-38.3-

#2 on "".
I drew theme "pervert" with media "home video."
Being a teenager and having teenage friends, I decided to not go down the...immature route with this. Instead, I looked up the word "pervert" in a dictonary. Interestingly enough, I found out that the definition had no mention of how people usually use it (as in sexually immature.)
From my quick research, I'm taking "pervert" in the context of "corrupt" "misdirect" "to turn the meaning or sense of something."
Thinking about movie screams, and this song where a person is laughing insanely, I'm thinking about the following options:
1. Recording a handheld video of going through the halls at the end of the day, walking home, and ending in the closet/through a door to a dark space. (The perversion of how one feels about a, normal, everyday sequence.) You feel uncomfortable as you go through the
-The dark space turns into something normal to provide a twist(?) dark of closet->clothes dark of doorway-> normal looking steps?
-Video of the cameras put in the bathrooms (I recently found out from someone that the school installed them to catch people doing drugs)

I'll be running these ideas by my partner Michelle.

-36.3-

Today I finished my STAC art project, then started on something new given to me: The Wolves, the Women, and a bit of that Old Song.
The project is:
1. Randomly match a theme paper with a medium paper
2. Make the exact result
3. Always work with your partner.
My partner for this project is Michelle (Li). Curiously enough, we both drew "cut paper" as our medium, but Michelle drew "beautiful" as her theme, and I drew "opposite sex" as my theme. We both decided that we'd combine our projects, however it took me some time to think out an idea for my half. Michelle immediately knew what she wanted to do for "beautiful cut paper" so she got started while I brainstormed. Quickly, I decided to cut out pictures of men and women and switch the heads on each (it seemed doable, and I was short on time since I had to go to music last period...we both wanted to try and get one prompt done per day, during STAC.) Michelle was working on cutting out designs in sunglasses found in magazines, and I thought having people to wear the suglasses would combine the two ideas nicely. However, after I finished a couple switches, another idea came to me: cut out a suit for pictures of dresses, and cut out a dress for pictures of suits (opposite clothes hidden in the opposite sex). I managed to get two done before music, then left Michelle to decide which idea better combined with her cut sunglasses. (Even now I got an idea that I could have used plain white paper to cut out minimalistic shapes relating to opposite sexes...)

-35.3-

Painting workshop with Galen day 2.
(from 12/2/13)
After we set up the still life, we got right to work and began using color and paint. I wanted to do monochrome, but I wasn't sure if I was allowed to, so I decided to paint with exact colors.
Since the 'sculpting' technique worked with charcoal, I tried to apply this technique to painting by putting down a rough "block" of the shape in a color darker than the object then "carving" out a finer shape of the object in a lighter color.
At first I was working smoothly and quickly, but then I got caught up in measuring the exact proportions of the objects and slowed down. I got a little frustrated, so I started to use colors that were completely different than that of the objects so I wouldn't be distracted, and so I could focus on the values.
-picture of first try-
Galen was checking in with us as we painted, and when it was my turn he suggested that I try again, so I did just that. This time I started with using different colors right away.
-picture of 2nd try-
I was having trouble, still, so I asked Galen if I could do it in monochrome. He said that would be a good way to see value (sometimes students start out with a few colors so they aren't overwhelmed) and agreed. I started again, but I was having trouble figuring out the distance between the box and the bottle, so Galen showed me how he approached it (he used the edge of the paper as a third point of reference.)
-third attempt-
Throughout the workshop, Galen kept on saying that if you out down something on the canvas, it isn't final. Thinking about it, I came to an epiphany. I realized that you could draw the other objects around the subject, then once the subject is in proper relation, you could just paint the other objects out again, if needed. That reminded me of how I use layers when I'm doing digital painting/drawings...huh!

Overall, I still am a little confused about Galen's technique, but I think I'm slowly understanding it. I also realized that I am very inexperienced at using paint, and painting is a very strenuous process. By the end of yesterday and today I was exhausted!

-34.3-

Painting workshop day 1
Today we worked with Galen Pittman on seeing and drawing values of color. To start, we pushed together two tables and set up a small still life (a cup, a bottle, and a rubber duck) in the middle of a table. Then we warmed up with a five-minute sketch of how we usually draw.

Then, we started on a second, drawing, this time extending the time to ten minutes. While working on this drawing, Galen showed us an example of how we works, using Caitlin's initial picture as an example. He said he tries to draw an object by using other objects in relation to it. He tries to draw everything around the object in order to "let the object draw itself."
I'm a little confused by what he meant by that, but when he showed an example at the end of class I understood a little better (but still not completely).
The example was the dark line in between the two tables pushed together. Galen said that you could drae the line as a line, or you could shade the whole space in, then erase the charcoal around the line (put in the lights around the line). At the end, there'll be two light spaces surrounding a line shape in the middle.
After Galen showed us his process, we continued on our ten minute drawings. He came around and helped us individually.
At first I was using my normal way of drawing still-lifes: first sketch out the outline of the shape of an object, then measure and sketch other objects in relation to the first one.

But... I got tired of drawing my ten minute drawing (...we kind-of lost track of time when we were being helped individually) so I started playing around and trying a different approach to drawing the still life.
I tried a lineless shading a rough shape of an object then "sculpting" the edges out of the rough shape by smoothing away the charcoal along the edges. When it was my turn, Galen suggested that I worked on my values by comparing a shade to the spot right next to it, then use an eraser to pull out the light shades. (He said I did an excellent shade on the rubber ducky, but that was by coincidence!)
This was my final result for the day.

I'm not used to art classes, so it was a little hard to sit still for all that time, but I liked how my brain turned off during this workshop. I'm curious about learning about drawing around an object (it didn't quite seem like drawing the negative space...) I'm also curious about experimenting with the new way of drawing that I was trying...how would I apply this way to painting?

Some people finished earlier than others, so Galen set up a trumpet to work on. I had five minutes before class ended, so this was the start of my sketch.

-33.3-

Recently, I've been interested in a few areas of art. Perhaps I can integrate most or all of them into my inquiry, but I'm not sure how...

1.Papercraft

I discovered this charming form of craft before winter break. We had to make a "voodoo" doll for Shoshtigigi (STAC secret santa) and I decided to make mine out of paper. I had seen papercraft templates online, and I decided I'd modify a template to look like Caitlin (the person I got for Shoshtigigi)! This is the result of my efforts:

I was so pleased with how it turned out, I ended up finding more papercrafts templates to make, and I even made my own to give as gifts!

A few templates i found online. (The one with the glasses and brown coat is my character, which I created the template for.)

A gift I made of one of my friend's characters

My newest template I made for Tom Hiddleston's birthday. (The headtorch can be taken off!)

I really like working with paper and using my hands, since my brain switches off whenever I'm working on these little guys. I also like using trial and error in order to improve on templates I've made/create new ones.

2. Fashion

Another area of interest has been, somewhat surprisingly, fashion.

I used to hate fashion, because it was a "girly-girl" hobby, but recently I've been paying more attention to the clothes people wear on the street/in school. I've been taking photos of outfits I've liked, or parts of outfits I've liked...and after re-watching The Avengers, I've also been designing some outfits of my own (I really liked the outfits in The Avengers, especially Loki's, and I was trying to incorporate some of the designs into my daily wear)! 

3. Accents

I've always been interested in voices, but my interest tends to fluctuate in intensity. Listening to them, trying to imitate them, knowing which accent is from where...I admire a few people mainly because of their voices (Akio Ohtsuka, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Tom Hiddleston).

When we were considering skits utilizing different types of accents for STAC live, I got re-energized with my fascination for accents and language. I ended up listening to different English accents on youtube for hours, and even checking out some websites clarifying what exact sounds makes "posh" different from "cockney." (This website is quite interesting!) I've explored the main stereotypical accents that are portrayed in the media (off the top of my head: RP British, Southern, Indian, Chinese, Russian, Australian, Irish, Spanish) but I'm willing to learn more!

4. Drawing w shapes

I've done some drawing with shapes during previous years in STAC (read: STAC painting workshops) and I've found it a useful, alternative, approach to drawing (it does take longer to finish a picture when drawing with shapes...but maybe this is because I haven't practiced this approach as much as I have with line drawing...) I'm not sure what exactly got me spurred into drawing with shapes, but I've found myself using this technique more often. Maybe it's because I've been trying to draw realistically, and drawing with shapes is a great technique for this. Sometimes I could sit for an hour or two and draw with shapes, but other times I don't have the time or patience for it. 

More of a "manga" style, but I used the shape technique here when doing my first test of watercolor pencils

Testing out watercolor pencils+shapes
 

5. Photography

This isn't an area of art I've recently gotten into...I've been taking pictures constantly, but not seriously. I approach photography as a hobby. I shoot what I see interesting, and the only thing I'm concerned about is how clear the picture looks, and if it fits the rule of thirds (the latter more often ignored than not). I mentioned taking pictures of outfits that catch my eye, but I also like taking pictures of odd shapes in my environment, a striking color, a certain arrangement of items...anything that appeals to my sense of aesthetics.

(I'm sharing 5 ones I've taken recently...but there are 100s more that I haven't shown to anyone...I don't know why, but I like taking pictures but never show them to anyone.)

6. Aluminum

This isn't an area I've been playing around in seriously, but I do have a fun picture:

I really liked how this looked, but it fell apart once I took my hand out

-32.3-

Headhunters, the movie we watched in class yesterday, was either an extremely strange journey of a couple's arguement, or an extremely convoluted journey of a man, Robert's, self discovery. At first I felt like it was the former, but at the end of the film I felt like it was the latter. Whatever it was, I liked the emotional journey Robert took.

My first impression of Headhunters, was that of annoyance. As Roger delinates hpw he commits art theft, I thought "Oh, this is one of those movies," The one with a smug main character who revels in their flagrant disrespect for the law. This impression remained the same through most of the plot's action scenes (Except the part when the dog attacks Roger. That was...unnerving.) Roger and his accomplice, Ove, were interesting characters, but the only thing I really liked was the way it was shot. I don't know exactly why I liked how the scenes looked...maybe it was because there was a lot of light in each scene? I'd have to watch it again to tell.

It was only when Roger said that he was scared of not being loved as much as Lotte's -proposed- child that I started to like the movie. It made him seem more human, and his being so vulnerable made me respect him more. The part where *SPOILER* his wife replaces Clas' gun with blanks was so touching... (What a series of plot twists!) I'm glad that the movie had a happy ending. The parting dialouge was interesting ...something along the lines of "I may not know myself, but I know others, and how they behave." Out of context, it still sounds smug, but after you know the whole ordeal Roger goes through, it feels good to hear him say that. That Roger accepts his life (and height) and is able to regain some control, along with some real self-confidence.

-31.3-

The acapella workshop.
At first I didn't volunteer for the workshop, because I felt...shy about singing/performing. However, after Herricks Idol, I found myself rejuvenated. (Also, the workshop was for group singing, so it wouldn't put too much pressure when we performed.)
I enjoyed working with Andrew and the group. It's been years since I've sung in a choir, and now I remember how much I liked singing with others.
This is the first time I've sung acapella, but it didn't feel extremely difficult. Andrew was very professional, but he was also paitent and really friendly with us!  Also, we were all quick learners. It's great to have a group of people that want to be there. Because we were all motivated, we progressed from starting the song, to being able to run it through in less than a week!

 






First we went through the long process of song selection. We all suggested songs and listened to them (through this, I found that Andrew is a fellow fan of Cake!) We settled on "Settle Down" by Kimbra. We started to figure out parts, Andrew figuring out most of the song. The next few days consisted of us learning our parts, recording run-throughs, and studying the recordings at home.

We had a week off for midtetms, then it was last-minute rehersals after school and right before STAC live!
-video of performance-
Overall, I'm proud of learning the song with the group, and I had a great experience with this workshop. Next time, I won't hesitate to sign up!

-30.3-

A quick digital doodle of a snow scene I saw on the way home from the bookstore. (It's so hard to take pictures of snow in lamplight!)