Happy Birthday!

This was the photo I took about an hour ago.  I'm pretty impressed with what I got done in an hour.

I finished, about an hour ago I was going to leave this until tomorrow, but I decided I wanted the date on it to be my grandmother's birthday.  Today was her birthday and she really meant a lot to me.  I just think it's neat to have that date on this drawing.  I'm really happy with how this turned out anyway.  I love the hair and I'm feeling really full of myself right now.  Also I think the earring looks fabulous as well.

Drawing update and some photography

I didn't get as much work done today as I would have liked.  I also was going to forgo anymore update posts on this drawing until it's done, but I really like how the hair is turning out.  I'm really trying to get back on schedule now, though I haven't sat down to figure out exactly how far behind I am.  I think that would only make matters worse.  I am going to be devoting more time to working during the day as well as at night (despite a slight schedule change recently).

I took this through the car window while sitting at a red light.  I was struck with the beauty and isolation of the scene.

This is also why I should take my camera with me more often.

Small break and some thoughts

I'm taking a small break from working. Though my reason for taking a break is still bothering me now. I have a pain/cramp in my hand, and the typing that I thought wouldn't be so bad still hurts a bit. Though stopping every so often to work my hand around is less distracting. Besides that I can put my legs up, which helps with my knees.
Anyway, I was reading Smithsonian Q & A: American Art and Artists and I've only made it in the first few pages.  I did start thinking about maybe studying Native American art a bit more.  In high school I went through a period of researching my heritage.  One thing that has stuck with me is the Cherokee language.  I love the look of the letters and ended up only using them in one piece; the heritage self portrait assignment.  I have a few words in my idea book and I really want to use them in a piece again.  I think studying a bit more on Native American art or maybe just the culture in general would be beneficial.
I want to study art history more but I find myself so scattered on where I want to start.  I can't just choose a starting point.
I also worry that my work is too autobiographical.  I dwell too much on comments from other people.  My photography teacher said my photos were too autobiographical.  He wasn't referring to my drawings, but still I worry the same could apply.  Sometimes my work is about me, sometimes my work is just an idea that I came up with and I'm most readily available model.  Sometimes I think even my more personal work has some universal themes that other people could relate to.

Little more progress

I just spent a little bit of time working. I'm still having a bit of trouble mapping out the outer dimensions. Though I do feel better about making my deadline. When I start my commission I'll have to work within preset dimensions. That will be a bit different. I suppose though if I work well that way I might try that more often.

Back from being sick

I was sick for far too long. It was one intense cold and really just knocked me down for awhile. I don't think I'm fully recovered yet because I'm still coughing on occasion but at least I can function on a semi-normal level.
I fell really behind schedule for sure, I definitely have to pick up the pace. I've really got to get into a groove of working during the day too. Working exclusively at night is not working. I also have a commission that I'll have to start on soon and I really need this done before then.

I really didn't get much done tonight either. I spent too much time trying to map out that boundary line. I'm hoping to make a much bigger dent tomorrow. Now that I see the glasses in the photo though I really feel much better about what I did with that.
I'll be posting more progress tomorrow.