Spring Break

Once again this year summer teases us with little hint of freedom. I have promised myself that I will not waste away my little taste or serenity. So I got started right away and went to the library. I got four books on acrylic and oil painting and a book I have been meaning to read since I got back from my mission trip to Chicago this summer, There Are No Children Here. My next stop was the ever so faithful, except for on Sundays, Hobby Lobby. Acrylic paint, oil paint, brushes and brush cleaner. I felt like such a novice not knowing what brands to buy while trying not to spend too much money. It all turned out well, I made it home and through one of the books on painting with acrylic and finally jumped hesitantly into this unfamiliar medium.

It's Been a While

Finally I have found myself with some spare time on my hands. It seems like there cannot be enough hours in the day with finals in school, sports picking up and an extra hour added onto the school day because of snow. So I am very grateful that it has been a relaxing weekend between trimesters and that I have had some time to experiment with painting with gouache.

Frosty Morning

Last Saturday I went on a run in the morning when the light dusting of snow we had gotten the night before had not melted. As I passed a little tree scattered area on the side I had to stop and take some pictures.

It has been a long, harsh winter but at least it has been beautiful.

You are loved

I finally finished a quote for my cousin today. A quote by the fantastic John Green, "You are helpful, and you are loved, and you are forgiven, and you are not alone."  

Stay Classy

One thing I like about art is that it doesn't have to be fancy, art supplies should be what you have around you, such as shoe boxes. I have more shoe boxes than I need so I took one apart and drew on it with some charcoal pencil. I liked the idea of using the color of the cardboard as the mid-tone and black and white charcoal as shadows and highlights. I find figure drawing very interesting and fun to draw but find it somewhat uncomfortable to look at pictures of naked people so for my benefit and others I tried to stay classy with it.

I like these two but they stray a little far from classy and so in honor of that theme I made my third one. I don't think it turned out as well as the last two but I am glad I did it.

Stay classy folks

Snow Day

It has been a slow day with the whole state stuck in their houses because of snow but slow doesn't mean bad. I had time to get a lot done like sharpen all of my colored pencils and paint one of my favorite Ron Pope lyrics. "The faces of children make me believe that someday, someday soon the dark will subside."

 

I also had the chance to actually look and see what was surrounding me. I picked out an old picture of my grandpa and I to draw with my newly re-found charcoal stick. It turned out kinda slanted and I look like an evil child, which isn't far from the truth, but I think it turned out pretty well for charcoal.

Your little hand's wrapped around my finger

And it's so quiet in the world tonight

-Taylor Swift, Never Grow Up

Watercolor Flowers

For Christmas I got a nicer water color set so I decided to put it to good use. I used a picture I had taken last year in my grandpa's yard in the spring. I have never been taught how to paint I just went off feel and I don't think that it turned out to bad for my first try. I think the most fun part was mixing the paints to see what colors it would make and how the amount of water effected them. 

Hand lettering Resume and Support Letter

I have been teaching myself how to hand letter mostly just for fun in the last year but now I have been presented with two practical uses for it. I have been trying to make titles and headings for my work resume and my support letter for a mission trip to Haiti this summer. There is a lot to do and I am sure I don't know how to do it all but that is the beauty of teaching yourself, you don't know what you are doing until you figure it out. One of the big things that I need to figure out before this project can be successful is how to make them digital and still look good, not to mention I need to be able to use them in a file. If you have any tips let me know.
Some of my inspirations as of late have been Scott Biersack and Mary Kate McDevitt. It is amazing to see the work they have done and all that I could learn from them and their work.

Christmas Cards

This year I made all of the Christmas cards for my family and all of them were different so I am sorry if you got one of the not as great ones. I made almost 50 cards by hand that looked similar to this one but some had different Bible verses. They all took a while but I was just getting the hang of it and I would be overjoyed to do something like this for anyone again. I got more calligraphy supplies at Christmas and have been practicing in any spare time that I have.

Beginning Calligraphy

I became really interested in calligraphy since late this fall. I got a couple basic supplies at our local art store and began teaching myself. I have gotten significantly better but these are a couple of things I did when I first started out. I also broke out my old childhood watercolor set.

Blueberry Drawing

This fall in my drawing class the project I am most proud of is based off a picture of frozen blueberries. I spent a lot of time outside of class working on it but it was well worth it especially since the weather was perfect to work outside some. 

This post is quite late since it is already the middle of winter but I thought it was worth mentioning.