Finished, but not perfect

I will take a better photo tomorrow, for my proper updates. I still think it could use some improvement in places but honestly I'm just done. I really really challenged myself with this one. I have trouble with perspective, glass, and reflections, so of course I put all three into this one. Oh yeah and then I decided to use colored pencil. I think it turned out rather well though. I had a moment when I was looking at this photo where I completely saw the depth of the jewelry box. It caught me by surprise and I loved it.

Work from today

I worked on my drawing a bit earlier today. I'm about to start working again but I had forgotten to post this photo. I like the photo because it was taken in daylight so a lot of the loss of detail and odd shadows I get just are not present in this. I'm not going to update after I finish working tonight. Hopefully when I update next it will be with the finished piece. As per my self imposed deadline I should be finished tomorrow, we'll have to see how this goes.

Feeling good about this

I'm feeling really good about this. I worked a little all over the place tonight, but I do feel like I made some progress. I had neglected the fact that the beading is on both sides of the glass. Even on the computer it looks like one solid value, at least until I started moving the monitor around. I definitely would not get this much detail with a printed photo, I love working with my reference on a monitor.

Looming deadline

My deadline is looming ever closer but I do feel like I actually got a good bit done tonight. I'm still not sure if I can finish this in the next 4 days, but I'm definitely feeling better about it. I really like the bottom bead on the framing. I have all the lines drawn in now, so there should be no stopping to go grab a ruler, which will save some time.

I'm getting so close to my self imposed deadline, and I'm dragging my feet on this. I'm not sure how I feel about that side panel. The bubble in the paper really distorts the whole image. I do like it better now though. I think I'll work on this tomorrow night and try to work on it a little during the day on Thursday. If I really buckle down I could probably just blow through it and have it done by the end of the week and still meet the deadline. I don't want it to look sloppy. I'm just not sure how I feel about it overall right now. Either way though I want to finish it. If it's not that great in the end, I can at least say that I tried.

Artistic Identity

Right now I'm trying to figure out who I am and where I want to go as an artist. I have so many ideas floating around in my head. I'd love to do some more drawings of my daughter from photos I've taken. I have a few more conceptual ideas I'd like to work with, I'll have to use myself as a model, so basically more self portraits. I also have this relatively new idea of working with some Disney images. I really love the work from the Art of Disney store, and I even have a few reference photos that would be vaguely reminiscent of Garmash, but of course would have my personal style. I even have a few reference photos of architecture and and sculptures that I could use in creating work. Of course all of that requires permission to use the recognizable imagery. And I'll be going to Disney World again soon, so I'll be taking more photos and will probably find a few that I want to use in my art. I used to have the dream of becoming a Disney animator, but really I don't think that's possible for me right now. I think combining that first love of Disney and Disney animation with my love of realistic portraiture might be the way to go for me. I think maybe I should just explore all of these outlets and see where it leads me. Also I do plan on buying some acrylic paint so that I can try my hand at painting again. I have oils but I think my style and method of working may be better suited to acrylics.
One thing is for sure, I need to start working more often and for longer periods of time, and I need to get a nice set of acrylic paint to start out with. Then I can just start working on all my ideas, maybe even get to the point where I can work on more than one piece at a time.

I did a little work tonight. Still nothing major, just some laying in lines, figuring out boundaries and adding a necklace. I think the chain still needs a little work, but I'm thinking this will be a square piece 14" x 14" I think it might be interesting, with the strong rectangle as the focus of a square composition. I was listening to a National Gallery of Art Podcast, and I definitely need to do some more research into artwork from 1850 - 1900. The exhibit was "The Darker Side of Light" it's darker more intimate work that was done during a the time of impressionism. I took a bunch of photos tonight too, I was exploring a concept that I may end up using in a drawing. I might use one of the photos as a reference.

A Bit of Inspiration: Pam Powell

http://pampowell.com/

I just got the new issue of Artist's Magazine yesterday, and I found an interesting article on Pam Powell. I see some similarities between her work and mine, and some of what I strive for. I love that she works with those small fleeting moments in life that can be so beautiful in their simplicity. Sometimes that is what I am working to strive for. I also love that she uses photoshop as a way to "sketch." She will sometimes edit two photos together to get the right composition which I just don't have the confidence to do. Mostly I depend on just getting the right photo the first time, but of course I also can't afford to hire models like she does. Right now I work with the models available to me, my family and I. I enjoy the dramatic lighting in her work, the shapes of light, all really add to emotion of each piece.

Drawing update

I'm about done with the back mirror portion. Now that I'm looking at the photo I'm thinking maybe those leaves look a little too dark now, also the stems need a little fixing as well. The hair is not too bad. I made the hair a little thicker and longer than it actually is because I wanted more of curtain backdrop. I think it works out better this way. I'm definitely going to lighten those flowers though. I'm starting to build the rest of the jewelry box around the back mirror now, and I think it's looking rather good, though that bottom line on the mirror bugs me a little. I'll just have to double check and see if that is the paper or the actual angle. The bubble seems to be working itself out on it's own, I hope it's at least mostly gone when the drawing is finished. I'm not sure how I'd make the paper flat anyway. I do store all my drawing sandwiched in between two pieces of cardboard so maybe the storage will help.

Featured Link

http://www.warhol.org/tc21/main.html

I know for some of you this may be old news, but I remembered reading an article about archivist going through Andy Warhol's time capsules a few months to a year ago. I thought I had read something about them posting items from the boxes on a blog, but I didn't seem to save a link anywhere and google turned up nothing. Anyway I did find the site that I linked above and it is pretty interesting even if it is only one of the boxes.

I'll be reading a book on Andy Warhol soon, just as soon as I finish the current book that I'm reading. Maybe I'll have a few things to say about him after I read the book. I never really showed much interest in him before, but when I learned more about Jackson Pollock I not only understood his work but respected and admired it.