excitement... and a random thing I wrote.

I just sent in my entry to the Oakton Foundation Visual Art Contest!! Wish me luck:) If I believed in luck ,which I don't. SO I guess pray for my success, that's better:) After the results are out, I'm going to do a post on the process I went through with my painting:)

That's it I guess... Here's a random thing I wrote to add a bit of interest to this otherwise rather boring post. I was just thinking 'It would be neat to be a statue',(which is an odd thing to begin with I suppose) but then I thought a little more, and this popped into my head... so if you're wondering, that's where this came from.

She stood on her pedestal, in all the cold white grace of her marble curves, and watched the throngs come and go, admiring yes, but transient. And none of them knowing that for ages all she longed for was the warmth of love's embrace. ~ H.D.

Slight changes... and some random thoughts

Hi! Just a quick note about the changes to the look of La Blog. I changed the header... and the background. Which is fairly obvious. I just thought I'd make note of it. Nothing else will change, and that includes the erratic posting schedule. Haha:)

The picture is in colored pencil and is by me. It was a self portrait but it ended up... not. That is not what I look like. At all, really. I don't know what happened.

I like the finished project, though! She looks so pensive... and seems as though she should be in cool colors. And yet that wouldn't be as effective, somehow. I think the red makes you feel like she has some sort of internal turmoil, despite her stony gaze. (I just analyzed that as I wrote it. I've been trying to lay my finger on it since I drew it. Anyways.)

I like color theory and how it relates to emotion. We learned a little about it in class, and I'd like to learn more...

Ok this is not where I planned on going, this was just meant to be a quick thing. I'm sick and bored, though, so...

Ok I'm going to stop. Bye!

Watercolor Tree-Class project

Hello! I decided to share a step by step of a tree painting I did over a month or so, in watercolor class. It is in Ravello, Italy. I'm not sure how many hours it took-maybe 6ish? I really don't remember! Anyways, here goes!

I did a wash first, which I didn't take a picture of:/ Then I started on this first layer. I started with the background, then the did the tree. I have the values mapped here, but they are not dark enough. I do have lots of colors.

My teacher helped me darken my values, particularly in the tree. I tend to be a bit scared of color and value- not punching either enough. I'm getting better though:) She also helped me a lot with the sky.

Here it is almost done. I worked on the buildings on my own first, but again, they are not dark enough, or detailed enough. Everything else is pretty much done though.

And its done! I finished the buildings in class. I also darkened the water, and added detail to the grass and the mountain. I am REALLY happy with this painting, its one of the works I am most proud of. I really really REALLY want to go to Ravello, Italy and see this location in person... someday:)