Chicken Strips and Vogue

I'm not much of a magazine reader, but mom and I had to kill an hour or so at Fred's.

She didn't want to wait a day for her pictures to develop, so we exercised the one-hour-photo guarantee, and got some chicken strips.

Mom did the food shopping while I snagged some mags and headed for the furniture display.

(That sounds so cheap doesn't it? I'm enjoying couches I don't own and reading magazines in the store..)

Anyways, one of them was the latest Vogue issue, featuring Rachel McAdams, one of my faves.

Her interview with Sally Singer was really great. I got a glimpse into Rachel's mind and how real and normal she is. She hasn't bought into the Hollywood fame and fortune gimmick. Acting is her job, (and she's good at it) but she has a life and interests outside of all of it.

It was just refreshing to read about someone 'famous' who isn't overdosing, having an affair, or adopting foreign babies. Go here to read it. Here are the beautiful photos done by Mario Testino.

By the way, if you haven't seen The Time Traveler's Wife yet, do it.

Painting Prelude

I really want to take some painting classes. It's actually pretty fun, but I'd like to know what I'm doing...

This was my first attempt ever at painting

(excluding preschool of course)

It does have a little LOST quality to it a bit...even the purple sky...

So then I asked my instructor at the time to give me an assignment (I wasn't actually enrolled in his class) so I could learn to paint. He suggested I start by re-creating a work of art so I could look at color mixing, brush strokes, etc. So here's what that produced...(sorry it's a bad photo)

So now I was really liking it, and since I didn't have a job that winter, I decided to try out my newly acquired skills (as simple as they may be) on some homemade Christmas gifts.

I am, as you should know, a devoted STAR WARS lover and so is my brother.

Naturally, his painting would be incorporating our favorite aspects of the movies....

I chose our favorite Ewok: Wicket and Yoda.

I suggest to all you beginners out there to start by having something to look off of.

Sketch it out, the same size at your finished product will be

bust it out

and to save time and money, use the other side of the board (because you're too poor for canvas)

I liked the sketch better on this one...

He looks ok, but too cartoony, not quite ALIVE

Adding some darker greens and lighter greens, creating depth really made him seem 3D

You could say he liked it...

Now I was on a roll. Painting was easy, cheap (well, if you buy acrylics), and was way more personal than a Starbucks card.

I know I haven't perfected it at all (not even close!) But I've been sketching long enough to fake my way through. My next project was a wedding gift for a close friend.

I chose to re-create one of my favorite photos by Sina Demiral.

I want to do more, just don't have the time...If anyone of you have paintings (or any art ) I'd love to see them!

A less than Bona Fide Blog

So my posts have been pretty scattered lately.

Other bloggers always stick to a certain theme, while mine are all over the place ranging from weird illnesses, to tips, to dreaming, to random thoughts.

Due to this unpredictability, I'm going to try and re-align my focus
to my initial purpose of this blog,
which is my love for ART.

One of my many favorite books has long been my inspiration for beautiful design.

Five Fairy Tales: Rapunzel, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast,
Toads and Diamonds, Snow White and Rose Red

Gordon Laite is the artist for each story, and he is AMAZING.

It used to be my mother's when she was younger, but I've (forcefully) claimed it as my own.

So, to learn shading techniques and try abstract sketching, I chose to re-create one of the pages from Rapunzel.



It's a horrible photo, but my scanner is packed away.
I'll post the original later, voila! ART!

Random Rant

Rants are kind of annoying, but know what's even worse??


Over 20 comments on a post that all say the SAME THING.

I mean c'mon, you can't read the line above you?

And in cases where comments need approval before anyone can see them, think first:

• Is my comment so original that in the last 8 hours, someone hasn't already said this?
• Will the writer of this blog even care about what you're saying?

Sorry, I just had to say it. Because it bugs me.

go here for an example.

My First Show

Behold! I am moving forward!! Progressing!! Advancing!! Lunging into my Future Career!!

ok, so it's not THAT exciting.

But, my photo class is showcasing our final at a local bookshop

I just finished hanging them, and thanks to HGTV, they look totally great.

Well, it was a commercial on HGTV which had photos hung on a wall with ribbon behind them, and it was so cute!

I like it, it makes my less than perfect photos look much better.

So, if you're downtown, go check em out :)