Litho Final Portfolio: I R printmaker.

The quarter has come to an end and of course this means, final portfolios. Consensus: quarter systems sucks. I only got to do three lithographs, and no color. However as you may have counted there are four, naturally this is because I'm one of those over achieving types.Well kinda, like when I feel like it.

Lepurberus edition of 4

First project, which took for freaking ever. I think I printed 5 weeks into the class. This was all done in  tusche crayon.

And Then the Forest Began to Sing edition of 4

 This was the project I was excited about, the liquid tusche. It paints like a dream and oh man the texture you can get from the reticulations is gorgeous. Anyways this was a experiment of happy accidents. I over etched the hell out of this thing. One pass and it was black. Plus the conte crayon was too thick when I drew the houses and clouds and it left a white outline that looks like they were backlit. 

"The Devil You Think You Know" Artist proof
Oh hello problem child. I had a total Fuck Yeah Art Student Owl moment with this little bitch. Drawing goes perfect, colored in relative speed. One day before final portfolio due: Colossal clusterfuck. I forgot some pretty crucial steps. Lesson here: don't rush. Anyways so the only decent print was a artist proof. I love the image and how it was going to turn out so I'll try again soon. Next time I'm going to stain the paper before I print.

"Cast From Eden" edition of 6

So at the beginning of the semester I discovered that you could buy a pack of 30 polyester plates for relatively cheap at dickblick and print in an etching press. Oh Yes. A safety net. Anyways this has been printed on watercolor paper and will be hand painted. 

Ahhh Yeaaah Christmas in..Spring Quarter.

Beginning of the quarter always hurts so good. You remember that feeling as a kid when you got your school supplies? The new crayons and markers, pencils and pencil boxes? Multiply that by a thousand for art students. Both in the feeling and the price. Next quarter is all about printmaking and painting, so freaking excited. I just got all my supplies for the quarter.

WIP it good!

Only four weeks left in the quarter...battle stations!

The assignment was single point perspective with windows and door...I went a little over board

Earworms.

Röyskopp::Senior

I've always loved Röyskopp. Their trippy electronic funk instramentals take my mind to strange places and get amazing result. This companion album is darker and much more suited to my style than their previous album Junior. My absolute favorites on this one are: The Fear, and Forsaken Cowboy.

Angus & Julia Stone :: Down the Way

Such beautiful voices and image driven lyrics. I'm a huge sucker for odd voices, and interesting arrangements. Well maybe unique is a better way to put it. The mellow vibe is incredibly soothing during a manic night in the studio meeting dead lines. 

Fever Ray::Fever Ray

Speaking of odd voices and funky beats. Karin Dreijer Andersson is who I want to be when I grow up. I picture her as my alter ego. Completely driven by dark beats and visually powerful lyrics, it has been a driving force for my conceptual work recently. Keep the Streets Empty for Me is my particular favorite. Its been stuck in my head for weeks.

E.S. Posthumus :: Unearthed

Not only do they make powerful instrumental music, but they get major credit for using Carvaggio on their album cover. I can't even begin to describe their music. Well I can, but the piece that speaks the most to me is Ebla. Everytime I listen to it I animate it in my mind. Perhaps one day I'll sit down and sketch it out.

Ratatat :: LP4

No words. Just love. These guys just keep getting better. Well except their third album was kind of a wash. But this totally makes up for it. I put this on my ipod and dance when I paint. It amuses my classmates to no end.

Indo Boards got nothing on this.

my hero.

Life is still

Been working hard in oil class. Still life can be so boring but for some reason I fell in love with this old canister.



my view


start of my macro view


blocking it in


grounding for the big one. Shhh I'm working from a picture

Oh and ps. I'm addicted to hipstermatic and law and order svu haha!

99 problems and a bitch ain't one

Finished my second etch for my lithograph the other day. This also means as you can see that I figured out my composition issues as well. Also my paper came. So much paper! I bought two sampler packs to fill my new flat file!





workin it





full shot

All thats left is to get my paper all prepared and roll this baby up.

What the duck.

Today was so gorgeous I had to take some photos at the arboretum. But it was really funny this morning the ducks caused a traffic jam when they all decided to cross the street on mass but at least they were polite enough to actually use the crosswalk.

From the bridge

Pirating around the creek

This was originally of a squirrel but he disappeared!

How to ruin a still life in 5 easy steps.

Right, so allow me to preface this by you about my classes this semester. Quarter. DAMMIT.


Anyways. I'm actually taking art classes this time around. Excited? Just a little. So I'm taking beginning painting, which in all fairness should just be called "Play With Expensive Oil Paints 101" But I need it, because apparently the word, watercolor is synonymous with shitting your pants.

Moving along, I am also taking beginning drawing, which is a necessary evil in my mind. My rendering skills are my weakest link and so I figure I'll start from the bottom but presently I'm bored to tears but still trying to challenge myself.

My last class I am so excited about, its lithography, and we're printing on actual stones, not plates (squeal!).


Alright so circling back around to my painting class our second assignment was a still life of pears and apples. Once upon a time...

Simple enough, however we were challenged to use only complimentary pairs. Some girl actually thought red and orange were complimentary. Holy crap. So things started out well enough, I set mine up and chose purple and yellow as my pair.

Things seem to moving along smoothly here, I'm liking the warmth of the colors and the complimentary neutrals I'm making as well as the kind of impressionistic brushstrokes, but then I decide that I should probably block in the majority of my canvas with color. Mind you there's really been no instruction at this point as to technique so this is me playing and experimenting.

Really happy at this point but I started to struggle with keeping my darks dark and my highlights light. But I'm enjoying the process.

Here is where things start sink. I've blocked in most of the paper towels and now start to overwork the fruit until I'm starting to lose all those nice expressive strokes, and this is when the shit started to hit the fan so to speak.

WE ARE GOING DOWN CAPTAIN. Oh. em. gee. What the hell happened. Why did some one not talk me off the ledge once they saw the cad yellow on my brush?! Friends don't let friends do this to their painting.

Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today to recognize that this painting has been over worked like hooker. At this point the "salvaging" that I was attempting was not happening. I put down the brush, remade the still life and started over. Sadly though, I don't have pictures of that paintings progress, its still at school but I shall update you all post haste when I return.

This next week should be rather hectic because I'm moving closer to school and organizing that should be the biggest pain in the ass.

New year, new look

I finally got around to making this blog my own again. and I'm so glad. As you might have guessed life got the best of me and this blog has remained neglected. But now I'm back! And I have so much to tell and show off, so stay tuned!