Now an Art Student

We are now almost 3 months into the year and it's almost March and now 20 degrees outside. I am very underemployed now with time in my hands. After being on the phone for hours with the Art Institute in Pittsburgh online division after much hesitation I'm now in my second week into the course so far so good. I focused so much on school that I have not made the time to look for a job although I need the income. I originally was going to do Interior design but realized it was another ball of wax and it was like architecture but doing the inside. Graphic Design is up my alley and I can go many directions with that. My career path will hopefully be designing greeting cards and stationary but that may change as I go further into the course.
The class I'm taking now is perspective drawing which is a good base for drawing and it's step by step. I had a brief overview of that at the Art Student's League of Denver but they went over it so quick that I had trouble grasping it and I was afraid of it. Nothing bad about the League as I would continue to support it and use it as a networking source. I have to remind myself that I'm paying more for the course with deadlines and being graded on it so that's a different animal.

Below are samples of my work for the class so far:

1 point perspective using shapes

Here was the difficult assignment using cylinders:

This is what I've done so far, but I will not keep boring you with the details but I can usually paint better than drawing.

Leaning Pink Vase Project

Happy Valentines Day followers! I have a lot on my plate right now to start 2011 and 2 months into it and 1 year at my apartment. My hours were cut so bad that I've been spending time tweeking my resume and looking at online job postings that painting has hardly been a priority. I've been away from art classes for a while due to lack of hours to pay for them. I'm also thinking about cancelling my Core Power Yoga membership and switching to buying classes in blocks if they'll let me.

Anyway to my project which I thought was going to be an easy painting but there were challenges that went along with it. The pink vase was a simple vase that I picked up from the ARC thrift store down the street that was dull without the shine unlike the other glass subjects I did. Like anything else there were various shades in the reflections in both the vase and the cloth.

Photo Reference

Leaning Pink Vase, Oil on Canvas 18x24, 2011

Day in the Life of an Artist: Painting Completed

Happy Monday!After about a month or 2 I finally completed a challenging painting with a bottle and sauce server with a checkered and red cloth! I am pretty happy how it turned out. It being a dreary day in Denver it was a perfect day to paint.

Photo Still Life reference taken and set-up myself 2010

Checkered Still Life Oil on Canvas 18x24 Fall 2010

Doing the reflection alone was challenging by using a closeup of the silver design to work on the reflections. Working on drapery or cloth requires a lot of detail based on how the light hits it in the various spots. Onward to my next project as I keep plugging away.

Day in the Life of an Artist: Different color tones

Another day of painting and I'm more energetic today, because it's slightly warmer and not rainy like yesterday. I plugged away some more on the checkered cloth and it still needs a little polishing. There are many different tones going on there. Very light, Light, mid, dark, and darker. I mixed various colors like; pink, blues (different shades), purples and yellows. It's because the light hits in various spots throughout the subject and everything you look at. In painting there is hardly anything with a solid color except the background.

I spent another good five hours working more on the checkered cloth and getting started on the red cloth.

The colors I got for the red cloth are the following:

Light: Cadmium red light + Cadmium Orange+ White (adding more white while painting)
Midtone: Cadmium red light+ Sienna+ white
Dark:    Cadmium red deep+ Sienna + Utramarine Blue
The next challenge is the silver gravy pitcher- so coming attractions is what I will mix to make the silver , which is like water making reflections as well as adding more white.

Day in the Life of an Artist: Working on checkered still life

It was a rainy morning and I thought it would be a rainy day but the sun was coming out this afternoon although it was cold. It was a day to start on a new and challenging project. I thought it would be fun to work on a checkered cloth since it's dramatic and could be fun to paint. All I worked on today was the cloth since there was a lot of detail and different colors on the white although it's not plain white. My instructor insisted that we don't use just white on our paintings.

With the detail involved I have to make sure my hand was not shaky as I'm doing detail work. I started at 1:30 and finished about 4:30ish and it was only that portion of the painting. I used the smaller pallette paper since I was only doing that cloth.

I promised myself that I would finish filling in the cloth for now and sharpen it up tomorrow no matter how long it takes.

It still has a very long way to go. I should do hiatus' more often, it's nice painting on my own without an instructor looking over my shoulder while I paint. I will keep posting the progress of this painting as I go along discussing color.

Day in the Life of an Artist: Part III Shopping for still life props

Me being queen procrastinater I put off painting at Sloan's Lake doing landscapes, being a perfect weather day for it. That's just as well since the leaves on the trees are still mostly green since it's been a very warm start for the fall. I went over to Hobby Lobby and they had a sale on fabrics, so I bought a yard or 2 of some colors which I think will work for still life props.

These were 30% off a yard and added up to $27 plus tax, I will have fun with these.

The best part is going to ARC which is down the street from my apartment and I don't know why I didn't stop in there sooner, but it was a busy store today. Why it was busy it was 50% off colored label merchandise and Brick Brac shopping couldn't be any more fun! Check out all these finds which came together for $20!

They insisted I box them although I told them I was just going up the street.

It's going to be fun to put a scene together and turn them into painting, my creative juices are flowing! I recommend that to any artist!

Last but not least my latest piece of work where I walked you through the process!

Day in the Life of an Artist: Part II

After a busy weekend, Mondays are like my Sundays although today was somewhat productive. I'm getting consistent about journaling my artwork as my new project is progressing. I did not walk out of the house except to take the dog out and I will again this evening as it cools down slightly. I did some more on my Calla lilies in the blue vase. I'm pretty far along and I just need to touch up next painting session. The hardest part of the small yet simple painting is the flowers and the vase. Althought to a regular eye the Calla Lilies would be just white with the bright yellow thing in the middle. There are other colors and shadows to capture too. The vase is blue and it's interesting to paint but their's many other colors going on in it. Painting glass is fun although not easy because of with the detail of reflections involved. Plus, I always have the urge to want to hold a paintbrush like a pencil, my instructors always urged me to hold it lightly with my two fingers and thumb, that's something I have to work on still.

This is what I mean about how I spread paint. It's a 12x15 pallette.

I don't know how I did it on a smaller pallette. Whatever paint is left I put wax paper over it and put in the freezer.

I was considering taking my place in the art world further by looking into internships in Galleries to gain connections and get my foot in the door. The problem is I'm not a college student or a college grad. I see with the economy in bad shape, that adults are doing internships for career changes. My mom even did some student teaching in her 40's when she did a career change, so it's not too late.

I realized years later that I was not as passionate about Fashion Marketing than I was about art. Heck, I was not even motivated to get an internship although it was  required to get my degree. I put my eggs in one basket for one position and tried really hard to get it and got rejected anyway which was weird. I know it's not like volunteering where they take you on the spot. I love fashion and the industry still and my motivation at the time was to make money. I was in my 20's and did not really know who I was at the time. I worked it for over 13 years although I was on the retail end of it on the selling floor. I have a few dresses in my closet that I want to paint so that I can incorporate my love for fashion into my future pieces.

 I thought being an artist was a trivial thing and that anything worthwhile is not supposed to be pleasurable. I thought that being an artist would not be as glamorous and being in the fashion industry. On days that I paint, I like the idea that I don't have to get all dressed up to paint and do it in my pajamas if I wanted to. That works for me! I can still dress up for art openings though. In reality, there is no such thing as a glamorous career dressed up or not.

It's a good time for me to produce and learn although the classes and workshops will be continuous as a go through this journey as an artist. I will have plenty of pieces once the economy turns around. I have a friend who's an art agent so that's a start.

Day in the Life of an Artist: Part I

After the image is taken on the camera it's transferred onto Adobe Photoshop to be traced.

Converted the photo into a sketch after converting it to black and white.

The traced image being fitted onto the canvas

I use graphite paper to place facedown on the canvas to transfer the traced sketch.

The Graphite paper is wrapped around the canvas with masking tape securely.

Together is the color chart and the photo reference I will use for my painting.

This technique, I learned in a class I took at the League last winter into Spring called Digital Tools for Artists , it's not as easy as it looks but I've learned to love this technique. I will post the completed painting on a later date.
I'm at the intermediate level now so it made my selection of classes broader so it's hard to decide what to take. Since the school is uncredited I can drop into a class anytime or monitor it for a day to see if that's what I want.

Day at Meininger Art Supply

I just had a somewhat lazy day off and did not get out of the house until 2:30 pm after laboring at my day job on Labor Day weekend. Meininger is having a big art sale through the 26th of this month so I'm taking advantage of it. I picked up a few tubes of paint that could be expensive, most of them were 40 % off. I almost bought a tube of Cadmium Yellow but $54, sheesh! I have little left of that color and I will use up all I can. I may have to check out Hobby Lobby or Michaels if it's any cheaper. I got a pack of 2 more 18x24 canvases although I will use a 12x12 for my next project. I'm pretty well stocked up with smaller canvases but I want to go bigger, so after I get paid next I will pick up more bigger canvases as long as there 50% off.

I also picked up a copy of Southwest Art  magazine as my inspiration, that will go on my Christmas wish list, when I subscribed it was a monthly treat. I have what I need including graphite paper to transfer my trace to the canvas. I will be trying a transparent white for highlights, I bought it in the smaller tube to give it a try. I had to buy bigger pallette paper, 12x15 because the smaller size does not work for me the way I spread paint when I mix it.

I work late tomorrow and it's already Thursday, where has this week gone? I want to try to get Yoga in tomorrow and a few other things done before going to work. I may have to start this on Friday as I'm anxious to pick up that paint brush.

Makeshift Art Studio

I live in a modest 1 bedroom a typical home for a starving artist. My studio is not a particuliar room except for my livingroom with a skylight and a window facing north. Light from the north is an artist's best friend. Although I like to work at night I prefer to paint in the daytime or else the colors are off. If I do paintings at night, I'll have to do them at night to keep the colors consistent.

I use a TV table that I purchased at TJ Maxx for a good price, it's light and it's easy storage next to the TV console. The green tripod like thing you see is my easel that is light and great for painting out in the field Plein Aire. It's easy to fold up and to place in my closet.

This was the painting I completed today! It took over a month. Fruits of Summer 18x24 Oil on Canvas
All I did today was touch up , but I had to have enough paint out for necessary corrections.

Teatime is the project I did the 1st half of the summer. Teatime 18x24 oil on canvas

My set up on my diningroom table, I was inventorying my paints today to see what colors and supplies I needed. This is a canvas rollup for my brushes that is good for travel and my photo reference for the painting is on top.

When I'm done painting I pack up all my supplies in a backpack and place them in my closet. That's my studio in a nutshell and you all see how I do it in a modest apartment and it could be done until the time comes that when I could get a bigger place or rent studio space.
Coming attractions:

• My step-by-step on new project
• Classes
• Going on the field to capture fall colors

I'm calling it a day a great one and look forward to more shares.

Tulips
Oil on Canvas 12x12
Army picture of my young dad in background

Painting of Cookie Spring 2010
Oil on Canvas 9x12