I keep saying that if I get one drawing I like out of this semester of Life Drawing class, I’ll be happy. This was a 20 minute or so pose, the first in which value is the focus. The leg is a little wonky, but I actually like this one, so, hey, I’m making progress already!

Yes! Two rainy days plus no school on Monday equals a whole weekend of art journaling. Yeehah! I must say, I am enjoying this semester much more than last semester for the sheer fact that I rarely have homework. So, I get to go to school and do art, as well as continue my home arty time. Oh man, the sheer frustration I felt last semester of never quite being out from under the cloud of homework, homework that rarely felt applicable to anything I wanted to be doing. Yes, including building a freaking pirate island out of M&Ms or whatever.

Anyhoo, I spent the weekend working in my sobriety journal, my lifeline. Here are some pictures!

Ah, switching back to oil was like coming home. I enjoyed it so much, I’ve actually picked back up on a couple of unfinished oil paintings that have been sitting lonely in my little dining room studio.

So, another still life. It’s more of a challenge to get distinct lines with the oil, obviously, so I feel like my lines look kind of cartoony. For the critique for this, the teacher did something pretty cool: she had each of us write comments to the painters and leave them on the easel of each person. What I liked about it was that many people made similar comments, so that you are inclined to take what they are saying to heart. And everyone is very sweet, no one’s goal is to make anyone cry. People leave nice comments are well as constructive criticisms. I enjoyed the process.

The comments I got on this were that the B&W one was more successful, as far as realism and perspective go, but that people enjoyed the colors and the painterly style. See? Love that.

I love a good workspace shot! What can I say? I just love my little painting area. I’ve always loved this window-happy space, but I did some serious IKEA organizing about a year ago, which has made me love it even more. My little slice of heaven.

This was my first still life ever! It’s terrifying to try to just sketch straight onto the canvas. It’s amazing how the shift of just a brushstroke or two totally changes the look of the painting. It’s so cool how my eyes are learning to see.

On the other hand, I hate acrylics. Hate. And of course, I have no idea how to use them, so that has a lot to do with it. I was talking to the teacher about it, and she was like “If you’re used to using oils, you will find it pretty difficult to switch to acrylics”, and I was all, “But everyone tells me you can make acrylics act like oils”. Her reply: “Yeah, only people who started with acrylics say that.”

So, because oil paints are the paints that truly make me happy, I’m just going to go with it. Yeah, the cleanup with be more of a pain, yeah, I’ll have to be more careful with storing my paintings, but I think, in the long run, I will enjoy it more.

I’m pretty happy with this little painting, though. Who knew I was capable of such things?

She was doing pretty well on her little island, plenty of fish, plenty of sun. She would’ve invited him to join her, but there was no room for all he carried with him. She could not be convinced that the boat would be better, even if it meant they could be together.

Yay! After last semester’s slog of prerequisites, I am finally in painting class! Hooray!

Our first assignment was to do a quick sketch gesture painting in black and white. I had a hard time deciding whether I wanted to go with oil paints or acrylics for this class. I decided to go with acrylics for the ease of use, and, well, everyone keeps telling me that acrylics can be made to act like oils. I’d like to learn how to do that.

I had fun with this assignment. I would’ve been scared to death, filled with fear to begin this assignment had I not just completed a week of painting on blank page after blank page. Compared to that, this was a piece of cake.

The perspective is completely terrible on this and it looks pretty two dimensional, but whatever, it was fun. The purpose was to try a bunch of different brushstrokes as well as different paint thicknesses. We were to do a quick sketch of a personal item of ours and then paint it. It’s hard to tell, but this is my water bottle and journal.

Hee!

This was some crazy ass idea I got in the middle of working on my final project for my 2D class. Why, in the middle of doing a 3 part assignment, did I decide to make something that involved like a hundred little tiny handmade pieces? Who knows, but as I mentioned before, once I get an idea, I kind of just have to do it. Supposedly, this was supposed to be the unity portion of the assignment, but yeah, who knows if it really is or not, and honestly, who cares. It looks freaking cool.

Here’s another 2D assignment. In all honestly, this doesn’t exactly fit the parameters of the assignment: 3 works, one indicating a focal point, one indicating unity, and one indicating balance. I’m pretending this one is my focal point. Once again, I had an idea and just kind of went with it, rather than worrying too much about the assignment.

Seriously, I am so over this class and this teacher. It has been kind of fun to randomly go all out on these crazy-ass assignments, but there has been no theory behind it, no actual teaching, and so kind of a waste as far as actually learning anything about composition and design. I’m kind of bitter and enraged about it, but, onward to other things. And now at least I know what to be on the lookout for as far as teaching style is concerned.

It’s funny, though, how acrylic has become my go to medium for painting now. I’m a little conflicted by that, but I like that I’ve been getting practice with it.