are using watercolor to
"capture the *spirit* of the animals." Yeah, well anyway. . .I just like drawing animals. . .or err painting them, in this case. Turns out this watercolor technique is really loose and fun. . .but I still want to draw the animals, you know. So maybe I'll do a little bit of this (because it won't hurt me to do something loose. . .and they look kind of cool) and a little bit of drawing.

Here's what I did for the first class at the Bronx Zoo:

Bunnies, rainbows, and kittens. . .

. . .or just bunnies. I just finished reading Watership Down and had rabbits on my mind. I sketched these from my head inbetween projects at work, not trying to catch any character in particular. . .I thought it would be cool to draw one of the Owsla, but it didn't necessarily turn out that way.

I'm back. . .and Alive!

The mutant animals in Maine did not eat me!. . .and I am back :) What a wonderful experience it was! Here is a quick watercolor and sketch that I did inbetween the rains at Echo Lake in Acadia National Park. Enjoy!

A deluge of posts

Today marks a tropical storm's worth of posts (no I wouldn't say a hurricane). It is not as if my wouldbe posts are missed. . .but I am trying to be more frequent. . .and less of a "failure!" ;p

Anyways, I'm going on an adventure to northern Maine next week and hope to have sketches from the train, bus, van, and taxi trips plus hopefully I will find some time to sketch/paint in the wilderness. I am going to be volunteering on a trail crew so it's not like I'll have a ton of free time to do such. . .but hopefully.

Till next time. . .if I don't get eaten by a bear that is! ;p

The Creation and Destruction of the Cosmos

On the science channel last night, there was a documentary circa the 70's about the cosmos and its creation. It had mentioned theories about the creation of the universe previously unheard by my ears that centered around ancient Hindu beliefs. The Hindus apparently believed that each galaxy was created by a god's dream. Every galaxy had it's own god and after many years (I forget how many), their dreams would crumble from existence and the galaxies would cease to exist. And then, they would dream over again, and new galaxies would be created and the cycle would repeat. Tying it into the current astronomical sciences, the documentary stated some scientists to believe that the expansion and contraction of the universe may represent the same phenomena. When the universe expands, galaxies and the contents of the universe are created and exist for billions/trillions of years, to cease to exist when the universe starts to contract and all matter is compressed (and if you're a scientist, please correct me if I am saying this wrong). It is a cycle, and the contents of each cycle are oblivious to the contents of each previous or future cycle.


I found the documentary's conclusion, although an obvious turn, to be that which rattles the constructs of reality in our brains, and makes the world and our existence seem a little less certain than we have made it out to be (even though certainty it is not). It is a little mind earthquake:

"Perhaps man and the universe are the creations of god's dreams, or perhaps god is the creation of man's dreams." oooohhh

While this was going on and I was in the midst of packing (I'm going on a trip!). . .I grabbed a paper and pencil and sketched this. . .nothing special. . .quick, and not too much thought put into it. . .but I wanted to sketch, and I am happy for that.

Father Abraham

Yes this is a sketch blog. . .but I can't help but type more words than you care to read. . .and put up less pictures than you expect to see. I've been reading this bargain B&N book "The Wit and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln" which contains various stories that bring to light our 16th President's humor, knack for story telling, kindness, good-hearted nature, and pure genious. Dear Mr. Lincoln is the one historical figure I deeply miss; though, how that is possible to miss someone you have never known, I do not know. There was obviously no chance for our time periods to have ever crossed. . .and yet I feel that if he was alive today, he would be able to help this world greatly once again. But this great man has done enough and endured more than any individual should have in a lifetime. So to wish the impossible (if the impossible were possible), would only be selfish. With him being on my mind quite often, I felt like sketching him. The sketch, I feel is nothing one can consider even remotely decent. His face is also squashed in from the side. But I sketched him and it helped ease the obsessive quality of my mind.

So enough blabbering from me. . .and forgive me, I will not allow future posts to be as wordy (this *may* be a lie): This, however, is my blog and I wish to share a quote or two from the book. Let's let the man do the speaking!

In a letter to Horace Greely (I believe a big newspaper man), Abraham Lincoln writes:
"I would save the Union, I would save it in the shortest way under the Constitution. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could, at the same time, destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object to this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it will help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors, and I shall adopt new views as fast as they shall appear to be true views."

I guess just one quote for now. . .I hope you enjoyed.

Sketching Adventures on the Subway

I've never had two consecutive instances of "Hey you're an artist?" in the subway in one weekend ever. Usually people are quiet about it, but never fail to steal a glance or stare at what you may be currently scribbling.

1) The guy with the shiny gold tooth (this is probably what he *did not* look like as this is from memory):



I had my sketchbook on my lap as the car became suddenly too crowded to even attempt to draw. A young guy with a gold tooth standing in front of me noticed the sketchbook and asked if it was mine. "Are you an artist? Can I see your book?" I showed him but explained that I felt these weren't my best sketches. He went on to say, "Not your best? Are you kidding me? These are really good! You definitely got it. You just have to let go all fear and inhibition and do what's in your heart. That's when the real art happens. Anyone can draw people in the subway. But you shouldn't worry- you definitely have it- I can see it here." He went on to tell me that he was a painter and his brother was "Jesus Saves." He said if I hadn't seen it before, his brother's tag was all over the city. He then told me about his current painting which was of something of this sort: the Queen of Hearts breaking up with the King of Diamonds and passing her number to the Jack of Spades. . .or something like that. My stop came. . .I thanked him for the advice and then got off.

2) The next day, I was riding a fairly empty car and started to sketch. A Spanish speaking family (mother, father, and young daughter) were sitting next to me. The father had noticed me drawing- surely enough, I noticed him getting his wife's attention and pointing to me. He then tapped me on the shoulder, and not speaking any English, pointed to my pen and then to his daughter. I thought he was saying that his daughter liked to draw too. . .but evidently, this is not what he was intending on communicating. He then *grabbed* my book and pen out of my hand, pointed to me, then scribbled on the page, and then pointed at his daughter. He handed the book back and gestured to start. I only had a few stops and was worried I was going to miss my stop. So while keeping my eye on what was going, I tried to sketch his daughter (whose name is Betzy). . .I have never ever had that happen before. I didn't want to do a bad drawing of her, but I'm afraid that's exactly what I did ;p Anyway. . .interesting experiences on the NYC Subway.

Top Secret!

Well, it has been pointed out by my fellow coworker that I am a complete failure when it comes to this art blog thing ;p To disprove my coworker and to satisfy the few requests for more postings. . .I will post the current project I am working on outside of work. But shhh- you must keep this secret! Don't tell my friend- as it is a present for her baby shower. Got that? Cool. . .thanks.

Basically, I wanted to avoid the typical store bought clothing items and desired to give something that would enrich the child's entire life. A library! Why not introduce her to the wonderful world of pictures and words from the very beginnning? Hopefully then she will too grow up to love the magical world of books and stories. This is going to be a personalized sign (the baby's name will be up on the top left hand corner) that can set ontop of a bookshelf. It will be painted in acrylic on a deep cradle board. I am going to buy some books too in the end. This will be somewhat of a 3-D piece as I intend on getting wood letters to affix to the front and the top corner alien will be cut out. Maybe I'll make matching bookends to go with it too. But for now, it's just this.

Update

Hi everyone. A little update: I am moved and now have a little office space seperate from my bedroom to work in. . .I am more settled in than not. . .and I am back from a visit back home. . .so that means I should be posting more here. . .I hope!

A few weekends ago, I took a trip to Montauk on what turned out to be a very rainy weekend. . .this is a quick little watercolor I did inbetween torrential downpours.

Enjoy.

"Where have I been?. . ."

. . .you may ask. My apologies for failing to flood the net with drawings. Life is happening and a lot is going on. I am currently in the middle of trying to find an apartment and move by June 1st, so I doubt I will have anything till after I move. I've also been swamped by freelance, so please forgive me. I will come back soon.

Let there be nothing. . .

. . .but inspiration!

The time has come. . .when I have nothing to post! (Well to be honest, I have old sketches on post-it notes I can scan in, but I want to offer something fresh) I promise you that it is not due to idle laziness. I've been working too much. But during the time it has taken me to save large photoshop files and take a quick "break," I have found some cool inspiration. So this is what I'm posting for this week:

Check out:

John Nevarez-hot stuff.

Stephanie Lo Stimolo- this is what I want to do!

The Consumption of Time. . .

Such a limited resource. . .although ultimately very unlimited as it always continues on and on.

I've been very busy and have been working nonstop for work and not for me. I just acquired another freelance project- a digital painting for a Spongebob game. So, yet another reason why I won't be able to do my own stuff :(

Shame on me- when I had time to be productive, I wasn't. . .but hey- we all need breaks right? Yeah, I needed a break and to take care of things.

I picked up the 2006 Writer's Market book so that I can try and get some writing published. There are so many things I want to do that I end up being scattered and not getting anything accomplished. . .so as long as I am working towards creative goals, then I am moving in the right direction.

So my one moment of sketching bliss was at lunch this week. Over the weekend I thought of an image with a three eyed frog. I don't know if this relates to my goal of trying to combine two very different interests in order to make my life more complete. On one hand, we have the art which seems all very self-serving to me. On the other hand, we have the desire to do something for the greater good- primarily something related to the environment and social change. So the only way I can see marrying the two is if I can do images that in someway move people or motivate people to change or think. . .so I thought about 3 eyed frogs. Why 3 eyed frogs? A la "The Triplets of Bellville"- Darwin, mutation, environmental contamination, etc.. . .and then my mind automatically went to the fastastical and in some way off topic, but also very on. A frog catching a little human "fly." Didn't get that far in my lunch sketch, but here it is. It definitely can be pushed. . .so I shall play with it more if I decide to settle on this.

Burned out on Adobe Illustrator and Freelance

On Wednesday, the Freelance God pointed his ever so massive and burdensome finger at me and said "She looks lacking in work-I can fix that. Make her work during the day and night. Give her freelance and make sure she says yes!"

And so I was given freelance work and I said yes. And each time I do that, I really wonder if it's worth the money. No, I don't think it is when my sanity is at stake. So this is the partial reason why I have no new drawings to post. But I am posting a sketch that is only 3 or 4 weeks stale and, to stoop even lower, my self-portrait I painted a 2 months ago just to practice painting. I know people have seen this one, but not *Everyone* has. . .so there ;p




I may have more to show regarding this sketch in the future. I'm thinking of doing some illustrations featuring this creature.