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I hate my easel.
You would think after having the same rickety easel for nearly six years I would grow fonder of it despite the wrong it does me, since that seems to be my modus operendi
(see: family, boyfriend, converse shoes, jeans with hole in the crotch). Yet, as of late my only feelings towards my easel are incendiary, literally.
Why, you ask? I'll tell you. Because every day that little jerk easel malfunctions and my freaking canvas falls into my blasted face. I scream, curse, forget about it. Then, I go to the grocery store, or the gas station, or Starbucks and everyone is staring at me *because I'm so hot. Upon looking in a mirror (Usually, this happens at the END of the day.), I see that I have unknowingly applied war paint to my face. Cute.
It's true, all my clothes are ruined. I'm not going to say that it is ONLY the easels fault, because let's face the facts, I'm not Miss Clean and Tidy, but the easel does not make my motor skill deficiencies any easier.
On a more POSITIVE note, I have good news. I'm working on a small collaboration with a incredibly gifted and visionary photographer from Spain who has quite graciously granted me permission to use this photo as a reference for my butterfly series:
Please, go look at her stuff on flicker, here.
What I love the most about this photo is that it totally reminds me of a Vermeer painting. I love the lighting and the strange pose of the woman in the painting. I think it will make for a really cool surreal yet realistic painting once I figure out the end concept.
Also, I found another artist that I really like, and her style is something that I am not typically drawn to. Her name is Oana Lauric. The way she handles sunlight in huge matte, cubistlike chunks really appeals to me. Here is an example of one of her paintings :
It is easy to understand why she uses colors in planes and overlapping geometric shapes. Before she was an artist, she studied architecture, and mostly she paints famous landmarks in Europe and the US.
I think I would like to experiment and try painting in a similar style, but I'd like to do it in domestic settings, and study the way that light comes through drapery and cloth. The way a curtain or drape is transformed into a million diamonds and triangles of color when exposed to light is visually fascinating to me. I'd like to explore it more.
I realized the reason why I'm so bummed out about this painting I'm working on because the girl is a fucking mammoth and I wanted her to appear frail and delicate. Who knows. Maybe it will all work out in my favor.
Tomorrow is Monday. I will wake up early, which means I need to get to bed before 1 am, preferably. I really want to be disciplined so I'm setting the goal of posting pictures tomorrow of the whole process. That will definitely motivate me to stay focused enough to make the painting NOT SUCK by the end of the day.
OH AND BEFORE I GO, A NOTE TO ARTISTS : Even though in earlier in my blog I said I use Shellac, I don't highly recommend it if you are sensitive to chemicals. It will ruin your brushes immediately. There is absolutely nothing you can do about the carnage. Despite the totally awesome and righteous results, it is a wasteful and biologically hazardous practice that is irresponsible. That being said, if you still want to try it out, get the crappy sponge brushes from Michael's that you can only use once anyway.
You would think after having the same rickety easel for nearly six years I would grow fonder of it despite the wrong it does me, since that seems to be my modus operendi
(see: family, boyfriend, converse shoes, jeans with hole in the crotch). Yet, as of late my only feelings towards my easel are incendiary, literally. Why, you ask? I'll tell you. Because every day that little jerk easel malfunctions and my freaking canvas falls into my blasted face. I scream, curse, forget about it. Then, I go to the grocery store, or the gas station, or Starbucks and everyone is staring at me *because I'm so hot. Upon looking in a mirror (Usually, this happens at the END of the day.), I see that I have unknowingly applied war paint to my face. Cute.
It's true, all my clothes are ruined. I'm not going to say that it is ONLY the easels fault, because let's face the facts, I'm not Miss Clean and Tidy, but the easel does not make my motor skill deficiencies any easier.
On a more POSITIVE note, I have good news. I'm working on a small collaboration with a incredibly gifted and visionary photographer from Spain who has quite graciously granted me permission to use this photo as a reference for my butterfly series:
Please, go look at her stuff on flicker, here.
What I love the most about this photo is that it totally reminds me of a Vermeer painting. I love the lighting and the strange pose of the woman in the painting. I think it will make for a really cool surreal yet realistic painting once I figure out the end concept.
Also, I found another artist that I really like, and her style is something that I am not typically drawn to. Her name is Oana Lauric. The way she handles sunlight in huge matte, cubistlike chunks really appeals to me. Here is an example of one of her paintings :
It is easy to understand why she uses colors in planes and overlapping geometric shapes. Before she was an artist, she studied architecture, and mostly she paints famous landmarks in Europe and the US.
I think I would like to experiment and try painting in a similar style, but I'd like to do it in domestic settings, and study the way that light comes through drapery and cloth. The way a curtain or drape is transformed into a million diamonds and triangles of color when exposed to light is visually fascinating to me. I'd like to explore it more.
I realized the reason why I'm so bummed out about this painting I'm working on because the girl is a fucking mammoth and I wanted her to appear frail and delicate. Who knows. Maybe it will all work out in my favor.
Tomorrow is Monday. I will wake up early, which means I need to get to bed before 1 am, preferably. I really want to be disciplined so I'm setting the goal of posting pictures tomorrow of the whole process. That will definitely motivate me to stay focused enough to make the painting NOT SUCK by the end of the day.
OH AND BEFORE I GO, A NOTE TO ARTISTS : Even though in earlier in my blog I said I use Shellac, I don't highly recommend it if you are sensitive to chemicals. It will ruin your brushes immediately. There is absolutely nothing you can do about the carnage. Despite the totally awesome and righteous results, it is a wasteful and biologically hazardous practice that is irresponsible. That being said, if you still want to try it out, get the crappy sponge brushes from Michael's that you can only use once anyway.
