Art Portfolio

Over the past two years, since the middle of sophmore year, I've worked on creating an art portfolio for college applications. This portfolio consists of over 600 hours of work completed without consistent instruction. Often, I feel like I've said "My life will go back to normal after my art portfolio." But recently I've realized, spending weekends on artwork is not an "abnormal" activity that is something to be ashamed of. I've loved every minute of this, no matter what it's taken me away from. I can't wait to get to college where, hopefully, I'll learn how to produce this quality of work much faster, without the least bit less enjoyment.

I hope you enjoy the work. 

For better viewing, click to enlarge.

Fruit with Cloth Still Life
Graphite on paper
8.5" x 10"
December 2009
Admission for Ryman Arts Schlarship Program

Taxidermy Wolf from Observation
Conté charcoal on toned paper
19.75" x 25.5"
April 2010
Completed during the Ryman Arts Scholarship Program

Hands Painting Piano
Conté charcoal on toned paper
8" x 12"
June 2010
Final for Art 2

JJ
Charcoal on paper
19" x 25"
July 2010
Long pose completed during Figure 1 four-week course 
at Laguna College of Art and Design

Orchid
Colored Pencil
10.5" x 16.5"
September 2010-June 2011

Breakfast
Graphite on Paper
8.5" x 11"
September 2011

Model Study
10 minutes
Charcoal on newsprint
12" x 14"
April 2011

Striped Cloth and Picture Frame Still Life
Graphite on Paper
16" x 19"
August 2011

Alaskan Landscape: Truck
Acrylic on canvas
7.75" x 7.75"
October 2009
My first acrylic painting. 

Alaskan Landscape: Bridge
Acrylic on canvas
7.75" x 7.75"
December 2011

Alaskan Landscape: Bicycle
Acrylic on canvas
7.75" x 7.75"
November 2011

Orange Over Water
Gouache and Acrylic on illustration board
9" x 20"
July 2011

Collection of Figure Studies
Charcoal on newsprint
18" x 23"
July 2010

Old Boot
Graphite on Paper
9" x 13"
July 2011

Animal Eyes
Gouache on illustration board
10.5" x 17.5"
October 2011-February 2012

I'm on the EDGE OF LOVE for the FAB 40s

During my long weekend of painting a few weeks ago, I went MOVIE CRAZY. As I raided blockbuster, a previously recommended movie caught my eye. It was Edge of Love starring Kiera Knightley and Sienna Miller. With my past grudge against Kiera Knightley for somewhat failing to be the ultimate Elizabeth Bennet, I was a bit cautious. Yet, I love Sienna Miller and I trust the person who recommended it to me. This movie is now one of my favorites ever. The story is interesting in itself because it involves two women in love with the same man who become friends themselves. Besides the story, I realized that FOR SURE my favorite era is the 40s...Here are some pictures from this AMAZING movie:

Obsessed with the yellow cardigan and high-waisted skirt!

And, as usual, I love the Sienna's flowery dress

I want to add this and the next one to my collection!

I want one...

I think the 40s are coming back...this boots and leggings thing looks crazily familiar!

I'm specifically in love with the stiff shoulders, high-waisted skirts, flowery dresses, curled up hair and netted hats!

If anyone knows me, finally picking an era anywhere near modern times is amazing because I'm so hung up on medieval legends.
So, that next week, I raided through all my vintage books and patterns only to discover that I seemed to already love the 40s. Here are some great clippings I've collected over my short years that I didn't really know I had until recently...

UHH Charcoal Take #7

So, I'm still alive. Thought all 13 of you would want to know....
I've been submerged in art projects and european history for the last..uhhh...3 months ish.
BUT, we are entering a new age, an age where I might actually have somewhat of a life!
Yes, so exciting. Even if I have...ahum...8 summer reading books, papers, and a college art class.
So here is charcoal that gave me the biggest headache of the year.
Problem #1: I hate pastel
Problem #2: So, I got behind because I switched to charcoal
Problem #3  Charcoal is NOT the medium to draw square inch faces. WAY too blunt, for too small of a space....
Problem #4: For some reason, my cute cousin Coco had an expression that could verge on "impish" or even horror movie like if I wasn't careful.
Problem #5: I wasn't careful
Problem #6: I couldn't give this project to Courteney (her mommy) like I really wanted to because the paper rubbed off and I couldn't make the face look like her daughter after about 9 tries.
WELL, I'll hold my horses. Four hours in, I actually did do Coco's face PERFECTLY! Then, I though...hmmm that little teeny tiny eyebrow could be fixed.
Problem #7: Little change=more little changes=lose facial recognition.

So, besides all the intense complaining, I'm happy with my cousin's friend's face (but that's not exactly something I can give to my aunt....ya know?) so here it is:

So, at the end, I was ok with Coco's face, but I never got back that beautiful recognition factor I had for about 4 minutes! I need to learn to stop...

"Werewoof"

Here's my latest art homework from Ryman Arts :)
Over the last three weeks, we've had the opportunity to draw using conte (conti?) charcoal in brown/burnt sienna, black and white. Because I was sitting down on the floor in front of the wolf, it was soo funny it here all the little kids say "Mommy, mommy, that girl is drawing a werewoof!" They would then proceed to howl...and howl...and howl...
It was very cute :) and all the nice comments throughout the day were encouraging! It made it very fun :)

So...here it is:

And...this is what happens to me when I finish it at home...LET's GO TP-ing!

P.S. Taken with new 24-70 2.8! Yeah for zoom. 

Of course, because I'm working art and school like crazy, I've had no photo time! Get ready though, some pretty great photo shoots coming up soon! Then you'll really get to see the new (L-Series!!!!) in action...

Saturday, the NEW weekday

One might ask oneself, "Isn't Saturday on the weekend?"

Yeah, sure, for everyone but me.  

Saturday Schedule:

 Wake up at 7:30 (a.m. sadly) and choose not to go to spin class (even thought that't my usual schedule, I decided to be unconventional).

 Fall back asleep at 7:33

 Go to Zumba with Indy at 9:30 and arrive home at 10:30

 Cook breakfast.

 Shower.

 Scramble to finish ALL art homework...3-4 hours 

 Leave for Ryman...freeway 1 hour (each way)

 Ryman Arts 12-530 (including travel)

 At approximately 5:20, miss exit to 55, 73, and Jamboree because the rain is pouring so incredibly hard.

 At 5:23 get off on the WRONG (unbeknownst to me) exit: Macarthur John Wayne

 Turns out to be the wrong side of John Wayne

 Still raining

 Drive until I can recognize a road

 AH redhill!

 Redhill for 7 minutes! Then Irvine Ave at 5:49

 Leave for Kami Kurisu's 16th Birthday 6:15 but first...

                        1) Straighten Hair

                        2) Put on Make-up 

                        3) Sew dress together on my back

            That last one is not as easy as it sounds. 

            Left for party at 6:45...praying the dress will stay on and planning to get the zipper fixed in the near future :)

Beside being extremely frazzled and getting my hand-me-down Prada shoes (thanks, auntie) wet, Kami's party was extremely enjoyable! Here are some pictures... :)

      

Oh, the joy of 50mm lenses! <3

Le Birthday Gurl!

Em modeling off her best hair :) Love the accessory necklace too!

My favorite picture! Jessica Wu is hilarious, but most of all this is unedited and the horizon looks perfecto! Yay for more artistic accidents!

Explanation for the coming pictures:

1) My little 50 mm doesn't take flash very well, so it buzzes for a couple seconds sending flashes of light everywhere. So, people are looking at the camera in somewhat annoyed/shocked faces by the time it's the actual picture. 

2) The light was too low to shoot manual lighting.

3) The flash would have worked if I had manually focused, but happy, dancing people move ever so fast.

4) Instead of having a yucky dark picture, I turned the shutter speed to about 5 and these are the results...

P.S. It's a girl's party so the pink works :)

So, one might ask oneself, "What's so great about this problematic dress?"

Well, it's one of the only ones I had, my mother was determined to fix it (at least temporarily), I wore it to my own Sweet 16, and I love the ambiguity of the color. Here are some pictures!

I'm in love with the shell fold on the right and my make-shift straps.  Jessica, do those count as DIYs? ha

The beloved Prada snake-skin (real or fake, who knows?) heels. Nail polish from August 11, 2009. I just don't have much time anymore...

Full outfit :)

Make-up of choice :) Glittery eyes...

P.S. My mother had to cut my dress off at the end of the night.

If I had fallen overboard, this Captain Jack Sparrow having to rip off Elizabeth Swan's bodice. Would have been a bit of the same situation...

Wondering about Alice

Ha! I love coincidences.

1) I'm dead scared of the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland in cartoon, but I love almost everything else about it

2) I shot a shoot of my friend Mackenzie last June as Alice, along with other girls as other fantasy characters. I only remembered this one about three seconds ago too! So fun to suddenly remember...

3) My favorite photo shoot of ALL time happens to be involving a parody of Alice in Wonderland by my FAVORITE photography Annie Leibovitz.

4) I'm in love with blue, flowy dresses. The movie costumes are stunning! I had no idea how much fun it would be to watch this movie for artistic reasons, but it really was enjoyable for more than just the plot. I couldn't get good pictures of the costumes that were good sizes, but please just go see the movie and enjoy them yourself! They're pretty much modified versions of the ones used by Annie L, but in motion!

Here's June 2009:

This gorgeous B&W was almost by accident. Clearer image than even digital it seems! I love artistic accidents :)

Should I go down the rabbit hole?!

Why yes! It might be fun!

I LOVE this one, but the holga version (ahum, unscanned) looks much better. The holga even caught her bracelet...look closely.

I did a series of tea party shots, but none really keep me interested. It's been a while since this shoot and I know how I could have made it better...

Photo Credit: ME :) and my holga!

FAVORITE SHOOT EVER! (click to get the full picture...)

If you know me remotely, you know I love the one in B&W with the flowy-iest dress and the attractive photographer the most :)

This costume shows more ruffles than most, with very defined creases. Obviously, it's catering to the 1920s.

Although, not my favorite, this picture has an interesting color contrast. She looks like a girl from the Goo-Goo dolls with those boots though!

Annie Leibovitz is insanely amazing. Period.

2nd favorite. Obsessed with the ruffles because they create form without overwhelming it as ruffles usually do.

Odd, but extremely entertaining.

I'm obsessed with trees and nude platforms so I have to love this one :)

Much closer to classic Alice. I can't decide if I like this one or not....

Most interesting outfit. By FAR.

Photo Credit: Annie Leibovitz, Vogue December 2003