Homeowners and tree lovers, go get your free tree tomorrow. Happy Earth Day! :)
Friday, April 22, 2011
Free tree!
A quick shoutout to Lowe's for giving away one of my absolute favorite things: trees!
Homeowners and tree lovers, go get your free tree tomorrow. Happy Earth Day! :)
Homeowners and tree lovers, go get your free tree tomorrow. Happy Earth Day! :)
Monday, April 18, 2011
The Garden Project
Three years ago I took on the ambitious project of planting a vegetable garden (and when I say "I", I mean my dad did all the work and I told him what kind of vegetables I wanted). Harvesting the fruit of my dad's labor was a glorious experience. The tomatoes were plump, sweet, and endless and the zucchinis that were spared by the rabbits and gophers grew to be the size of my forearm.
This year, I'm branching out from tomatoes and zucchinis to include snap beans, peas, onions, jalapenos, cilantro, lettuce, and cantaloupe to the garden. Watch it grow!
Monday, April 11, 2011
You will need:
-paper
-vine charcoal sticks
-compressed charcoal sticks
-eraser
This image was taken on a sunny day at Balboa Park. The image is originally in color but I used Microsoft Office Picture Manager to change it to black and white. You can do the same with your favorite colored photograph.
I also like to do still lifes of statues because they have great contour and shadows. Once you start experimenting with charcoal, you'll find that vine charcoal creates a much softer shade than compressed charcoal. I would use the vine charcoal to make the initial outlines so a skeleton can be created upon which to build details later. The eraser is a tool not only for lifting marks that you don't want but also to smudge and pull the charcoal across the image. I also like to use my fingers for smudging as they're easier to control than erasers. Art supply stores also carry smudging sticks to help with this technique.
For the tree pieces in my first post, I used vine and compressed charcoal sticks, china pencil, and white charcoal. The vine charcoal was used to make the initial shape of the trees. The compressed charcoal was used to create the bold contours of the branches and leaves in the foreground. It helped to "sharpen" the compressed charcoal sticks by rubbing it on scratch paper until a sharp edge is formed. The vine charcoal was used for background branches and trees. In those three drawings I only used my fingers to smudge and draw shadows. A China pencil was used for the detail on the tree trunk of the first drawing in the post. White charcoal was used for the flowers on this same tree. This tree was my favorite to draw because I had a chance to venture away from just black charcoal sticks.
Once you've familiarized yourself with charcoal still lifes, you can move onto subjects I consider much trickier, such as human faces and hands. I haven't had the guts to try this yet so if you get there I hope you share!
The second charcoal technique is one that I really enjoy: reverse charcoal drawing. Charcoal itself is a messy medium to work with. When doing reverse charcoal drawing, you'll literally be eating and breathing charcoal. I recommend lining your work surface with newsprint to protect the surface and save you some clean up afterward. If you have a mask available I'd wear it as well, at least for the duration of the prep work. This will help keep your boogers from turning black. To prep your drawing surface, you'll want to use compressed charcoal and color the entire surface of the paper black. Placing the charcoal stick on its side and dragging it across the paper is the easiest technique I've found. I hear there is also charcoal dust you can use to smudge the surface to the desired shade but you can imagine how much messier that would be.
Left: This is my first reverse charcoal still life. I chose artichokes for the shape and texture. There was actually only one artichoke that I positioned in 3 spots to get different angles. The left-most jar is a ceramic vinegar jar. The middle and right jars are ornamental perserved fruit/vegetable jars. The are made of clear glass so the contents are artistically arranged in layers and colors. All items were taken from my mom's kitchen.
Below: My instructor set up a still life in the middle of the classroom and we were able to select any angle and any portion of the scene to re-create on our paper. I chose this side of the still life setup because of the multiple types of surfaces in this view area. I liked the way the fabric had folds and was layered over the wooden easel in the back. It wasn't until after I finished the drawing that I figured out that the object at the lower left corner was duck-pull toy. The instructor created a great setting by dimming the lights and pointing a spot light at the still life set up. You can do the same at home with a desk lamp.
Right: For this piece, the instructor made a black and white photocopy of an image then cut the image up in small sections. This drawing illustrates a piece of the large photo. I find that drawing from a picture is a lot easier than from still life. The shadows and objects are fixed and one only needs to replicate it.
I'm not sure what part of which picture I drew here. It would be fun to track down the bigger picture one day.
My next charcoal piece will be with colored charcoal. I can't wait to experiment with it!
-paper
-vine charcoal sticks
-compressed charcoal sticks
-eraser
There are two approaches you can take with a charcoal drawing. The first approach is the straightforward drawing with charcoal on a white surface. I recommend replicating a black and white image to start. For best results, pick one with an obvious light source from one direction like this one:
I also like to do still lifes of statues because they have great contour and shadows. Once you start experimenting with charcoal, you'll find that vine charcoal creates a much softer shade than compressed charcoal. I would use the vine charcoal to make the initial outlines so a skeleton can be created upon which to build details later. The eraser is a tool not only for lifting marks that you don't want but also to smudge and pull the charcoal across the image. I also like to use my fingers for smudging as they're easier to control than erasers. Art supply stores also carry smudging sticks to help with this technique.
For the tree pieces in my first post, I used vine and compressed charcoal sticks, china pencil, and white charcoal. The vine charcoal was used to make the initial shape of the trees. The compressed charcoal was used to create the bold contours of the branches and leaves in the foreground. It helped to "sharpen" the compressed charcoal sticks by rubbing it on scratch paper until a sharp edge is formed. The vine charcoal was used for background branches and trees. In those three drawings I only used my fingers to smudge and draw shadows. A China pencil was used for the detail on the tree trunk of the first drawing in the post. White charcoal was used for the flowers on this same tree. This tree was my favorite to draw because I had a chance to venture away from just black charcoal sticks.
Once you've familiarized yourself with charcoal still lifes, you can move onto subjects I consider much trickier, such as human faces and hands. I haven't had the guts to try this yet so if you get there I hope you share!
The second charcoal technique is one that I really enjoy: reverse charcoal drawing. Charcoal itself is a messy medium to work with. When doing reverse charcoal drawing, you'll literally be eating and breathing charcoal. I recommend lining your work surface with newsprint to protect the surface and save you some clean up afterward. If you have a mask available I'd wear it as well, at least for the duration of the prep work. This will help keep your boogers from turning black. To prep your drawing surface, you'll want to use compressed charcoal and color the entire surface of the paper black. Placing the charcoal stick on its side and dragging it across the paper is the easiest technique I've found. I hear there is also charcoal dust you can use to smudge the surface to the desired shade but you can imagine how much messier that would be.
Once a solid black surface is obtained, use the eraser to make your drawing. This technique is really fun but it will take a little getting used to initially. Just focus on erasing the area that has more light in your image. If you erase too much, all you need to do is color it back in.
When your drawing is complete, you can preserve it by spraying with fixative (can be found at any art supply store). Fixative is like hairspray, it will hold down the charcoal so your drawing doesn't smudge if handled. There is also the option of using workable fixative which does the same thing but also allows you go jump back in and add more charcoal on top (you just can't erase what you've already sprayed down).
Below are a few reverse charcoal drawings I created (probably between 2005-2006):
Left: This is my first reverse charcoal still life. I chose artichokes for the shape and texture. There was actually only one artichoke that I positioned in 3 spots to get different angles. The left-most jar is a ceramic vinegar jar. The middle and right jars are ornamental perserved fruit/vegetable jars. The are made of clear glass so the contents are artistically arranged in layers and colors. All items were taken from my mom's kitchen.
Below: My instructor set up a still life in the middle of the classroom and we were able to select any angle and any portion of the scene to re-create on our paper. I chose this side of the still life setup because of the multiple types of surfaces in this view area. I liked the way the fabric had folds and was layered over the wooden easel in the back. It wasn't until after I finished the drawing that I figured out that the object at the lower left corner was duck-pull toy. The instructor created a great setting by dimming the lights and pointing a spot light at the still life set up. You can do the same at home with a desk lamp.
I'm not sure what part of which picture I drew here. It would be fun to track down the bigger picture one day.
My next charcoal piece will be with colored charcoal. I can't wait to experiment with it!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Would you rather be the absolute best at one thing and mediocre in others or be good at everything but not steal the show in anything?
When I was younger, I always strove to be good at everything. Excelling in academics was never a problem as I had very few distractions outside of school (which translates to: my parents banned watching TV and hanging out with non-relatives outside of school). Give me anything to learn: math, science, art, Spanish, sometimes English, social studies, and I would be so excited to get acquainted with it. I soaked up new information like my life depended on it (if only that were still the case).
Sports on the other hand did not go down so well. Yes, I was the last-picked kid when teachers cruelly let students pick their own teams. Yes, I was the one who gave her team a strike by letting go of the softball bat at the end of my swing and nearly taking out the catcher's head (of course I missed the ball as well). Yes, I ducked whenever I saw balls in my periphery, regardless if they were even coming towards me. But those were my elementary school days. Upon entering middle school, I resolved to be more confident in myself on the playground because I really did want to be good at everything. I focused less on avoiding injuries and more on learning the rules of the game and finding ways to make up for my lack of strength, speed, and stature. As a result, I became MVP of the school's soccer team. OK, I really didn't become MVP of anything but I was no longer the last picked and that was all I needed.
Now that I'm older, I would rather be the absolute best at one thing. Being good at everything was so much easier to achieve when my only goals were to make my parents proud by getting good grades and make them happy by suppressing my inner wild child ways. I no longer have to worry about report cards and my inner wild child has died from neglect and malnutrition. My only goal now is to be the absolute best at one thing. I have yet to figure out and decide what that one thing might be but when I have it....just you wait and see. There world! How do you like me now??
On a different note, I was asked to discuss the techniques used to make the tree studies so I will do my best... In the next post. :)
When I was younger, I always strove to be good at everything. Excelling in academics was never a problem as I had very few distractions outside of school (which translates to: my parents banned watching TV and hanging out with non-relatives outside of school). Give me anything to learn: math, science, art, Spanish, sometimes English, social studies, and I would be so excited to get acquainted with it. I soaked up new information like my life depended on it (if only that were still the case).
Sports on the other hand did not go down so well. Yes, I was the last-picked kid when teachers cruelly let students pick their own teams. Yes, I was the one who gave her team a strike by letting go of the softball bat at the end of my swing and nearly taking out the catcher's head (of course I missed the ball as well). Yes, I ducked whenever I saw balls in my periphery, regardless if they were even coming towards me. But those were my elementary school days. Upon entering middle school, I resolved to be more confident in myself on the playground because I really did want to be good at everything. I focused less on avoiding injuries and more on learning the rules of the game and finding ways to make up for my lack of strength, speed, and stature. As a result, I became MVP of the school's soccer team. OK, I really didn't become MVP of anything but I was no longer the last picked and that was all I needed.
Now that I'm older, I would rather be the absolute best at one thing. Being good at everything was so much easier to achieve when my only goals were to make my parents proud by getting good grades and make them happy by suppressing my inner wild child ways. I no longer have to worry about report cards and my inner wild child has died from neglect and malnutrition. My only goal now is to be the absolute best at one thing. I have yet to figure out and decide what that one thing might be but when I have it....just you wait and see. There world! How do you like me now??
On a different note, I was asked to discuss the techniques used to make the tree studies so I will do my best... In the next post. :)
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
A week ago I returned from a 5-day trip to Boston and was hit with an overwhelming wave of melancholy. Perhaps it was the thought of returning to work after a nice vacation or it could have been the realization that I am considerably unhappy with my life at this point. The bf helpfully pointed out that it is the end of the month and (something new I learned) he usually makes it a point to give me "extra space" around this time. Maybe it's a combination of all three.
I have since recovered (albeit not yet fully) enough to do something to help my bout of dispiritedness.
So here it is...my creative outlet.
These images are pieces of an art project I created for class (circa 2007). Trees have always held a special place in my heart. I am fascinated by the shapes, sizes, and colors they take and I find myself constantly admiring all their forms, sometimes providing verbal praise to anyone who will listen. So naturally, I decided to do a surface study of them. In a period of two weeks and an hour or two daily (not including weekends since those were reserved for sun bathing and house parties), I came up with these three studies. The trees are selected from the immense landscape of the UCSD campus in La Jolla. If you once roamed UCSD, you may remember someone propped in the middle of the quad or squatting in the dirt or perched on the retaining wall with an unwieldy pad of paper on her knees and pencils in a heap beside her. That was moi. I was content with sketching away as if nothing else mattered. And nothing else did matter when I had my pad and pencils and the company of trees.
Trees, 18x24 charcoal on paper
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