From 7 layers to 3...

Here is the last assignment I did for the term:

This painting is a combination of the notion of traditional still life with some contemporary elements. I fell inlove with this 7 layer technique! It gives the painting a much better quality and at the same time, because of the layering, it gives it beautiful depth.

Watercolor... The confidence of making the determined brush stroke...

      I was really excited to take this course, but I found out quickly the level of my drawing skills... Not so great. But I feel that because of this course, it has motivated me to keep practicing. At the beginning we were assigned at least 35 sketchbook watercolor studies. Let me tell ya... these are the most embarrassing studies EVER! But practice makes better right?... RIGHT? well here we go...

Yes, I know what you are thinking... I had pink eye that night. Well you're wrong! I just over did it with the Burnt Sienna (I love that color!)

This is my friend Michelle. She is basically my model for all of my projects (for photography). I sometimes feel bad for her cause I always make her sit still for at least half and hour. She is such a great trooper!

This is my second water color. I love painting portraits because what I find fascinating is all of the different colors I can find. Everyone has different skin stones. Michelle's skin had a blueish undertone.

I know that the giraffe is a little random, but I like how with simple strokes I came up with an image...

This is just a master copy that we had to do in class. I really love this style and I thought it to be cute, funny, romantic humor... What can I say? I a sucker for funny romantic stuff... sigh

I call it... "Love at first grip"

Then there was gouache...

I was not a fan of gouache only because it never dries, BUT! the plus is that it leaves a little more room for error. Still though, I am not fond of it.

Last but not least, acrylic... 

    I believe this to be one big happy accident. This is the first time I worked with acrylics and just to be on the safe side I used the board to be my mid-tone and just kind of worked from there. We also needed to use collage for this assignment, so I used newspaper for the top and I used the photo of the mouse in which I just painted on it a little bit so it can be obvious to the viewer that it was a photograph.

For this painting I was inspired by Dave McKean and his incorporation of collage:

Encaustic

     Encaustic is probably the funnest medium to work with. I relate it to the process on tempering chocolate actually, it's probably why I enjoy it so much, ha ha. If I had to describe it, I would say that it's a happy mix of watercolor and oil painting. Because it dries so fast, you would need to know exactly what kind of mark you are making..BUT if you don't like it or made a mistake, you can always scrape it off.

12*12- Encaustic on panel

The cool thing about this medium is that it is so easy to create depth. This is because of the layering that one has to do so much.

This image was basically experimenting and getting a feel for the medium.

Charles James McCombs...

      So I wanted to do something special for my dad's birthday... Why not paint his portrait from when he was 30?? I thought it was a good idea... A lot more challenging than what it seems. Photographs back then had almost no detail so I had to do a lot of add-ins and figure out certain lighting so it wouldn't look so flat.

14*18- Oil on Canvas

Peaches....

Peaches, 12*12- Oil on Panel

This is peaches everyone... I had the opportunity to paint her portrait before Christmas break as a gift. Not gonna lie, very challenging!

Figure Drawing...

Ah yes... Figure drawing. What can I say? T'is one of the coolest classes to take. If the curriculum would make us take this class at least 5 to 7 times, I would not mind. I am positive that I would learn something new each time.
 Here are some of the things we did in this class:

Intermediate painting...

      Intermediate painting was probably one of the most challenging classes yet. It dealt with how one would approach the figure through painting. At the time I was also taking figure drawing (if I was able to, I would take it again), so the combination of the two worked out quite perfect, really.
The figure, in my opinion, is one of the most fascinating things to render. Whether it would be in charcoal, oil or any other medium. There is so much to discover and understand... it is amazing!

  Here are some studies I would like to share with you...

 This is one of my favorite studies... it has a kind of Egon Scheile-esque feel to it.

Because the figure is so hard to render, you will notice that my proportions are 99.9% of the time off, ha ha. But I feel that is what gives the painting somewhat of a character and energy.

 Dancers I feel are the perfect subject. the way they move and contort their bodies is just beautiful and sooooo elegant.

This is my first assignment, I was so difficult. The model couldn't stop twitching and moving. But I managed to do my best.
















For my next assignment we needed to do one painting of a figure and another with a more narrative approach.

I really like this study because I was experimenting with a more loose brush stroke and incorporated some abstract elements. Drips are super cool to have in a painting!

I present to you my first narrative. I was inspired by my stress and obsession with time.

I call it... Patience is a virtue

Finals!

Here is what I did for professional practices in 3 days... good ole last minute work...

I would just like to point out something very important... My professor cursed the image above. As soon as the idea of a chicken leg or a croissant came about, that's what everyone else had in mind when they looked at this painting. IT'S A BANDANA PEOPLE! I AM NOT HOLDING A CHICKEN LEG... OR A CROISSANT! right?

Both of these are 20*20.. This is where I became interested in rendering only faces. I like the idea of intimacy and having the feeling of a secret being shared.

It was love at first brush stroke...

     So remember the guy who wouldn't stop pestering me about how I should become a painter? Well it turns out he was right.

     I will never forget the day where I was literally stumped because of a white canvas. I just stood there with my brush in hand and couldn't really find a way on how to go about making the first mark. He came around and ask what was wrong, I told him my problem. All he did was basically take my hand and brush and dabbed at my canvas, then walked away.  Let me tell you guys, it blew my mind!

I present to you my first painting ever...

I was very pleased with the end result of this painting and quickly decided this is the route to take...

And last but not least...

  After this class I was inspired to keep going and paint during every free time I had...

So no to sculpture?...

      Once it was decided that I should become a fine artist and not an architect, I enrolled as a full time student in studio fine arts. Initially, I thought photography and printmaking were to be the roads that I'd be taking. In fact, I had my mind set upon it. There were also two things I didn't want to do... Painting and sculpture.

   I didn't want to do painting because I was quite intimidated by it, even though my professor Mr. Michael Nolan would not stop pestering me about it. I had explained to him time and time again that I had never picked up a brush in my life and was not ready to do so. I really didn't want to embarrassed him and much less myself on how much of a disappointment I was going to be... he didn't care, kept insisting.

I didn't want to do sculpture because conceptual sculpture is not the way my mind works. As usual Mrs. Deidre Argyle would not stop whispering in my ear about it either. I told her that I am not a sculpture girl and that I was most likely going to chop off my finger... or hers... and well, we just cant have that...
To my luck, certain classes were canceled and I had to get into OF COURSE, introduction to painting and (I really couldn't go around this one) 3D form and space.

Hahahahaha... I'm sorry, but it was this moment in 3D Form and Space, I told myself, never again! I present to you my friends... Spider Lady!

She is one of a kind, she actually attacks when you turn the little lever on the side. (this is the only picture I have of this geared wire sculpture).








Here is a chair I made in the same class... it is made out of cardboard.

Initially this was not the idea I was going for. It was actually going to be a lot smaller. But according to time in which I had about 10 hours left and my wonderful logic, I went bigger and more intricate... sigh














Continuing with the sculpture idea, in another class (Creative thinking) we had to show out creativity through alternative materials. I of course decided to use a more familiar medium... Chocolate!

Step 1: make sure you have all of your utensils ready for use!

Step 2: make sure you temper your chocolate to the adequate temperatures

Step 3: Make your design using a mold or a guide

 Step 4: put together...

     I had fun in this class, I learned a lot, but I also made my final decision that I was still not a sculpture girl...

A reality and not just a glittery dream...

     I fantasized in becoming an artist when I was 4 years old.. I would draw flowers, people... but if my parents looked at my sketchbook, to them it would be more like scribbles of flower, scribbles of people, and just scribbles and more scribbles. Regardless, to me it was always considered as a dream not necessarily a reality in becoming an artist.
    When I came back from France to good ole Tucson, Az. I was pondering on the idea of finishing Architecture. Like I had mentioned before, architecture was not for me. It wasn't because I didn't like it. I loved it! The history is amazing, the process is fun, but there was just one thing that was keeping me behind from everyone else... my drawing skills were just horrific!!
    There was only one thing to do... take a drawing class! I enrolled into the Art Center Design Collage, now called The South West University of Visual Arts and took my first introduction to drawing. During my stay, my professor never failed to whisper into my ear that I should become a fine artist. It only took her one full semester to convince me.

I have to admit, even though they are my first drawings, I was quite impressed. My professor gave me the confidence and made me realize that becoming an artist was a reality and not just a glittery dream. Thank you Deidre!