Daily Drawing – Feb 10 – 19th

Posted on by ginagwen

My daily drawing has tapered since I started working on bigger projects. I’ve made good progress on the big pieces, but need to keep at least some sketching daily. I need to get back on track, even if it means sketching students as they work in class! So this post will be skimp.

Starting from latest to oldest:

Daily Drawing - Feb16

Daily Drawing: Feb 16th: Progress update, acrylic on canvas. It took me quite a long time to just get this far with this honeycomb pattern. Hopefully it ends up the way I want it to be perceived. I want to add more details to the little birds and drop something from the sky…it’ll come together, hopefully very soon.

 

Daily Drawing - Feb14

Daily Drawing: Feb 14th: Chalk pastels on paper. She looks Nasty! See the reference image here. I didn’t capture the Big Nasty sneer! She was a rec leaguer who moved up to the “pros”. But it’s a quick sketch for a possible future painting (if she lets me do it).

 

Daily Drawing - Feb13

Daily Drawing: Feb 13: Graphite on paper. Quick sketch. It’s what my brain feels like sometimes…it never stops moving! Honoria says not to have things floating…I need to compete a daily drawing, even if it’s just a quick sketch.

 

Daily Drawing: Feb 12th: Progress on my other painting of the birds, posted about it here.

 

Daily Drawing: Feb 11th: Posted the progress of the large black painting.

 

So this was kind of skimp, but still moving forward.

 

Other goals (or crap I need to get done):

  • Create an art website
  • Continue working on big pieces
  • Sketch daily
  • Scope out other artists and galleries

1st Scrimmage of the Season

Posted on by ginagwen
Pink and Blue Team

Pink and Blue Team

Had a really great morning. I was originally on the Pink team, but at the last minute I was moved over to Blue. I whipped up a shirt and we had a lot of fun. We won! I jammed twice and scored! While I wish I could make it to the “B” practice and play with them, “C” has been fun and I am working hard on my making me some mad derby skills. Looks like next quarter I may have to stay in C again if they don’t change the time (due to a class). If so, I will use it to my advantage and just keep learning!

OMG!na

Homemade shirt!

Daily Drawing – Feb 12th

Posted on by ginagwen

I’m wondering if I should post updates of my bigger works or not. It’s not a big deal I guess…

Mixed media…seeing if the matches will stick. You can see a previous state of this one here and a thumbnail of it here.

Daily Drawing: Feb12a

Daily Drawing: Feb12b

More matches (and other things) will be added when I know they will stick and not pop off in a day.

New Wheels

Posted on by ginagwen

Atom Poison wheels

Finally picked up my Atom Poison’s and new bearings for my roller skates. I have a scrimmage tomorrow, so I don’t really want to switch out my wheels now. I really don’t want to break them in during a game, but at least I finally got them. They are supposed to be much more grippier for the slippery floor at the Mill. We’ll see…

Progress Update

Posted on by ginagwen

Progress of my recent large painting. Acrylic on a 24″x30″ canvas.
First time playing with using a sponge…I learned a lot. I didn’t know if I should paint in the drips or use a sponge to make them look more natural. Sponge looks pretty good, but the first few streaks are too straight. Now I know for next time to pick up the canvas and rotate.
The carpet in my apartment now has some black spots in it. I’m thinking I won’t be getting my deposit back.

Lots of different angles below:

Large Painting - Feb11f
Large Painting - Feb11e

Large Painting - Feb11

Large Painting - Feb11b

Daily Drawing: Feb 1st – Feb 9th

Posted on by ginagwen

Working on posting sooner so I don’t have a giant post later in the month. I need to find a quicker way to do this. Tumblr makes it so much easier…

Daily Drawing: Feb 1st – Feb 9th

From latest to oldest:

Feb 9th
February 9th: Acrylic on 24”x30” canvas- progress update. It’s coming together. I will add hair and have things drip/run…hopefully that will remove the “mirror mirror” look.
I want to paint all my canvases black now.

 

Feb 8th
February 8th: (late) acrylic on 16×20 canvas. Looks brighter due to flash…cherry stem may become a snake. Lower lip needs to be bigger. May have the lips drip… Good progress today since I didn’t draw/paint yesterday. It’s off centered…maybe I should flip it over? Fix it while I still can? Reminds me of the most delicious candy ever…twizzlers! Or Rocky Horror.

 

Feb 7th
February 7th: India Ink on paper. RIP Tura Satana When using India ink I have to take my pictures at an angle or else I get a glare…

 

Feb 6th
February 6th: graphite on 2.5”x3.5” artist trading card (with a bit of red pastel). Actually had to distort the image since my camera sucks and I have to use a flash. The black was being blown out so I had to take it at an angle. Just a quick sketch, as are all daily drawings, next time I sharpen my pencils first.

 

Feb 5th
February 5th: Chalk pastels on black paper. Just a lady in the moonlight… (with a teeny tiny hand?). Messy and not much detail…what I need to do is start trying to use q-tips instead of my fingers. With small stuff (like the face) a fingertip for blending is just too big. I think she looks a bit like Selena with blue hair…or a drag queen.

 

Feb 4th
February 4th: Acrylic on 24”x30” canvas. Let’s see what she turns into…I’ve got something in mind. It will change, because right now I see “mirror mirror on the wall…”

 

Feb 3rd
February 3rd: Acrylic on canvas. Progress on an older image…hair is big, but it’s already changed since I took this picture. She’s my very own Venus.

More detail

Feb 3rd detail

 

February 2nd and 1st…nothing to show.

Blogging about Blogs

Posted on by ginagwen

soon i found a rhythm i felt comfortable with… a kind of ritualistic routine.
wake up, stretch a bit, make coffee, sit down with it and read with small breakfast.
then start painting for a few hours listening to podcasts or audio books (first time!).
go out for lunch or dinner with matthew sometimes,
and work a bit more, stretch, then sleep.
pretty much the general gist of it.”

-Stella Im Hultberg’s blog post “On Routines…”

Stella’s work is beautiful, all of it. I read this quote in her blog and I felt jealous and hopeful and happy for her (and me). She discusses Haruki Murakami’s “What I talk about when I talk about running” and a little about her life and routine. Besides wanting to read this book, I feel very confident in the training I have been doing (like derby and marathon/triathlon training). It’s helped me get through a lot; like divorce, self-doubt and my own fears (of things like drowning while doing a tri). It looks like I’m on the right track…(no pun intended). But I have also messaged her asking how she is living this life as an artist (hopefully without sounding too naive). I asked if perhaps she was a student, or if she was you know…a working artist…and how it became so.

We’ll see what she says. That is the life I want to lead.

She also lives to eat: http://stellalivestoeat.blogspot.com/
 

Update:
She responded:

@Gina Gwen I am a full time artist now but in the beginning I did work on the side along with painting, like many artists do.
Unfortunately when this becomes your full time job you don’t always get to make draw and paint all day as you like. Much of other things need attention too, mostly the logistical, business side of things… And maintaining the consistency of being a full time artist isn’t fun either… All I can say is to keep drawing/painting with all your heart without contrivance & enjoy every bit of it before it becomes your job too because sometimes that’s better. “

So much to read and so little time.

Posted on by ginagwen

Went to Half Price Books to pick up “What the Night Knows“, for a book club I’m in. Of course they didn’t have it but they had these!!
I haven’t been able to pick up that book since the Austin Public Library has it checked out all the time. I wouldn’t normally buy it, but I figured I need to get on to reading it soon…but how can I with these gems on my shelf?

I can’t wait to read Kafka…isn’t this where he turns into a roach?

10 miles

Posted on by ginagwen

I completed 10.2 miles today. I stopped twice, both times to grab some water at each water station on the lake. I kept the stops short, two gulps and kept going. I also figured I’d try the “gummies” that you eat as you run. You’re supposed to eat some after running for about an hour. So I did, and I could tell a difference. I had two blocks but it suggested I eat three. I also drank water as it recommends (when I ate them) at the second water station. But they still felt heavy in my stomach. I was fine, but maybe next time I will drink more water. I’m not sure if I need the extra fuel but I could totally tell a difference from my 9 mile run. I could have kept going. Plus, if my time stays at an average pace of 10:54 – 11:04 then I will be running for over 2 hours and 20ish minutes…means I would probably need to eat a few more gummies later in the race. Question: Do you wait for your body to tell you it feels bad or do you take it on the hour no matter what? I bought them at the recommendation of my cousin who has run half marathons. Of course, his time is way better than mine. I can at least say I am consistent!

The run felt pretty good. My shins bother me in the beginning but they warm up sooner or later. I notice it happens in derby too. My knees are fine. The last long run they bothered me the next day (feel fine during the run). This time I took Julie’s advice and took ibuprofen before I ran and later in the evening. Doh, but I did not ice. We’ll see if my knees bother me tomorrow.