Old Drawings from College

This summer I started decluttering and organizing everything I own. One day I tripped over a stack of sketchbooks and almost broke my neck. When I got back up I noticed I had sketchbooks stored in 4 different places. Suddenly my eyes were opened and I realized everything was outa’ order…the whole trial was outa’ order! 

I’m still not done going through everything, but at least now all my sketchbooks and art supplies are all together and easy to use. As I was going through my artwork I found an old portfolio from college. I looked through it and actually threw away 2 pieces of art that weren’t worth keeping. One was a chili pepper I made out of cut up coke cans. It was falling apart. And another was a process art piece that just wasn’t any good.

The rest of my drawings I kept. I remember being in school so stressed and being my own worst critic, thinking my drawings sucked. But looking back, I realize it wasn’t as bad as I thought at the time. I picked some out to share with you.

11-17-05

12-6-05

These first 2 drawings look a little like mug shots. They were done in one of my early studio drawing classes. We partnered up and drew each other on flimsy newsprint paper. They’re very flat and I remember we were all feeling timid drawing another human from life. I wonder if they still have their flat profile drawing of me. They were drawn a month apart.

3-21-07

This guy modeled for us a lot. I liked drawing him because he could sit very still. It sure didn’t feel like it at the time, but I made a lot of progress in two years. The portrait doesn’t look flat and I have good tonal range.

11-19-05

4-25-11

Self portraits were tough. I’ve always been disciplined about staring at the thing I’m drawing, but staring at a mirror and trying to remember to sit in the same position was so hard. Plus, I’m always lookin’ so intense when I draw. These two self portraits are 6 years apart. The one on the left was drawn at the same time as the 2 flat mug shot drawings. The one on the right was done in 2011. I was feeling a lot more confident in my drawing skills by that point.

I love looking back at my old artwork, seeing my progress, and remembering moments throughout my art journey.

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I saw this Mermaid Today

 

I saw this mermaid today

I waved and said, “hey”

but much to my dismay

this fishy girl wouldn’t play

she flashed a smirk, and just swam away

Some Neat-o Pics of the Mundane

I was pretty happy with a lot of the pictures I took today. I picked out my top 5 favorites, basically the photos that jumped out at me during my initial viewing.

This one is my favorite. While I was playing darts, the light shining on that ashtray caught my eye, so I grabbed a couple of pics, one in color and this one in b&w.

See that bump in the middle? That’s a bug. I saw that little guy haulin’ butt and thought he looked just like the weathered plastic table he was crawling on.

This is a picture of a gross collection of water in a bird bath. I amped up the luminance and  the dark tones in post processing.

Check out that lens flare! I like how that turned out.

My friend’s peach tree is producing some pretty good lookin’ peaches. You know that song, Peaches by the POTUSes? Soon, we’ll have Millions of peaches, peaches for me,
Millions of peaches, peaches for free . . . LOOK OUT!

I really like how dark those shadows are, and how the light is shining on the peach.

Some b&w Pictures

I was at a location that I go to a lot, and I’ve gotten pretty bored of the scenery. So, I set my camera to the Dynamic Monochromatic setting. I also decided to play around some with overexposing my lights and underexposing my darks.

Overexpose is when too much light enters your camera and the bright spots can become “blown out” or too bright.  Underexpose is when there isn’t enough light entering your camera and those areas might be too dark and without detail. Choosing what type of exposure you need to use will be determined by the kind of effect you’re going for in your photography, and by the lighting conditions.

This picture is very overexposed by +3 and I brought those dark shadows out in post processing. I’m happy with how it turned out. Especially since it’s different from what I usually do.

I shot this under the bridge. The left side is so dark and has no detail which is a nice balance to the overexposed brightness of those rocks.

I like the blurriness created by the movement of the creek water. And I really like the wavy edges of these heart shaped leaves. Both of these pictures have a closer to normal exposure.

This spot looked pretty cool to me. I liked how overgrown all the plants were. I played around with some stuff because the original image was a bit too sepia colored.

I took this one while standing under the bridge. See that hole? There was a whole bunch of those little rusted out holes. Hmm, I wonder how old that bridge is.

 

 

 

 

 

Rural East Texas – A Photographic Journey

Driving up and down the roads of rural East Texas is a very enjoyable and satisfying experience. At times, I am so enthralled by the beautiful landscape that I am shocked I haven’t flipped my car and truly become one with the land.

 

The Pollen Barn

Barns always grab my attention, and we’ve got a lot of barns in East Texas. I love how the bright blanket of yellow flowers takes over the land. This rural landscape is located on US 259 in between Nacogdoches and a small town called Mt. Enterprise.

The Hardwood Barn

The Hardwood Barn is located on the left as you approach Mt. Enterprise. I think it’s used as an auction house. It’s fun to watch the surrounding landscape change throughout the seasons.

Backroad Country Barn

I found this rickety little barn on a quiet winding backroad.

Old Rusty Tractors

I love how old rusty farm equipment looks . . . It’s soooo country. These old tractors are located near Mt. Enterprise on US 259.

Lil’ Blue Tractor and some Cacti

Here’s the final image of our journey through rural East Texas. I like how the cacti in the foreground frame the blue tractor in the distance. A large vicious dog was barking at me the whole time, so I shot this picture from the safety of my car.

These Are Not Clouds – pt. 2

It happened again. I looked up and saw a rainbow around the sun with some strange looking “clouds.” If you haven’t read part 1, check it out.

Setting: Normal

Remember how to say, “these are not clouds,” in French?: ce ne sont pas des nuages. It’s soooo much fun to say.   

Setting: Cross Process with a yellow tint.

I really like how it turned out in cross process. The colors look interesting.

Setting: Impressive Art – This effect gives your photo a dramatic contrast look.

This setting shocked me when I saw it on my laptop, because it really helped bring out the effect the “clouds” were making. I couldn’t even see the details with my eyes . . . Mostly because it was way too bright to look at.

I’ve heard a lot of people tell me, “There’s nothing new under the sun.” I don’t really run into that problem. Although, I guess this effect isn’t actually that new anymore, since these “clouds” are becoming more ubiquitous.

Not sure what I’m breathing in, but at least I can get some interesting pictures. How about you? Do you notice any cool “cloud” formations in your area?

The Swing – Tale of a Hidden Love Affair

I love The Rococo period because their witty paintings are fraught with frivolity and fantasy, often depicting scenes where lovers engage in amorous behaviour. The ornate garden scenes and the soft pastel colors are really pretty too.

So much is going on in this painting which makes it very entertaining for me to study.

Let’s Take a Look at The Swing

The Swing, Fragonard, Wallace Collection

The only man willing to do the job, Jean-Honore Fragonard, was commissioned by the Baron de Saint-Julien, who desired a painting of his mistress swinging while he, the sneaky Baron, observes in the bushes. What makes this painting even more illicit and exciting is the older man on the bottom right who is pushing the girl on the swing.

The Husband

Could this man in the shadows be her oblivious husband who is completely “in the dark” about his wife’s affair?

detail of husband, dog, and putti

While he happily pushes his wife into the arms of another man, notice the yapping dog at his feet. I think this dog knows what’s up and is trying to spoil the fun. Luckily for the lovers, nobody is fluent in dog. This dog is probably also there as a cheeky poke at the husband, in that dogs in paintings often symbolize:

• loyalty
• faithfulness
• fidelity
• love

 

A Call To Secrecy

A cupid statue on the left with his finger covering his lips in the “ssshhh” position, does his part to keep the affair quiet. He must be trying to make that noisy dog join in on the mischievous behaviour. There goes her dainty shoe, which you can see being kicked off in the last detail . . .

The Swingers

Illuminated in the middle of the painting we have the lovers in question. “The Swingers.” Notice the mistress’s beautiful and frilly pink dress blowing in the wind as she playfully flies through the air. And check out that naughty Baron; he’s got the best seat in the house. I read on artble.com, that the Baron gave the painter the following instructions:

“Place me in a position where I can observe the legs of that charming girl.”

 

Wow, that rapscallion sure knew how to Woo the ladies, didn’t he?

A Love Triangle

Fragonard painted the scene in a triangular composition, which helps lead the viewers eyes all over the painting to highlight the important details of the scene: The Love Triangle. Aaaahh, now we can see her shoe being kicked off as she get’s lost in the frivolity.

Darkness in the Age of Enlightenment

Rococo was a satirical response to the more serious advancements being made during the Age of Enlightenment, where people sought out rational thinking over the prevailing acceptance of divine powers. In The Swing, Fragonard successfully uses “light” to bring awareness to the underlying “dark” forces at play.

Whoever said that studying art is boring? If this was the plot of a tv show, people would be glued to their screens.

So, what do you think of this famous Rococo painting?

Fragonard painted some other playful scenes you should definitely check out. Some intriguing titles include, “The Stolen Kiss,” and “Rinaldo in the Enchanted Forest.”

 

Reference used: Adams, Laurie Schneider. Art Across Time. Third Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.