WIP, a New Show, and Other Updates

Big News!

See see see?  My name's on that!! There's going to be a band and the typical opening wine and cheese stuff. But it's going to be a pretty kick ass show open through Labor Day, so try to make it if you're in the area!

Oh Man... Good news and bad news.

Sorry for the quiet on my end everyone, life's been happening. If you don't want to know about it- here's the pretty pictures first, and then the news!!!

The most important part is the art. I've been doing more NYC paintings. Some of these are completely finished, others aren't quite there yet. I really wanted to get more of these done, but they take a surprising amount of time and effort for such little pieces. It's also becoming a challenge to keep from repeating myself, and make all of these paintings different enough that I don't get bored with them. That's why I'm jumping at the chance to make a big one and experiment on a larger scale. I'm having a ton of fun with the mixed media, so that will probably stick around even after I move on from this subject matter.

They're all 8x14, pastel and acrylic, on Stonehenge paper. They're cute little big paintings, I suppose.

 

The Pool on a Nice Sunny Day

So, yesterday my page veiws spiked to well over 100, nearly 150. It was amazing to see, if not confusing, exciting, and nerve wracking. I wasn't expecting so much traffic, so much success at this whole blogging thing so quickly. Even if it was just one spike, one little fluke, it was still nice to realize that so many people were interested enough to look at my work. This blog was mostly a way to get my thoughts down, and to start holding myself accountable for my own marketing, archiving, and promotion as an artist. I have two semesters left before I go out into the big scary world. Any advice or words of wisdom would be greatly apprciated. I'm adsorbing as much as I can, but still, some words direct from the source would be nice. :)

I wish I had more paintings like those to show, but those take time- I'm getting some more laid out, and hopefully I'll be able to finish them during class time tomorrow.

See, right now I'm crashing at a friend's apartment during the week for class. It's about the most happening place Oxford has during the summer, due to is large pool and multiple hot tubs. It's a great place to meet new people, even ones that aren't students and don't live there! It's also about the only thing to do, since this bodunk college town is all but deserted. It's an idylic little place with cobble stone streets and wonderful restaurants, but there's not much to do since everyone's gone and I'm very broke. Maybe I'll wander around uptown tomorrow and do some drawings up there since it's no longer overran by drunks and frat guys.

 So of course, with no real homework, no money to spend, and few of my friends in town- I've been spending afternoons down by the pool, trying to work on my pasty complexion, and of course, doodling away in my sketchbook. I've never been one to sit still, so just laying back and relaxing isn't for me. Most girls were just napping or reading, and the guys weren't all that active either, but it made for a good opportunity to draw some foreshortened nearly nude figures.

I'm still not real used to the texture of the handmade paper in my sketchbook, but it seems to hold pen decently, and it's a great conversation piece. It scans pretty decently as well.Has a nice old feeling to it.  And smell. Gotta love that smell.

Times Square Paintings.

So, I've finally started work on my project inspired by NYC...

I'm doing a series of small drawings based off of the many photos and drawings I got of Times Square and the rest of the city. I just can't forget all that electricity, all the energy, all those people and lights. The city is something I've looked too in photos and in memory for inspiration. I keep coming back to it. My brief experience in Tokyo as high schooler, to all the photos I've seen of Seoul and Hong Kong, and now I've finally experienced NYC.

There are all 8x14, acrylic and pastel on stonehenge paper.  Some of these might be reworked or tweeked, as I plan to eventually bring them all together in an installation-like piece.You can kind of see where the bottom two are going to eventually line up if I go ahead with that idea.

Storm King Art Center

On the last day of our trip, we went off to Storm King. It was really amazing to see so many large scale pieces of work, but it was hotter than hell, and most of us had worn jeans expecting cooler weather. We took the tram around the park, and then did some wandering of our own. I wandered to Andy Goldsworthy's Storm King Wall, which was quite cool, and over to Maya Lin's Wave Field... Which was amazing. It really did look like a sea made of grasses, especially since it was a bit over grown. Alenander Caulder's large scale pieces were cool, though I wasn't impressed with De Survero's. Mostly because my sculpture professor makes fun of him so much. I see why- it's well designed, but there's nothing too exciting or interesting about it.

 

Midnight in Manhatten

On the last night of NYC, I wanted to go back to Time Square and draw, since I'd wasted a lot of the time I had there wandering and getting lost and just being way overwhelmed. My teacher was a tad bit peeved at me for that bi of a stunt( I hadn't told her I was going...whoops) and I had also spent that entire day wandering by myself as well, I decided it best to stay in and chill out. I found myself on top of a 14 story building in the middle of Manhattan, no more than 3 blocks from Time Square. As the night went on, I had fun watching people in all the open windows, and I noticed that each light that was on was someone that was awake, just like I was.

I pointed this out to the drunk girl shouting obscenities at pedestrians below. Her mind was blown, and she quickly sat down with me to enjoy the night quietly in a drunken, contemplative stupor. She saw a light turn on about 1am, and her mind was blown again.

These were all done with water soluble graphite, and micron pen. 

Classmates and passers by

In NYC, there was a lot of downtime. In cafes, museums, and some central park nap time. A lot of times I just drew my classmates, teacher, or other pedestrians that were interesting. Mostly very gestural and just figure practice, but I've always loved gesture, and bringing the motion of a figure to the page.

Pencil, water soluable graphite, and micron pens. <3<3 

After the jump. 

Traveling

 Drawings done via travel, airport, plane, train, bus ect. during the NYC trip. I chose random forms, lines and objects I saw passing by and started to draw as I attempted to arrange the page in an interesting way.

 

Micron pen, at the airport.

More after break. 

Time Square Drawings

Recently, I had the amazing chance to spend a week in NYC. I'm currently sifting through my sketchbook and scanning groups of drawins that turned out well. These are all from near the end of the trip, when I wandered out at night, and sat down in Time Square to do some drawings. 

I don't know. There was something absolutely overwhelming about Time Square. It might be the absolute sea of people, all the lights, adds, noises and smells, but I finally found a place that embodies what I've been trying to figure out. There's such an electric feeling, with such a bombardment of information, adds, and videos. There's people all over, some ignoring you, some hassling you to come to their shop, bar, or show. When the metaverse is created, it will look like times square.