My painting studios have been occupying (is it possible to say this now without making a Wall St joke?) most of my time, and it doesn’t look like my load will lighten up for at least another month. Nonetheless, I finally feel as if I’m getting closer to defining my aesthetic, especially as it reflects the concepts my art is primarily concerned with. Here is one in-progress painting that I’ve been working on. The black is a bit streaky due to lighting.

And here’s my uninspired go-to outfit when I have to get dressed in a hurry: a lambswool little boy’s sweater from Crewcuts (J.Crew) and a Zara skirt. I need to teach my boyfriend how to focus the camera!

Upon crossing the threshold of my front door, it’s hard to miss the painting of Gina that now lives above my (new) couch. This semester, I’m taking a figure painting class in which we paint live models. For our first painting, my friend Gina was modeling for us. She’s such a great model, and while I was sketching out ideas for a painting, she cast this glance just beyond my head and I knew I had something!

And here’s Bunny in her art dealer pose. Of course as soon as we moved this couch into our apartment she claimed it as hers!

Click to enlarge.

For a diptych assignment, I juxtaposed two photographs I’d taken, and decided to paint a light study. I don’t consider myself an impressionist; I prefer painting objects rather than just light. However, because watercolor is such a transparent media, I do enjoy giving a lot of attention to light and the way it plays off of surfaces and people. I was particularly upset with the way this photograph came out, because the colors are uneven (both images in real life have an identical color palette).

Closeup

At the moment, I’ll only offer a preview of this series, as the photos were just TOO dark. A few weeks ago, I had to paint three paintings (simultaneously) in a series. For this particular one, I chose my father’s old football helmet (circa the turn of the 20th century). Although these paintings were composed using a camera, I was able to reference the actual subject as I worked, which helped tremendously when I decided to bring in non-local colors and textures.

Closeup of my favorite from the series.

For my final project, which I’ve just proposed today, I’m doing a painting (scaled 90inx22in) in the style of an ancient Japanese ink painting. The Japanese are known for pioneering a method of painting perspective, known as “atmospheric perspective.” This particular style creates depth by employing washed out colors and blurred objects in the background, with more detail and contrast in the foreground. I’ve also written a short haiku in Japanese to match with it. I’m still working on placement of the text and composition, so any suggestions and criticisms are welcome!

Click to enlarge.
雪の中
で狐、あいつ
嘘作る
fox in the snow, that rascal tells lies
Haiku is also a work in progress, but this is draft and the gist of the painting