El Nino

Really quick post before I pass out from exhaustion. Not really, but I have been coloring almost non-stop for about 12 hours, which not only sounds like a ridiculous thing, but it sounds like a fun thing. It stopped being fun 6 hours ago. 

It is my first project for an illustration class, and it is due in 11.5 hours. And I just finished it. Which is actually much better than my last big illustration, which was finished at 1:30AM. Beat that by 2 hours, whoop! 

So this is El Niño, a weather phenomenon which causes the weather to go out of whack, floods in places with little rain, drought in places with regular rainfall. So it's an angry kid, which comes out of the water off the coast of South America, and he's angry! 

Back to printmaking

Not much happened this last week, being only the second week of school and all, but I do have some art to share. It's always a slow start at the beginning of each semester, and it helps that the first week was only 2 days and the second week only 3 days long. It's a nice way to ease back into school instead of taking a plunge into the frenzy that is undergrad. This week will be the first full week of classes, so I feel like things are about to get serious. 

One thing that just got serious is printmaking. I just started my first print! It had been a slow start since I haven't actually met with my professor yet. But since technically I can do whatever I want, I went ahead and started to carve. Walking into the printmaking room after all this time was magical, like walking into grandma's house after years of not being there. The smell of wood, ink, and whatever crazy chemicals that are used for lithography hit me and I couldn't help but smile and feel right at home. 

This is the hourglass I mentioned in last week's post. A black hole eating up stars, planets, the universe itself. 

I'm also taking a painting class this semester. I still have not decided how I feel about painting. I love paintings, looking at them, thinking about them and their creators; yet I'm not sure how I feel about my painting. It is a lot of work, it is difficult, time consuming, and I'm not very good at it. On the other hand, there is something hypnotizing and soothing about painting, and I feel so accomplished when I do finish a painting. Maybe this class will help me figure out how I really feel. Here are some doodles from last week. 

They look creepy because they don't have eyes. We were supposed to get the general feel of the head instead of focusing on details like eyeballs or nostrils. I apologize in advance for the nightmares. 

Lastly I'd like to share a little illustration I did. 

I came up with the pun while driving yesterday, and I had to draw it. 

Until next time! 

Happy 2016

Happy start of a year! 

I thought I would do at least one post while I was on break, but time just slipped by me. It was a short break, but it was good, and I did get a bit of art done; though not nearly as much as I would have liked. Art just takes a long time, like watching-several-seasons-of-a-show-while-working long. 

The main project I took on this winter break, while I wasn't hanging out with my mom in her sewing room, or making an impromptu road trip to Texas, was a series of three self-portraits. One of myself as "I woke up like this," another as if I'd no skin, and the last showing just my bones. I have the first nearly done, though I have been putting off the hair since I think that's the least interesting part. 

This is the second one, I thought it was done earlier today, but I might revisit a couple of parts on it. 

As for the third, I'm not sure when I will be able to get that done. It seems as though I will have another very busy schedule this semester. 

This is another project I did over break. It was a gift to my grandparents in Idaho, who I have not seen in years. They visited various parts of Arizona in their younger days, and really enjoyed it. So, I figured I would offer them a little piece of the desert. 

I found this amazing paper at an art store and had to it. There were other like it too, just square sheets of paper with photographs, geometric patterns, bits of larger paintings. I wasn't quite sure what I would do with them, but I did this piece and hope to make more like it. I'm not sure it'll be more desert landscapes, usually I don't do landscapes in general; however, I am open to exploring that genre. 

Lastly, I offer some pictures of my sketchbook. 

These are some ideas for my first project for my current illustration class, it's about the weather phenomenon known as El Niño. More details on that later. 

This is an idea I had for a relief print (Did I mention I'm taking an independent study for this? That means I can do whatever my little heart desires, it's very exciting!) 

The concept is about how black holes eat up stars, even whole solar systems, if given enough time--that is if they don't emit too much Hawking Radiation and annihilate themselves. I have been doing some reading up on black holes, 'tis the time for some very interesting astronomy news! I used to be a huge astronomy nerd (yes, I know why Pluto is not a planet and should remain that way), so I hope I can realize this as a print. 

And lastly, I present some angel wings, made out of spaghetti and meatballs. This was a friend request; more on this later as well! I just wanted to get caught up on some of my latest artistic endeavors. 

Till next week! 

End of the Semester!

Hi Friends,

So it is the end of another semester of college, only 3 more semesters to go! It has been a little hectic, trying to get all my work done on time. Thankfully art major don't have finals like most other majors due, you just have all the projects due at the same time. Here are my final projects in all my studio classes. 

First up, figure illustration. 

The project was the create a drawing of something that was 75% non-human, and that could be anything, another animal, robot, goo, food. I chose an alien bug! This drawing is inspired by Octavia Butler's "Blood Child." Butler was one of the very few African-American women in science fiction. Her stories often include social criticism on issues of feminism and racial equality. She won both Hugo and Nebula awards and was a very cool lady all around. She describes her short story "Blood Child" as her "pregnant man story." It's very good, a little gory, but really interesting. I totally recommend it. 

Up Next: Printmaking.

This was my first linoleum print, and it was both wonderful and anxiety-inducing. The linoleum was a dream to carve, it was so soft and did everything I wanted it to; unlike wood, which just does whatever it feels like doing, it splinters, it's really though. . .

Unfortunately though, the more times I put it through the press the more it stretched out, it grew a couple of millimeters both length and width-wise.Even though this is a minuscule amount, it makes a difference on a print that depends on correct alignment. So each time I put a print through the press I got a different result, it was maddening. Usually I get 90% good prints and screw up the rest. This time I would consider that only 30% of them are good. Most of the rest aren't terrible, they are just so obviously out of alignment that I was ashamed of them. 

And look how many I had to print! 22 all together. Here's one that turned out pretty well.

It's a blood orange. Our theme this time was heart, so I thought about "heart" as the center of something, like the heart of a city, or an artichoke heart; and then blood because hearts pump blood! This one is not real deep, but it's pretty. 

Lastly: Sculpture! 

Let me tell you that metal work is not my thing. I can be in the wood shop all, sculpt with clay all day, but metal sculpture, yuck. I'm not sure if it was the uncomfortable gloves and head/ear/eye protection we had to wear, or the 50 lb saws and other tools I had to manipulate, or how unforgiving metal is, but it was not fun to make this tiny pill bottle. It looks good in the end, but I don't plan on doing this again anytime soon. 

So this one is a bit complex. It is a trophy both for myself and for modern medicine. I know that I cannot give it to modern medicine, since it's made up of a bunch of people, ideas, chemical compounds, equipment, etc., etc., but it's still a sort of ode to modern medicine, science-based medicine. The base represents the steps it took through years of trials and errors to get to where we are today: where broken bones can be healed, where many cancers can be cured, where half of children no longer get polio and die, and where I can get the medicine I need to (mostly) function like a human. 

I thought the bronze was appropriate not only because it's a nice, shiny material, but also because it was the more expensive option (the other one was aluminum); and we all know medicine can be expensive. Also, bronze in sporting events signifies 3rd place, gold is first, then silver, then bronze. This means that even though science-based medicine has made it this far, it's not perfect yet. Humanity has yet to eradicate many diseases, and maybe one day we could alter babies DNA in utero to take out the genes that cause Hemophilia or Down Syndrome. Maybe one day we could heal burns instantly. But we're not there yet. 

So that's my end of the semester wrap up. But don't think that just because school is over I will not be arting, I have a lot of things I want to do. Let's see how many I can get to when I'm not binge watching shows or baking gingerbread cookies. 

Thanksgiving Post

Very quick post today, I just wanted to share those last two print variations. My printmaking professor made class yesterday optional, since most people bail the day before Thanksgiving anyway. And once again I was the only one there! It was just me, the teaching assistant, and the professor. This happened last year too, just me and the teacher. Very awkward. 

Anyway, here's the 3rd version. I like the color on it's own, but I think it washes out the print a little. 

Here's the last one, and probably my favorite variation, aside from from the original one of course. I think it makes the topic of "Skin" more obvious. 

Last, I just want to show that my mom made a Pintrest project, and it actually worked! 

Apple pie roses. 

Adventures in the Foundry and New Print

I'd like to announce that this last Tuesday, Nov. 17, I participated in my first real art show! "Real" here meaning one that I was not just in because my whole class was required to participate in it. Unfortunately, I did not take a single picture! Maybe because I was too distracted by the free snacks or maybe because I was too cold to think straight. I am still kicking myself for that. 

In other news, I've been creating a little trophy for myself, as part of a sculpture class, not because I'm that full of myself. The interesting part though is that we are metal casting! Using a found object we made a silicone mold which made a wax cast which made a sand mold which will make a bronze cast. Very simple, I know. 

This is the silicone mold, encased in plaster for stability. In it I poured liquid wax. An old tire is holding that mold together, such advanced technology. 

After using the wax casting to make a sand mold, we had to melt the wax out of the pour-cup, which is basically a funnel for the molten metal later. A bunch of us students went to do this without anyone supervising us and it was both hilarious and nerve wracking. 

This is the sand mold after it was fired in order to melt the rest of the wax off and strengthen the mold. It looks a bit weird right now but it's a pill bottle attached to the pour-cup. 
     

And finally! Pouring in molten metal into these thin molds. It was amazing to watch people handle a F 2000+ degree liquid. 

After the metal hardens and cools I will break off the mold with a hammer and clean up my piece with a sandblaster. I have a base ready for it too. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of next week!

Moving on to printmaking, I finished another set of prints. Here is the final product:

This print was a lot of fun to make and the end result is amazing! For this assignment we were supposed to purposefully break the rules of printmaking, which include having good registration (alignment), clean boarders, using printmaking paper, etc. People got really creative with this, printing on magazine pages or fabric, some are combining mediums by painting on their prints with watercolor. 

I decided to keep the idea of a print still, but mess with the borders and registration. When I explained my idea to my professor she was skeptical to say the least, and watched me print with worried look in her face. And today she she told me it was "fabulous"! It's so nice when things go my way. I'm so proud of this print. 

And since I only messed up a couple of prints of the 10 I originally made, I have 3 left over to experiment with. I'm going to try a couple of different colors and also try printing the background off registration. I will do that this Wednesday and try to post the pictures the same day. Here is one I had just enough time to do before class ended. 

I think the teal background works better than this faded yellow one, but it's still interesting. 

Bye for now!

On How Printmaking Has Taken Over My Life and Other Art Related Things

     I feel a bit like I'm in an episode of the X-files and time has stopped functioning as it usually does. I'm not sure how, but all of a sudden it was Halloween, and then all of a sudden we're halfway through November. These last few weeks have been a bit of blur. 

     However, I do have evidence to suggest time has passed as usual since I have been handed back tests, I have pictures on my phone with dates between Halloween and now, and I have produced some art. So maybe this is less of an X-files moment and more of an Adam Sandler in "Click" moment. 

     Let me start catching up by presenting the last relief print I made, "Major Tom." 

     I really dig this print. I am impressed with myself, especially because this was such a chaotic, weird process. As I mentioned before, this is called a "suicide" or "reduction" print, where you print as you carve and every carving is final, every inking is final, there's no going back. I started out with 9 prints, and barely had 5 left by the end. I ripped one, printed one upside-down, and added a black outline on a couple which turned out too terrible to show in public. I really wish I had more, but life is unfair, so I'll just have to treasure the few I have. 

     That print made me realize a couple of things about printmaking. First, that it's more about the process than the actual image. Second, that a lot of wiggle room is necessary with each idea, you can't create a print to look just a drawing you make (unless you're a printmaking god or something). And lastly that you should be really open minded, if all of a sudden a mistake leads to something better than your first idea, do it. 

     With these free-spirited ideas in mind, I thought for the next print I'd wing it a little. The theme for this one is "Skin," so I thought about how stretchy skin is, which made me think of other stretchy things like bubble gum, silly putty, and rubber bands. So I created an image that looks like those things being stretched. That's the idea, as for the colors, the background, the lines, I'm improvising it all as I go! I hope it goes well, so far I have only two colors and I already love it. 

     Here is a picture of the inking process and the giant ink mess I made; it took a long time to clean up. 

     I have to admit that I have a love/hate relationship with printmaking, the results are amazing and the inking/printing process is meditative in a weird way. Yet, actually carving the wood. . .I'm often tempted to trow the plywood across the room! And also, sometimes the press handle spins out of control and hits me when I try to grab it, I have broken several nails from this! Regardless, I'm really glad I'm in this class. 

     Anyway, on to non-print things! Here are pictures of me drawing with my toes, because it's art school and nothing is off limits. (Don't get me started on how last semester I went dumpster diving in order to create a "fun house" of trash. . .)

(At least it sort of resembles a human, yes?)

     My figure drawing professor hung up a bunch of my class' drawings, some done with hands, some with feet, and a few done by drawing with piece of charcoal taped to the end of a long stick. I had 7 pieces up! 

     They are a lot of fun to browse, regardless of the fact that they are mostly drawings of nude, old men (We need some ladies to pose for us!). Well, this post has become a bit long, so I'm going to stop here. However, I will try to write about once a week since there's always a new project in the works or new doodle in my sketchbooks. More pictures on my Instagram! 

Di