Pop Goes the Artist!

Some time ago, I did a “blast from the past” post, showcasing some of my older artwork. I’d like to make this a very occasional series if I can, so with that in mind, here is the second installment. This is from my freshman year of high school and marks the first time I used soft pastels. I remember being distinctly underwhelmed by them. In retrospect, it was mostly the fault of the paper we were using–fairly light, smooth sketch paper, whereas soft pastel is more ideally suited to something heavier and with a much more pronounced tooth, otherwise the surface of the paper fills up really fast. After only a few layers, the paper simply won’t accept any more pastel, so serious layering and blending is nearly impossible (not that I could have done that at the time anyway). This project was done from life; we had a set up of styrofoam shapes, but the colors we chose were our own.

I wish I had some photos of my other pastels (some completed within a few months of this one), because all I want to say when I see this is “You’ve come a long way, baby.” On a related note, I should really try to finish the pastel I started of a Quin Abbey.

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Sorry there haven’t been updates here in forever. I got back to school a week ago and have been absolutely swamped–I’ve barely had time to return phone calls and emails, let alone sit down for thirty minutes and try to coax coherent sentences out of my fingers. Things should be slowing down some after the weekend’s over, so I might even have time to start my next project.

I’m also pleased to report that my dorm has plenty of room for an easel. Hallelujah.

Nothing like completely idiotic mistakes to perk up your late afternoon.  Awhile ago (and by “awhile” I actually mean “at least a year”) I put together a 3×3″ accordian-style book, with the intent of eventually illuminating a letter of the alphabet on each page.  I counted out the number of pages very carefully, probably thirty times, because I am compulsive like that.

Except, oops!  I counted wrong each time.  Or rather, I counted the number of pages correctly–twenty-four–without ever realizing (until now) that there are twenty-six letters in the English alphabet.  Not twenty-four.  Obviously.

(Apparently a college education just isn’t what it once was.)

It’s a fixable mistake–I’ll just make the front and back covers A and Z respectively.  (And actually, that saves me the headache of figuring out what to put on the covers.)  But still.

(Welcome to the world of Claire On the Internet: where total image control is possible and yet not even attempted.  I don’t have to post embarassing anecdotes about myself.  But for some reason, I do.)

In other news, I have finally found the perfect glue for altered booking (altering books?  whatever): Yes! Stikflat Glue.  I’m pretty sure that the jar I have will last me the rest of my life, but quantity aside, it’s still great.  Every other glue I’ve used for altered books has made the paper buckle, which is just a pain.  This stuff actually does stick flat.  It also seems to hold a lot better than the other stuff, although time will tell.  Plus it doesn’t destroy my brushes, a huge bonus, and it cleans up with water.  I am a fan.