Pop Goes the Artist!

I’m back to fiddling with my template, as you can probably tell from the funky-looking “quotable” section.  I’ve been wanting to add that for awhile, with a rotating selection of art-related quotations, but I was having an unexpectedly difficult time formatting the text in that section.  Well, I found a really cool plugin that displays a random quotation from a selection that I put together, but I’m clearly still having formatting issues.  I suspect that if I can figure how to fix that, I’ll also be able to figure out how to fix the sidebar formatting weirdness at the bottom of the sidebar.  I don’t want to put too much energy into it tonight, but the Computer-Smart Boyfriend is currently puzzling over it for me.

Also, I added a spam-deterrent thinger to the comments, because I was getting a TON of comment spam.  So far, it seems to be working, which I hope justifies the added annoyance of the letter-image typing thing.

“I will post 2-3 times a week!” I said. “I will sketch a lot!” I said.

Then I went a week without doing either. Nice work, self.

But tonight I’m doing both, plus putting in some work on “Blue Lucy,” one of two major projects I’m working on right now. (The other is the super-secret project from a few months back which I can finally reveal: an anniversary gift for my parents in the form of a drawing of them from their wedding. Their anniversary was at the end of November. The drawing remains unfinished. I am a terrible daughter.)

The sketch really isn’t anything special. I warmed up by doing an absolutely awful blind contour of my hand in the same position, then moved on to a regular drawing. The proportions look a little funky and the foreshortening in the fingers is off (hence the “awkward” caption), but on the whole it’s not too bad. Then I doodled the red-orange border and realized only too late that it makes the whole thing vaguely reminiscent of a communist propaganda poster. But maybe that’s just me.

And then I did some work on my Lucy painting. It’s progressing slowly, but so far I’m satisfied with how it’s turning out. As you can probably tell, I work mostly color by color and progress from big shapes to details. I’d like to have both this and the drawing done by the end of the month, but realistically, it’s one or the other–and I should probably try to finish that drawing first.

(Click either image to see it larger.)

I finished the altered book page for the concert, but (story of my life) was unable to get a good photograph of it, since it was midnight and I was in my basement. At the moment, the book is with James, since it technically belongs to him anyway, but next time I have it I’ll get a better picture. I did not add a page for the dance, since I just couldn’t come up with any sort of compelling design. I can always add one later, but I don’t think it’s hugely important.

***

On Friday, I went down to DC to visit two museums. I went to the Corcoran Gallery first, to see the Joan of Arc exhibit, which, interestingly, is co-curated by one of the art history professors at my school, with whom I’ll be taking a class next semester. It was an interesting exhibit which traced the “image” of Joan from not long after her death in 1431 through at least World War II. Overall, it was more of a history exhibit than an art exhibit, since opinion of Joan (especially in France) has always been closely tied to the political climate. Her image has been used on everything from American war bond advertisements to letter openers to paper dolls, as well as in a variety of fine art, including a series of incredible paintings by Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel. It’s unusual to see an exhibit that spans such a broad historical and artist range while remaining intensely focused on a very specific theme. It’s definitely worth seeing if you’re interested either in Joan of Arc or the way history and politics can alter the way we see historical figures. (The exhibit runs through January 21.)

After a lunch break, I went to the Sackler Gallery to see “In the Beginning: Bibles Before the Year 1000.” The exhibit turned out to be extremely popular–I had to wait in line for an hour to get in, since they (wisely) restricted the number of people in the exhibit at any time. (It probably didn’t help that the exhibit closes on January 7.) Nevertheless, it was well worth the wait. It included fragments and manuscripts written in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Coptic, and more. One relatively late manuscript from Northern England was written in Latin, but contained marginal notes in Old English. It’s absolutely mind-blowing that such fragile materials have survived more than a millenium, through persecutions, wars, natural disasters, and all manner of social, religious, and political upheavals. One of the oldest fragments of papyrus on display (from, I believe, the second century AD) was found in a garbage dump. Talk about beating the odds.  The exhibit was spectacular, but I suddenly find myself with no words left in my fingers.  If you’re in the area, and you have a free afternoon between now and Sunday, go to the Sackler Gallery and see those fascinating bits of paper.

I don’t normally make New Year’s resolutions, because I never keep them anyway, but this year I’m going to make a few and see whether I can stick with them.  They’re simple, but I think they could make a big difference if I hold to them.

1. Fill up my current sketchbook and begin a new one.
2. Complete at least one major artwork per month (painting, drawing, etc.).  It doesn’t have to be large or complex, but it needs to be more than sketchbook quality.
3. Post here 2-3 times per week.

I think by making my goals as concrete and straightforward as possible, they will be easier to achieve and harder for me to weasel my way out of.

Happy New Year to everyone!

A list of things I’ve learned (or am in the process of learning), in no particular order and for no particular reason:

1) Don’t buy palettes with square wells. Palettes seem to be a very personal thing, with people preferring everything from styrofoam plates (cheap and disposable) to sheets of plexiglass (scrapes clean). A lot of acrylic painters really like the Sta-Wet palette, which I’ve never tried. Nevertheless, there is one generalization about palettes that I can make with confidence: square wells are bad. If you are like me, and are very lazy about cleaning your palettes, they will be ruined immediately because the dry paint will NEVER come out of the little corners. Even if you are not like me and clean out your palette promptly, you will still spend the best years of your life bent over a sink trying to get the paint out of the little corners. (My personal preference, for what it’s worth, is a combination of a porcelain flower-shaped palette and a bunch of small air-tight plastic cups, which can keep paint moist for literally six months or more.)

2) Don’t be afraid to get messy–because it will happen. And what I really mean by that is “Don’t wear your very favorite and almost brand-new t-shirt that you fell in love with on the Internet and then actually bought.” And if you are stupid enough to wear your very favorite t-shirt, don’t do it while mixing up a couple of nice earth tones, which by their very nature stain things (paper, canvas, cotton, etc), and whatever you do, don’t accidently flip your palette knife–covered in paint–off your palette and onto your brand-new very favorite t-shirt. Because even if you run without hesitation to the laundry room and submerge the shirt in cold water and every stain remover you own including bleach, it will not come out. (I’m serious; my mom soaked the shirt in a bleach solution and while the t-shirt came out completely unscathed, the stain remained.) So, uh, yeah. Be careful. And wear crappy clothes because if you don’t, your paint will know and it will conspire against you.

3) Don’t stress about color theory. A lot of people will probably disagree with me about this, but a lot of people might agree with me, too. My theory about color theory is that mostly what it does is explain and justify things that we already know and can pretty much figure out through eyeballing and a little experimentation. I mean, it’s good to know some basic concepts and vocabulary like complementary colors; primary, secondary, and tertiary colors; warm and cool colors; and the like. But other than that? If it looks good on your canvas, it’s probably good color theory. A little bit of experimenting while you mix colors will teach you a lot, as will spending a lot of time looking at other people’s art. But I think a lot of it is instinctual, or at least picked up unconsciously the longer you paint and look at art. Personally, I’m a fan of limiting the number of different colors I use in any given painting (my wallet is also a fan of this policy) and making sure the one or two main colors have a good degree of contrast. Learn by doing–it’s a lot more fun. And if it looks crappy, just paint over it.