End of the Semester

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

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

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

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

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