Painting On Convex Surface

Can anyone guess what object it actually is that I painted on? 

Painting on a shiny round surface feels different. Quite refreshing actually.

Just that I have to be aware of the optical illusion it causes making the face look rounder... I realised this from the first portrait I drew... which is fine since i have a round face anyway :p

Lines tend to appear curved despite painting them straight and I think it can't be helped- it depends on which angle it is being looked it.

Other challenges is not related to the surface but the medium... acrylics do dry extremely fast. Quite an amount dried up on my palette before it could touch the surface. But a good thing about this is that i do not have to patiently wait for it to dry in fear of smudging the work.

Overall I'm happy with this painting which is a tribute to our relationship, happy with how it's turning out so far.

I've never really succeeded in painting a nice portrait of us before this which doesn't look  distorted so this is quite an accomplishment. I remembered I did one in watercolor and when i showed it to him he just burst out laughing.

I mean will you laugh too if you see this?......

Still laughing?

Mean -.-

I had a humble beginning! Lol. Yes i think it does look funny too.

That was done only last year in 2009. And watercolor is not my thing i guess... despite being a nice medium to use :)

Right now it is only my second year being in Arts school and prior to that I took a Diploma in Marketing- an entirely different realm.

Aced it but felt that it was not exactly what I wanted to do or particularly enjoyed.

So jumping into a totally new field was pretty scary knowing that there will be others with 3 years of Art/Design experiences from polytechnics or even those from Junior Colleges who took Art.

I went ahead anyway to take a Degree in an arts school mentally preparing myself for whatever outcome of my performance in the school will be.

Initially I thought that finally doing what I like will be a trade off for my grades thinking i would just fall behind all these other artistic people.  I wasn't one of those crazy, expressive, loud personalities tied to being artistically inclined- which is a common stereotype I guess. And me being the totally opposite reclusive introverted person thought that I wouldn't fit in.

But I realised that Art is for everyone, anyone who wishes to express themselves and also appreciate the work of others.

And I'm hanging on fine, doing great actually, more than I expected. Alhamdullilah.

I still don't know what the future holds for me in this field but I won't restrict myself in anyway.

If trying to be a designer/artist won't be able to get food to the table, I'd fall back on my backup, my diploma.

But let's hope that artists do not have to starve anymore :)

Instead may abundance of wealth will befall on all artists like a rain of gold!

Ok wishful thinking this is.

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Stop Live Skinning

I didn't know that it could even be possible that anyone could even think about skinning an animal alive for their fur.

Even more shockingly, from animals we love as pets such as cats, dogs, chinchillas, etc.

A friend even told me that she saw a youtube video of the skinning process- the animal was screaming throughout.

I just wanna raise this awareness on this issue that I myself wasn't aware of before.

It really makes me rethink about the every little product that uses fur... even those tiny little furry keychains makes me wonder about their origins or those fur linings around shoes, toys, etc because I definitely wouldn't want to be a contributer to this cruel practice.

And yes furs from live skinning are being used in these seemingly harmless products!

The message is simple:

If the demand stops, the supply will too. We DON'T need to buy fur products.

Visit Blog-A-Cause: Stop Live Skinning!

You can also put this badge on your blog.

It'll be great if you could spread the message too :) thx!

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mini update & reveal

Hi it's me.

Just wanted to make a short little entry about what's been happening these days.

I'll start off with what I'm working on currently. Please pardon the bad image quality as they are taken straight off my 3mp camera phone.

I honestly did not intend to release these pictures before this work is completed but ... here they are. 

What I started working on 3 weeks ago.

 

I'm not so evil as to leave off his face like that of course.

Already completed his portrait WAY more than this... even an umbrella in the background.

Just that i haven't managed to upload the latest progress shots onto my com yet.

OK now what's holding me back?

I really wanna have a rose border kinda like a floral kind surrounding the portraits but somehow I just have fears of starting on it or some kind of hesitation.

NO IDEA WHY! Driving me nuts sometimes.

And before I start on putting colors on the portraits, I wanna finish the borders in black and white first so that I can get a sense of where and what colors I wanna put.

I have completed so much and he said that it already looks complete to him.

To me however, i still have that idea in my head as to how I want it to look like and til I achieve that, it just feels like something half done.

Need motivation.

Another thing that's holding me back, making me feel down these days... kinda an ironic thing. After getting a taste of having my own comfortable space at dorm, home does not feel homely. I wouldn't elaborate on the current situation now but really... it just makes me know that there is a better place for me out there- my own space.

This blog, unlike my previous ones at livejournal that could make the posts 'friends-only view', is not meant for me to vent out my frustrations so uh... I'll try to keep this short and this blog art/inspiration related. But right now I have minimal self-control. Lol.

Yes back to the painting- either I scrap that floral border idea or I'll just go ahead with the coloring. I'll try to start on the first option tho'.

Wish me.... luck?

Gosh this mini update turned out to be quite long.

Lol thanks for reading, if any of you actually did :)

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take me away

pretty please?


:(


*pouts*

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Flapper Style of the 1920s Fashion Era [Image Heavy]

Scrapbook of fashion research done 4 years ago. The handwriting areas were deliberately stained and the white background had started yellowing naturally.

(Click image to enlarge.)

Also known as the Jazzy era or 'Roaring Twenties' it appears to be a carefree time of dance and the beginning of women being free from the conforms of a traditional society and being 'liberated' in the way they dress and behave.

Main elements of this style:

1. Shapeless shift dresses
2. Lots of pearl accessories
3. The unique cloche hats or bucket hats
4. T-bar shoes
5. And also there isn't and emphasis on the bosom, rather flat chest is preferred so that the clothes can hang freely
6. Definite makeup: strong eyes, brows and red lips.

It's interesting to look back on the fashion of bygone eras and appreciate the origins of where the ideas of today's fashion come from. 

Everything that is around now seems to be a recycled idea from the past. 

A great and informative fashion website to visit (also the main source of info for my research) is from Fashion-Era.com.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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kiki of arty-bug

i have dreams

but where i'm going is unclear

the chosen path is foggy

i will get there

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back from long hiatus

If you're wondering what killed me the last few weeks... (or was it months?) it was a crazy load of assignments, submissions and exams.

So to 'celebrate' my freedom, cos apparently i have no life, i just decided to try out something new. Since i don't have and have never tried painting using oils, i simulated the experience on Corel Painter -.-

Used a reference photo which is one i took some time ago wearing bunny ears cos i knew i was pretty much happy at that point in time.

Below: Screenshot of working on the details. (u can see a small section of Bouguereau's painting in the back- he's my favourite master artist so far.)

The painting is still incomplete... and kinda creepy lookin.

And somehow the oils' capabilities were not as intuitive with my drawing tablet's pressure sensitivity so i switched to acrylics halfway through.

Below: Before adding the aqua colored highlights.

Just need some opinions... Do you think it looks better with or without the aqua highlights? Like should I just stick to the warm color palette?

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