Back to Basics..

I am going in a totally different direction this time around.  Instead of doing people and faces, I am bringing in drawings of still lifes.  Personally I think they look really boring compared, but I will admit that they look a lot better than my faces.  I have learned a lot from drawing from a still life and I think they look pretty good.

I think for now I am going to stick to doing mostly still lifes and start doing research on body proportions and just go from there.

On an unfortunate note my camera got left at my parents and most of my pictures are on there but I do have a couple from earlier in the semester.  I will have the other pictures up after this weekend if you guys want to check them out.

file://localhost/Users/emilywesthoff/Pictures/iPhoto%20Library/Modified/2012/Feb%207,%202012_2/DSC00295.JPG

file://localhost/Users/emilywesthoff/Pictures/iPhoto%20Library/Modified/2012/Feb%207,%202012_3/DSC00296.JPG

Spring Fever

To me, I think that this session's drawings are really good and I am happy with them.  I hope you guys feel the same way too.  I also kind of know what I want to be when I grow up and enter the big world as an artist: drawing realistic things.  Right now I want to stick to people, and particularly faces in hopes of being able to capture the beauty in them.

I know I have a lot to learn still and that I am somewhat limited to the things I have learned way back in high school, which is why I am super excited for next year when I take Life Drawing.

I do have some questions, that will probably be answered during the critique but I am going to ask anyways.   Right now I am using newspaper print because it is what I already have and I like using it but in the long run is it worth it?  Also, what should I work on more in my drawings, and should I be worrying about the background?

Bumpy roads..

Honestly I feel as if I have hit a bump in the road.  I guess I am just getting bored with doing the same thing, but I do not know what to do instead.  Its really frustrating.  I love drawing people but it gets tedious some times.  I want to step out of my comfort zone, but I guess I do not know how to start that.  I guess I need new ideas.

On a different note I have been drawing from models instead of from pictures.  So I guess I am doing something new, just not drastically new.  One thing I remember why I like to draw from pictures was that people move, a lot, and it was a lot more frustrating than I remember in the past, but it could also be because they have never sat still this long before.  And props to my sister for being the best guinea pig for a harder pose than the others.

Staying Classy

At the moment right now I am more interested in, I guess you could say, Classical Art.  The type of art that you see in Cathedrals and what you would see in the Renaissance era.  I strive to make my work look as life-like as I can.  I know I am far from it at the moment, but this is what practice is for.

I might eventually put a spin on my drawings, but at the moment I want to focus on my technique.  I am a bit rusty, since it has been a while since I have not spent at much time drawing people as much as I spend time doing art class assignments.  I guess I should work on that.

I am thinking about possibly putting a Catholic spin on my drawings.  Like using models and turning them into Saints, Angels, and other Holy things.  But I am still in the brainstorming process with that idea.  Maybe next week you guys will be seeing something new. Who knows.

Until then, have a good day. And stay classy my friends, stay classy.

The Past..

My mom tells me that ever since I could pick up a pencil I've been drawing and doodling.  While other girls got journals to write down personal stuff, I doodled in them.  Like my favorite cartoons characters and other little kid doodles.

All during Catholic grade school I got into trouble countless times for doodling during class and on the occasional homework assignment.  When i was younger I thought it made the notes prettier, but later it was out of boredom.  Ironically I hated Art Class, I thought that the teacher was mean, but that didn't stop me from doing well in class.

In Catholic high school I took a general Art Class in high school.  In my high school we had these two artists that rented out an empty classroom as an Art studio in exchange for giving the school discounts on any paintings they would want to put up in the school.  That was when I met Mike and Jason, that was also when they saw my art projects and Mike took the opportunity to ask if I wanted to take after school drawing sessions.  This is when I decided to become an Art Major of any form.

This was also when I gained the appreciation of the human face.  When i first started drawing human faces I thought that they were all the same and they were boring.  I learned quickly that human faces aren't the same.  I was finally being challenged with drawing something.

I took three years of the after school drawing sessions.  I mainly drew faces, some were live models, but most of them were from pictures.  My favorite ones to draw from Mike's stack of pictures were the Religious ones; Saints, angels, Jesus, and Mary.  I learned a lot from Mike and from the other students as well.

To this day if I ever get bored I just start doodling, or I will draw people that are in the room as me.  I like studying the human face and the shadows and highlights and the way hair frames their face.  It really intrigues me and makes me want to be better at what I do.

Jesus from "The Passion"

Virgin Mary's head in Michelangelo's "La Pietá"