A Sec of Spring

It rained a lot last night, and today was gorgeous.

I tend to keep my camera around my person, so I jumped at the chance to snap a few on my stroll back home from class.

I also took some of the landlord's cat, and some flowers I got.

oh and don't be alarmed, but me and a jumping spider got acquainted.

I wanted to see how well the macro setting worked : )

These Lights will Inspire

NEW YORK!!!!!!

Here are just a handful of the thousands of pictures from my latest excursion to NYC. It was a beautiful, draining, empowering, and long week. I ate great food, saw gorgeous sights, made my bucket list shorter, laughed a lot and cried some. I feel very cultured in the busy american way.

Dont look at the sun too long

Obviously, I have an obsession with taking pictures of eyes. Since this kinda unnerves people, its usually my eyes that are the guinea pigs for my photography.

Three of these pictures are edits of the same original. see if you can figure em out.

I've found that photography is made up of four basic parts

1. Subject matter- what you photograph is the first factor in determining an interesting end image. Even everyday still objects at a creative angle is good subject matter.

2. Frame- This is in part dependent on the camera lens (wide angle/zoom) and partly a conscious judgement of the picture taker. Getting the subject where you want it in the frame, center of attention, etc.

3. Editing- Going in on a photo editing program and enhancing the photos does what the camera can't do vibrancy and saturation-wise.

4. Picture Quality- Fundamental. the camera helps a whole lot. This encompasses pixels, focus,etc.

I'm in no way an expert but these are jsut some observations that I've found to make all the difference.

More to come : )

The long awaited glory of the sun

ITs BACK!!!!!!

I have been missing the sun so much, its been a dark and freezing winter. Today was the first time it was both warm and sunny. Its springtime! I just got my new camera and finally got to experiment with it today on a little walk around campus. Here are some pics I played with.

It was so nice to be outside you have no idea...

what do pancakes and flamethrowers have in common?

So a few night ago we decided to make pancakes from scratch. Everyone thought it was a great idea and someone said they had a great family recipe. So off we go. They turned out horrible!!!! The biggest cooking disaster of my life, which is saying something seeing as im not a very good cook. So instead of chunking them in the watebasket we thought we'd have some fun, we being a household of 5 full grown females.

Turns out pancakes are not flammable and need serious assistance to get them to burn.

After trying purell, hairspray, a lighter, and powdered sugar, we finally got a the stack of flapjacks on fire : )

Good times.

Artsy Fartsy

So I am taking an intro to oil painting class this semester, and I have realized that it is a lot more complex than I imagined. The process of setting up is way more draining and tantalizing than the actual paint part.

First off you start with a thin gesso application, a clearish white coating that protects the paper or canvas from the acidic properties of the oil. Then you do what is called a toned ground, where you go in with a small bit of paint mixed with a gel substance called liquin. You smear it with a rag to create a solid background. The liquin allows the paint to dry quickly, even overnight. Then as a beginning artist you lay a charcoal underdrawing for the underpainting. Then you paint a gesture underpainting focusing on value range and general shapes, using only one natural color or perhaps another accent color. Finally you get to go in with an expanded color palette and develop the painting more fully with hues and value dynamics, along with texture and detail. phew.

The two paint studies I am putting up are in the underpainting stage. They are done using Burnt Sienna with accents of prussian blue, supposedly the two most used by the old masters... so i hear.

The sideways bust is an assignment for advanced drawing. The idea is this- to fully understand the ins and outs of drawing, one must experience the ins and outs of an opposite medium. In this case, the opposite medium is ink wash drawing.

Its probably my new favorite way to work. Its a perfect blend of painting and sketching. I can get all of the benifits of drawing- the detail, the fine lines, the fresh strokes of a fountain pen without having to stress out with a brush. I can also get the perks of painting- nice blends of hues and a releasing wash, without having to work the lengthy task of shading with a fine tip. Its awesome!

The last picture is another drawing assignment, and the first completed piece I have ever done in pencil. I am quite proud of it haha. The theme was threshhold, or boundaries passed, barriers broken, or personal interior space. With my athletic background I think this piece portrays mw well.

More to come!