Bleep blorp computing error! x_x

Yup, that's the way computers speak to one another... my brain (and my eyeballs) are fried. I've been working on the same stupid painting for about 5hours now... I'm sooo tired of it! haha :P I just need to take a break, go to sleep...

Just wanted to share the progress with you guys. I'm reeeeally excited because I've been having some problems with getting her colors/shading right, and for whatever reason I broke out my prismacolors and went to town... Very happy with the results! Any way, I'm gonna take a break now...

I will leave you with a shot of my messy work area. It's like a squirrel den. Or rat's nest... It can be clean and organized... but not when I'm working. Evvverything gets dragged out and tossed within a 12" radius of me for easy access haha. Those freaking lights too... It is burning up in here with them being on all day! My head hurts... zzzzzzzz

Teaser Pics

Not too much going on right now, just getting stuff ready for the 500x show coming up this month. Submissions are next week, so I'm just getting last minute stuff done. (Framing, touching up, etc) One of the pieces I'm submitting is something I started back in June that I've just put off to the side. I got the figure part done with, but then just got stuck with what direction I wanted to take it in. I've kind of got an idea now, so I'm working toward the finishing touches and polishing it up a bit.

Side tracked...

Is that one word or two? Any way, I have some stupid collage project due for a class. It's supposed to "represent ME" and frankly, I hate collages. So the very act of creating a stupid cut and paste collage in fact does NOT represent me. lol. And honestly, if I had to cut and paste found images, I would just find cool pictures that go together and just create a picture, not be "true" to the subject matter. SO, I figured it would be "really easy" to just draw all my own pictures to put into a collage. Well, easier said than done, it's taking me more time than I had hoped haha. Here's a little bit of what I got done today.

It's inspired by the collage work of Danny Roberts, so I thought I'd give a nod to him by giving my girl his signature blush circles. The finished piece will be made up of people or things that inspire me- whether it's the actual people, the designers, or the photographers who took the pictures I'm recreating.

It's honestly way more trouble than it's worth, but the class is NOT challenging AT ALL so I thought I could use this assignment to challenge myself, to work out of my comfort zone or to think a little creatively. Sure, it's not totally "original" but for me, it's something new. PLEASE DON'T READ INTO THIS TOO MUCH, [esp literally] but for me, collaging is more just a craft than "art"- it has its place in the world, and some people are pretty good at creating some nifty things, but for ME actually doing it, it just feels like a tedious hobby. So, I'm trying to put some sort of meaning or effort into it haha.

Quandary

For various reasons, I haven't posted pics of the completed the red dress painting. One of the reasons being that I'm fical. The painting is finished, and hanging in a gallery, but part of me has always had a strong desire to take it down and redo parts of it (that's typical me haha). Originally, I wanted to go with a sophisticated, yet avant-garde sort of look, leaving the background unfinished, with the newsprint.


(this is basically what it would have looked like WITH the unfinished backround, I've just added a lot more detail and refining to the subject)


And, (b/c I don't have any GOOD pictures) here's how it looks with the finished background. I think either way it looks okay, but either way gives it a completely different feel, so I'm not sure what I'm wanting.





Thoughts, anyone? Please post and let me know what you've got to say ^__^ because I don't know haha. I'm always way too anal and overthink things, so sometimes I need an outside source or point of view to help me figure out what I may not be seeing. Any way, love to hear from you guys.

Progress Shot

I said I'd post some progress shots of what I'm working on. Not too much, but hey, I always like seeing what other people are working on, so I'll post pics for those who share an interest in seeing the creative process.
Click images to view up close.

The surface is covered with a really heavy gesso, covered with letters and printed pages.
I've also added some embossing paint (to create embellishments), medical gauze and tape, and even iodine.
The pic below sucks but you get the idea--

Since the edges are about 3" wide, I'm using them as an extension of the canvas. Heck, the entire canvas, literally, is an extension of what I'm expressing. One day I was feeling kind of bummed while working on it, so I started writing a little thought on the back of it. I've continued adding to it since. Just whenever I have a thought, I'll jot it down on the back. I could care less if anyone sees it or even reads it. I just think it adds that much more gravity to it. If someone one day, a hundred years from now, reads it, they'll study it and write about it in some analytical art blurb. I'll be like VanGogh, and they'll talk about how crazy that girl was. haha. Maybe not. But, that's how I feel sometimes. I can dream, can't I? :D

"It's not like I care..."

Been listening to Deftones non stop for a month now (hence the title). Oh how they hurt so good...
Here's a quick peek at a sketch I did in class, totally paying attention lol.

And moving on, for the people who actually read posts...

OMG. Long story short, the last couple of months have been tumultuous to say the least. I'm slowly losing someone very near and dear to my heart. Things change, people go away, blah blah. Pretty much neck and neck with the other "suckiest moments in my life" (those being the deaths of two figureheads in my family). ANY WAY so with this painting I'm working on, it's dealing with that. I wanted to build up the surface of the canvas with scraps of letters, journal entries, mementos, etc-- basically memories and thoughts and reminders of this person. Not necessarily so people could read it, but so that I know they're there. I just want to put all my feelings and unspoken words out there for my own sake. Ever read Dorian Grey? Well, basically this painting will be like Dorian Grey's portrait for me- I get to live my life as I will, and the painting in turn can rot behind a curtain and bear these scars for me so I don't have to. I'm pouring my heart out onto this canvas so to speak, plastering it in my own tears and pain, words spoken from the heart. It feels like the symbolic release one has when burning photographs or memories. I hope that makes sense. Guess not. Oh well. Looks like a tombstone right now. My whole point... leave the dead buried. Those old letters I dug out were harder to do than I ever thought they'd be. Plastering them up there for people to see (heck, for me to see) feels like being naked and exposed. When they're painted over, even just a little, it'll be okay. But right now, they're horrible reminders. Who knew...