Of Oil Paint, Pumpkins and Flowers

I have been so busy reading that I have forgotten to post. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel is wonderful... but yes, this is a blog about art, not books. So I have been taking an oil painting class, and while I am also working on a still life, I have no pictures of it. We must content ourselves with the portrait. 

This is a portrait by Ingres I am copying for the class. This is the original, I didn't paint it unfortunately.

Here is my preliminary sketch.

My beautiful, glorious paint that cost me about 100 dollars... 

And voila! The beginning of my 'forgery' (that's its nickname. I have no prospects whatsoever of selling it mind you... this is just practice)

Here is my mom's Christmas present. I am trusting in the fact that she never looks at my blog. 

My mom already knows she's getting a leaping giraffe though. She wasn't thrilled with the idea, but I think she will like it when she sees it. 

Here is a 2 minute sketch I did of myself for practice.

I did this acrylic paining this week. 

Here is my meager studio...

These are our family Jack-O-Lanterns! Guess which one's mine... I'll tell you at the end of the post.

Flowers in the snow we got in October. Sandy sure messed the weather up, but it was a picturesque scene...

A rose with no petals

My favorite one... the picture quality is great.

OK... The one on the far left is mine. It's the one that's a rib cage if you didn't know what it was. The one in the middle is my brothers, and the one on the end is my sister's.

Of Old Work

As I was going through old drawings looking for new inspiration, I came across these and thought they were worthy of posting in an old work sort of way...

When I was around 13, I was obsessed with mutated creatures. This one is a Zebspoealbirfin. 

More mutants

Here are some old faces. This is the first one I did trying to copy off of a real face. It is the actress who played Emma in the BBC production of... well, Emma. 

Another face.

This one is a more abstract one of a hand and a rose.

I found this old book of pictures I made... I was probably 10 or 11. It's about a bear and a crocodile. It was adorable.

It is so cute. 

This is one of my first faces. I drew myself.

Um. No comment other than I was (and am) pretty weird.

This makes me laugh. One of my sister and I's favorite pastimes was painting on magazine clippings. 

This one is beautiful. I did it of my stuffed animals when I was around 13. 

Of Faces, Comparisons and Palettes

I have been working on this drawing for a long time, so here it is! 

I am quite proud of it.

close up

This is one I did about a year ago. I was comparing this to the one I just completed to see what my progress was. It's quite amazing how much better the new one is. 

This one I actually finished last night. It is acrylic on paper.

I was comparing it to this one, who was in a similar position. 

I also got this palette to use for oil paint. I am currently doing a still life which I will post when it is done. 

Of Eggs, Faces, Chalk and Charcoal

So once again, I have neglected to post things on my blog. But I have been busy making tons of art!

Beautiful mushroom photography... 

This is 'Amniotic Egg II' from my series of eggs. This one depicts a simplified version of an embryo.

This is 'Amniotic Egg III'. I think this one is self explanatory. 

This is what I am currently working on; I think it is coming along well. 

Um. My brother and I were studying Picasso. 

I am testing out a different approach to charcoal drawing. I attempted using charcoal before and it turned out terribly. For that very reason it was never posted.  Instead of beginning with a unmarked piece of paper, I began by shading in the entire paper with the charcoal so it was completely black. I created my picture by erasing. I enjoyed that method a whole lot more.

Here is another drawing done by erasing. I know... her eyes are way out of proportion. But I kinda like it that way.

I don't know completely what I was thinking when I did this blue person, but it is pretty cool. My friend will probably want to tell you I modeled it after her. She was very good at sitting still. :) 

I am calling this one 'Rhythm No. 1'. Abstract is fun... I used chalk, charcoal, sharpie and water soluble pencils for this drawing

A cute chibi. I think it's a boy, but who can tell these days? 

Of Amniotic Eggs, Pony-bags, Aloe Plants and Cakes

I am working on a series of drawings featuring amniotic eggs. The rest are coming soon...

Amniotic Egg No.1

This drawing is baffling me. I keep messing up the face (not featured...)

I have re-dressed my mannequin.

This is a sketch I did at an art museum. It's Pigtails by Nelson Shanks. I like a lot of his art.

So, me being me, I saw this bag and had to get it. It is the perfect size for my huge sketchpads. I'm not a My Little Pony fan, but it's cute.

I kinda do like Hello Kitty though...

This was just funny. I make lists on the side of the fridge so I don't forget about food that's in there. My sister thinks it's hilarious to add her own stuff. The newest addition was stewed mothballs. 

Here are my beautiful aloe plants. My friends mom gave them to me to replace my other ones. Did you know it is essentially impossible to kill an aloe plant? I killed 3. Hopefully these will live longer.

I am trying this out as a curtain. My mom had an old flag and said I could use it.

I am also making a T-shirt quilt. I had so many extra ones I never wore and didn't know what to do with. I colored on the white ones. Like the one closest to you; it says, I love skulls my, head would be mush without them...

I just think it's weird how everyone thinks skulls are gross because you would be dead without one. Just saying. 

Here's a cake me and my friend made for my brother. Guess what it is and then I'll tell you.



 Okay, it's a guy with rice-crispy legs jumping into a pool.  Unfortunately, My dad thought it was a horse.