Flat shapes and patterns in gray Poster paint on board 10″ x 15″ August 2013
Can you spot the 10 animals in the painting?
This was one of my favorite plates for this semester. Basic instructions were to draw outlines of 10 animals on paper, cut them out and arrange them on the board for tracing. They will overlap and form shapes within shapes. Paint them in flat shades of gray and add patterns to balance out the picture.
Had to use a super thin brush — 003 I think — to paint the patterns in the teeny tiny shapes. Thinking of new patterns (we weren’t supposed to repeat!) was also a challenge, especially since we were painting and not drawing them in, but really enjoyed making this plate. Â Felt like Picasso doing a tiny Guernica.
This was our first plate for Visual Perception class.
We used a photo reference that we divided into 64 squares to form a grid, for transferring point by point onto an illustration board.
The points were no joke to make, and one blackout grid would take me over an hour to do.
Our teacher, Sir Jamel Obnamia, warned us of aching wrists but also kept telling us to persevere — a fine arts student does not give up so easily.
Tricky part was using a pen, which meant no erasing and no double takes. I made some mistakes with hair (too dark, too thick) but over-all I was happy with what I came up with. 🙂
I passed the initiation, so sugod lang. Bring it, let’s do this for 4 more years of school!
I started this blog to deposit all my art, writings and ideas in one place, but been such a delinquent for the past four months. Â It’s easy to say that school got in the way, but I hope I can build up the habit of documenting on-the-go (and do it soon! the new semester starts in 3 days).
Have tons of backposts to do, but to get the ball rolling, here’s an excerpt from a Portfolio I submitted for Introduction to Sculpture class in October 2013. Â Although it was just for one subject, insights apply for the semester as a whole:
It was always a joy to come to class on presentation day, with my work in tow, ready to share the output of weeks worth of dedicated energy and labor. More importantly, I found joy in sharing my creative process out loud – there is merit in verbalizing one’s struggles and their attendant solutions: the choices we made, whether big or small, in order to proceed with the work. The greatest joy, however, came from being wowed by my classmates’ works and listening to their own processes. There was always so much to be learned during these debriefing moments and I found them essential to the gift of the class: the discovery of one’s creative logic.
Creativity is indeed problem-solving, and to be bombarded with this task everyday – to keep finding solutions and exploring possibilities – is both a blessing and responsibility that every artist learns to nurture and carry with a smile.
…
Working with three-dimensional forms has opened me up to the world of in-the-round – appreciating art from different viewpoints. This is a vital mindset to cultivate as an artist, even if one decides to pursue the path of flat or decorative art, because it reminds us to always think of the viewer or receiver of our art: they are varied and their interpretation of our art is always based on their context.
Documentation and presentation are also vital lessons learned this first semester, and I hope to develop them as healthy habits in the creative process.
Plan to blog the rest of that portfolio in bite-size posts, but if you want a peep into what a semester in UP Fine Arts is like and are up for a read (it’s 60 pages long!), sharing the rest of it below:
My new fave thing to do at the beach: sand sculptures!
Working with plaster last semester opened me up to creating 3D forms using wet-dry and powdery material, so I gave sand sculpting a go while on vacation this week.
I started digging and came up with a mound that just seemed to ask for a face.  Since it was November 1, the start of the undas festival, I wanted to do something in honor of the dead.  All the funerary paraphernalia of Egypt and Ancient Rome from last sem’s Art History class came back to me and I ended up with a figure in a resting pose with eyes closed.
I initially did a full body outline but ran out of time (I started at around 2pm, and people were already crowding about on their afternoon/sunset walk at 4pm).
It still came out pretty big — Â a low relief sand piece with hair bursting out to the waves.
It was my first ever public art, and I was both shy and excited to get feedback from people passing by. Â My first “audience” was a cute French man in a hat who lingered over my shoulder, smiled and said, “Very beautiful.” Â Don’t know if he was talking about the piece or me (haha! I should’ve asked).
But seeing happy faces and even people stopping by to take photos was nice — my sandman was connecting to someone other than myself! Â Yay.
Of course there was also the matter of kids playing with it and wanting to step on it.  I was surprised I didn’t get flustered over this.  My old self would’ve barked at them to safeguard my work, but I guess that’s one thing ephemeral or temporary art teaches us: to just enjoy the now.
🙂
Attempt number two was more ambitious: I wanted to make a fish that seemed to swim out of the sand.
I didn’t realize making the fin stand would be very difficult with sand, so I had to adjust the angle of the fish head so the fin could rest at the back.
Again it was a kilig moment when I started feeling people stop by to look, but I was just happy it looked like a fish!
Here are mom and dad enjoying our catch for the day:
Was away for a week and maybe once or twice I regretted not bringing pencils or paints with me, but I’m glad I didn’t because I got to explore and play with the most abundant local material instead– sand! The next time you’re at the beach, give sand sculpting a go — it’s free and your canvas can be as big or small as you need it to be. What a great way to play, play, play. 🙂
Every movement in nature is orderly, one thing the outcome of another, a matter of constructive, growing force. We live our lives in tune with nature when we are happy, and all our misery is the result of our effort to dictate against nature. In moments of great happiness we seem to be with the universe; when all is wrong we seem to be alone, disjointed. Â Things are going on without us.
What a sight for sore eyes! Or in my case, sore everything–thumbs, fingers, aching back and legs– all from too much creative pounding for the past five months.
Art school has definitely arrived, and in a fury at that. Â I never expected an art course to be so demanding: 3-hour sleep cycles in between non-stop creative work and deadline after deadline.
Still holding up the banner of No regrets, though. Â Everything is preparation and it is true: I am exactly where I need to be. Â So many lessons learned in one semester, and I will have to make sense of them to clear the space and make way for fresh energy for the next one.
Right now, though, Â midway through semestral break, my place is by the beach. Â On happy hour. Â With no pencils or sketchbooks or a visual problem that needs solving.
