I just can't put into words right now what I am experiencing artistically. I feel like a switch has turned on somewhere and now I know what to do. I am talking about fashion illustration. I love it. Obsessed, seriously. I may never do it as my job, or get an recognition...but I am realizing that is what my work has always kind of been in some way, and it is what I love. I have always worked from the images that I see in my beloved fashion magazines, studying the models faces, their gestures, the movement of the hair, the garments, the accessories...but here I have been, just working, making my drawings and never realizing what was out there. But I am feeling so inspired right now, yet feeling overwhelmed because there are so many illustrators I need to study, terms, proportions, techniques. I am not sure what this will do to my daily pieces with the 'Creative Every Day' series, but in the meantime, while I sort through this...I have created a side project, a series of my own attempts to draw what I love, and what I have always loved.
...and I chased that rising sun, caught some of it, and settled under the pier for almost four hours to draw. Then it was off to Barnes and Noble to do some research...and I was sidetracked by the HUGE new Harper's Bazaar Fall Fashion Issue...so I stayed there working for another 2-3 hours.
Feels like home.
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Okay. So two things...first, I didn't have time to sit and blog about it...and two, I needed time to really reflect on the impact of last night's events. ...let me back track. Last night I rode down to Delray for a Art Hive meeting and then to check out the galleries there on Atlantic and in the Pineapple Grove/Artist Alley area. I didn't get back til late, then had to pack for Chicago...I admit, I was in a bit of a frantic. (Two things about me...I love to travel..but I HATE packing for a trip.) And of course, today I found out my first flight was delayed, which would cause me to miss the second flight...deep breaths...the bottom line is I fly out early in the morning. It will be a very quick trip to Chicago, but I don't want to miss out on the chance to support my husband (he is there for his professional conference)...and of course to take in some art at the local museums. So now I have some time to blog. I am just so overwhelmed by the experience last night. The creative energy of not only the my colleagues at Art Hive, but in the galleries we visited and the studios. Love it. It is tough to juggle, but I plan on making it to more of these. I need this in my life. It brought me back to a class I took in undergrad...we took a trip to NYC and were exploring the gallery scene, visiting artists' studios, really having some significant dialogue about making art. I felt so energized by that experience, and Delray last night brought me back. ...a few pictures from last night, some mine some from Jess... Probably the one thing from last night that really stuck with me was the visit to Vladimir Prodanovich's studio. We walked down an alley, into a studio space that was in a garage. The first thing that hit me- the smell of paint. The wonderful smell of acylic paint. Then the colors from the pieces he was working on. He was working on multiple pieces at one time...Vladimir talked about how this kept one piece or one mark from being too precious and allowed you to really create in that moment. It made sense. And as an artist, visiting another artist's studio and seeing how they work...I wondered how could I apply that to my work? Can I? Admittedly, I am a little conflicted because on one hand, I have this love for detail, intensive drawing...even on a level that I have yet to reach. Tiny, minuscule movements of the hand to create shading...I really respond to that...but then there is that part of me that really likes the freedom of blowing the paint across the paper, letting drips happen. There is talk of making art, giving art away, art storage, magazine planning, and how he lives this life. How can I apply this to my work?....How can I become better at what I do?....How can I make a go of this whole artist thing? These are the thoughts that I am a battling with right this second. Side note...here is my CED #230. I started this today at school, drawing on the document camera while the students worked on their small drawing. So quiet, everyone on task. Just the sound of pencil on paper, sorting through crayons and colored pencils...markers being capped and uncapped. Not Vladimir's studio, but I will take it, this is my classroom studio. As you know, or if you didn't I have been working with some images that were inspired originally by Elisa Mazzone, creating works in my style inspired by elements that I pulled out of her work. Some of the things that initially attracted me to her work were her use of color, and also the contrast of the color with areas of tight rendering, in what looks to be pencil or black colored pencil. Add that contrast to the finished and unfinished, I was hooked. Amazing, simple amazing. What totally made my day? I sent Eliza a message via Facebook to let her know that 1) she was awesome, 2) her work was an inspiration to me and, 3) to let her know about the pieces I was creating based on this month's challenge. Folks, she sent me a response. I got art kudos from my muse. Seriously? Wow. So...with that bit of background...here are the images I had created from August 1-4th (below), all based on her work. Good and Evil by Innes McDougall After I am done jumping up and down and celebrating Elisa's message, I am on Pinterest, pinning some images to my 'Inspiration' board...and I come across this image (below). Holy crap. Those eyes looked right into my soul. Amazing. The quality of the rendering, the eyes look so realistic...the contrast of the black against the color...add that to some splats and drips...which I love...where do I sign up? The piece is called, 'Good and Evil' by Innes McDougall, of the United Kingdom. Here are some more links where I found more work by the artist...
Of course...I have gotta make some art after seeing this, right? I had started a piece late last night, decided that I needed to go off on a detour and focus on eyes...and I was really feeling the butterfly imagery...so I was thinking that I would add a dragonfly wing, and just focus on one eye. That is where I left off that night, and the next morning I come across this image? Meant to be. Sunday morning, I finished that eye poolside. Some detail drawing and shading on the eye and then watercolor on the wings. Honestly, I wasn't going to add any drips or splatters yet, I was thinking after I saw this piece by Innes McDougall that I would gradually work towards this after a few pieces. Then I got a smudge on my paper. Can I digress? Okay, thanks. Being a left hander. I am forever smudging. I know, I know...I should just pay more attention, or keep a paper under my hand....blah. It turns out, my accident gave me permission to go ahead and try to add some of this style to my work. I started another one, this one with a Monarch butterfly reference...then another one, using a red butterfly as my reference. Here is what I came up with; (below) Oh goodness...then I worked on CED #218...girl meets monarch butterfly...still inspired by Mazzone's work...and Alphonse Mucha's hair...started her poolside, but came in because the sky looked pretty dark. I escaped the rain but not a little sunburn. Anyway, here is a slideshow of my Sunday artin'. (below) Wow. What a great day. Headed down south to spend the day artin' with Giselle...who, in addition to being a crafty-lovin' bride (and friend to sparkles and glitter) is also a hair stylist and makeup artist. So...in addition to some yummy Peruvian food, a trip to Michael's, petting a super cute puppy and some quality art time on not one but TWO tables...I even got some color and a cut. Awesome.
The only thing that wasn't great...I just couldn't figure out how to sneak her dog home with me...sigh. Too cute. Oh well... Giselle, I hope you are happy with your art piece, I can't wait to see it framed! And I am heading to Michael's to get the paint for the other project tomorrow!! ...a few pics from another fabulous girl's art night at Jessie's...(Jess I totally stole some of your pictures, I heart you.) Not pictured, Giselle and Butters. It's late! Good night, ya'll : ) Ed and his fiancé Sarah, went back to New Jersey today. After a fun week hosting out of town friends, fourth of July festivities and general merrymaking...it is quiet here at casa de Gironda, except for the occasional meow from one of the cats. By the way...posting in purple in honor of Ed, a fellow ECU grad (Go Pirates!) Visitors or not- I still made time for my art, and I am proud of that. I just finished up CED #188, and now I guess I am deciding what to work on next.... Some things that I have been thinking about...
...so that is just me, kind of creating my little list of what I need to do...not sure what I will start on first... ...tonight I worked on the pieces for the Art Nouveau show that is fast approaching. I feel like I have got a good start but still a long way to go. I have little wooden plaques, some 8x10 canvases...all with some scrap of paint on them, even if it just the background color. Hey....gotta start somewhere, right? Still working with the Hedwig/owl inspiration…really having some fun with this theme… About an hour or so into painting I picked up one of the plaques that I had painted with a coat of blue and quickly painted the simplified owl shape...but then quickly put down my brush to pick up a pencil….seemed only fitting that I elaborate on the branch…before I knew it, one of my trees had creeped into this small work…and then I started to think, yeah, that makes sense. Owls live in trees…yep. So I unwrapped my new blank canvas and just started sketching…owl shape, check. Crazy, curvilinear lines…check. After going over the pencil lines quickly with black paint…ready. This will be the canvas that I paint at the live-art event. So that is where I am as of this evening. Several plaques and small canvases in progress…three trays of ornaments not even opened and two packs of square canvases that need to be addressed. . I am an early riser. I really do have a hard time sleeping in, regardless of how late I stay up. 8am this morning- I am up. Per usual, I get up and start my day…but the mix of the early start and the blah weather brought spurts of productivity. (Right...randomness at casa de Gironda....Mackie thinks he can fit in this box. I didn't have the heart to tell him otherwise. It doesn't have much to do with art, but it was pretty cute.) ...uh, I digress...this is what my morning was like...easily distracted... I don’t know where the time goes…all of a sudden its 12pm and the new canvas is set up on the easel. I must say, it felt like Christmas morning taking the wrapping off of the canvas, it is a bit of a chore since it is larger than I have been working…30x40 to be exact. Grabbed my pencil and my Sharpie marker and just started drawing…pretty soon I had the beginnings of a tree. And somewhere along the way the word LOVE appeared on my tree. Then I stopped around 1pm…at some point I sketched out a few designs on some small canvases (posted farther down) ...and now here it is 8pm and that canvas is still in the sketch phase…not a scrap of paint on the surface. But I did do some art-related things today, the usual trip to Michael’s (I insist that I do NOT need a reason to go there…) and…oh yeah, WE LAUNCHED TIPSY ART TODAY! Yes! Now that is where some of the day went. It feels great to have set out a little over a month ago and today make that idea and reality. The website is live, the Facebook page is ready….sure, we will add some things to both, but it’s really there. Don’t believe me? Go to www.tipsyart.com. It is for real. We did it! (Right) A few little things I quickly sketched out...will be examples for the T'Art site at a later date.... Preparing for the week…Halloween tomorrow, my favorite holiday…gotta get ready for FAEA conference in St. Petersburg, I can’t wait to see the new Salvador Dali Museum…but I know my mind if going to be on this new painting…my eyes living in each shape, wondering what colors will live there…and where this work will take me. I love this feeling…inspiration. My friend, fellow artist, and muse Jessie posted this on our new web and the truth in the statement haunts me, so I will share it; "If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."-Vincent Van Gogh Yep, it’s kind of like that. ummmm.....so we did it. We held our first T’Art (Tipsy Art) event. What we came up with a little over a month ago actually happened- we taught folks how to paint in a small party setting. I couldn't sleep last night I was so excited about it. What started out as just a passing observation after Sofia had a bad experience at a local paint/wine event (not naming names, but she paid a good amount to attend)…’you guys could do that’…she said to myself and Jessie during our art making madness…we glance up and say ‘yes, we could'…'WAIT, YES WE COULD DO THAT'…fast forward to staying up all night building the beginnings of the web site (launching tomorrow), discussions on our business model, our roles in the business, msc. discussions on the how-to of making this thing work…talk of brand identity (thanks to my husband’s PhD articles that I have been checking out)…random texts and phone calls to stay on track, a short apron painting session at my place, lot’s of visits to Michaels…and at 5:30 last night we were doing it- setting up for our first T’Art event. Tables set up in a U-formation, black table cloths ready for whatever mishaps might come, water cups, extra napkins, brushes, palettes of paint, two easels up front and we were ready. Now, if you know me, you know I am not a fan of landscapes, I mean- where am I going to put the cheetah print and rhinestones, you know? So when we got Sofia’s text with the picture the client was wanting…gulp…a landscape…a pretty tough one…I thought to myself, no worries, surely Jessie’s thing is landscapes, we’re all good. (Meanwhile, across town, she is getting the same text, making the same gulp and thinking that I must be able to handle a landscape…oooh, no way girl) But you know what? We totally made it happen. Jessie started a painting at school, started the water, land and background sky and I was able to jump on that painting while she started another one from scratch so everyone could see the process. Sofia is taking pictures, making sure everyone has paint, trouble shooting…and at the end of the night everyone seemed happy, their paintings were great, the three of us worked as a team…and it was pretty awesome to get paid to paint. (…and a landscape at that!)...and hang out with good people, YES. So, it’s still early but we came up with this idea the weekend of September 18th, made plans and last night we had our first event. The web is going live tomorrow now that we have pictures of what we do, and I will be up tonight painting some additional samples of what T’Art has to offer. Feels pretty good. My concept of syntax is shot at this point and I know I am going crazy with the ellipses and my comma use is out of control…but I am just really happy with the way things worked out, fell into place...all of it. Woke up this morning, early. Too. Early. It amazes me how I cannot sleep in. I was up til 2am painting last night and still woke up at 7:30. Now I didn’t say I woke up completely motivated and ready to start the day, but awake nonetheless. Sigh. Awaiting me in the kitchen, last night’s projects. One oval canvas, one round canvas and four rectangular canvases all white and ready to be painted upon. Six surfaces, waiting for some sort of resolution. One thing that I struggle with is maximizing productivity on my days off. If I don’t watch out, hours will pass by and leaving me wondering, ‘hey, where did my day go? And, more importantly, what did I accomplish?’ It is a constant battle to make time for art, to clean and organize around home, and to get things done for school. (Notice I didn’t include spending time with John in this list because he always supersedes any item on any list, awwwwww) One thing that I have started to do is to work in ‘rounds’, rotating my activities in timed increments. I even set the timer on my phone. I will work on my art for x-amount of time. The alarm rings. I will move to cleaning up for x-amount of time, etc, etc. I know that this seems very regimented, and it is. But when I can be disciplined in this way, it works for me, and I don’t re-awaken from zoning out on the couch and find that I was wasting my time watching a Real Housewives marathon. (Yes, guilty.) So far so good. I really like to document my progress. This helps me reflect on how I work, and make assessments on my productivity. As for today, off to a good start. I have six pieces in-progress. Still working with the face going off the bottom of the picture plane, still exploring specific words layered and intertwined to form hair structures. Love. Life. Truth. Self. Laughter. Inspiration. Just some things on my mind. Started to experiment with exaggerating my favorite facial feature, the eyes. Definitely inspired by the artwork of my friend, Jessie, who is an amazing artist and a big motivator for me right now. Now, a trip to Michaels (of course) and trip to pick up my work from the PBSC show could derail me, but I am hoping I will be able to get back on track, so to speak, once I return from these errands. |
AuthorArtist and Art Teacher
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