9.28.14: stagnation

Greetings everyone.

So, as my post title implies, I haven't been able to do much. Since the 16th, I haven't done anything...
But
That shall change!
See, I was completing QuestBridge (http://www.questbridge.org/)
It was due this past Friday at 11:59 pm PT, but me being the ultimate procrastinator suffered the consequences of leaving all the important components until the end.
Now that it's out of the way, I have more time to work on this project!
For this week, I plan on focusing mainly on different brush strokes. I WILL learn how to distinguish wash from flat. I promise. I will view tutorials and other videos online to achieve this. No canvas yet, but thick paper (so it doesn't double in on me).

S

9.16.14: testing le brushes

Howdy.

I decided to mess around with the different brushes.

My favorite brushes had to be the round and the wash. The round because I could make little dots and gradually build up to make bigger dots AND because I could not only do dots, I could paint LINES!!! The wash was my favorite as well simply because it was easy to employ. It's probably going to be my best friend for time and all eternity.

It turned out looking all the same :')
But it's a start I guess. Just like some famous guy said, "Started from the bottom..." though I'm not really "here" yet.

S

9.13.14: supplies and hope

Hello world!

I FINALLY bought my supplies!!!

I bought 6 new acrylic paints, found 10 in my mom's old painting stuff, and bought 2 brush cleaners.

I also bought 3 different sets of brushes which include: a pack of camel hair flats (1/2, 3/4, and 1"), 2 packs of brown taklon brushes which have 3 angulars, a wash, 2 shaders and a round.

Although I bought the main supplies I think I'll be using for the rest of the semester, I have yet to buy a canvas and a sketchbook. For the mean time, I won't start "painting". I've started with sketches. Yesterday in class, I drew this:

And brainstormed a list

This past week has mainly been a week of keen observation. I've started to hone in on all the detail that life has. Monday, I went to Chick-fil-a and when I took out my sandwich, I knew my mouth was watering just by looking with a newfound view at my food. Normally, I don't even pay so much as a glance to my food, but in doing so that time, I felt that I enjoyed my food more. The different textures, the different tastes. Another observation: eyes. There are soooo many different eyes. The colors, the size of the iris vs. the pupil, the shape of the eye, etc. I got told a few times whether I was okay or not... I am enjoying this new aspect to life that I'm starting to discover. It's truly helped me not only to become more detailed myself, but to see things with a different perspective.

For this coming week, I shall continue sketching things. I will practice brush strokes, and maybe Friday I'll start painting actual things! MAYBE. Emphasis on the maybe part.

S

9.6.14: mentor and inspiration (part II)

Hullo!

So yesterday evening, I talked to another wonderful person who has agreed to help me on my journey! His name is Theodore and is a British gentleman :)  He's been painting practically forever, and has a load of information that will be resourceful for me.

Snippets from last night's conversation:

(To start off, you'll need to buy) Synthetic brushes, maybe a couple of rounds, some flats and some fans

And acrylic paint

Acrylic can be watered down to make it look more like watercolour

And it's not too different to oil paint except it dries much faster and you don't have to use expensive brushes and solvents 

You're going to want a decent A3 or A2 sketchbook

Start sketching things

Art is about the journey

Experiencing creating something

And less about ending up with a painting c:

I would say avoid really cheap brushes because the bristles fall out and dry into the paint and are a nuisance

And watercolours too, they're very hard to get right

Do a lot of sketching and it'll increase your hand skill

Try and do at least one image a day, even if it's a tiny sketch

And never throw anything away. When you have a block or you think things are going bad you can let everything out and see how far you've come

You're going to grow so much as an artist this year c':

You should also look at getting maybe one large flat brush with a long handle

You want to be very free with abstract c':

Try not to leave the brushes covered in paint or in water and stand them bristles up

If you accidentally end up with acrylic dried into one you should be able to get it out under a hot tap

But it's better not to c:

Not only is Theodore an excellent resource, he's just such a motivational person. Thanks Theo for everything! I can't wait to report back :)

On another note... last week I had stated that I was going to try to have all my supplies by now. Yeah... that didn't really work out. Looking at the prices of things have scared me. Also, looking through the internet, I found so much information, it kinda freaked me out! To me, there was just one brush that could do it all, but apparently there are different brush lengths, different hair types. and different shapes. I was confused and clueless by the end of my searching. I haven't gotten any brushes or canvas, but I did go out and get small bottles of acrylic paint! It's a start right? By this Friday, I hopefully will have bought the majority of the tools I will use. I shall continue buying stuff and sketching (on random papers for now). Maybe, MAYBE, I'll start something. Maybe. We'll just have to see how things go!

S