Then I discovered Google Reader and stopped visiting Blogger and never updated this anymore.

www.livejournal.com/~neiners

paiden.deviantart.com

filler!

Updates soonish. Sitting surrounded by colored pencils and pups as I type.

Just a liiiiiiittle bit more than the last post. After I took this, I got even further - and started in on some fun little details. I'm not going for photo-realistic (thank goodness, 'cause this would not cut it) ... I'd like it to be even more painterly though. Working too strictly from a photo in the beginning really screws me up. But! Baby steps.

Then I broke out the paint and canvas for the next one - man it's been a while. Wet paint, curse you, always testing my patience. Also, it's funny ... I hear Mr. Acri's voice every five minutes, when I'm painting. Yelling at me to stop and wait, because I'm muddying up the colors. Barking at me to back up, stop getting in so close to the canvas. I wish I was still in his class so I could know I'm moving towards improvement. Anyway-


Just a quick scribble


Looks more like the Ghost of Honey, not her Angel - love this stage though. Always afraid to push it further. Nina, this is like five minutes of paint. Five minutes does not a lively, colorful, detailed dog portrait make.

"What have you been working on?" "I've given in to my inspiration. Pet. Portaits."

Yeah, yeah. I admit it - puppy portraiture seem to be the only kind of art that holds my interest anymore. And the puppies around me are my main (maybe only) source of inspiration. So here is what I've been working on:



Colored pencil of Sheila ~ an exercise in patience and, sorta, strictness. Usually I get all wacky with colored pencil, start throwing in ink and paint, and never spend enough time layering the color. This time I'm only using CP, soo that means I have a lot of layers still to go. Plus the right side of her face is definitely wonkY (why does this always happen? I try so hard to get a good, solid sketch, mirror-check it several times .. while not getting too stiff or overworked, just keeping it loose .. but these funky errors always hide themselves from my eyes until I've put some kind of color down. Probably another result of my artistic impatience [DONE DRAWING, WANNA COLOR!]).



This is typically how my CP drawings go - this already has ink pen outlines, gouache block-ins, marker under-layers. I like mixed media, I think it adds interest and keeps me from feeling too restrained, which always shows. It's more free - freer? This is Casey, my Uncle's great old Lab who passed away recently. Also seen here -



Quite a few years old now. Back when I wasn't so rusty, and I think it shows. It's fun, and I feel like you can see that I was not as self-conscious as I am now.

Soooooo sleepy.

I grabbed a notebook to check out bus times that I had written down, so I could get the ~heck~ outta here, and opened up to this sticky note that had been tucked in the pages:



Hells yeah I am. How appropriate. BYE, WORK.

There is no time! Well, MAKE TIME!

I have whined for 4+ years that I have no time to ~create~ like I used to. 'Like I used to' meaning everyday, usually all day. Yeah, a lot of stuff has changed since I was 16, and thank God for that. I am busier and have more responsibilities. Free time is scarce and moves fast. I always say, 'I'll find the time eventually. Art will come back to me.' But I haven't even been trying. It's no one's fault but my own that I only complete one painting a year.

I guess I am starting to really look at how I spend my time. I spend a lot of it thinking about how things used to be, or wondering how they will be soon (typical). I get a slice of me-time, alone in the apartment, and suddenly I'm desperately bored and calling everyone I know to go to lunch with me, even though I'm not hungry.

Not anymore! This weekend I grabbed and hung onto my free time and made shit happen. Getting started is always the hardest part and I still don't know why. It's like I have to gather up enough energy & motivation to kick-start, and then the rest just follows in momentum. I promise, promise to post new stuff here by the end of the week. Even WIPs. This is a promise to myself, obviously, because I have a great big entourage of two here. ;) But a promise is a promise! Pictures to follow!

Casey in Progress


Roomie ~ such a pal.