A bit of Madness

     Recently I have found myself flooded with many, many things to do and of course no time to do it all. I'm in the middle of midterms, I haven't been feeling very well, and the recent rainy weather makes me want to do little else than drink hot chocolate and watch re-runs of That 70's Show. I knew that keeping up with Inktober would be hard this time of year, and unfortunately I haven't. I have been making all this other art though, and now that things have calmed down a bit I intend to keep doing ink drawing (I have a bunch of ideas in my head!). 

     I feel a little disappointed in myself, but I have been working really hard on other projects. 

     This is a drawing that I thought I could turn in as my midterm for a draw-naked-people class I have. I went to a ballet class on campus (yes! they let guests sit in and watch!) and tried to get some inspiration. After hours of pencil shavings, ballet videos online, and some dancing of my own I came up with this. And I really like it, it was a total challenge, and I'm proud of it; however, my professor was having none of it. 

. . . He wants me to make figures that move and are dynamic (So, cartoons?) He says that I'm too logical and focus on anatomy too much. Art teachers, you can never please them.This is what I think I'm going to try now: 

     I still want to still show that frame-by-frame action, just with these sorts of figures.  Up next is my current relief print: 

     For this print we're doing what's called a "suicide technique." Such a great, cheerful name, I know! It's a single block used for all the colors; first the white is cut out, then the lightest color, second lightest, all the way to the darkest color. It is a little scary since there is no going back on this one, every cut, every inking, is final. I think it'll look great when it's done though. I'd like to think it's Sally Ride in there (even though the suit is wrong for her time). Also, pay no attention to the NASA logo I totally forgot to carve mirrored so that it'd be right on the print. 

     Finally, I'd like to share some clay sculptures I have done. 

     This is a flamenco dancer sculpture that I've been working on for weeks, in a very slow, very agonizing process. But she's done! Now she just needs a long ruffled dress. She will basically be a 3D representation of an illustration I made over the summer: 

     I hope I can do the bottom part of the dress in just a couple of weeks. After that, glazing is fairly simple. 

     Lastly, I leave you with a truly remarkable piece, the Kim Kardashian bust. 

     This one is really amusing for me because historically busts have been of rulers, military leaders, royalty, poets, philosophers (think Nefertiti, Augustus); people who really influenced society, history. And now we have Kim K.I have nothing against her, she's a human and deserves all human rights. But she's famous for being famous really, she isn't a singer, actress, writer, or political figure. Yet, why is she so popular, why do we know her name and not the name of other women who do their make up really well and have several siblings? Why has our culture become to interested in people just for their glamour? 

     Anyway, just some clay for thought. 

     Hope to write again soon! 

Inktober 14 and 15

     Happy almost-the-weekend! 

     Although I don't always get around to creating a blog-post for every Inktober drawing, I always post them on my Instagram (@divasque). Anyway, here is yesterday's piece: 

     And here's another from the same drawing session. I was watching videos of circus performers, gymnasts and ballet dancers. I love the ways the human body can move, jump, and twist. 

     I find trapeze artists really amazing right now, for me it's scary enough to jump up to grab the monkey bars, I can't imagine doing it while 50 feet in the air, after someone flung me off, while a crowd stares and a million lights are shining in my face. Just, wow. 

     Here is today's drawing: 

     Guess I've just been into macabre stuff lately. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Inktober Day 13

     For today's inktober drawings I have something a bit different. 

     I've been in a bit of a funk, not quite feeling myself, so I decided to show that physically. It's not that I feel like a monster, or a mash up of all these incoherent, incongruous things. It's more like I have some stuff to heal from, some stuff to get over, and until then I'm a little emotionally vulnerable. Like a scar vulnerable to infection. 

Also, it's Halloween time and it seemed appropriate. 

Also, art history was very slow today and I had pens. . . 

Here's some other stuff I have been working on. 

Inktober Day 12

     Lately I have been thinking about tragedy; probably because in one of my classes we've been talking about World War I. For just a hot second my professor mentioned something about the Germans sinking a civilian ship, and that just hit a soft spot in me. So, I came up with this: 

     I'm thinking about turning it into a relief print. We'll see if my printmaking professor approves it later this week. 

Inktober Mash

     Happy Sunday! I admit I have not been fantastic at posting my inktober drawings, but I have been drawing. It has been a very busy and out-of-the-ordinary weekend. First of all, I won an award! And went to a ceremony where I received this award! 

     That's me, getting an award for highest academic achievement and awkwardly giving a handshake to dean of the School of Art. 

     I also went to a political rally this weekend, I had never been to one before and it was actually kind of fun. Of course no politician is perfect, but this one at least had a good act. 

     Back to the art, here are some drawings I've been doing. 

I'll be back tomorrow for sure. Inktober will not defeat me!

Also, there are some more pictures on my Instagram: divasque

     

Inktober Day 8

     I've been learning about Expressionism at school, and I really like the idea behind it. It's all about embracing and exploiting our humanity, really digging into our emotions and representing those rather than reality. However, I don't think I could physically get myself to draw like Egon Schiele, but I did come up with these. 

Hopefully this weekend I can find the time to create more complex drawings, 'til then!

Di 

Inktober Cartoon

     Very quick post today, I had 3 back-to-back studios and barely managed to make this while one of my teachers wan't looking. 

(Read: humans in their infinite egotism) 

Di

Inktober: Day 6

     Yes, I know this is only my second drawing, but technically it's still the sixth day of Inktober.

     For today I have a little caricature of the twins, Ernest and Roy (Roy is the one with spiky hair, Ernest has curly red hair). These guys are cartoons I made up over the summer. At the time I had been listening to some podcasts and reading articles about freak shows in the 1800's and 1900's. You know the type, where people with tattoos, an extra limb, or who are very tall or short would travel around to go in front of audiences to "perform." Some actually enjoyed it well enough and made some good money out of it while others were forced into the work since they could not find a regular job or were just shunned by society at large. So I created Ernest and Roy, thought about their personalities, hobbies, and just imagined their life story a little. They will be a reoccurring theme in my art and maybe one day I will tell their full story. 

     I was originally inspired by this photo: 

     However, I have since learned that it is a photo trick, and not actual Siamese twins. I was both disappointed and glad. Yet there are such twins in this in this world, currently the most popular are Abby and Brittany Hensel. They became famous through their show on the network TLC (http://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/abby-and-brittany/) and seem pretty happy and adjusted even if life has a few more difficulties for them.

     I am totally fascinated by people with not-so-common bodies, extra limbs, super stretchy skin, conjoined twins, and the like. Not that I want to gawk at them, I'm simple intrigued at the way nature goes a little weird sometimes. 

     Perhaps this will a theme for Inktober? 

Di. 

Inktober: I'm a bit late for the race.

     Today a friend of mine mentioned InkTober, something I had not yet heard about. It is a worldwide artistic challenge for artists with a few simple rules. 

1.) Make a drawing in ink (you can do a pencil under-drawing if you want).

2) Post it on your blog (or tumblr, instagram, twitter, facebook, flickr, Pinterest or just pin it on your wall.)

3) Hashtag it with #inktober4) Repeat  

     It was started by artist Jake Parker (Website: http://mrjakeparker.com/about) to inspire artists to challenge themselves and improve their skills. 

     I have never done an artistic challenge before, but now that I have this blog I figured it'd be a fantastic way to start out (and an excuse to get some supplies at the art store). This is going to be a little tough in the middle of midterms, but I'm determined. 

     Here is my first drawing for #inktober.

Til tomorrow! 

Di

Welcome to my blog!

Hello everyone,

My name is Di Vasquez, I am a student at the University of Arizona, School of Fine arts. I'm starting this blog to document my journey as an artist and as human in this world. I am a Modernist in the sense that I think art can change the world, even if it's one person's world at a time. I will share my art, my thoughts on my art and other people's art, my inspirations, my hopes, my disappointments and share my life with the world. 

As far as my art goes, it's a bit all over the place, ranging form realistic renderings to cartoons, from illustrations for stories to sculptures of things I think look good. I'm still trying to figure it out. Nevertheless, I want to art to tell stories, I want it to be of things and themes we don't encounter in our everyday world. 

I hope we all enjoy it.