Sharp Will, Dull Blade

Happy New Year!

2011-01-03T20:31:00.007-05:00

Welcome to 2011, everyone! This year, I resolve to work hard, keep a good attitude, and stay upbeat! Which is what I try to do every year, but why should I resolve to change one aspect of my life when it's much easier to live a positive life anyway?

So...

It's been about 13 weeks since my last blog post.

Please forgive me. Bah, I don't need to apologize! I've been obscenely busy!

Almost immediately after my last blog post, things started to get a bit hectic. And that's putting it lightly! As the semester went on, the workload only continued to build up. Well, it didn't exactly build up, but we were given a lot of short-term projects with no breathing time in between.

While the workload was almost overwhelming, I am happy to say that I loved almost every minute of it.

At this point, we have the 10 boards that will compose our internship portfolios. At around the 7th or 9th board, we started to re-do out older ones to get them up to shape. Here are some before and after shots:

Do you guys remember this?

14/15 weeks later

I cringe every time I look at an old board.

Crazy what difference a few weeks can make, eh? It certainly helps that we have one (or two/three towards the end of the semester) of these due every week. Here are some more pics of renderings I've done:

A toy in translucent plastic. I (and most of the class) got scolded for using gray.

Not too bad! I really enjoy marker rendering now. It's super-fun and very rewarding. Unlike paintings which are often never "done," there is always a finishing point with these product drawings. The sense of accomplishment after finishing a board is maybe one of the most satisfying art-related things I've done.

As for the rest of my boards...well, I'm afraid I'll have to keep those secret. Secrecy is a big part of the toy industry, but I believe that processes are interesting and sharing knowledge is important. If you ever encounter me in real life, I'd probably be happy to show you others!

That's about it for this blog post. Tomorrow is the first day of Winterim classes. It's three weeks of re-doing our boards and further preparing our portfolios and resumes for our summer internships. I'll keep y'all posted!

Happy thoughts,
-J

P.S. Do yourself a favor and check out Every Day Is Awesome. I'll talk about it more next post, but...just do it.

Oh, and I have my own web address! You can get here by going to http://jordanliv.com now. How cool is that?!

Five weeks in...

2010-10-02T21:14:00.004-04:00

...and I'm still kickin'.

Sorry for the lack of blog posts. I'm pretty sure I mentioned that I'd update more frequently. However, I am a Terrible Human Being, and being a Terrible Human Being means doing terrible things.

School's been great, and going by ridiculously fast. I can't believe it's about to be the sixth week (I think?)! The ridiculous amount of work we have in Toy Design is very welcome. In Fine Arts, people (like me and my homies) would often put projects off until the last moment. In Toy Design, that kind of work ethic will get you kicked out. It doesn't hurt that the projects we get are fun; in my last major, I wasn't very passionate about most things we were assigned towards the end.

Thanks to this major, I am now the working machine I've always wanted to be. Every week starts off fairly easy, with a bit of life drawing and a lot of homework. But from Tuesday to Friday, I'm in the toy design lab until at least midnight working on something. Then I have an 8-hour sewing lab on Saturday. But that is only for half the semester. It really helps to have classmates that care as much as I do.

So what have I been working on? Well, I don't really want to delve into specifics, but here are a few pictures.

The results of a Saturday sewing lab. This is Sloppy the Wolf.Marker Rendering Homework

"Try Me!" Toy

Outdoor Toy

That's about it! Looking at my work, remember thinking "Wow, I did a pretty good job," but now I notice a lot of things I can change about everything. Since our projects are overlapping and I'll have at least one board due every week, maybe I'll ACTUALLY start updating weekly.

Now, for some sleep. And more homework.

Quickly adapting to reduced sleep time,
-J

First Week: Not Bad!

2010-09-06T00:27:00.007-04:00

Let's go through the schedule! On Mondays, I have Anatomy for Toy Designers. We have a wonderful professor by the name of James Reid. I have heard from other professors that he is a master of anatomy; something that my classmates and I soon discovered. This guy REALLY knows his stuff. It is like being taught by an old master from the Renaissance. To be completely honest, I feel like I learned more about general figure drawing from a 2.5 hour lecture than I have in all my life drawing classes combined. I am psyched about the coming classes. I appreciate how laid-back the class is; we're allowed to use essentially any material and work in any size we want. We also learned that you can use skim milk as a spray fixative for your drawings. Awesome. On Tuesdays, we have Drafting and Product Materials/Safety Considerations. Drafting is, well...drafting. The first class I've ever had on the subject. Looks like it might be tedious, but I do love precise line drawings and schematics, so it'll be cool to learn how those are made. The Materials/Safety class is interesting, too. We learned about several types of plastic used in manufacturing this week. The second half of the semester will be focused more on electronics and stuff. At the end of class, we got a project: A toy that we will eventually take apart and examine. Mine is a medical kit: Included is a stethoscope, thermometer, syringe, band-aid, blood pressure checker, and a nose/throat examining doohicky. Wednesdays start out with Developmental Psychology, a course that I'm fairly stoked about. The professor seems really enthusiastic and very articulate, and the subject matter is extremely relevant to our major. We're going to have team debates later in the semester, which I am somewhat nervous about. I never got to do much of that in high school and I'm not excited about doing it for a grade. After that, we have Marker Rendering. The professor we have is new, but he seems pretty laid back and I'm excited to learn cool rendering techniques. His style of rendering objects is different from the one we learned in the summer workshop and Intro to Toy Design class, but I'm eager to see what he has to offer. Rendering things in marker is super-fun. Industry Overview is the name of our only Thursday class, and it's a really cool one. Each week, an industry representative will come and give us a lecture. This week, Franklin La Barbara (Vice President of Product Design) from Hasbro came and told us about the development of an R/C Car that just hit store shelves. It was such an interesting story and we learned a lot about what kind of work goes into the making of a toy. Check out the Ricochet 4x4; it's a really cool toy that can flip over and has a monster truck mode.

We will be making field trips in this class, as well! And on Friday, we have our hardcore classes: Drawing for Toy Design and Toy Design I. In the first one, we learn how to draw products in perspective and how to use our tools. We'll work out a few toy concepts later in the semester, but first comes the practical stuff; how to draw a toy concept and how to make it pop! The second is the meat and potatoes of the semester. Each week, we'll have a new concept theme to explore; for example, our first theme is a "Try Me!" toy. We'll have a week to research and come up with at least six toy concepts around that theme, then another week to make a presentation board and render it. It starts out slow, but we'll eventually be pumping out one board a week because the projects will start to overlap. We'll receive a new theme and have to research it while turning in concepts for the last weeks' theme while turning in boards for the theme from two weeks ago for a class critique. Whew. This week, we recieved our mission and took a trip to Toys R Us to research and play with the "Try Me!" toys on the shelves. It's a pretty broad theme, so I'm excited to see what our class will come up with. My first week of classes went very well and I'm pretty flipping enthused about the coming months of work. I try to not worry about the sleep I will loose or the social life I won't have; instead, I focus on where I'll be in two years' time. Worrying about stuff is a waste of time and energy.

Sorry about the lack of images, but there isn't really much to show yet. This coming week will be a short one, with class only on Tuesday and Wednesday. Sewing lab starts up this week for me as well; Tuesdays from 9-12 and Saturdays from 10AM-6PM. I'm not sure if I'm excited about that one yet.

Stay Tuned, -J

P.S. Here is what I ate for breakfast today. Bacon-pinach-egg-pepper jack on a soy pita. It's my breakfast taco. I love the Trader Joe's that opened down the street. I also love having an entire package of bacon to myself. The flash isn't very flattering, but...

'Twas the Night Before School...

2010-08-29T21:04:00.010-04:00

...when all through the apartment,

Paced an excited young man who left the Fine Arts Department.

Hoping to make toys for chillun' all across the land,
He took paper, pencil, and marker in hand!
"A new year awaits!" he shouted, jumping with glee.
"New people, new professors, new places to see!"
Sweat, blood, and spirit over a two-year duration,
"MY TOYS SHALL BE KNOWN ALL ACROSS THE NATION!"

"Hee-hee, hoo-hoo, bwa-ha-ha-hah!"

"The world will be mine, la~la~la~la!"

***

Dear readers of Sharp Will, Dull Blade,

I have been a negligent blogger. I have left several of you writhing on your floors like drooling addicts craving your next hit. That's what I have been led to believe by a certain few people, anyway *coughalexandsaicough*

So I apologize for not blogging over the summer. Thinking back, there wasn't anything worth broadcasting to the world. Except for my nephew's powerful cute-fu.

Is he not the cutest thing you have ever seen? He is...9 months old? Or almost. Maybe almost 10. I'm a bad uncle.

So, yeah. Summer. Went to California for a wedding. Went home and semi-vegetated for a few weeks. Got some wisdom teeth removed. Came back to my cozy lil' NY apartment.

***

I read a ton of comics over the summer after getting back in to Western mainstream stuff back in May. I've decided that I am a Marvel guy and I really enjoy the Avengers books. I read the first volume of New Avengers (from after Disassembled to Siege) and Dark Avengers. I didn't realize that Mighty Avengers was also part of the saga, so that's on my list, too. Right now, I'm reading Invincible Iron Man, most of the new Avengers books, and some random DC things. I'm really excited about New York Comic-Con this year because I'll actually be familiar with artists and writers and will try to get stuff signed!

I've also recommenced my bass guitar self-edumacation. Seeing Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (saw it twice and want to see it again!) inspired me. Now I really want to be in a band, but I won't really have time for that. Ukulele-ing is slow, though. I haven't progressed much on that front, especially when compared to last summer.

***

Today, I finished my summer marker rendering assignments for Toy Design. Earlier this summer, we had a workshop where we learned how to do compose and render a toy board. It was pretty much review from the Intro to Toy Design class I took, but we got a little more in-depth with the rendering aspect.

I'm pretty happy with how they came out; at the very least, I've gotten better at staying in the lines when rendering.

***

To say that I'm excited to start this semester would be a gross understatement. Meeting new people, learning new things...I'm finally going to do what I wanted to do in college. I don't mean to discount the last two years I've had; My time in Fine Arts was awesome! I met some great friends and professors and grew a lot as an artist. But, starting this semester, I get to take my first steps into the world of design! Not just design for the sake of aesthetics or controversy, but design with purpose and practicality.

With the workload of the program, I may not be able to update the blog as often as I'd like. There might not even be a lot I can talk about; I don't want to give any toy companies free ideas! However, I'll do my best to make at least one post a week offering a vague description of what goes on in the Toy Design program. Or post something random and spontaneous, like this short film my friend from high school stars in:

I laughed out loud at least five times. Asian people crack me up! I giggle every time I look in the mirror.

***

Aaaaand that's a wrap for now. To everyone who has kept up with my blog over the past few years: I think you're crazy for wasting your time reading about the thoughts and artwork of a silly Asian kid. Thank you so very much for reading.

Stay tuned! Things are gonna get crazy.

-J

Venus of Where?

2010-06-09T23:21:00.005-04:00

Yeah, yeah. Almost two months without a blog update; I've been slacking. But instead of boring you all with stories about how I was ridiculously busy with final projects, entertaining my parents who came to visit, trying to take a break from the world, and reading an obscene number of comics, I'll just jump in and tell you about my favorite painting I've done.

The mission for our final Figure Painting was to take the model and place her in an environment.

Initially, I was thinking of doing something completely fantastical and crazy in the background, like aliens attacking, the apocalypse taking place, unicorns, dragons...

But then I thought about the pose (which was debated about for almost an entire class period because compromise doesn't make people happy...) and this painting from art history came to mind.
So I decided to mesh the two together: A parody of a painting from art history with surreal and fantasy elements. Oh, and a mini self-portrait, too.

We were on a pretty tight schedule and only had a few weeks to work on this one. I ended up putting in around 12 hours of work in one day to finish it in time for our final critique. Thankfully, I wasn't alone...I had some powerful backup in my homie and former roommate Marcel. He was there working on about eight of his abstract paintings at once. It's always great to have someone to bounce ideas off of, especially when he's Marcel. Check out his new website, by the way! iammarcel.com

And here's the end result. See the little mini-painting of Venus of Urbino in the background? Isn't it clever? Isn't it?

There's a little cow there, too! For all of my out-of-state homies, that's the Empire State Building in the background. And Godzilla.
I was going to add more to the table there, but I was running out of time and had no references for what I wanted to add. So a lonely egg timer sits on the table, waiting for the day it will be used. Unfortunately, that day may not come because Godzilla is not far away.

It sorta looks like me. Am I tipping my hat or is it slipping off my head? And what is that mysterious book? Marcel suggested that it be "Mein Kampf" and I thought that would be hilarious because my sense of humor has been twisted by my friends. But I left it blank.

Ad a closeup of the model, Lauren. It took me forever to get her face ironed out...the way it connected to the neck and the shape of her face and a billion small things were throwing me off. So I added more hair so you can't see much of the neck and it was magically fixed! Cool how that happens, huh?

3 Hour Portraits

2010-04-14T21:57:00.005-04:00

So, I managed to get not one, but TWO portraits done this week! With the big painting out of the way, I had yesterday and today free to pursue additional paintings. Since I only got Louisa's back, I really wanted to paint a portrait of her.

It turned out that Louisa was only going to be posing on Tuesday...so I kicked things in gear and finished a portrait of her in 3 hours! I'm pretty happy with how it came out. She said that I caught her on a tired day, but she didn't seem too tired to me!

And today, I got one of Evangeline. I think it looks a lot better up close; please click on it to see more detail! I had trouble with this one, partially because I ran out of steam, and partially because the lighting was really tricky. Her entire right half was a mystery to me because her head was illuminated from the side/back and there wasn't much light on that half of her face. I tried to catch some of the highlights on her eyelashes, but that might've been too much to attempt with the brushes I had.

Another issue I had was with the canvas. I bought a pre-made, triple-primed canvas from Utrecht. The surface was smoother than a baby's bottom, which is often a good thing, but I had major issues getting the paint to stick. The previous portrait was done on a canvas I stretched and primed myself. With a surface that is a bit rougher, it took the paint a lot easier; paint on the Utrecht canvas didn't want to stay in one spot and smudged very easily. Definitely prefer stretching and priming my own canvas for small, fast paintings.

Super proud of these, mostly because I accomplished them in a short time. Granted, they are on small canvases- E is 11x14 and L is...something bigger. 14x16 maybe? Something unusual.

Maybe I'll post some of my photography work next.

Waiting for the semester to end,
-J

Pratt Draw-A-Thon 2010...

2010-04-11T21:38:00.006-04:00

...best. Friday. Night. Ever.

For those unfamiliar with Pratt's Draw-A-Thon, the event is a 12 hour (7PM Friday to 7 AM Saturday) long figure drawing-fest.

There are several studios set up with anywhere between one and three models and poses lasting from a few seconds to 6 hours.

Free pizza halfway through. For the last hour or so, all 18 models gather into one room and have a continuously changing pose to live African drums. I went this past Friday with a group of people from school and had a blast.

I brought a lot of art supplies, but mostly ended up using pencils and a brush pen. They give out free supplies, too. I got a pastel pad, a set of pastels, and some charcoal. I missed out on a set of brush markers though, as well as a nice gesso board. Why did they give out all the cool stuff when I was in the bathroom?

This is what Louisa, one of the models we've been painting in Figureative Painting, looks like from the front. Well, a little bit different. She had a badass costume.

And this is what Evangeline, the other model we're painting, looks like with a dress, hat, and glasses! Many thanks to her for letting me know about this event in the first place.

There are a handful of other pages, but they're really uninteresting gestures. The event was really awesome, but looking back it's almost a bit disappointing how few drawings I have. My favorite room was the costume/fashion studio. We never draw or paint clothed models in Fine Arts, so it was really great to have that opportunity. Maybe next year, I'll bring some markers or paint.

Best Friday I've had in recent memory. Volunteer work the next morning was a bit of a pain, though.

Two blog posts in one day? Must be procrastinating or something...

-J

P.S. Oh, whaddaya know? This is my 100th post. Only took me...2.5 years to get here! And over 6,500 page views, too! Thanks to all you crazy people who like to drop by and look at my work and read my ramblings. Stay tuned for the next few years and see if I become a wildly successful toy designer or fail miserably and become the stereotypical starving artist!

Evangeline and Louisa

2010-04-11T13:59:00.006-04:00

Several weeks ago

Last Wednesday

I finally finished this two-figure painting in class on Wednesday. It's really interesting to see how certain things changed in the process. In this painting, the woman in the foreground (Louisa) ended up changing a lot. Her pose shifted bit by bit as the weeks passed.

At the pressing of my professor, I changed her head almost completely, among other things. Since we're slated to have the models for another week, I'm planning on taking a smaller canvas that I've had laying around to make a quick portrait of her.

Here's a closeup of Evangeline.

I might go in at some point and make the right side of the hair a bit darker. The highlights on the left side might not be as bright as I like, so I may also fix those. But as you can see, not much changed in the weeks.

Overall, I think this is my favorite painting that I've done so far, perhaps because we had a really long time to work on it. Even though we had two models, I felt like I had enough time to work each thoroughly with just enough time to develop a simple background. I almost wish that I painted the classroom instead of a flat purple background, though.

Many thanks to the two awesome models! Working with students must be interesting, if only for the weird conversations one can overhear. As always, thoughts and criticism are welcome in the comments!

-J

Great Successes and other Fun Things!

2010-03-21T12:20:00.005-04:00

Guess who's going to be a Toy Design major next fall!

ME!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I heard last Saturday that I got into the program and the first thing I did after calling my mom was to update my Twitter and Facebook status....sorry Blog, you kinda got shafted. But better late than never, right?! RIGHT?!

...right?

***

Things continue to fare well in my other studies. Since we're pretty much at the midpoint of the semester, there should be a lot of projects due and tests coming up. Fortunately for me, that doesn't really seem to be the case and I only had one midterm which was this past Wednesday. Woo, Maya Art and Civilization! Interesting class, indeed!

In Painting class, we began work on a new figure painting, this time with two models. It's a pretty decent setup, and both models are really awesome and fun to paint. I think this week will be our fourth week working on them. Here are my progress pics:

At the beginning of the second week.

My professor pointed out some major issues with the figure in the foreground, which I fixed last week.

Her back looks a lot better, doesn't it? I also had to change her face because she is now looking in a different position when she poses. I'm mostly disappointed about the face. Here is a closeup of what it looked like before:

I wasn't finished painting it and I thought it didn't look that great anyway, so it's not that big of a deal. I think my professor is irritated/concerned that I put in too much detail in facial features so soon XD. Here's a closeup of the other model. Lookin' all nonchalant!

We still have 3 or so weeks left to work on these, so expect them to look plenty different by the end!

***

Look for an update on what we've been doing in photography and Abstract Painting soonish! I promise!

Yatta!
-J

Toy Design Hometest

2010-03-08T22:30:00.008-05:00

So Saturday was the big Toy Design interview day, and boy was it exciting! And bit nerve-wracking, but totally exciting and fun and interesting! I met a lot of interesting people and I think my interview went pretty well. We should hear in a few weeks whether we get accepted or not.

There were about 20 students being interviewed that day...I'm assuming that there were other interview days because I heard a lot more than 20 people apply every year. A wide range of people showed up-from a guy already interning at Hasbro to a lady who worked with autistic children to losers like me!

We started with one of those awkward periods where people slowly trickle in and sit around and stare at each other and all around the room. There were a number of hard and soft toys set out for our drawing test. We had 30 minutes to draw a still life composed of one hard toy and one plush toy. After that, they gave us a time slot and we were free to roam about until our time came. My appointment was earlier, but I ended up sticking around for almost the entire time because there were so many toys to play with and a few of my friends were at the interview too.

Since the interview is over with, I can safely (I hope) post my designs up! Our mission was to design and make boards of three toys in different categories. Here are my designs, followed by the Toy Specifications from my idea book.

Child having nightmares? Afraid of monsters under the bed and things that go “Bump!” in the night? Have no fear, Sir Galen shall slay all fiends who seek to prevent sleep!

Designed to help kids fall asleep without fear, Sir Galen is the perfect bedtime buddy. A key feature of this plush toy is his sword, which is large enough to hold and doubles as a night light. A twist of the hilt activates a soft light that operates on a sleep timer to save batteries.

Sir Galen has several phrases that are activated by touching both metal studs on his gauntlet. This style of activation seeks to prevent accidental speech and to enhance the “experience;” kids will be comforted while holding Sir Galen’s hand! To increase play value, kids can take off Sir Galen’s helmet and put a crown on instead. This will change his phrase set to sayings that are exploration-oriented.

Prince and Explorer by day, Guardian by night, and best friend for years to come, Night Knight Sir Galen is an excellent companion for any child!

***

Safari Snap is a special digital camera with two primary goals:
1.To get kids outdoors
2.To educate kids about animals, particularly endangered species.
The camera, while able to operate like any normal digital camera, comes with a built in safari game and animal encyclopedia. A typical round of the game flows like this:
1. The Safari Master gives you a mission. For example, “Track and photograph a tiger! It was last spotted near some yellow flowers!”
2. The kid goes outside, finds some yellow flowers, and photographs them. Using color and shape recognition technology, the camera knows that the right object was photographed, and the Safari Master gives another clue to the tiger’s location.
3. Once the end of the trail is reached, the image of a tiger appears on the screen. The next picture taken will feature the tiger’s image overlaying it. Now the kid has a picture of a tiger in any setting he or she wants!
4. Once the tiger is photographed, the animal encyclopedia is updated with information about tigers. New missions would be unlocked as more animals get discovered.
The Safari Snap accepts an SD memory card so children can develop their photos. It also features a small solar panel on the front. If technology is advanced enough, it would ideally allow the Safari Snap to be at least partially solar powered. Otherwise, the solar panel detects sunlight and will adjust the variety of missions according to the amount of light. Nocturnal animals would only be found at sunset, for example.
Fresh and exciting, the Safari Snap is just the toy to get kids back outside and exploring!

***

“Hey, this is a cool action figure! Wait, why can’t the arm bend like this? Let’s see...”
*snap!*
“...Oops.”
How often has the above scenario played out in households across the world? I cannot count how many action figures I’ve broken (even now!) because of restricting joints. Nothing is more irritating and depressing! One of the features that sets Little Legendz apart from other actions figures is the way it addresses this problem: with the Universal Joint. Combining the motion range of a swiveling joint, the unrestricted pivoting ability of the peg-and-hole joint, and the shape and adaptability of a ball joint, the Universal Joint allows for a far more dynamic playing experience.
To compliment the Universal Joint, a system that I have dubbed the “Universal Link” allows for a completely customizable action figure. Because all of the pegs and holes are the same size, virtually any body part can fit in any location. Combined with the countless mythological creatures and legends to pull monsters from, the possibilities could be endless. Children would be able to create their own legends, limited only by their imaginations!

So, yeah. That's that. So now I'[m busy playing catch-up with all my other assignments...Expect an update about my abstract paintings and the latest figure painting sometime soon!

Happy Monday,
-J

Two From A Series and More Progress

2010-02-23T21:40:00.004-05:00

Finally, an update featuring actual Abstract Paintings!

Here are the two paintings from the series of four that I am working on right now. The one on the left is based off of this sketch:
And the other is based off this image from a previous blog post. The colors on both ended up being modified quite a bit. It's getting a little frustrating to keep everything parallel and squared. I have two more paintings to do and our professor is shooting for a deadline in two weeks, so I've quite a bit of work to do yet.

In other news, here's the latest progress on my self-portrait. We only have one more session to work. Again, I have a lot of stuff to do: Thicken the wrist, finish painting the hand, paint the apron, highlight the hair, add facial hair...those are the basics. It's really tough to paint a hand while posing...

Other classes are going well. Life Drawing is getting better, Photography is interesting, and Intro to Toy Design is a lot of work. I'm also taking a Mayan Art course, which is really interesting. I'll post some work from my other classes sometime soon. Time is running short-the Toy Design home tests are due March 6th!

CRUNCH TIME!

I'm So Vain...

2010-02-17T21:17:00.002-05:00

...I probably think this painting is about me.

Sorry, couldn't resist. It isn't about me, it is of me!

So, here is a series of progress pics taken over the past two painting sessions. In Figurative (Figureative? We're painting the figure, but I don't know if we're painting figuratively...I'll stick to "painting" for now) Painting, we're doing self-portraits from observation (using a mirror).

Yes, a lot of things look "off" about it, but I think it's coming together alright. It's tough to paint yourself using a mirror and with one hand pulling an eyelid up partway...I move around a lot, to say the least. But I'm having a lot of fun painting it. I wish it were a more comical, exaggerated face.

I've also picked up a fan brush, which has been interesting to use. I have always been fascinated by their shape and when the local art store had a big sale, I couldn't resist picking one up. So far, I've only really used it for blending, which it excels at. This is both a good and bad thing; It makes beautiful transitions, but it moves me away from more expressive color placement and brush stroke. But I'm okay with that because I don't do expression very well, unless it involves a punching bag.

***

As for my other classes...well, I'll upload some pics of my other work whenever I remember to take pictures >_<. But so far, the semester has been going fairly well. I've been preoccupied with my Toy Design home test, which is chugging along slowly. I'll post all about that when I'm finished with it.

'till next time,
-J

Abstract Sketches

2010-02-06T23:19:00.003-05:00

So for Abstract Painting last semester, we had to make around...3 or 4 sketches a week to develop ideas for our next painting. I'm actually glad that Professor Jeff Way made us do these sketches for a grade because I think it's a habit that should really be developed. This tradition is carrying through to this semester (though not quite so formally, I'm not sure if we're being graded) for our first project:

Make a series of 4 paintings based off of a painting you did last semester.

I really loved this one, so I decided to develop it further.

Here is a sketch of the next painting in the series.
Horizontal format, 30" x 50"

As for the other three...well, I'll get to those later. There are a billion different ways this series could play out, so be sure to stay tuned! Here are a few scans of watercolor sketches from last semester, some of which you should recognize.

Abstracted ukulele!

The organic one...

This last idea wasn't realized, but I do like the thought of a spiral and I might work that into another painting.

In other news, I have a smaller blank canvas hanging out at my apartment for me to do something of my own on. Maybe I'll do another self-portrait, but I'd rather paint a pretty lady's face. Any takers?

'Till next time,
-J

Self portrait re-re-re-re-MIX!

2010-02-03T19:47:00.005-05:00

So here is a very bad cell phone photo of out first Figurative Painting project: A larger-than-life self portrait. This is on a 3' x 5' canvas. The very same canvas that was the star of my last post, in fact! It's pretty close to the first self-portrait I did last year. Almost a bit too similar, but the inclusion of my hand tosses something new to the mix. My middle finger is pushing my eyebrow and eyelid up, which is why that side of the face looks funny. Actually, a lot of things look funny in the drawing...but this is just underpainting. Once everything gets colored in, I'm sure it'll look better.

Just to be safe, I'm going to start using a mirror that I don't have to hold. It's hard to paint a hand when it's holding something!

I'll keep you guys posted on progress.

-J

The Blank Canvas

2010-01-31T12:25:00.005-05:00

What will be on it? Only time will tell.

Or a professor giving us our next project.

Whatever the case, it needs to be sanded and another coat of gesso applied.

***

In other news, I've mostly settled in to my apartment. I moved in 3 weeks ago and have spent most of that time organizing, cleaning, and trying to get some portfolio work done. Here's a little tour!

The main space. Being a Chelsea studio, it's just over 7 feet wide. Looks a lot smaller than it actually feels. Check out the painting over the futon! It was actually on the frame that the blank canvas is currently on...penny pinching artist!

The home entertainment system. Recently started watching Pushing Daisies on DVD. It's a shame it was canceled. Also burned through Firefly and the movie continuation Serenity. Why do such amazing shows get canceled?

The wardrobe. Socks, undies, and pants. Shirts and jeans are in my closet.

The kitchen! Note the case of Shin Ramyun on top of the cabinet.

And, of course, my work space! Purchased this lovely drafting table, chair, and lamp as a bundle from Utrecht on 23rd. Right above my table is my budding Wall of Ancient Chinese Wisdom:

Good for keeping morale up.

And when you spin around, you're at me digital work station! Or something like that. Could use another bookshelf to put stuff on or something.

And that about sums it up for now. Classes start tomorrow and I have a bit of preparation to do. Stay tuned for updates on my artwork! Promise I'll update often!

End of the Semester

2009-12-19T22:52:00.005-05:00

Look at me, I'm sheepish!

Whew!

I am SO tired right now. For the past week, I've been going to bed around 3 or 4 AM and waking up around 8 or 9 for class or to do work. Thankfully, with the passing of Thursday, the semester has officially ended for me. Unfortunately, I've been super-busy packing my stuff and moving it into my apartment! I haven't had much time to relax, but today I took it easy after moving a bunch of stuff in the morning.

Anyway, time for the interesting stuff:

Tuesday was the day of my class' Cluster Review. We gathered all of our work and had a critique in front of all of our professors. Naturally, it was a ridiculously long process: we went from 9:30 to almost 6 with an hour long break for lunch. Thankfully, my abstract painting teacher Jeff Way brought us bagels!

My critique went really well. I actually wish I heard more negative comments from my professors, but they didn't have much of that to say. The only thing I remember them saying is that I might think or plan too much. Here are some pictures of my work:

We had to display three paintings from each class, not including homework paintings from Figurative Painting class...

...In addition to both sculptures, our best few drawings, and a few prints. I need to photograph more of the latter two. And on the floor are some of my embossings. I'll photograph or scan those too, when I get the chance.
You can see two larger drawings we did in Life Drawing class here. They're pretty recent.
And here is a closeup of the last abstract painting of the semester. I rather like it, but the blue and yellow one is my my favorite.

All in all, an enjoyable (but long) day. It was really cool to see my classmates' work collected together.

***

Winter break has pretty much started and I'll be going home on Tuesday (assuming this crazy snow isn't going to delay the flight). Super-excited to see my nephew, but I'll probably need a flu shot before seeing him. I'm coming back to my apartment on the 10th and will spend the remainder of winter break cleaning up, organizing, and working on my Toy Design home test! Expect a few updates on that, but not too many! I don't want anyone to steal my ideas now, do I?

Anyway, updates might be a bit scarce over the next few weeks, so don't worry about checking on a regular basis! 'Though if you do want to stay updated on my latest blog posts, follow me on Twitter! You can reach my page over on the right side of the page.

I know we can make it if we take it slow,
-J

Final Abstract Painting of the semester

2009-12-12T00:31:00.003-05:00

Above is the final abstract painting of the semester. Inspired by Loch Ness Monster, bamboo, love, and combat. I have to have it completed by Tuesday morning for our end-of-semester Cluster Review. Last year, it was a mid-semester deal...This time, we have more work and all of it is on a larger scale.

In addition, I have to finish my second sculpture (which is a long way from being done) and make a little pamphlet/catalog/booklet thingy describing my process for it. Busy, busy next few days.

***

Adding to the busy-ness of the next few days is my recent apartment-getting! I found an apartment for next semester and the lease has already started. I gotta move all of this:

And more by the end of next week into this:

It's bigger than it looks, but I hope I don't have too much crap...More pics later!

Looking forward to the end,
-J

Vicky and the Statue

2009-12-09T23:38:00.002-05:00

Finished the last figure painting of the semester on Tuesday. At least, I think it's finished? Let me know what you guys think. Like I said before, we had to use non-naturalistic colors, and this is the result. I'm actually pleased after staring at this photo for a while; I hated the painting for the longest time. I really love the statue's face.Vicky and Statue

30" x 40"
Oil on canvas

And a peek at what I'm up to in sculpture:

Oooh, mysterious! Even I don't know what's happening!

Coming out of his cage, and doing just fine (for now),
-J

Untitled Abstract Painting

2009-12-06T14:21:00.002-05:00

36 "x 60"
Acrylic on Canvas

The finished Result. Don't know what to call it. The blue area looks like it might be too open and plain, but I kinda like it. What's wrong with having big open spaces? Comments and criticism welcome.

Wrench in my gears

2009-12-02T23:11:00.005-05:00

This figure painting really has me lost. The wrench tossed into the mix: non-naturalistic colors. I'm having a lot of difficulty making up colors that match the values that I see. I suppose the problem could be my attitude. Perhaps I should view the requirement as something that will push my artwork in a new direction rather than as a wrench in my cognitive process.

Whatever the case, here are pictures. As per usual, I take a particular interest in the face. And naturally, the rest of the painting lags behind a bit. Professor fixed up the model's face during the second half, which is why it is much less defined fight now.

After the first session of the day

At the end of class. Essentially, more stuff filled in.

Closeup of the statue's face. Easier to paint because she doesn't move.

***

In other news, I got an apartment. Expect a blog post with some pictures of my tiny hole in the wall sometime in the near future!

-J

Curled Up and Bent

2009-11-29T13:53:00.002-05:00

Saw this at the Museum of Modern Art yesterday. Put a smile on my face for the rest of the day.

Jenny Holzer
American, born 1950
Living: There's no reason to sleep curled up
1980-82
Bronze

Clutter

2009-11-29T13:32:00.004-05:00

So we've been working on this new painting for two weeks and have two more weeks to finish. I won't lie-I'm having a bit of difficulty with this one. This is mostly due to the fact that we aren't supposed to use naturalistic colors. Here is what the painting looked like at the start of class last week:

But my teacher wanted me to add a bunch of stuff to the background. She says she likes the idea of this painting feeling very cluttered. This is how it looked at the end of class:

At first, I didn't agree with the clutter in the background because I wanted to have a big empty space. I'm not particularly sure why, but now it makes a lot more sense to have more objects in the picture plane. I like my composition a lot because there are two faces: the actual model and the statue in the foreground. Now I have two 'happy places' I can work on when I need a break from the other bits of the painting.

Rather than match the real-life colors, we instead have to focus more on the black-and-white value of the colors. Here is the above image in grayscale.
I think the figure may be too dark....Potentially not a problem if the statue stays light and the background color changes. We'll see how it comes out.

Aesthetically Pleasing

2009-11-22T14:40:00.001-05:00

When I began this semester, I was initially very skeptical about enjoying abstract painting. But now, with about two or three weeks left to paint, I have come to appreciate the freedom in the class. It's very liberating to paint non-objectively.

For our last two projects, we have several options. For the first one, I decided to go with a geometric theme on a 5' x 3' canvas. Here is a picture of what I have done so far.

Basically, all the coloring is finished and all I have left to do is outline the rectangular forms. I didn't take any in-progress pictures because I didn't think it would be interesting (that, and I keep forgetting my camera). All the process involves is, well...painting shapes and taping off the edges so they're straight. Pretty boring!

I am really happy with how this is coming out. In contrast with figurative painting, it's much easier to paint something you find aesthetically pleasing. My professor thinks that I should add some red or gray, but I'd rather not. Red would look nice, but I feel like I fall back on the primary colors too often. I enjoy the simple yellow-orange and almost blue-violet I have going on. Maybe some gray, but I'll have to finish filling in the lines first.

Not sure what I want to do with the next one...I think I want to do something organic because I have a tendency to do stuff with hard edges and lines.

Finished(?) Painting and Food

2009-11-14T13:30:00.002-05:00

Sorry for falling behind a bit on the blogging! This past week, we finished the still life of glass and reflective objects. Cue a BIG sigh of relief from me and many others. Short project, but we'll be painting a figure for the rest of the semester (4 Weeks left to paint?!?!?! Or is it 3?) so I'm excited.I tried to be a little more liberal with the paint application, especially on the lightbulb. It's not exactly evident anywhere else. I would like to try to be more interpretive and less literal with my depiction of objects, but the wannabe photo-realist within me ain't letting me. I think I'm addicted to blending.

***

On a totally unrelated note, here is a brief glimpse into the diet of a college student! Earlier this week, after class, I felt the urge to whip up some macaroni and cheese. But, because mac and cheese are BORING, I added some stuff!

Mac and cheese with sliced red peppers, crushed dried red peppers, and some other stuff! And BROCCOLI! Which was frozen. It seems like we eat Mac and cheese at least once a week here and usually jazz it up. Once, we added red pepper, onion, crushed pita chips, and a can of tuna. AMAZING.

On occasion, we feel like splurging a bit. My roommate Marcel (whose face I've sculpted and drawn) likes to cook a lot. A few days ago, Marcel, Andy (the third roommate), and Becky (the unofficial fourth) wanted to make burgers and potato salad for some unknown reason. So they went shopping, and a few hours later this came out:

Not bad, right? They sure tasted bangin'. Marcel is a weird and messy chef, but everything tastes pretty good in the end!
They're so happy! And so was I, but I was taking the picture. We watched the 'Ultimate Cut' of Watchmen that night and stayed up 'till 3...That is a LONG movie.

Expect something more art related and substantial when I remember to bring my camera to class! I haven't updated y'all about abstract painting for a while, so that might come up soon!

New Paintings and Other Things

2009-11-02T23:34:00.006-05:00

Last week, we started a new painting in class. This one is a still life featuring objects that are reflective or made from glass. Can't say that I really like it...In fact, I'd much rather be painting the figure. On the bright side, we're only working on this one for 2 more weeks.

I'm trying to work with thicker layers of initial paint. Probably a good idea, considering the short time we have. Here's a pic of the section I'm painting:
I have a lot of lighting to do.

And here is a picture of the latest painting homework, due tomorrow. The assignment:

"1 Object 4 Ways
Split your canvas into four sections. Choose an object that you want to paint and look at it from different angles, zoom in/out, light it, etc. How do you want to show variety? Stylistically, should it be the same in each area? Think about both variety and the coherence of the whole."

I really liked the look of my Ikea desk lamp so I painted that from a variety of angles. As you can see, I went with a complimentary color setup for each section. Stylistically, they are all painted the same, just with different colors...it was pretty much intuitive to translate the plain black lamp into different colors. The complimentary color scheme is a bit elementary...perhaps a triadic scheme would've been more interesting.

***

On a totally unrelated note, I shaved my mustache off for Halloween.

Yeah, I look a little befuddled, but one of my roommates said my bare upper lip makes me look angrier. As a 19 year old college kid, I think it's okay to be angry and rash and I also think it's fitting to appear angry and rash, so I'll probably be rocking this for a while. The 'stache will come back when I am wise enough to deserve it. I love my chin hairs though, so those guys will be sticking around for a while.

Most of my friends miss it a lot. I think I look a bit like a goat.

***

That wraps things up for now. Look forward to another blog post or two later this week featuring more progress on the painting and maybe some other stuff! As always, comments and critique is welcome.

I need direction to perfection
-J

Finished (?) figure painting

2009-10-21T13:47:00.006-04:00

Yesterday was the last day we had to work on our current figure painting. We only had 3 hours, so I picked up my brushes and went to work and tried to get as much finished as possible.

I immediately hit the feet, hands, vase, carpets, and mirror. The foot was super-tricky; if you go back and look at how the painting's changed, you will see that the foot's position changed about 20 times. In the end, I sorta fudged it and made the orange pillow cover up part of it. The mostest trickiest part was probably figuring out how to render the carpets. I ended up just mixing more intense colors and doing random highlights...I'm not sure if there are enough, but I'm overall happy with how the painting came out.

This area is one of my professor's favorite sections. This photo is pretty bad...point-and-shoot cameras aren't very good at taking pictures of paintings. I might have to pick up a DSLR sometime soon!

And here's the face again. The only thing I did was add highlights to the eyes and maybe a little bit to the hair. It's still my favorite part of the painting, but every time I look at it and compare it to the model, I notice a dozen things that are wrong. Oh, the problems of an artist.

Here are a few pictures of the critique setup we had going on. It's really cool to see the range of styles within the class.

Hope you enjoyed seeing the progress of this painting, probably the best figure painting I've done so far. Our next project in class is a still life with reflective surfaces...should be interesting to say the least.

Steady, as she goes
-J

Metal and Me

2009-10-19T23:11:00.003-04:00

Some quick shots of my sculpture. It has come along quite a way since last time, mostly because it's a very quick process.

The leg section is way out of proportion, so I'll be cutting that down and adding another leg next week.

I also added a three-piece shoulder section that I really love because of its layered armor look.
But the thing is, it's starting to look a little too much like armor, so I'm going to rough up a few edges with hand shears next week as well. I've got quite a bit of work left to do.

And here is the finished version of the self-portrait from two weeks ago. It's hanging in the hallway! Go me! ^o^

Metal + Me = ?

2009-10-15T10:53:00.004-04:00

Finally, a chance to blog about my sculpture! I remembered to bring my camera in to class on Monday and took a few shots of what I've done so far. Unfortunately, the tech in charge of the tool room wasn't in class so I didn't have access to some electric metal shears and I couldn't work on the sculpture more. The shears give the edges a very clean cut, which is why I couldn't work on Monday despite owning a pair of hand shears.

Let's start from the beginning!
Our first project in Sculpture II is really broad and general: Abstraction from the human form. With that as our prompt, the professor had a model come in and do some poses for us while we did sketches and made small mock-ups. Here's what I tossed together with cardboard and tape:

I really liked the form of this torso and so did the professor. Once I had this made, I had to decide what my material would be. Almost everyone else in class is using chicken wire and some kind of surface filling, whether it be plaster or paper pulp or something crazy like that. After sitting around and staring at it, I decided to use sheet metal! Nobody else was doing it and METAL IS HARDCORE!

So I went over to Queens and picked up some metal from the friendly folks at B&B Sheet Metal. I had to decide how I was going to bond the metal, so the Professor suggested using a riveter.

Here's what I have so far:

It doesn't look like much, but it's actually quite large. The process for making this thing is really quick- I made all of this in two 3-hour sessions a few weeks ago. I'll probably have the legs done by next week and then I'll have to plan how I want the surface to look.

I'd like to maybe document the process some more, so keep an eye out for a step-by-step walkthrough!

Happy,
-J

Progress is good!

2009-10-14T10:07:00.004-04:00

PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE in various studies of mine. Today's blog post will focus on Painting, which I had yesterday. I've been updating you guys on the progress of this painting for weeks, so I hope it hasn't gotten old. Here's what the painting looked like at the start of yesterday's session:

Six hours of work later, she turned out like this:
As you can see, a lot of progress was made. We only have one three-hour session left to work on it, so I guess it's good that I did a lot. I believe I'll try to focus more on the surroundings next session. I tried to model out the hands and feet this time around, but I'm not sure how successful I am. That foot looks tiny, but some of it is supposed to be covered by the orange pillow. The carpets on the floor are also a lot more intricate and I need to flesh out that mirror some more...it looks terribly awkward right now.

After completely avoiding the face last week, I decided to flesh it out. Here's what it looked like before:

And now:
The model came into class with her hair done up slightly differently. I thought she had really pretty hair and was disappointed when she tied it back for the first several sessions, so when more hair was visible this week, I jumped on it. I also painted in her left side so now it doesn't look like she's a ghost. Just looking at her face, it's interesting to note how different it looks when removed from the rest of the body. I'm proud to say that the majority of the class feels like I captured the look of the model very well.

***

That's pretty much it for now. I finally remembered to take pictures of my sculpture, so you can probably look forward to that in my next update.

Rockin' n' rollin' with art all night,
-J

Despite the poor quality...

2009-10-10T16:27:00.004-04:00

...I feel obligated to post a picture of my first abstract painting. It has a coat of varnish now, so the colors probably look a bit deeper now.

I'll talk about this one more after I can take a better photo.

We've started a new painting. The focus is on the process, rather than the subject matter. Jackson Pollock is a good example of a process painter. Right now, I don't really have any idea where I want to take this painting, so I'm pretty lost. Whoo, abstract nonobjective paintings!

Tuesdays are the Devil...

2009-10-06T22:01:00.006-04:00

...but I love them anyway. I have class from 9 AM to 9 PM with a few breaks in between. It's a long day, but Tuesdays always leave me feeling super-productive. Here's some of what I accomplished in the past 24 hours!

First, from 9-12, I have Figurative Painting. Then, after a two hour break, we have another session from 2-5. Today, however, we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the afternoon session. I really wanted to work on my painting more because we're running out of time, but the museum trip was worth it! My class saw this amazing rooftop sculpture by Roxy Paine, followed by The Milkmaid, a very famous painting by Johannes Vermeer. I really like Vermeer's work and work from that period in general.

Anyway, about my painting: I didn't touch the face and instead moved on to the torso and the still life set up around the model. Still haven't gotten very far on that and I think the painting looks pretty bad aside from the model. But I'll work it out!

After Figurative Painting, I have Printmaking from 6:30-9. I haven't posted a lot of work from that, but here are a few pictures from my workspace from tonight:

The first two are lithographs made from Pronto-Plates. The middle pic is a print made from photo from my brother's wedding this past summer.
The last image are some test prints I made using acetate cut into an ukulele stencil. First, the color was rolled on through a stencil. Then, I made stencil of the neck and sound hole, inked it up, and scraped away lines for the strings. It might be kind of hard to see. Some other prints were offsets from prints already made.

And now, I'm going to work on that drawing from my last blog post!

Working hard to get my fill,
-J

The Three Hour Self-Portrait...

2009-10-05T22:08:00.003-04:00

...30 minutes in. I changed the angle. No, I haven't shaved, I'm just saving facial hair for later!

Heads

2009-10-04T22:15:00.004-04:00

Further reinforcing my love for faces, we're focusing on the head in Life Drawing right now. Here are three classmates, followed by a quick practice self-portrait for homework. All were done in about 20 minutes, give or take a few.

These don't look a whole lot like my classmates, especially the last one, but I think I captured most of their look. The one on top is friend and roommate Marcel, the fellow I sculpted last semester.

I just noticed that my head looks like it's floating...I may or may not fix that. I'm working from a really small, round mirror, so getting anything below my chin is tricky. We have to make a face for this homework assignment and I rather like this one, though I might do a few more practice sketches before I commit to a 3-hour pose. I'm using compressed charcoal for these. Although we can use graphite or charcoal, I think I'm going to stick with charcoal because of the wide area of coverage and really, really wide range of value you can get from a single stick. I have long forgotten the joys of using a stick of compressed charcoal...

Happy thoughts,
-J

Finally, a figure painting!

2009-09-29T22:53:00.008-04:00

So last week, we spent the second Figurative Painting session working on a painting of a model. The professor set up a pretty cool still-life arrangement to go with the model. From my angle, I can see a glass vase, multiple pieces of fabric, and a mirror. Last week, I painted this 'sketch' of the model:

I spent way too much time on getting things exact, especially with the body and face. I paid for this today because the model changed positions significantly. I actually liked her new pose a bit more because the supporting arm on the left side of the canvas looked awkward. After about an hour or so, the painting ended up like this:
Maybe the change wasn't that significant, but it was enough to cause a minor headache. I slapped on a few other undercoats, reflecting the color of the fabric and the background I wanted to give it. I don't want to have easels and students in the background, so I'm thinking I'll just leave it dark.

By the end of the two three-hour sessions, this was the end result:
I ended up spending way too much time getting facial details correct. At least it bears a fairly striking resemblance to the model, but the rest of the painting isn't quite up to par.

Since I spent so much time on the face, I'll probably not touch it for a week or two as I bring the rest of the painting together. I say that I probably won't, but chances are...I won't be able to resist. Faces are my favorite subject matter to draw and paint, so the next few weeks will be difficult. I believe we have three more weeks to work on it, so check by often for updates!

-J

Drapes and Corners

2009-09-20T23:42:00.008-04:00

Here are some quick shots of my first projects in Figurative Painting.

The first is a painting of drapes we have set up in the class room. It's done with a limited oil palette of reds (Cadmium and Alizarin Crimson), blues (Ultramarine, Cobalt, and Cerulean Hue), and yellows (Hansa and Lemon), as well as white. We also were limited to a palette knife for the majority of the project. Some people used brushes to help apply the paint, but I decided not to cuz I'm hardcore like that (not!).

And here's a pic of the section of drapes. A lot of stuff shifted around.

This is our first homework project for Figurative Painting. Here's the basic prompt:

Paint a corner of the room with a viewfinder. Focus on color and lighting effects of the angles and stuff.

It needs another hour or two of work, which I'll knock out tomorrow. The painting is noticeably darker than the photo, but I kinda like the atmosphere. I also shifted stuff around, like making the lamp bigger and cutting down on the ceiling space.

I've got sculpture tomorrow, so expect an update on what's happening in that class sometime soon, as well as some more pics of these paintings whenever they're finished!

***

On a totally unrelated note, I saw Ingrid Michaelson at Webster Hall on Wednesday. It was my first actual concert and was a pretty awesome experience. The venue was really cool and reminded me of The Killers' "Mr.Brightside" video. Actually, they have very little in common...Maybe it reminded me of The White Stripes' "My Doorbell" video.

Woo, tangent!

Anyway, it was a really, really awesome show. I feel like Ingrid's lyrics speak to me, with themes of love, hope, and fantasy with a touch of bitter angry person. This personal songwriting style, coupled with the fact that she plays ukulele makes her one of my favorite artists I've learned about recently. I highly recommend her latest album, "Everybody." Also thanks to homie Julie, who brought Ingrid to my attention!

Here is Ingrid's Youtube channel. Also look into the songs "Soldier," "Far Away," "Die Alone," and "The Chain."

And so it goes, this soldier knows,
the battle with the heart isn't easily won.
-J

Monoprints!

2009-09-15T22:51:00.002-04:00

A quick blog update for my peeps!
Here are some cell phone pics I took earlier this evening during printmaking class. These were made on Rives BFK 230 GSM paper.

For this first one, I slapped some watercolor onto a piece of acetate and ran that through the press with a piece of soaked printing paper. After letting it dry a little, I took some printing ink and traced a drawing I did of my friend onto a piece of acetate and ran it through the press again. I'm hoping to do something a little more advanced next week, maybe with some stencils and stuff like that. I do think I'll stick with the figure motif though, because I really like the image.

This second print was inspired by this post on DudeCraft. I really wanted to have one to hang on my wall or on my room's door, so I tossed one together in class by rolling some ink onto a piece of acetate and scraping off the ink for the letters. I did have to write backwards, which is why the "a" is facing the wrong direction. I made another one without the "OR ELSE!"

I did a number of other prints, but I only took a few pics because I forgot my camera =_=. Expect a few more down the line, along with some painting pictures!

Learning to be like water,
-J

Welcome (Back) to the Jungle!

2009-09-13T23:17:00.006-04:00

*insert obligatory apology for a long silent period here*

Well, I'm back at school! After the first week of settling in, we really hit the ground running once classes started. I haven't become overwhelmed yet, and I don't intend on allowing that to happen! This semester, I'm signed up for Sculpture II, Figurative Painting, Printmaking II, Life Drawing, Abstract Painting, and my one liberal arts class: Film Art/Critique.

At this point in the semester, I'm most excited about Printmaking. Last class, I did a number of quick and easy monoprints of a sketch from my sketchbook using a sheet of acetate and ink. The volume of work somebody can produce in that class is amazing. I'll have pictures of the monoprints, which I'll use as a springboard for more complicated prints, in another blog post.

Overall this semester, we seem to be pushing toward an open, abstract body of work. I'm not a particularly big fan of abstract art, but I'll take this opportunity to really let myself go before things tighten up next year. The amount of freedom we have this semester compared to last is almost overwhelming. Expect some posts with cool artwork in the future!

***

I've gotten a lot of requests for pictures of my massive three-person dorm room, so for all those wanting to see...

This is taken from the dooway. My roommates' wardrobes stand in a fairly long hall.

Turn the corner and you see the path to the living area. Bathroom door to the right, eating area to the left, and kitchen is a little further down.

Peek inside the bathroom! Toilet has a stall door type thing, which is great, and the shower is huge!

The kitchen. Typically cleaner, but our sink is leaking like crazy, keeping us occupied. We have lots of cabinets, too.

Dining Room!

Big, open living area. My nook isn't pictured.

Home entertainment system! 22-inch TV, PS3, and lots of Rock Band! If you do a 180, then directly behind you...Is my corner! My desk is crammed in there, but it's really nice and cozy. I'll take more pics later.

We're planning on adding more stuff, like a functioning lamp and some wall decorations. In about 3 weeks, we'll probably have the coolest pad in the dorm.

***

Finally, some artwork! This past week, the Fine Arts students started up a free Life Drawing session from 6-9 on Friday nights. It's awesome because it's totally student-run and we're free to do whatever we want, which is liberating to say the least. Because I love to draw portraits, I spent most of my 40-minute stay drawing the model's face. Here are two I did with a charcoal pencil:

Both were done in about 10 minutes. I'm trying to speed up that drawing hand a bit by cutting out the under-drawing phase (circles, proportion lines, etc.). The likeness may not be the greatest, but I'm hoping to iron that out along the way.

***

That about sums it up! I've also taken up crocheting as a side hobby, but I haven't touched my crochet hook in a week or so. I plan on posting pics of work as I get stuff done, so keep an eye out on my Twitter for updates! Or just check back every few days!

-Wishing Helvetica was a selectable font for Blogspot,
J

I AM MEGATROOOOOOOON!

2009-08-03T19:03:00.006-04:00

If you know me, then you know that I LOVE Transformers. I've liked them ever since I was a wee little lad, but once Beast Wars came out in the late 90's, I got hooked. But after that TV series ended, I basically outgrew them.

Or so I thought.

Enter the 2007 Transformers live-action movie. That summer, I randomly ended up in a Wal-mart with my cousin and I saw the new toys on the shelves.

"Holy crap," I said. "THESE LOOK AWESOME!" I instantly fell in love with the controversial "Bayformer" aesthetic of the new toys. Once again, I was hooked and now I have most of the main characters from both the last one and the newest one.

I could gush for hours about my love for those crazy transforming robots, but on to the main topic of the blog post.

A few weeks ago, I picked up the new Rise of the Fallen Voyager-class Megatron figure. If you don't speak nerd, that means "mid-sized transforming action figure of the villain." Anyway, for some silly reason, Hasbro decided to make this Megatron figure in green plastic with silver and gold highlights. I mean, I would probably be a little green if I were stuck under the ocean for 2 years too, but Megatron isn't green at any point in the movie. This irked me to no end, so I decided I would repaint the figure into his original Silver and Gold color scheme.

Despite having played with Transformers for over 10 years, I never got into "kitbashing" or repainting/modifying my toys. But for some reason, I just couldn't deal with the green. So here's me first repaint, EVAR!

Megatron's Flying Tank Sandvich mode!

For some silly reason, his head is exposed in vehicle mode. The movie guidebook says this allows him to react faster to threats because visual info doesn't have to go through all the sensors other robots have- it just goes straight to his robo-brain. I think it's an excuse thought up by the toy design department so they don't have to think of some complex way to hide his crazy face.

The repainting process started with a base coat of acrylic flat black.

After that, I drybrushed a lot of silver on and touched up with gold later.

NOW FOR THE EXCITING PART!

"I AM MEGATROOOON! GRAAAAWR!"

My favorite part is his torso. I took it apart and painted the moving gears in his chest gold! When he rotates at the hip, the gears in his chest spin. This is a rare case of an awesomely implemented gimmick (in my opinion). Moving gears are cool, but I'm not a fan of projectiles or electronics in general. They get in the way of posability!

His crazy backpack/cape-esque attachment.

I don't see why they felt the need to give him toes. They provide pretty much no support.

"HUMANS SUCK!"

Aaaand the obligatory full-body shot.

It was a pretty cool experience and gave me something to do for the last week and a half. I should probably spray a clear coat on him, but I dunno if I'll get around to it. If I don't, paint will probably rub off over time, but I'm okay with that. It adds to his worn, "I've been under the sea for two years" look. That's also why he isn't painted completely silver/gold. Megs looks kinda like a Warhammer miniature in that respect.

Anyway, that's probably one of the more exciting things I've been up to recently. Hope you guys enjoyed a look at one of my obsessions!

Operation: Nursery = SUCCESS! And more!

2009-07-25T18:18:00.012-04:00

After 2.5 weeks of planning and painting, the nursery is finally complete! I can now resume my normal summer life of sitting around and trying to be productive (and failing)

The entrance

Right corner

Left Corner

The hillside/crib wall

Complimentary Color Tractor. Coincidentally, those were my high school colors. Not done on purpose...I wanted something else purple (other than Grumpydactyl) and I had some extra yellow sitting out.

Becker Dam and Lake feat. Grupydactyl, Elie the Corgi, and the Duck Duck Family.

Barn of Boxes with solar panels and Mudpigs

Zoomed-out picture of main wall

Sky!

The last day was spent primarily painting the sky and clouds. I didn't buy enough of the light blueish white to cover the whole ceiling, so I had to mix another light blue, which is why there's a huge white cloud and a lot of blue. I think it worked out well. The edges of the ceiling clouds and all of the wall clouds were painted using a sponge.

I had a lot of fun painting the room and look forward to Baby Becker crawling around...then walking around....then wondering why his/her uncle is so awesome...then wanting to paint the room black. Crazy kids!

Anyway, it was nice to get out of the house for a while and do something where I had a lot of creative freedom.

*****

Summer is almost over! I have less than a month before I get to move back into the dorms at FIT. August 20th can't come sooner. I'm starting to run out of things to do here!

*****

With the last month or so of summer, I finally actually have stuff that I want to get done.

First up is this Bayonetta art contest. Basically, you have to draw your own version of the crazy femme fatale with lady with guns and e-mail it to Wizard for fan voting. I've never been good at drawing smexy females, so I kinda wanna dive this a try, as poorly as it might turn out.

Second, I opened up an Etsy account. I don't have anything on my store, but I did see some cool Ukulele Straps and decided to invest in one. If I ever put something up on the shop, I'll post it here! I'd like to make a few Ganpens to put up on the site. I can't believe I didn't think about Ganpen on Etsy before...

*****

If ya have a Twitter, check me out!

*****

In the past, I've tried to keep my nerdiness under covers, but...
This is out right now. I want it SO badly. I LOVE Gundam models and Exia is one of my favorites. The Ignition Mode comes with extra parts! IN CHROME! SOAWESOME!

*ahem*

That about does it, folks! Expect another update whenever I decide to get of my lazy arse and do some artwork. I haven't been painting at all this summer (oil painting, anyway) so I expect I'll be really rusty when I get back to school. I haven't been drawing anywhere near the amount I should, but I'm working on that by starting up an art boot camp to get myself ready for the coming school year.

Looking forward to the end!
Of summer, that is.

-J

Ellie the Corgi and Grumpydactyl

2009-07-21T12:04:00.003-04:00

Mountain Aminals!

2009-07-20T14:32:00.002-04:00

No, the cow will not have eyes.

Oink Oink!

2009-07-18T22:30:00.002-04:00

Do pigs actually go "oink oink?" I've never heard a pig make such a noise....granted, I haven't been around many pigs before.

Fox y Sky

2009-07-18T01:11:00.003-04:00

The sky is two different colors...I didn't buy enough of the lighter color, so I had to mix a light blue of my own...unfortunately, I didn't have much white paint so I had to hold back on the lightness.

Hopefully I'll be finished (or close to it) by Sunday. Just a few more days!

Slow Progress!

2009-07-16T15:52:00.003-04:00

With all of the larger areas pretty much covered, things have been going pretty slowly. This is mostly because I have to mix almost all of the colors for animals.

Hopefully, I'll be done by the end of the weekend. I still have the ceiling to do...

60TH POST!

2009-07-13T23:19:00.004-04:00

A NEW MILESTONE.......kinda.

Okay, not really. A new centered format to commemorate the non-occasion.

Here are more pics!

Question mark goes where?

Hi Mr. Goat!

"Flip a switch! I dare ya!"

Beaks and feet!

More More More!

2009-07-10T23:24:00.003-04:00

This is the wall the crib is supposed to be against, which is why there isn't much going on. The more exciting one has yet to be worked on. I need to experiment more with texture techniques...if anyone's got any tips or websites, don't hesitate to post a comment!

Even with all the time I take to paint, it still seems to move at a snail's pace =_=.

Nursery Progress

2009-07-09T11:46:00.003-04:00

BEHOLD!

Chalk drawings on the wall! You might want to click on the pics to see them in a bigger size.

I'm about ready to slap on some paint.

Which will hopefully happen today!

This is one of my favorite parts

More updates soon!

Uncle!

2009-07-07T11:28:00.006-04:00

What you see above is the soon-to-be nursery room of my soon-to-be niece/nephew!

WAHOOOOOO!
That's right, folks! Jordan's gunna be an UNCLE!!!!!!!

Being the artistically inclined member of the family, I have been charged with reformatting the walls of this room to be more kid-friendly. I.e. I'M PAINTING FARM ANIMALS!!!! This is one of the bigger walls I'm going to cover!

My brother-in-law Noah and I just emptied the room, except for the couch. Good for painting breaks and that thing is a major pain to move, anyway.

I'm going to do chalk outline roughs for the farm scene in a few minutes! Expect updates (hopefully daily)!

And a checklist of what's to be included:
-An organic farm!
-Windmills for energy!
-Solar panels
-Electric dam
-Tractor
-Hills
-Mountains
-Lake/pond/river/ocean
-Maybe animals
-Ellie the Corgi!

IT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME!

Watercolor Stencils!

2009-06-11T21:09:00.004-04:00

Hi, guys! We'll, it's been a little while, and I haven't actually been up to much. What I need to be up to, though, is working on my portfolio! Which will happen...well, now.

BUT! before that happens, I wanted to point you guys to this awesome post over at DudeCraft!

CHECK IT OUT HERE!
This guy did a really cool tutorial on watercolor stenciling and I decided to take it for a spin! CHECK OUT MY RESULTS!

You guys might recognize this as my profile pic!

And this is a picture of my friend Joey and I from school. This one came out kinda sloppily because I didn't have a lightbox and tried to wing it without one because it was in my sketchbook.

This was a really easy and simple project! I highly recommend it. The guy who did the tutorial did a really good job of explaining and if you have any questions about the method, they're probably answered somewhere on the message board!

Keep an eye out for summer work on this blog!

-J

Animazement 2009

2009-05-22T23:52:00.009-04:00

Well, I don't normally do this kind of thing, but I feel like I should update the blog more often and perhaps expand some readership? This blog entry is about the only Japanese animation (anime) convention in North Carolina.

I've had an obsession with Japanese culture that started with Pokemon and expanded to Cartoon Network's weekday Toonami anime slot. That eventually expanded to CN's Adult Swim late night block and when I started high school, my anime craze went full throttle. I started buy the comics (manga) and DVDs when I could and soon became an otaku. Summer 2005, I had the opportunity to go to the "only fun thing that happens in Durham," Animazement. The idea of attending a convention where hundreds of other people like me would attend boggled my mind!

And great fun was had. I dressed up as my favorite character from Samurai Champloo, Jin and had a blast runnning around the Sheraton Imperial Hotel with my friends. The next year, I had even more fun. I did a fairly decent Vincent from Final Fantasy 7 (sorry, I had my photos on Cosplay.com but it seems like they revamped their photo system and a lot of them were lost in the process...). But every year since then has become a little less fun, a little less exciting.

Enter this year, Animazement 2009. May 22nd through 24th. I wasn't even really 100% sure I was going to go. I suppose college life made me grow up a bit and leave the otaku obsession behind. The sheer madness that occured at the convention every year was starting to wear me down. Part of it was timing- I just got back home from college and am still settling in. I just didn't have time to adjust my costume from last year to fit this year, either.

In the end, I decided to attend the 'con on Friday only with my friend Saiwen for old times' sake. Little did we know the epic journey that awaited us...

Alright, it wasn't that bad. Here's the abbreviated story: As we entered a parking deck in downtown Raleigh, Sai's car started to stall. We pushed it through the deck and to the other side and eventually discovered a leaking tube. Gas was splurting all over the place when he tried to start the car! So, he called a tow truck.

On the way to the auto shop, the tow driver started telling a story.

Driver: "Yeah....I was locked up for 15 months. Aha ha hyuck!"
Me and Saiwen:"....oh yeah?"
D: "Yuuup. I came home one day and saw some boys foolin' with my 11 year old daughter."
Us: " o.O"
D: "Now, I understand if it's just one. I say, 'Aiight boy, you jacked up, but you made a mistake, i'll look past this, let's go get you some help.' But THREE?!"
Us: *crickets*
D: "I lost it and shot 6 times!"
Us: <(O_O;;)>
D: "...yup. That's why I hate the po-leece."

Needless to say, it was an awkward ride. Once we got there, we tried to get a number of friends to swing by and take us back to the 'con. Eventually, we got our good friend Derin to swing by...but by the time she showed up, Sai's car was fixed. The tube that carried gas to some important location split and the replacement was complete. So, Derin drove back to the 'con all annoyed and angrylike (we made her miss her group's photoshoot).

Once we got to the convention, time flew by. We ran into a few old friends and caught up a bit. It was an overall enjoyable experience. It was just enough to satisfy a former otaku's hunger for fandom. Although I wish we could've stayed for the Japanese Pop/Rock group Uchuu Sentai NOIZ. They ran out on stage during opening ceremonies in ridiculous costumes and tried to get the crowd to do a funky anime 'con dance. I've never been to an actual concert before and I feel like it would've been fun. But hey! I go to college in NYC. I'll have another chance to see a show.

Here are some pics. I've always been too shy to ask cosplayers if I can take their photos, so I only ever get crowd shots...

Outside the Raleigh Convention Center

Some random cosplayers

The convention hall was huge- AZ spanned 4 floors!

The other motivation for going: The Dealer's Room. Where we get our crack: books, DVDs, posters, figures...and so much more.

Hello Kitty Panda!
*explodes*

I picked up one thing from the Dealer's Room:

A new Gundam! I absolutely LOVE Gunpla. This is my first "Master Grade" model kit in a very, very long time. It has lotsa little pieces and cool accessories! *nerdgasm*

Look forward to me documenting the construction of this action figure model!

I feel like I forgot to write about something, but I'll update the blog later. For now? Sleep.

Hoping that the truck driver won't appear in my dreams,
-J

Start of Summer!

2009-05-19T21:32:00.013-04:00

Well, summer has officially started! I just got back home after a harrowing 11 hour long train ride. The past 36 hours have been very hectic and stressful for me, but it's all behind and done! On to the noteworthy items!

This painting is pretty much finished. I won't be able to work on it for three months, but hey! The only thing I really feel the need to fix is the hand behind the head, which isn't finished. Her face still looks kinda pig-like, unfortunately, but I had a really tough angle with the face. That should count for something! Also note the floor tiles.

Here are some pics of our last sculpture in class. It's a pretty basic reclining nude full figure. In many ways, this was easier to make than Marcel's head. The only really tricky parts were the hands, feet, and face. The base we were working on was something like a 16" square, so small forms like the hands and face were harder to sculpt. One wrong move and hours of work could be undone! Luckily, oil based clay doesn't really dry out, at least not within the time frame we were working in.

Unfortunately, I couldn't take it back with me, so I ended up leaving it behind in the sculpture studio with a big "Give Me a Home!" sign on it.

***

On another note, I was surprised to see my room rearranged when I got back home! Here are some photos because I feel like it!

The view from the doorway. I get a good view of the neighbor's backyard, full of grass and a storeage shed. And the satellite dish that we never really used. It's so nice to see green on a regular basis again.
Enter my room and turn left to see part of the madness that lies dormant in me. My box-o-swords is just chilling in the corner there. Not that there are any actual swords. Well, actually, there is, but it doesn't count 'cuz it ain't sharp enough! The rest are wooden and props I made for cosplaying.
Right next to my door is my Wall of Nerdiness. Everything from manga to Playstation games to stuffed animals is here. My mom compressed my collections to the max to make room for everything. I'll rearrange it to fit my aesthetics later!
Aaaand the magic area where I usually can be found is here! Directly across from the doorway and facing my bed is my desk! With added shelf! As you can see, my Transformer collection is here. Well, the new stuff, anyways. I have a lot of Beast Wars toys in the clear case next to the desk. I expect the desk to get more and more cluttered as time goes on this summer.

***

Speaking of summer, I've always associated the season with one thing (and it's kinda silly): VIDEO GAMES! Yes, summer is the one time of year where I can allow my brains to turn to mush and play video games like mad. Speaking of video games, some friends of mine are playing through Persona 3:FES in sort of a MST3k style. Check 'em out, if you will! There will probably be a lot of them, seeing as how the game easily has an 80+ hour play time...

I've got a decent backlog myself...Little time for gaming at FIT! But I also plan on trying to find a job and working on my drawing skills. Can't lose what I've gained! MUST STAY PRODUCTIVE!

That about sums it up for now. I'll make sure to keep everyone posted!

OH SNAP! Almost forgot! OVER 2,000 PAGE VIEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I were any good, I'd have a new banner up to commemorate the event. But I'm not, so meh!

Well, now I'm back at home and
I'm looking forward to this life I live

-J

All These Things That I've Done

2009-05-03T18:28:00.015-04:00

Ok, lessee if I can make a longer post than last time! I have fun, adventurous things to speak of!

First off, I'll fulfill the prophecy foretold in my last blog post: updates on PRINTMAKING!!!!

Currently, we are working on etchings. To the left here is the amazing Renaissance etching Knight, Death, and the Devil by Albrecht Durer. Of course, our professor wasn't expecting us to do anything as intricate as this one.

Initially, I had no idea what to do for this project. There are so many options! Because of the nature of the medium, you can be as fine or loose as you want with the lines. Compare the above etching to this series by Picasso:
Pretty big difference, yeah?

So for inspiration, I was reading this awesome dark fantasy manga called Berserk. The artist, Kentaro Miura, has ridiculous skillz and uses a lot of techniques that would seem to translate well into etchings. In the end, I went with this:
Here, you have a swordsman standing in front of a castle with a solemn look on his face. Pretty simple, right? I feel kinda bad because the cape and the sword is pretty much ripped off of Berserk's main character, Gatts.....But capes and swords are totally badass, so I couldn't not have both of them.

The process of etching is covered pretty well by Wikipedia here. It's a pretty straightforward, but time-consuming undertaking. Here is how my etching plate came out:

I had to transfer the original image on backwards so that it would come out facing the right way (although it probably wouldn't matter since I don't have any words). Shiny, ain't it? This is a zinc plate. You can also use copper, steel, or even plexiglass. The problem with plexiglass is that it'll wear down a lot faster than the others, so you can only run a few prints before they start losing quality.

Anyway, here is a pretty crappy image of the end result:
Not bad, I suppose. The print is in a display case, so my reflection is showing a little bit. I was a bit disappointed in the face. The eyes are completely different and now it looks too anime-ish. Well, it was pretty anime-ish to begin with, but the facial expression is still really different. Luckily, you can still add to the etching after dipping the plate into the acid bath.

So, expect a better picture later on and maybe some touch ups.

And now for some more GanPen prints!

Sorry for the bad pics. Bloody display cases.....Why are my prints so good?
Anyway, this here is an embossing. The idea is to run a print with thick, damp paper and no ink on the matrix at extremely high pressure. The end result is an impression of the raised parts of your matrix that looks really cool under certain lights. It works a lot better with a wood matrix...mine was linoleum. After the paper dried, I took a can of spray paint and painted at an angle to hit certain raised parts and to bring out some really cool shadow effects. Pretty cool, no?
And this is a simple print over a pastel colored background. The linoleum block slid around a bit, so there is a bit of image ghosting, but I think it came out pretty well.

With only 2 weeks left of school, I don't see us doing anything else other than printing more etchings. This is all I really want to do, anyway!

***

Now for random stuff in my life! Today, I went on an adventure to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden's Sakura Matsuri with friend Julie. Unfortunately, it was raining, but it was still lots of fun. Despite going to Japan a few years ago, I'd never seen a Cherry Blossom tree until today. Here are some pictures of flowery things!

Mysterious grape flowers!Koi pond!

Closeup of Cherry Blossoms!

Part of the Path of Cherry Blossoms!

Like I said, it was really fun to see. There were a lot of Japanese cultural events, but we both had a lot of work to do so we couldn't stay for very long. If only it were a sunny, windy day so that the petals would fly around and look super-pretty like they do in anime...

That about sums it up! Dunno when the next update will be, or what it will be about, so keep posted!

While everyone's lost, the battle is won
With all these things that I've done.

-J

Doing It.

2009-05-01T21:06:00.008-04:00

Well, I've been debating on whether or not I should upload these paintings. Being an art student, I have to draw and make paintings of many nude models. But, being a would-be toy designer, I want to keep this site family friendly and paintings of naked people are usually reserved for the high school crowd...

An hour ago, I thought, 'Screw it, I wanna talk about naked people paintings!'

So, here I am! LET'S RAWK! If naked people aren't to your liking, then...suck it up and deal with it! IT'S ART!!!!!!

This is from the first semester. Remember all those fruits and still life paintings from before? Well, this was the final for that class. I think we had two 6-hour sessions to work on it. I'm really proud of the face, but that's about it. It was really tricky to just jump right in and paint.

Fast forward to this semester, after my self-portrait. Our next painting was a sitting nude figure against a backdrop. Initially, I was pretty happy with how this painting came out. But every time I look at it, I become a little less satisfied. I feel like I relied too much on dark brown lines to define the figure, especially around the torso. I also wish that I had a more frontal view of the face. Faces are probably my favorite thing to draw or paint. Something that I benefited from while working on this painting is the drapery. I learned a lot about how to paint folds.

Next up is this fellow! It seemed like every painting pr drawing class had him as a male model. Anyway, here I really started to get a balance with the skin tone. Not too much reliance on lines and more of a tonal shift to indicate form and light, especially at the legs. The mission was to paint a sitting nude in space as opposed to against a backdrop. Some of the space is fabricated or adjusted to fit the needs of the painting, which is pretty cool. We got to drift away from what we see and focus more on the "Plastic Space," as my Professor calls it. This painting isn't finished and I feel like I should put a few more hours into it before it's complete.
Here is a closeup of the figures. Like I said, I love painting faces. The face of the model was mostly done over one class period. Same with my classmate. One day, she decided to get grey/ blueish highlights and I decided to change the painting to reflect that.

We were working on this painting when, seemingly out of nowhere, another model appeared and we started a new one!

And that brings us to my current painting. I believe we have two or three more sessions with it. The assignment was to paint a reclining model. Originally, we were supposed to be able to create a setting for her, but as everyone's paintings progressed, I guess that idea got dropped.

It's really fun to compare this drapery to the previous paintings'. I've still got work to do with the blue-green one and the yellow cloth on the right. Something that's been giving me difficulty is the face. I'm at a really awkward angle. Not only is her face foreshortened, but it's turned to the left and she seems to move her head every time I look. I'm afraid that the nose looks too much like a pig's snout and her chin's shadow looks too much like a goatee. I can't say that it looks very much like the model.

Well, that about sums it up. It's really cool to look back and see how I've progressed as a painter. Next semester, we have two painting classes: Figure Painting and Abstract Painting. Not looking forward to Abstract; I can never seem to wrap my head around abstract art. Honestly, all I can ever say is, "That's interesting," or, "That sucks." Really looking forward to figure painting and working with multiple models.

Look forward to another blog post very soon. Maybe even over the weekend. I have much progress to post about in Printmaking class.

Carry on,
-J

P.S., if you want to see what the last painting looked like on Tuesday, my friend Deanna took a pic of it:

Devilpen redux!

2009-04-24T20:16:00.005-04:00

Here are some pics of a new Ganpen I tossed togezzer as a birthday gift for my friend!

It was a bit of a rush job because I've been pretty busy as of late. To compound the problem, the "F" key on my keyboard fell off, so I have to press this tiny rubber nub...it's really throwing me off.

Anyway, this is a redone Devilpen with a reversed color scheme. Here is the old one for comparison! The horns are a little more shapely, and the tail isn't pointy. I also used Montana Gold "Anthracite" colored spray paint and some Testors Zinc Yellow enamel for the feet. Not bad, but if I had more time, it could've looked a little more polished.

I have about 4 blank Ganpen figures with me here and have enough material to make a small handfull more back at home. Over the summer, I plan on going into production overdrive and fix together some new penguins! Or maybe make a redone design! Who knows. While I really want to stay in the city, there is a lot to be done at home. Only three weeks left in school!

Happy stuff
-J

Quasi-productivity

2009-04-10T20:58:00.003-04:00

Hey, you guys remember this guy? Well, I randomly decided to revamp his design just for kicks. I actually didn't look back at the comic for his redesign, so I completely forgot about the half-hakama and human right leg. The new guy is entirely robotic...for now anyway. Who knows, he might have a human brain or eyeball or something.

I drew him with a brush pen...I love those things so much. He's also digitally colored in Photoshop with some dry media brushes. I don't have a name for him yet, so if anyone out there has ideas, feel free to leave a comment! I'm sure this guy will appear again somewhere down the line. He's part of my character roster, along with Ganpen and his minions!

Finally enjoying spring break just a teeny bit,
J

Sculpture and MORE!

2009-04-08T10:39:00.012-04:00

Edit: Added some pics of real-Marcel!

Man, no update in over a month! My bad, peeps, my bad. To make up for it, here are some photos of my recently artwork! Up top here is a Ganpen linoleum print I did in Printmaking class. I have a number of other experimental prints that I might upload later. If you haven't seen my movies or don't know about the greatest mobster of all time, check it out now!

***

Up next is the sculpture I've been working on since the start of the semester. It's a portrait of my friend Marcel. In class, we paired up and sculpted our partner's head. This is probably the most expensive project we've had; the clay and supplies cost over $130! That's more than all my art supplies in my sophomore year of high school!

It's a pretty hefty sculpture, too. A solid 9-ish bricks of oil clay went into Marcel's head. It was a great project! All of the other classes sculpted from a model while we got to work from classmates. Our next project is a reclining nude figure, which is shaping up pretty well.

***

So, right now I'm in the middle of spring break! It's been pretty cool, but it hasn't felt like much of a break. I actually have a decent amount of work to do ( 8-10 page analysis research paper....=_=), but a lot of it has been put on hold because of a little challenge a friend and I have going on. We have to complete a sketchbook by the end of the break! That's 184 pages in 7 days. I'm not far at all and it's unlikely that I'll finish in time, but....A CHALLENGE IS A CHALLENGE! So far I've done 23 pages. If I were on schedule, I'd be on page 80-something by the end of today. But I think I'll get started on that paper instead...

***

That about sumps it up for now. I'll try and update more often! I have a lot of paintings, but they're of nudes so I don't know if I should find somewhere else to host them. It's already Wednesday! Only 4 days left in the break.

Wishing there were more hours in the day,
-J

Home Base

2009-03-05T16:14:00.006-05:00

If you didn't know, today is the eve of the release of Watchmen! I got tickets to a midnight premiere up here in the city and that's a good....7 hours or so away.

Because I love you guys (not cuz I need to kill time!), here's a new blog post!

Inspired by this post by my friend Julie, here's a little look at my work station in my room.

I spend a lot of time sitting at my desk on the computer. In fact, my productivity would probably increase tenfold if Facebook didn't exist. Or computers in general...My desk is quite cluttered as well.

The view from the front! Note the website! Check out Dudecraft for awesome craft projects and ideas. Another plug for ya, Mr.O!

Here are is my collection of toys up in New York.

I absolutely love Gundam models. It's a chance for me to see how action figures are made without going to a factory! These particular models are from Gundam 00, the latest anime series. I just started building these things again after a good five or six year break and was amazed at how Bandai's modeling technology has progressed. The gundam models I built in middle school were like stick figures compared to these things! Really fun to build, study, and play with.

Here are some Transformers! I got back into Transformers when the movie came out in 2007. These are from the Transormers Animated line. What I love about these are the design; the Transormers Animated cartoon has a very distinct, stylized anime-ish aesthetic to it. These toys capture that aesthetic very well without compromising playability at all. When these toys were first unveiled, I was dumbfounded by their awesomeness.

Some Japanese action figures and a Ganpen that needs some repairs...
The one on the left is a Figma Lelouch and the far right one is a Revoltech robot with a long name from Full Metal Panic. These guys are mad posable and have excellent craftsmanship. Very fun to play with.

Wall decorations! Wooo!

Here's a project my friend Kara did using my face as a reference. The idea is to write a few short lines, photograph someone reading them dramatically, then use those photos to make a comic strip that doesn't necessarily have to be in order. Cool, huh?

Some books! Note all the Watchmen stuff. All of the Watchmen books are signed by relevent people; the artist Dave Gibbons and the movie's photographer, Clay Enos. Also note the Ashley Wood books. Kinda hard to see, but I have Lore, Zomvies v. Robots Complete, Popbot Complete (until vol.8 comes out, anyway...), and a few art books.

And sitting five feet away is my entertainment system! A 23 inch lcd monitor with a TV tuner, cheap speakers from Kmart, my PS3, and lotsa games! Woo! Good for relaxing but I don't use it all that much.

That's pretty much all that's interesting. I've been thinking about getting back into using deviantART again. I want to put up pics of my paintings of models from class, but don't know if I want to put them up here. If you have thoughts about it, post a comment!

Self-Portrait and OVER 1000!

2009-02-26T16:43:00.005-05:00

Here's the first painting project of the semester. I meant to upload it much earlier, but I kept on forgetting to bring a camera so I could take a higher quality shot of it...So you'll have to settle for these cell phone pics.

I started with a quick charcoal drawing and light washes of color. Then I blocked in the skin tone and the white of the shirt.

Next I fill in the background and slap on a few more layers of paint. Then I added my mustachio and chin hairs! Incidentally, this was painted by looking at myself through a mirror.

Here's the end result. I added the wrinkle in the bottom right at the suggestion of my professor to counter the motion of the hair. It doesn't look all that much like me, probably because I did a funny raised-eyebrow expression and had a top-down angle on my face. But I had fun painting it and am learning a lot.

On another note, I have accumulated 1,125 page views! Yatta! Thanks for coming to my website and having some interest in the work of a will-be toy designer. I'll try to update more frequently! Promise!

Comic-Con

2009-02-17T23:09:00.003-05:00

As some of you guys know, February 6th-8th was the New York Comic Convention.

It was awesome.

It was the first really big convention that I've been to. After walking around the convention floor all weekend, my feet hurt for the first time since move-in day! I was fortunate enough to meet David Gibbons, the artist for Watchmen, and Clay Enos, the unit photographer for the Watchmen movie. Mr. Enos and Titan Books put out and absolutely amazing book called Watchmen Portraits. Like the name implies, it's a huge book full of black-and-white portraits of actors and actresses from Watchmen. If you've got the money and are a fan of Watchmen, it's definitely worth picking up. Amazon has it for the great, great price for $31.50. I also met Gabe and Tycho from my favorite video game webcomic, Penny Arcade.

On Friday the 6th, when I was wondering around the convention floor, I spotted some authentic, original artwork by Ashley Wood. When I saw a huge original Zombies Vs. Robots painting, I nearly passed out! Ashley Wood is my favorite artist and I was absolutely floored to see his paintings and sketchbook pages in person. I could've studied his paintings all day. Seeing photos is one thing, but seeing the actual layers of paint and the brush strokes is something completely different...If I had a spare $400, I would've picked one up, but I had to settle for drooling over the display table. Someday....

Well, I'm not planning to write up a big con report, but going to NYCC was a great experience. Not only did I get to fanboy-out, I recieved a bit of inspiration and a goal to shoot for. Tonight, on this blog for all to see, I am making a vow: Someday, I will be sitting behind a booth a Comic-Con, showing my artwork, selling my toys, and making a name for myself. With any luck, it'll happen within the next ten years.

That's all for now. School is back in motion, work is starting to pile up. I've really been enjoying painting lately because we're focusing on portraits and the human figure. In my next update, I'll post some pics of some new work. I'm pretty proud with my self-portrait and the process behind it is pretty interesting, so be ready to read about that!

Lesson learned and the wheels keep turning

One Week Left...

2009-01-16T17:09:00.006-05:00

...'till I go back to the city! FIT's winter break is freakishly long. I suppose it helps to save on those heating bills, though.

Anyway, I can't say I've been as productive as I wanted to be. Too busy being lazy and playing Fallout 3. But I just recently rediscovered my brother's acoustic guitar under my bed, as well as another miniature guitar of his in my closet. I can't believe I forgot about them! So I've been fiddling around with them a teeny bit.

Fine arts-wise, not much has been happening. I don't know why, but it's impossibly difficult for me to get anything done when I'm at home. Maybe it's the prospect of someone looking over my shoulder every hour, seeing me work. I can't stand it when that happens.

BUT, speaking of work and artsy stuff, I want to direct all of you readers to Dude Craft! Run by my former tech theater teacher and big-time awesome guy Paul Overton, this arts and crafts blog has a number of interesting posts and projects for DIY-minded people out there. Definetly something to check out if you're in the mood to produce (unlike me!).

Anyway, enough about my (currently boring) life! Here are some pics of my 3d design projects! You may remember this from way back:

Since then, we've done maybe....5 or so more projects. Here are some highlights!

Project: Create form with intersecting shapes composed of parallel vertical planes.

Project: Create a radiating form that had the same profile view from all sides. Looks rather menacing, no?

This last one is our final project. We had to take a geometric/cubist/abstract painting and translate it into three dimensions. I took this painting by Theo van Doesburg and turned it into this:

I was going for a crazy Star-Wars-esque city/Death Star scape.

Pardon the crappy photo conditions. In fact, I am ashamed to have uploaded these without color adjustments, but alas, time constraints suck. Yupyup.

Later kids!

New Year, New Prospects!

2009-01-08T14:53:00.004-05:00

Hey all!

Well, I've been back at home for the past two weeks or so for winter break. I don't go back for another two weeks, either. To make the time at home less...'meh,' I've gone back and touched up a few paintings, while working on a few new things.

First, if you didn't notice, is the little original painting of a penguin waving goodbye to his polar bear friend. I felt like doing something without references or observation and that little thing just popped out.

Next, I touched up the old skull painting. A few posts back, I put up pics of a skull we did in painting. I really, really wanted to go back and touch it up, so here I did!

It has much deep shadows and is generally sharper looking. I also added a bit of saturation into the background hues.

This isn't new, but I never put a pic of it up. This was done before the skull, almost entirely with a palette knife. Sorta Obama-esque, no?

I also went back in with this guy and deepened shadows, defined the apple a bit more, and sorta cleaned things up a bit. It's interesting what another hour of work can do for a painting.

Lastly (for now) is one of the more recent 3D design projects. We had to create a wall piece that was to be viewed from three sides. I initially wanted to do something that moved or opened, sorta like a cuckoo clock, but that proved to be too complicated. In the end, I went to a good ol' GanPen motif and did this movie ad-type wall piece. I painted some foamcore to make the buildings and explosions and printed out pictures of the bank and GanPen, then slapped them all together with glue.

That's about it for this update. I'm looking forward to seeing how things turn out at the end of this year. Seems to be a tricky time to be a toy designer, what with the economy and all this lead paint going around....

Look forward to more updates, especially featuring 3D design stuff!

Happy New Year!

-Jordan

A new Ganpen?! WHAT?!

2008-12-09T11:17:00.003-05:00

So, I did Secret Santa with my friends this year and I was really at a loss for an idea.

Then I remembered that I had a small army of penguins at my beck and call.

So, I converted my desk into Santa's workshop for a few hours. I retrofitted winter clothing onto one and slapped on a quick, easy paint job for the tie and buttons to fit in with the whole "holiday spirit" thing. I actually had to hand sew the hat. Felt and black thread! GO ME!

I actually have a number of blank figures here with me, including a unicorn Ganpen. I have a blue one and red one that need to be finished and I have one with a golden tie, just because.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Painting

2008-11-19T17:32:00.008-05:00

I have discovered the glory that is oil paint!

Painting class is progressing nicely. Since moving into the world of color, we've done four or so paintings. Here are two of mine (pardon the low quality of the pics, they were taken with my cell):

This is the latest one I've done, still in progress. We've finally moved into the realm of the living (almost). We were only allowed to use the biggest brush we had; this was done with a 10 flat.

Here is a painting with some progress pictures.

Base tone of Burnt Sienna and Manganese Violet with a quick schematic outline.

Most of the important colors blocked in.

The finished painting. I couldn't get my camera to take a single in-focus shot of this painting for some reason...this is the best I have for now.

Thanksgiving draws near!

24 Hour Comic Book Day 2008

2008-10-26T14:04:00.010-04:00

So last weekend was 24 Hour Comic Book Day. The idea is to create a 24 page comic in 24 hours. It was started by Scott McCloud a few years ago to show how capable an artist can be.

I was lucky enough to be near Jim Hanley's Universe, which was apparently the only place in NYC doing it. Here's my 24 hour comic.

Shodown is rated PG-13 for language and violence. Yeah.

It's interesting to see how the quality of work drops as time goes on... Compare the first 6 pages to the last 6 and you'll sorta see. See the Negative Laser Pew-Pew on page 16? Yeah, that's my way of getting rid of all the black space I'd have to color in. I thought it was clever....

Another way to save time was the use of splash pages; those pages with just one panel of stuff happening (pages 4, 24, etc.)

The idea was sorta random. I just drew some crazy UFO thing at the top corner of the first page and went from there. Very spur-of-the-moment. you get a good idea of what goes on in my head.

I learned quite a bit from my first comic book. It sorta reinforced the fact that I'm not a sequential artist....But I had fun. Making a 24 page comic in 24 hours once a year is alright with me.

More work!

2008-09-23T22:53:00.003-04:00

Here are the latest versions of the 2D design project. It's the same broken name design, but using value to create form differences.

Both are pretty metal-esque, yeah? The first one may imply some sort of obsession with blades and other pointy objects. The second is sorta like some metal animal thingies on a neutral background.

Here's a painting I did in Painting I. We use oil (almost) exclusively, this is the first time I've ever used oil paint (well, second or third time in class). This is also the first time painting on an actual canvas. Oh, and this is also also the first time I've painted with a palette knife. Last week in painting, we've finally started using brushes with our oil paints.

It's a greyscale painting of a Morandi painting. We've been looking at a lot of his work in this class because of the way he uses color. We actually haven't seen any of his paintings in color yet, just these greyscale photocopies that we make paintings of. There's a Morandi exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art over here, which we'll be visiting Thursday. Should be interesting.

3D Design: Funnest class so far?

2008-09-16T21:14:00.003-04:00

So here are some pics of my first 3D Design class project. The basic idea is to create a 3D form using 13 parallel planes. I didn't want to do something boring, so I came up with this:

I'm not religious or anything, but the cross is a simple form that looks complex in this context.

The center piece is a 7x7 inch square. For the first piece, each corner has a .5 inch square cut out. Every plane after that has another half inch cut out until you arrive at the cross, which is 1 inch wide on all four arms.

A time consuming project, but really fun. I like constructing things.

Our next project is a bit more complicated. More details on that one later.

More 2D Design

2008-09-16T20:58:00.006-04:00

So, here are the projects for 2D design. We're taking the name design idea further by taking one of the designs and creating a more geometrical composition.

I took this one:

And turned it into this:

After that, we had to rearrange the shapes. Mine turned out like this:

I think they look too similar, but there are some interesting negative spaces.

This is the next part of the project, using line to define the shapes instead of solid black and white.

Not sure how I feel about it, but it's interesting.

Current Projects

2008-09-07T12:31:00.005-04:00

Life so far in the city has been quite nice. After getting past the noise and mess of the city, it doesn't seem all that much different from Durham. Just bigger.

Here are some pictures of my first 2D design class project. We first had to do various compositions using our names, then use a viewfinder to zoom in on three areas to enlarge. This project is about figure/ground relationship and positive and negative space.

Taken from a "broken letters" name composition.

From a "large and small letters" composition.

Overlapping letters

Movin' on up!

2008-08-14T23:52:00.002-04:00

New York City, here I come!

I'm moving up there to begin my education at the Fashion Institute of Technology where I will do Fine Arts and eventually Toy Design.

Waking up at 4 AM to make the drive up.

=_=

GanPen production will be put on hold until I can find a workspace. I'll be taking a few with me if I find some space and time to paint them in.

Will update blog with cool stuff soon! Expect to see more of the artsy side in future updates.

Lazy Summer Days

2008-07-29T11:11:00.007-04:00

*insert lame excuse for no updates here*
This might be a pretty long post...

Summer has been pretty darn good since the last update. Recently, the Durham Arts Council opened their annual exhibit featuring the work of members of the Durham Art Guild. As a junior member, I had this piece on display:
The Death of Tomorrow

I think this is the first time any work of mine has actually been in a public exhibit place, so I feel honored to be a part of it. Apparently, the drawing was awesome enough to win 2nd place and score me some munnies!

Pictured above is what is currently on my makeshift workbench. Production has been slow because of a lack of space.

I got tired of using black, so here are some experiments...

Another PenZilla for my karate master.

And a friend wanted a ZombiePen, so here is a new version. As you can see, there are exposed rib bones and a number of new wounds.

I move to New York City on the 15th of August. From the 6th of August to the 13th of August, I'm going to be in California for a few weddings. Time is running short, so I'm trying to tie up some loose ends here. A lot of that is finishing some games and work that I can't take with me. GanPen production will probably be put on hiatus for a few months, at least until I figure out if I can work on them un the city.

On to some other news! On July 12th, I officially earned my black belt in Ishhin-Ryu Karate!
It was a very exhausting test, especially since I was testing alone; this meant there was little time to catch my breath and little energy from the outside to feed off of. As per tradition, I walked away with a few injuries. Both my feet had bruised heels from attempts at breaking bricks. The big toe on my right foot was black and blue underneath the nail because of a brick falling on it after a break. We had to take a drill bit and drill a few holes in the nail to release the blood and pressure. And my right wrist is bruised because of another break attempt.

All my injuries were pretty much self-inflicted...
Weird.

Other notables include having to fend off 5 really big guys (and promptly being thrown around like a rag doll), showing off my hand speed, and having a board broken over my head.

Here's a parting pic of me and my master, Shaw-sensei

Until next time!

Long time no update, eh?

2008-06-23T17:41:00.004-04:00

After a nice two week period of (relative) relaxation, it's time for me to be productive again!

Now, now, I'm sure you're thinking, "Wait a sec, Jordan! It's been almost a month since you last updated! You've been relaxing for a really, really long time!"

And I'd like to respond: "Incorrect, Dear Reader! My last few weeks of high school were rather hectic! I hardly had time to update my blog in between the final projects and sessions of Team Fortress 2!"

In short, yes, I have been quite lazy. But since summer is here (has been here for a few weeks), I can finally update on a semi-regular basis. Here's a look at the latest GanPen variation:

(The following images may be considered graphic by some, so TURN BACK NOW if the thought of zombie penguins makes you squeamish!)

ZombiePen!
Commissioned by B.Dean

Check out the brains on this guy!

Forgive the low quality of the shots, but I only had my cell phone camera on me. The "zombification" was done using a handy Dremel Stylus to cut away material and Fixit Sculpt to add in some fleshiness, mainly with the brain. Painting was very simple, just a base coat of white, a grey blend, and lots of drybrushed red/pink. The feet and beak were painted with this funky old yellow I got on accident recently. It actually comes out of the bottle looking like it's been sitting around for a few decades.

I have another ZombiePen I'm trying to finish up. Pics of that one coming shortly. I also have a UniPen (UNICORNS!), another PenZilla, and maybe a few other variations, as well as a few standard-issue GanPens coming along.

If you're interested in commissioning a particular GanPen, e-mail me at
jordan.liv@gmail.com
and we can try to work something out. I'm not sure how many more GanPen variations I'd be able to do, but remember! Regular GanPens with a tie color of your choice are still only $20 (plus shipping if you live far away!).

Whew! Time to do something productive!

Ganpen Director's Commentary and Making Of!

2008-05-01T21:27:00.002-04:00

Here are the proper ones!
Watch The Rise of GanPen below first!

The Rise of GanPen

2008-04-29T21:26:00.005-04:00

Finally, here it is!
If you're interested in owning this on DVD, along with over 20 other excellent student-made films, e-mail me!
jordan.liv@gmail.com

BUSINESS CARDS!

2008-04-24T20:30:00.002-04:00

My business cards came in today!
Silly PhotoBooth, taking pictures backwards...

Pirates of the Silver Screen

2008-04-20T20:49:00.003-04:00

Riverside High School
3218 Rose of Sharon Rd.
Durham, NC 27712

If you're in town, come and see Riverside High's second film festival!
See GanPen's silver screen premiere!

Technology!

2008-03-16T21:13:00.003-04:00

Check it out!
I got a snazzy new 17-inch MacBook Pro!
Here's the work space in my room! Mom picked up this nifty folding table today from someone on Craigslist for $10! It's perfect for my room as my desk is full of books and more stuff I don't have room anywhere else for.

Overview!

The spinny chair is a lot quieter than the chair that goes with the desk.

BRUCE LEE!

The wallpaper is of NYC. And that glowing orange thing is a 750 GB portable hard drive. I had a bad experience with data loss recently, so I got one for Time Machine.

If only I had a printer and scanner....And a bigger room.

Photos of completed GanPens

2008-02-27T19:55:00.006-05:00

Today, I took some portfolio photos of the four completed GanPen figurines I've done, not including the two I made for my brother and sister. I'll probably end up re-taking them because the lighting is iffy. Production is EXTREMELY slow, but I'm looking to speed that up with the purchase of an airbrush someday, once I get enough money from selling GanPens. So anyway, here are the photos! GanPen, GanPen with green tie, DevilPen and PenZilla!

Interested in a GanPen of your own?
Prices are as follows:
Regular GanPen with tie color of your choice..................$20
Custom paint job (see Digital Camo GanPen)...................$25
Custom modded GanPen (see DevilPen, PenZilla)..............$30+
Blank GanPen, ready-to-paint.....................................$15

Leave a comment or e-mail me at jordan.liv@gmail.com!
Expect these guys to be ready to be shipped in April! I need to make the certificates of authenticawseomness and maybe a cool box for them.

The Rise of GanPen!

2008-02-12T21:47:00.006-05:00

Time for something not involving the toys!

Well, sort of.

GanPen is starring in his very own feature-length short film!
Feature length! SHORT FILM!

It's for an art assignment, but I decided to incorporate some shameless plugging.

It's an animated mockumentary about GanPen's rise to power in the mob world!

GanPen's mysterious fortress in the North?

The detective charged with the task of hunting GanPen down! He must be cold, eh?

It's not really completely animated. It's like...well, it's got some moving parts. Like the Metal Gear Solid Digital Graphic Novel or the cutscenes from MGS: Portable Ops.

Like this!

I've got a tight deadline! 1 week and 1 day to finish!

NewPen!

2008-01-15T21:49:00.000-05:00

Progress on my GanPen production line is slow, but steady. I've stopped making positives for a while so I can paint the 6 or so that I have already made.

If you are interested in a GanPen, here are prices:
Standard GanPen, tie color of your choice: $20
Custom painted GanPen (digital camo, something artsy): $25-30
Custom modded GanPen (PenZilla, DevilPen): $35+

Think of how much they'll be worth in the future! ONLY 50 of these shall ever be made! Each comes signed and numbered! Here are pics of DevilPen and PenZilla, as well as two standard GanPen

COMPLETION!

2007-12-27T12:11:00.000-05:00

The first two GanPens were completed as Christmas gifts for my sister and brother.

BEHOLD!

Digital Camo GanPen for my Brother!

Red Tie GanPen for my sister!

Keep reading for more updates and how you can get a limited edition GanPen for yourself!

20 Days Later

2007-12-22T23:18:00.000-05:00

So, 20 days later and progress is made!
The master mold has been created. It produces the sexiest GanPens to date. Oh so smooth.
The pinstriping enamel didn't turn out well. But, enamel model paints work extremely well. Who would've known that such good stuff was right under my nose? I used to use them to paint Gundams.

I've decided that I'm making a limited edition run of 50 penguins. I'll probably sell them around $25 each. They will be unique, hand painted, and one-of-a-kind. Special blood splatters and themed paintjobs ahoy!

Pictures will come soon!

Setbacks

2007-12-02T21:08:00.000-05:00

Long time no update.
Mah bad.
So, in the few weeks I have neglected to update, many things have happened.
-The master cast for GanPen wasn't the master cast after all...too many imperfections.
-I'm sanding a GanPen from the new cast so I can make a cast of that one.
-Sai gave me some 800 and 2000 grit sandpaper. Who knew they had 2000? Anyway, this GanPen is going to be WAY smooth.
-I've been playing with paint.
check it out:

The paint is some pinstriping enamel Overton is letting me use. I need to get flat black, though. Looks a bit unnatural.

Almost ready for the MASTER CAST!

2007-11-14T20:44:00.000-05:00

I've been sanding for about a week now, and I'm ready to do some fill-in work for the master cast.

On the left is an earlier positive I made. It's got oil clay filling the neck area because, well...He looks like his head is half-cut off.
I fully intend on having a good first positive from the master mold before Thanksgiving break.
I have 3 days.

Finally!

2007-11-02T20:23:00.000-04:00

The very first GanPen cast!
I've been working on everything the past few days.
The mold and positive were just made today.
As you can see, there are many imperfections. Such as the feet. And numerous air bubbles.
BUT HE'S STILL COOL!
Just a few kinks to work out, and he'll be ready to be sanded and re-cast.
I think I'll make a tutorial sometime, just for the heck of it.

And now for something different

2007-10-10T17:26:00.001-04:00

Here are some things I did in my break time after sculpting for several weeks.
Colored pencil for the lady and marker for that guy. They're not great, but it was a nice change...