First Christmas gift of the season!

Whew this weekend is already busy busy busy! I am a little behind in a few of my classes, so these next few days I will be playing catch up. I will also be studying my butt off because the test to end all tests is right around the corner and I am unprepared! What is the test of all tests you ask? Oh just you know, a test on anything and everything remotely related to the brain and both central and peripheral nervous systems. Should be a piece of cake...right.

Well luckily I have already finished a few of the projects due on Monday and one of them came out really really cool. My assignment was to pick an animal and place it in a background that you came up with, so I painted myself some deer and used the lane that leads up to my family's cabin on Navajo Lake as a background and I think it came out pretty darn cute.

I also decided to use it as a Christmas gift for my daddio, because he is the best dad in the world and totally respects my choice to do art as a career; so what better than a painting just for him! Also, our cabin was built by his grandpa so I know it holds a special little place in his heart. Homeade Christmas gifts rock too! I love getting hand crafted things from my brothers and friends. It shows that they are willing to give me their time as well as their money.

I think that's all for today, but tomorrow I want to share a fun little project I have been working on with you. Be excited because it's cute, silly, and adorable all in one. k bye!

KIM

Alright, let's talk about Kim. Who is Kim you ask? Well, let me tell you. She is only like the most awesome artist I know, and we totally talk all the time! Like today she told me about how funny her figure drawing class was and I laughed and then she said my shirt was awesome. I nearly died...of happiness!

You see, we went to highschool together she and I. She is a year older than me so of course I just drooled over how cool she was and how awesome her artwork was. I totally voted for her for student body artist. Then, she went off to BYUI and came back to visit and told me all about how fun it was and how great the art program was. I got excited, and really really confused, because for forever I had thought that BYU Provo was the place for me, but now I didn't think so. Anyways, long story short, I ended up here at BYUI and I fell in love with it all. Then I saw Kim around and at first it was kinda awkward like "hi...how are you? Good...yah me too." But no more! I can feel the friendship comin on! However, I refuse to tell her I kept that little fish she drew for me back in highschool, because I don't want to freak her by how much of a creepy stalker I am. That can wait. It was an awesome fish though, and we all know I have this thing for fish.

So, I am sure you are dying to see her artwork. Believe me she is one of a kind, and she will blow your mind! Enjoy!

Seriously, if one day I am half as cool as her I will be content.

I think that's it for today, as if that wasn't quite enough haha. Have a happy Friday! k loves bye

Head Drawing No. 2

Well, it's been a while since I last posted about my head drawing class, but to be honest it was because that class has become my most hated and dreaded class. Six hours a week of pure torture, not counting the endless hours of outside work. I think I dislike it so much because it's the basics and I never really learned the basics. Now I am being forced to learn them and it's a slap in the face. So here we go!

We began doing full value liftouts on white paper. This was a good try, but obviously there are many things wrong with it, like that weird shadow on the top of her forehead and the fact that she looks like she's missing a chunk of hair up there too.

Second try was much better, but still it's not quite as good as it could be. Unfortunately my teacher only spent two class periods on full value liftouts, so that's all I got to do.

Moving on to white charcoal on Canson toned paper. This is tough for me! I may or may not have been told that my heads suffer from "onion skin" when I use white charcoal, and that I don't understand value correctly.      This may have caused some heartbreak...and some crying...and possibly some late night phone calls to my mom where I balled my eyes out. Dropping out of college and becoming a starving artist has never looked so good!

My second attempt. Still a little pathetic. I can never get the shape of the eyes right!

The final piece! I actually really love this one and blessed Hallelujah so does my teacher! This might be a wall hanging people. Finally some improvement, although after today I feel like I am back at the bottom again. That's all I have for now, but we are currently working on full value buildups so expect more pictures! k loves bye

DIY t-shirts are where it's at!

Hey, how is Tuesday going? Personally, I love Tuesdays. They are a breath of fresh air after my manic Mondays, and they usually involve macaroni...which I will be making shortly, in fact, right after this post.

Fact: college kids are poor and can't afford high end clothing, or at least this college student can't. While browsing Pinterest I keep seeing these amazing printed sweaters and cardigans with the cutest animals on them, but when I look them up online the average price is $200. Say WHAT! No way am I paying that price for a sweater with a cute little fox on it! So, I decided to make my own cute printed clothing. Here's how:
1. I found a blogger who has free t-shirt prints that I could copy (that way I don't steal anyone's designs!).
2. I took a trip to Walmart and invested in some black fabric paint and a $2 white t-shirt.
3. I printed the image at the size that would best fit my shirt and then turned up the music and painted.
Here's how it came out:

Isn't it cute! It's a bear with a bow tie! This is the image I got online:

What can I say? I have an affinity for little animals with bows and hats and such. Anyways, I plan on getting a few more t-shirts and painting them with some really cool designs that I came up with. I am thinking a fox with a party hat on, or a camel. I don't know, just something really interesting and different. I encourage you to go make your own because I love seeing homemade clothing! It's so refreshing! k have a good rest of your Tuesday, loves, bye

Little Furry Friends

Hi there! How's it been? I am just dandy. Been getting a lot of work done. Care to see?

Last post I mentioned my love of foxes and trees; I would like to expand on that by saying that the forest in general inspires me. I love the colors, the feel, the sounds, everything! I love that I live in a state with beautiful forests, I love that I see deer and squirrels and porcupines and skunks on a regular basis. I even get to see reindeer and moose! Seriously, I have it good! So, of course all of these things have been sneaking their way into my artwork. I have done a few really fun watercolors of forest animals, and I even found an image of a bear with a bow tie on pinterest and decided to make it into a shirt. Take a look

I know the lighting is bad on all of the pictures, but I haven't had time to actually take good pictures yet. Most of these were taken at night in a dark apartment right after they were finished. You can see how much fun I have been having though hahahaha. Aren't they all just so cute!

I have also had a whole bunch of inspiration in the last few days and wanted to share some of the images. Enjoy!

I love the bears in the middle there! I also love love love this painting at the bottom! I have seen so (and by so I mean SOOOOOOOOOO) many paintings of mermaids and Ariel and all that good stuff, but this is the only one that I have ever loved. I think it's dramatic, and emotional, and I love that it's uncomfortable for me to see her head under water because it makes me feel like it's hard to breath hahahaha. Whoever did this did an amazing job!

Well, lots of love from the Jen. Enjoy your Sunday. Toodles.

Three things I be lovin

1. Anything remotely tree or forest inspired.

2. Geode jewelry

3. Foxes! They are sneaking into my artwork and my clothing and I am more than overjoyed.

Walter Rane

Sorry it's been a few days and I never posted pictures of my Halloween costume! This Halloween kinda turned into a major stink. I ended up having a huge meltdown, my roommate had an intense asthma attack, and I found out I had a paper due the next day, so I spent the evening in my room doing homework, balling my eyes out, and going through more tissues and paper than I want to think about.

On a happier note I maybe, just maybe get to have one of my drawings on the art wall! As bad as this sounds the art wall is my main motivation for my success in head drawing class. It's pretty much the only reason I do anything. Oh the joy of having one of your pieces on that high and mighty wall! It pretty much says you know what you are doing and you rock at it. We will see if it actually happens though, because my art teacher is all over the place. One day he told me my piece was good enough for the wall, and the next he told me my heads suffer from "onion skin." Yah.....

Well, tonight I got the privilege of listening to Walter Rane speak about his art career and work for the church. If you don't know who Walter Rane is go look him up because his paintings are beautiful! This man has paintings in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City yo! That is intense! It's only like one of my greatest dreams to have a piece of artwork there! One of the things he talked about that really hit me was his emphasis on emotion. He pretty much said that the emotion of a painting is the most important part of any artwork, even higher than composition. I totally agree! Anyone can paint a picture, but only a few have ever overwhelmed me with their beauty and brought me to tears. Here are a few of his that really speak to me.

This is a painting of Moroni when he found his father dead and he realized that he was the only one left of what had once been a large and righteous civilization. Look at the emotion on his face! Holy crow this one hits me hard!

Funny story about this one: I actually saw this painting when I was like 14 or 15. It was in my friend's bathroom and I loved it so much that I took a picture of it on my cell phone and looked at it all the time haha.

This one brings me to tears. Walter Rane talked about how he wanted a different perspective on the garden of Gethsemane, and how he thought no one had ever captured just how much of a burden our sins were on Christ. You can just see the pain in his figure and it breaks my heart. Such a beautiful painting!

The simplicity of this painting is what makes it beautiful. I love the overhead light that lifts your eyes to heaven  and shows the purity and beauty of a resurrected Christ. I also love that it is titled Not Here. How perfect!

Really, his paintings are some of my favorites. He uses the gestures of the body in such a perfect way to bring emotion. He said his favorite artists were Caravaggio and Rubens and you can totally see their influence in his figures. He has the most perfect way of painting angels-they seem to twist out of heaven in a mix of light and power. They are absolutely breathtaking. If you ever get the chance to look at his original pieces do it because it will totally be worth your time! Anyway, I think that's it. Have a wonderful evening and be excited because tomorrow is FRIDAY!!!!!!! k loves bye