A little cactus never hurt anybody

One final to go peeps! Yes, I did just say peeps. My light and sound final was originally Friday, but my oh so  wonderful teacher took pity on us stressed and tired students, soooooo I get to take it at HOME!!! In my PAJAMAS!!! Plus (and really how can it possibly get better) it is OPEN BOOK!!!! No studying for me. I will make myself some hot chocolate, maybe a grilled cheese, and I will take that test curled up in bed and I will pass, because seriously open book is practically like the teacher saying, "Here, just take an A! Go ahead there's plenty to go around!" What a wonderful way to finish up my third semester. The best part about having mostly art finals is that all of the work gets done throughout the semester and then you just hand it all in matted and framed and you're good to go. No big tests, or studying. It's absolutely wonderful!

In the small amount of free time that I have had I did manage to make my way to Pinterest where I found this lovely that pretty much made my day:

Image via http://www.etsy.com/shop/MelindaBoyce

Isn't it just grand! I absolutely adore it! If I was rich I would buy it in a heartbeat-not that it's that expensive, but for poor college girl it kinda is. I love the colors and the design, but mostly I love that every single cactus is different. I admire artwork like this so much! So my birthday is coming up if anybody wants to get it for me! "wink wink"

I think that's it for today lovelies. I hope to post my final head drawing portfolio tomorrow, but that all depends on if my teacher grades my work. He said he would be done in the morning, but you never know. K loves bye

Finals and Greek Yogurt

Let finals begin in 3...2...1

I am in a mad scramble to finish up the last of my head drawings, to pull out one last watercolor portrait that will bump my A- up to an A, and to study like a mad woman for my final light and sound test. Being the smarty pants that I am I tested out of my art history final (smart? yah right. more like this would be my 4th art history class and I have all the names down easy). I have yet to put pants on today, but I guess that's ok when all you do is homework. I plan on posting my final head drawing portfolio, which frankly I am quite proud of. I only have one more assignment for that class and I am hoping overall I will end with a solid B...or at least that's the wish. I feel like if I got a B on every single assignment ever in that class it should at least merit a B for the final right? right??? Well if not I had at least better pass because taking that class again would probably be the death of me.

Through all of the chaos mentioned above I am trying to maintain a happy finals week and I think I have found the answer. My first semester I thought the solution to success was buying three bags of sugar filled candy that would keep me up all night so I could work on homework. After quickly realizing that that is possibly the worst idea ever I decided that sleep was the option, sooooo I slept...all day....and did homework at night. That is also a horrible solution. Finally, now, in my third semester, I have found the golden ticket to a happy finals week: healthy eating and being in bed by 12am (NO DUHHHH right!). But really, it is workin like a charm. Today's menu included this little bowl of magic:

Chobani Greek yogurt, pomegranate seeds, and clover honey. Best. Thing. Ever. I think I've had like four bowls of it already. Now, I know what you are thinking. I am a poor college student and this sounds kinda expensive, but listen, here's how I did it. I waited until the pomegranates went on sale- 2 for $5; then I invested in some Greek yogurt-I would buy a big container of just plain vanilla because it's cheaper and even though the little containers look more college student friendly, it's yogurt so it will last you for quite a while; then I borrowed my roommate's honey-but I think you can buy it pretty cheap at Walmart if you get the Great Value brand. Tadaaaa! A healthy delicious snack that will make you happy and willing to sit down in front of a computer screen and study for the next ten hours. And the plan is to head to bed soon too, so I am one happy camper. Bring it on finals week! I can take you any day!

Simplicity

Do you ever have those days where you are just inspired by everything around you? One of the things I love most about being an artist is being able to see the beauty in all of the little things around me, but even some days can be filled with more inspiration than normal. Today shapes have been on my mind. And letterpress. I  recently discovered Leah Duncan and have since blogged about her twice, but really she is absolutely wonderful. I was looking at her letterpress prints today (trying to decide which one I will order with my birthday money because I am poor and can only afford one "insert tears and sobs") and I just couldn't get over how lovely her simple geometric prints were. The colors and the simplicity just worked for me!

I am seeing myself slowly, but surely, molding into who I am as an artist. I am realizing what I really love and what I really shouldn't waste my time on creating. Simplicity has become my main desire. It started with my first blockprints; I loved simplifying everything into easy shapes that I could carve out. It continued with my intro to screen printing. I had to learn how to separate things by color and visual weight on the paper. I now realize just how beautiful simple things are. They take thought-if you are going to put down only a simple yellow square on a piece of paper, you had better be sure of where it will look its absolute best!

I hope that one day I will be able to make simple, but beautiful pieces of artwork. I want people to look at my work and think: "That will be beautiful in my baby's room," or "I can see myself hanging this in the kitchen." I want to create things that work for everywhere because they have no definite subject matter, they are just pretty. Pretty things are the best ya know. So here's to dedication and applying myself in the right direction. I know who I am and I know what I want to create, and believe me it's gonna be lovely.

via http://shop.leahduncan.com/

via http://society6.com/PartyintheMountains/Exploding-TrianglesSix_Print

via http://www.carlkleiner.com/Shop/List/#121

Boredom

What do you do at 1:30 in the morning when you are trying to avoid homework? You blog.

My brain really can't think right now, and I am bored out of my mind, so here is a list of things that I have seen lately and am not a fan of.

• Rainboots. Ewww. They look frumpy and uncomfortable, plus they make your feet stink. Even all these Hunters I am seeing on Pinterest have done nothing to sway my opinion.
• Neon hoodies and jackets. I love neon...but only in very small quantities. When I see you walking in your bright neon yellow jacket-and yes I can see you from like a mile away-you just remind me of a construction worker.
• Elf on the Shelf. I don't get it. In fact, I think it's creepy.
• Pancake muffins with maple syrup frosting and bacon on top. I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.
• Purple sequin corset and matching purple pompom socks. Yes, I did see someone wearing this today.
• Plastic mistletoe. Tacky tacky tacky! If you are going to hang mistletoe it had better be the real deal.
• 3 trailers for zombie movies. When will this fad go away??? I guess I can't say anything because I don't mind the occasional vampire, but still, zombies are gross...and stupid...and really really gross.
• Dogs. I see them everywhere everyday, and you know what? I will never ever be a dog lover. You can call me soulless, heartless, and stupid, but guess what? I will be the one who doesn't have dog hair all over them and who doesn't smell like animal. I think I win.

Well, now that I have offended everyone who might possibly be reading this, I think I should balance out the hate with some stuff I've been lovin.

• Giant grandma sweaters. They are warm, and comfortable, and personally I don't mind not seeing every single curve on every single girl all the time.
• Christmas lights!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• A blog post I just found about mixing honey, pistachios, and pomegranate seeds into your greek yogurt. So totally doing it!
• This thing on the internet: http://pusheen.com/post/30969305864
• Hand knit scarves. This is the only reason I would ever learn how to knit.

So there you go. Some likes and dislikes during this holiday season. Sorry this is so random, but there are only so many things you can do to avoid homework. Have a good Thursday! k loves bye

Finished!

Today I am just tired. No sleep and a B on a final project will do that to ya. In the last four months there have been three very random nights where my body just decided it didn't want to calm down. I lay in bed from 12 to 7 in the morning and didn't get even a wink of sleep. It's weird guys. It has never happened to me before and it's kinda freaking me out! I am afraid to google it because we all know how that goes. Somehow I will end up with cancer and only a few months to live. So, anybody know a cure? I would love to know, because having absolutely no sleep can make for hecka Mondays.

Going back to that B....yah, it stinks! I have yet to get an A on an assignment in my head drawing class and I was hoping that if I whipped out some awesome drawings for the final portfolio I would maybe, just maybe, pull out one A. But no. Plus, every grade on the final is worth double, so you know what that means? I got two B's instead of one. Oh happy day...not.

Some good news for today: I finished Tucker's book!!! Actually I finished it on Friday night, but I finally got all the pictures taken so you get to see them today! Maybe if I didn't spend all of my Fridays cooped up inside painting I would have more dates...maybe?.................probably not. Here they are:

The teacup and the paint are my favorites! I really love the bruises on the apple too.

The goal was to make the pie look delicious...I think I succeeded...aka I would totes eat that pie!

The final two pages! Finished at 3 in the morning, but no way was I going to let this project go one more day. I will be getting a copy of the book at Christmas and will definitely share some pics. Overall I think they all came out really cute and really good. I think illustration is for me guys.

Thoughts on Utah

Although I tend to rant about how much I dream of traveling the world some day, and how much I adore the Eastern coast and its history and style, I am grateful that I am from the lovely state of Utah. It doesn't get enough credit. I love that my roots are tied to the mountains and the deep rust colored, cactus filled, deserts! I love that I can drive for only a few hours and I am surrounded by red rock and green forests and beautiful canyon views. I love the dry heat in the summers, and the cold snowy winters; I love that I see things like hieroglyphs and Indian reservations, instead of old historic buildings; and most of all I love the wild wilderness. Last year my family took a trip to the geo-beds and found ourselves some geodes. Each year we take a trip to our cabin on Navajo lake and usually end up doing some hikes through Zion's national park (one of the most beautiful places you will ever see!). We also have a park called Goblin Valley that is filled with rocks, and that's why it's cool. Rocks folks. Seriously, I am one of the luckiest people alive! I get to live in a beautiful place that speaks to me and fills me with love for nature and God's creations. There is nothing better than that. And yes, sometimes I do still yearn for the beaches of North Carolina and Georgia, or long for the big cities of Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles. But usually I am content with my little home in the rocky mountains of Utah. It's my home and always will be!

Our lovely little hand built cabin on Chokecherry Lane

Me, like 7 years ago, being brave, and rock hopping across Navajo Lake (funny story, once my dad said he would pay each of us $5 if we jumped into Navajo Lake-which is freezing cold by the way-and being the wild soul that I am I did it...fully clothed...twice!)

Strawberry point. One of my favorite view in Cedar City Utah

Totally a google image, but I don't have my old photo albums with me, so I couldn't share pictures of me and my brothers climbing these amazing rocks at Goblin Valley.

Fool's Creek. I didn't get to go on this little adventure, but seriously look at how beautiful the forests are here! My dad and brothers are so lucky to have gone!

I know you all have seen this before, but seeing this every day on Utah licence plates just makes me happy. Proud to live in a state with arches like these!

Zion's National Park. Yes, it really is this beautiful. No I didn't take the photograph-google helped me out once again. But, yes I have been to Zion's and I love love love it.

And finally...Angel's Landing! No way would you ever get me to do this hike! That is a sheer drop on both sides ma friends, and no joke at one point you literally pull yourself up the cliff with chains nailed into the rock-seriously, I kid you not, look it up on google. It is a beautiful hike in Zion's, but definitely one of the most dangerous and exhausting. Props to my amazing stud muffin brothers and daddio who hiked it for me! Hats off to you!

So yep, that would be Utah...or at least a few of the many highlights my lovely state has to offer. There are so many more beautiful places, but I have yet to explore them. So fellow Utahns, be grateful you live in this pretty place. Don't take it for granted. It has done me well and it will love you too if you let it. That's all for today folks. loves bye.

Currently

No new artworks today, but here are some things I have been enjoying:

Currently

• Watching: no tv for the next four months, so I have filled my spare time with the movies The Young Victoria, Elf, and Dirty Dancing.
• Listening to: Lord Huron. Go listen to them because they are fantastic!
• Eating: I made homemade broccoli cauliflower soup last week and loved it so much that I bought all the ingredients again and will be making it tonight. Perfect for a cold winter night!
• Obsessing over: every single set of dishes at Anthropologie. Is there no end to the cuteness?
• Reading: Jane Eyre...again! It never gets old guys. I pretty much am Jane.
• Wearing: mint pants, black and white striped tee, oatmeal cardigan, large pink statement necklace.
• Wishing for: This lovely wooden globe to start documenting my missionaries, this pretty pillow, and this art print made by Leah Duncan.

Leah Duncan

Hello Hello Hello! Can anyone say 2nd to last week of school! Only 4 more head drawing classes...oh praise all that is good! That class has taught me so much, but boy can't I wait to scoot my little booty out of there.

Today consisted of a Christmas overload. We finished the window, hung four giant snowflakes, made paper chains, put up Christmas lights, baked cookies, wrapped our door in glitter wrapping, glitter ribbons, and a giant green glitter bow, and then played Christmas music until we started hearing the same songs over and over again. I think you could say it was a success. Here are my snowflakes (which, personally, I think are stellar!).

Mckinzi entered the MTC...no tears yet, but I did read this wonderful blog post and I got some really good ideas of packages to send to her. If you are looking for ideas for missionaries take a look: http://hollytherobinson.blogspot.com/2012/11/what-do-i-send-novel-by-holly-robinson.html?spref=fb

Big news of the day: MY CAMERA CAME!!!!! I cannot contain my excitement! She is a beauty! I have a feeling her name is going to be Baby-for no good reason except I feel like it fits...and that's all I have called her since opening the package. Plus it makes me think of Dirty Dancing, which is a fantastic movie that all of you should see.

So now let's talk about what I really wanted to talk about today (sorry this post seems forever long!). I was reading my favorite blog of all time-All Things Lovely-and stumbled upon a wonderful wonderful artist who has inspired me even more than my beloved David Weidman. She does pretty much exactly what I want to do with my art talent. Her name is Leah Duncan, she is a graphic designer now turned self-employed artist, and her work has been featured all over! This girl has created prints for Urban Outfitters and Target yo! Seriously she is so cool. Take a look

Aren't they all just fantastic! Her work is so beautiful and so very very me! All images were found on her website: http://www.leahduncan.com/index.html, but you can also find her work on Etsy, or her online store: http://shop.leahduncan.com/. Seriously, go take a look! I would love any of her prints, or towels, or pillows. Every. Single. One. They are all perfect! Definitely worth opening the piggy bank for! So go shopping and put them in your house and I will be jealous and maybe come steal them from you...jk...maybe. So on that happy note, Goodnight! Have a wonderful Thursday! k loves bye

An update on Stanley

Well hey!

Tomorrow my cousin enters the MTC as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I haven't cried yet, but I have a feeling it's going to hit me tomorrow and I just might end up in tears in the middle of a lecture. This cousin is the one who got me through my first semester of college, who took me out for hot chocolate on nights when my roommates weren't being all that nice, and who was always there to take me grocery shopping, or out to a movie, or over for games. She is THE BEST! I don't know what I am going to do without her! Baltimore, you are one lucky city and you are about to get a whole lot of lovely coming to you on a plane in two weeks. Take a look at this pretty girl

Aren't I just great a drawing hearts...NOT! It looks like I've never had a drawing class in my life hahaha.

Ok, so I have 5 illustrations done for my cousin's poem and I can't wait to show you! I think Stanley is a stud, and I like to think he has an inner hipster side. Gosh, why else would he be wearing a bow tie!

Isn't he cute! I love him so much! And speaking of things that are cute, here is a video I found today that I am just dying over! Seriously, how can such a morbid song be so stinkin cute? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNR2EpS0jw#

Well I guess that's all for today. I am going to finish my snowflakes and I will post them tomorrow. k, loves, byyyyyeeee!

Pie...thou art a heartless dessert!

Is anyone else stuffed to the brim on stuffing, potatoes, turkey and pie? Seriously I think I might burst. Why is it that no matter how many slices of pumpkin pie I eat I just want another one? There has got to be an end to the craving right? Isn't there some point where you are so full that even the idea of pie makes you sick? If so I haven't found it. Even now, sitting at my desk, four days after Thanksgiving, I am still dreaming of it. Pie...you will be the death of me. (And let's just be clear that when I say pie I am referring to Pumpkin, Pecan, and Amish. None of this mixed berry and cherry stuff!)

Thanksgiving break was filled with family, food, and late night Ben and Jerry's icecream runs. It was also filled with reruns of our favorite cousin game which, although fun, would get me some pretty disgusted/crazy looks if I shared it with you....so sorry. Just imagine something awkward and hilarious.

Also during Thanksgiving break I managed to get some more illustrations done for my cousin's poem. You can look forward to seeing those tomorrow! They are coming out pretty cute guys, and I am excited.

And finally, because I have no artwork to share today, here are some beautiful paper snowflakes that I found online. I am currently making my own snowflakes (a tradition in the making) in the hopes of out-Christmasing all the other apartments around us. Yah, I have such a great holiday spirit haha! I will post pictures of my own creations tomorrow as well. Happy Holidays and goodnight!

Home again, Home again, Jiggety-Jig

I am HOME!!!!!!

Thanksgiving break you are a godsend and I am so so soooo grateful! Isn't it wonderful that we have a whole holiday dedicated to being thankful and pie and family! Plus it isn't snowing this Thanksgiving!

 First night into my break and I am already out Christmas shopping. I may or may not have picked out this little number! Adorbs right!

I am also on the lookout for gifts for mom and dad. I am thinking a board game, or a coffee table book, or maybe a pair of slippers for daddio; and maybe some pretty dishes for mom.

If anyone is looking for anything for me I am diggin all this geometric jewelry coming out lately. I even made a collage of all the great pieces I am currently drooling over.

Why does everything have to be so pretty! Anyways, I think that's all for today because I am gonna go spend time with the family! Have a happy Thanksgiving and don't forget to count your blessings, because you have oh so many of them! k loves bye

My Dream

This is one of those personal posts...so read if you want, but don't feel like you have to haha.

Ok, so my whole life I have felt that there is some grand future waiting for me. Somehow I don't feel like my little Utah Mormon life is quite all I want. It's a happy life, and one that I have loved and will always love, but I have always known that one day I will venture off and find some new place to explore and enjoy. The desire to find this place has grown as I have grown and I am reaching the point where it is becoming almost painful for me to have not found it yet. So, what does this mean? Well after a lot of thought here is my answer: Europe.

I need to go there. I need to be there! I can feel it calling me an I am dying to experience it.

 My solution to this problem is to join the travel studies program at BYUI, but that's easier said than done. First of all it is EXPENSIVE! As in I would be taking out a loan for a good $6,000. My parents aren't too happy about that. Also, it's a lot of work. I would be taking classes from September to April and then traveling all through May. I would have to learn how to live out of a suitcase, and be social to people with languages that I don't understand, and not get lost in busy foreign airports. Frankly the idea scares me to death, and so, unfortunately, I passed the opportunity up this year. And I have been in mourning ever since.

Almost two weeks after the deadline for the application I discovered a little blog that changed my life called All Things Lovely at http://monicalettaloves.blogspot.ch/ Now this blog made me cry...Why? Well because this blog was created by a lovely woman who attended the same college I am going to and then went off and is now living this dream of mine. I started crying, really I did. I even texted my best friend telling her I was crying. Believe me, it is hard to have passed up an opportunity to start living your deepest dreams and desires only to find out that someone chose to embrace their future and is now doing exactly what you want to do. This beautiful woman's name is Monica and she lives in Switzerland. As I was reading her "About me" page I started checking all of the things she has done off my list. This is her statement:
 "I graduated December 2009 from Brigham Young University Idaho in Graphic Design, Art History and Photography. Those are my loves. A few weeks after I graduated I moved to Zurich area Switzerland to be an Au pair for an American family there. I met my cute Swiss Jachen there, didn't see that coming, and then a year later I married him.
I'm from the Seattle area, but now find myself living with my Swiss husband in the hills of Switzerland where I don't speak a lick of German...okay maybe 10 words. We plan on moving to the States Spring 2013, cross your fingers!"

I was in awe, and very very emotional at the time. This was everything I wanted, everything I have been wishing for my whole life, and she had it! My goal right then and there was to try and be as courageous and wonderful as Monica! Starting next September I will be putting in my papers for the Travel Studies program. I will take out that loan and I will tour Europe! Maybe I will find a place that I love, one that I want to go back to, and after graduation maybe I will go there. I don't know if I will meet my husband like Monica did, and I don't know if I will live in Europe, but I do know I want to travel and see this beautiful world. I want to create art and share my love of beauty. I want to be adventurous! I want to be that girl! And I can be if that's what I really want. I know this!

So here's to living your dreams, and being brave! Who knows, maybe this will change my whole life...in a way I am excited for that to happen. I have always known that I could be something more, and now I know I will be. So that's that, here we go!

(Sorry if you found that long and boring, but I needed to write out these feelings because they have hit me strong and hard today for no apparent reason.)

Star Wars, Twilight, and pre-Christmas excitement

Hello! This weekend has been a relaxing one, so I only have one thing to show you. I finished my watercolor of Han Solo, but decided to use it just as a practice because I like the end result, but I don't love it. It also doesn't look exactly like him and I feel that since I am taking a head drawing class for heaven's sake I should be able to paint something that looks just like the actual person.

Yah, you can see that I had difficulties with the face. I do love the texture I gave him though! I wanted the whole thing to have a very galaxy-ish feel to it, so I used salt to make some cool patterns on his vest and background.

On a completely unrelated note I went and saw Breaking Dawn part 2 yesterday night. It was epic! Let me just say that as much as people hate the Twilight Series, I love them, and always will. You have to admit that it was a captivating read even if it was cheesy and Bella was a depressing/pathetic female lead. The movies tended to reflect the books. I loved the second book and I loved the second movie. All the other ones were a bit silly. I also love the second half of the last book, and I love the second part of the last movies. It was quite a finale and they included the one scene that I wished the book would have included, plus they did it in a way that was captivating and exciting. Way to end on a high note Twilight! I am impressed! So, go see it...or don't...but don't refuse to go see it because everyone is saying it's lame and you want to fit in even though you secretly love it. That is stupid, and it proves you can't think for yourself.

Alright, I think that's enough of my rambling. Have a happy Saturday! Only a few more days until Thanksgiving! It's almost time for Christmas songs (yes I am one of those people who refuses to have anything to do with Christmas until after Thanksgiving)! And finally be excited because this December is going to be epic in the movie department. Monsters Inc 2, Great Gatsby, Les Mis, Life of Pi, and The Hobbit...don't mind if I do.

Letterpress and the magical qualities it possesses

Yo....

So, long day today. I took my huge test on the brain and both nervous systems in 15 minutes flat (I know!) and I guess it turned out to be a good thing because I ended up with an 87% which is more than I hoped for, but less than I wanted after seeing the questions. I could have done better guys, I really could have. But OH WELL because it's done and over with and I am so elated. No more studying until 3am; no more carrying my science notebook around with me EVERYWHERE (I cannot emphasize that word enough); and no more frantic google searches for words like neurotransmitter, post synaptic transmission, and corpora quadrigemina (which is your superior and inferior colliculi located in the midbrain above the pineal gland in case you wanted to know).

Also, on a completely unrelated note, my stress was amplified today due to annoying roommates. Seriously, do you not know what a garbage can is and what it is used for? When you have garbage you throw it away! You don't leave it on the counter for DAYS until I come pick it up! I am not your mom, nor your maid, and believe me I have been both before and it's only cool if you get paid...even then, not very cool. So grow up and learn to clean. Also, don't think that because you unloaded the dishwasher 4 times this week you can skip clean checks. I am sorry I do all of my own dishes so I never have to unload the dishwasher, but that doesn't mean I am going to clean your sink and toilet. Pa-leeezzz!

Ok sorry just had to get that out there! So, what I really want to talk about is the amazing seminar I went to today. The guy's name was Ben Webster and he was cool. Cool as in owns his own shop in Salt Lake City and prints beautiful things all day long on antique printmaking presses and totally said we could stop by whenever to get a tour kind of cool. I will be taking you up on that offer as soon as possible ma friend! He also made this beautiful poster for John Mayer when he met him (!!!) and had a whole bunch of leftover limited edition copies, but unfortunately art students are ferocious and will push and shove their way to the front of the room to grab all of the copies before you can get there. Rude. So I left home empty handed and heartbroken, but with a new resolve to start my own sortof business. First goal after graduating college will be to get my own press! I seriously cannot wait! One day I too can be as cool as you! If you don't know what letterpress or printmaking is take a look at some of these pictures I found online.

You can see that as the paper goes through the press it causes an indent in the actual paper. This is part of the charm of letterpress, and why it is so expensive to have done. This aint no cheap printout from your home computer! This was most likely done on a 100 yr. old press and it took time!

This is Ben Webster's business card and it is beautiful! I love old processes like letter press and printmaking. It speaks to the creativity and the messy artist inside me. I love the idea of working with ink and getting my hands dirty and being around old machines that are full of history. It really doesn't get any better than this!

In which you find out just how much of a nerd I really am

Holla at yer gurl cuz I totally finished everything that was on that list! Did I eat my whole box of icecream in the process? Maybe. Did I go to bed at 6:30am last night after studying? You betcha I did! Sometimes you just have to buckle down and get stuff done and that's what I did. My Thanksgiving break is going to be relatively stress free now! I really think I deserve a nap...and an A+, but unfortunately my teachers don't always have the same ideas that I do, or the same respect for LAAAAATE night study sessions.

Anyways...........

I have no new artwork to show you. Booo I know. But, I do have ideas for projects that I want to show you.
First, my next watercolor assignment: portraits from photos. Oh boy this is gonna be good! Sometimes I like to show off how much of  nerd I am to the whole world, but only sometimes, and this is one of those times. Can you say Han Solo? That's right! He is my next project, and what a perfect face for me to paint!

This man is bad-A I tell you. And he was perfect in Star Wars and I will forever love him for it. He was my first real crush guys.

Second project: recreate this little piece of amazingness!

Yah you would think I would want to spend my Thanksgiving stuffing my face with pie and sleeping the afternoons away, and I do, but I also want to make my own version of this amazing painting. It is so pretty and so very very much my style. Oh goodness I am so excited!

Third, I saw this and fell in love. I will be reworking my wardrobe to try and recreate some of the graphic quality seen here. Really, how cool is this artwork!

K I think that's it for today! loves from the Jen. byyyyye

And just when you think you've reached the end of the craziness...you find out crazy has a crazy underground garage

This weekend has taken itself to a whole new level. In fact, it has decided to push it's craziness into this coming week so that I won't have one free moment until I hop in that car and drive myself out of this crazy crazy place and reset my settings with a large bowl of pumpkin pie and icecream. Thanksgiving you cannot come fast enough! Here's the to do list guys:
1. catch up on head drawings- as in finish the 4 assignments that you still haven't done!!!
2. draw up sketches for all of the pages of the book you are illustrating
3. finish first page illustration for book
4. finish all hw assignments for science class by Sunday at 11:45!
5. study for that killer anatomy test you have on wednesday, and by study I mean STUDY HARD!
6. buy camera
7. research classes and then sign up for classes(at 6am mind you! who does that???)
8. go online and pay off all fines, class fees, and i-card balances so that you can sign up for said classes
9. transfer money for grocery shopping
10. tithing settlement, church, and BOM reading for class
11. finish watercolor assignment and draw up plan for next assignment
12. study for art history test!
13. draw and cut out a giant Idaho for katie's lesson plan

Holy guacamole that is quite the list! I have had three days to do it all and obviously it all hasn't gotten done-hence my overload of everything pushing its way into my school week. I have been doing homework from 10 in the morning until 1 or 2 at night every day. I am about to drop over dead so any cookies or pumpkin flavored sweets would be greatly appreciated haha.

I wanted to show you some images of the book I am illustrating right now. It's for my cousin, and it's for a poem he wrote himself which is sooooo cute! It's all about a little snail named Stanley who goes on adventures and is super cool. Take a look:

Isn't he cute! I am still working on the colors for him, because I don't think purple and yellow suit him...maybe orange and blue? I am not sure yet, but I promise to post more pictures as his story continues hahaha! Make up for my crazy Sunday by having a restful one with a long nap! I guess you will hear from me  as soon as I can pull my head out of that long list of schoolwork. K loves bye!