one painting in one hour

Since the beginning of the Everyday in May projects, and shortly after painting in church in under a hour, I thought that I should try to do some more paintings in a short time, just to see how I do.

So, after some thinking, and some listening to an old episode of the Creative Mom Podcast, I decided that a self-portrait should work well for the job.

I had pre-sketched myself the other day, but I wasn't very happy with the drawing, so I decided to just put the background color over it, and start from scratch.

Before doing anything, I had to "straighten up" my boys' book collection which was all over, in order to have a space to set up my easel. The studio space we're trying to put together still has a long way to go, and if I set up the easel in there, there will be no space to actually more around. So I opted to bring everything out to the living room, which then took more time, as mentioned above.
I then found a way to hang a small mirror from the easel, so I'd have some way of looking at myself while painting.
I then painted a the orange background over the back and after giving it a few minutes I set my timer for an hour, and started to paint. I "drew" directly with the brushes, and attempted to look at myself while I was painting.
The set up for the mirror got in the way, as far as painting the left side of the canvas, plus I did not get a look at my whole face at once, which I knew it would lead to distortion, but that didn't bother me.

Working quickly for an hour, checking my countdown a couple times, I managed to come up with the painting you see above. Those of you who know me personally might be a bit confused, as to say it doesn't look like me, . Those of you who don't know me, might say that it's a distorted face. I suppose all of you are right. As the artist, I don't think it matters.
I actually am really happy with the result. I wouldn't say it captured me perfectly, but it accomplished what I wanted to, with this painting. I did manage to make a face, with no prior drawing, show up in the canvas within an hour. I like the impressionist brushy style it's in. I like the colors, and I like the confidence it gives me for the next quick painting I will do. I learned some of what works best. I learned a bit more about dealing with acrylics, and I learned a bit more about how not to place the mirror next time.
Regardless of how I look, what do you think of the painting on its own? If you didn't know it was a self-portrait, or that it was done in an hour. What would your response be?


16x20 acrylic on stretched canvas

sketchcrawl #14

On saturday, my everyday in may activity consisted of sketching throughout my day, in order to participate in the 14th Sketchcrawl, to help raise money for Emergency (an organization that provides life support for war victims).
Juggling between laundry, parents' duties, helping with the cooking at my parents' house; finding time for sketching was a bit tough, but I managed to squeeze some time in. I think I raised slightly over $100 and I'll be sending that in soon. (Those of you reading this, who sponsored me and haven't given me money, I'll be collecting this sunday!)

So I sketched around the house, and the boys and I went to Barnes & Noble and sat at their Starbucks cafe and sketched people there. It was really fun to capture people before they moved. I also managed to do some pen sketches in my new watercolor moleskine, and put color in later.
All in all, a very fun day, and it just reminds me of how much I love to do this, and how I should be doing more of it!

You can see the rest of my sketches here.

Every Day In May - seventeen

That's me. Croquill pen, with sepia ink, staring at a mirror.
This is my new "boy"haircut. Most of the time, it looks like this, and sometimes, I spike it up. Soon there will be a picture or painting of the spiked up version.
I enjoy drawing myself. Not because I'm so good-looking, but because I think it's a good subject, in that I have no one to please but myself, plus, it's a ready model. I don't need anything but a mirror.
Rembrandt painted tons of self-portraits. I can only hope to be as prolific, and achieve such skill.

On another note, I am disappointed with the particular sketchbook I am using at this time. It's not a moleskine, and boy does it show!
I really am surprised at how thin the paper is and how the signatures don't match up, and don't flatten out very well, as you can see from this drawing and it's scan. I need to keep drawing in it to finish it up, but it's kinda thick. I really cannot do any color wash in it, or it will go thru to the next page.

I think I will do a it more on this drawing, but I'm most sure what.
I like it even now. Any suggestions?

Everyday in May - Sixteen

Posting what I've done each day has seemed impossible. I'm not really sure why. I seem to be exhausted at night. I'm just trying to find energy to actually do the work!
So on that day, I worked on 2 tshirt design for 2 different church's summer camp stuff.
This is what I came up with...

This one was for my church's summer program called GASP (graffiti afternoon summer program).
The children's director asked me for something simple, and it will be one color on a shirt for all the kids.
She approved it, so all I gotta do is get it ready for the printer guy.



















The other design was a bit more fun, because I was given more lee-way, as well as more colors to work with.
This group is Graffiti 2, which is a spin off our church, but they meet in Motthaven, in the South Bronx. It's a tough neighborhood, much like the Lower East Side used to be when Graffiti first started over 20 years ago, so doing a more edgy, graffiti-driven design seemed appropriate. I haven't yet heard back from that director. We'll see where we go from here.
This is what I came up with...

Any thoughts?
Would you want to wear a tshirt that had either of these designs on them?

Everyday in May - Fifteen

That day felt more productive. I worked on a card for a friend. Another pop-up card idea from this book.

I will scan the front of the card later, but I did some experimental work for it which I read in an excerpt of Claudine Hellmuth's collage book , with acrylic and saran wrap. Interesting results. I need to try again, cause I did not master the technique, but it was fun.

Sorry I'm posting so late.

the joy of visual journaling

For the first time today, I chaperoned in Willik's class, for a trip to Colden Center, at Queens College, for a play of Max & Ruby.
It was just a short walk from his school, with just the 2 kindergarten classes.
While we waited for the play to start, I took the opportunity to draw this very animated and talkative lady, who I believe was a teacher from some other school.
It definitely wasn't a thorough drawing, but I felt good that I took the opportunity to do so.
So here's that quick drawing.
The everyday sketching, which I continue to try to do, is one of the most effective and joyous parts of my artistic life. I love it that I'm really journaling for the first time in my life, keeping an acurate and memorable account of my life as I really live it.

Previous attempts at journaling always started with great emphasis, only to be terminated by the reality that I'm not much of a writer, and just wasn't very good at keeping the habit. This kinda visual journaling means so much more, and is so effortless, that my only hindrance is how I spend my time, or sometimes being afraid of not doing it "right".

Everyday in May - Fourteen

Victory is mine!
I think I'm done. I think I like it.
Looking at it here, in this small version, makes me like it more.
I finally had enough time, and mustered energy enough to finish it. It was a fun process. Lots of new aspects for me in this. From the collage of chinese newspaper with gel medium, to the glazed, layered acrylic style, it's been full of experimentation as well as learning.
Believe it or not, though I have drawn Fabio many times, this is the first time I painted him, even though we've been married 8 years. I attempted to paint him before, but just didn't get it done. So this finished project is satisfying for that reason as well.

Everyday in May - Twelve

So, I haven't posted because I was at my parents' house over the weekend. But I did draw.
Actually, it was more about a job opprortunity to design a logo for a friend's band collaboration.
So, it was late on saturday, and it'd been a long day, so I just had enough energy to think about this logo, and some of what Bogs and I had discussed.
So here's the page I worked on.


The good news is that I showed it to him, and he liked a few which I will develop further. It's nice to keep having a variety of things to work on or try. It keeps the wheels in my head turning, even when I'm not making art.

pen on sketchbook

Every Day In May - Eleven

This may be a bit hard to see, but it's a self-portrait sketch I did last night, on a canvas I intend to paint.
It's a bit of a challenge I'm giving myself, to paint it in an hour, much like the painting I did in church a few weeks ago. I want to see what I can accomplish in an hour. After all, if I could paint that large painting in 45 minutes, the 12x14 or so canvas should be doable. The issue is, when you go smaller, the details are smaller, and somewaht more time consuming. It's kinda strange.
Anyway, it's also a chance to record my new haircut.

Stay tuned for the progress.

Colored pencil on canvas

Every Day In May - Ten

It felt good to do this one, because at least I didn't skip a day.
Inspired by an entry by another art blogger Nina Johansson this is an experimental piece.
The theme, nor the subject are particularly beautiful or life changing.
It was more about trying a technique, which I certainly didn't master, but had fun with, It's about trying out some textures and some tools for the sake of getting better at what I do.
I think this whole project is good for me, for this very reason. It helps me to think of ideas of things to try, even if the result isn't going to be a masterpiece, it will help me for future peices that might be! :)

sepia ink with croquil on 4x6" watercolor paper

Every Day In May - Nine

I've been feeling like it's been "Skip a Day in May" for me, with this project. I just can't seem to be able to do art 2 days straight.
I think about art, I discuss art projects, I even have a plan of what to do that day, but somehow circumstances have made it difficult to actually accomplish.
Nonetheless, I will keep pushing on and trying.
Last night, I drew one of my favorite mugs, as I had a lonely cup of coffee.
It's nothing too special, but It was fun to use a charcoal pencil. I love how dark it gets. And I drew it about 2 times bigger than life-size.
Charcoal pencil on bristol paper.

Every Day In May - Seven

Two days ago, or rather, 3 days ago, I worked more on the collage painting.
I focused my limited time on the face. I still need to do a little more to it, but it's mostly done I think.
Now I gotta work on the other things on the painting. I think one or 2 more sessions should be enough for this one.
Sorry I haven't been posting on the day. It's been hard to kep up. I hate that!
Hope you're creating something this month!

Every Day In May - Six

Yes, I've skipped 5. Saturday was filled with lots of errands and random activities, including soccer and laundry.
By the time the evening came around, I tried making a quick drawing in my journal, but fell asleep while at it, so there's no day five.

Yesterday, after a long day at church, and having lunch with my Bible study group to celebrate the end of the book of Luke study we'd been doing, Fabio only had enough time to drop everyone off before leaving for his nighttime shift.

Since Phoenix had fallen asleep, I thought this a good opportunity to do a cool art project with Willik. We made a pop-up cad which we're sending to a friend, by following instructions from a book called "How To Make Super Pop-Ups" by Joan Irvine.
We borrowed this book from the library a couple weeks ago. It's a sequel t another book, which we haven't looked at yet. Mom and sone loved the book. It has great clear instructions and illustrations to show us what to expect. After we worked to build the card, Willik decorated and designed it his way. It was a fun creative thing to do, which I haven't done much of. Paper art is certainly one I need to discover more of!

Every Day In May - Four

Another image inspired by one of my photos from Indonesia, this was from a visit to a village which had been "rebuilt" after the tsunami, a little ways from the city of Aceh.
The people were pleasant and happy to talk to us.
The clothes hanging on a line were nice to see. Something you don't see very much of in New York City.

This was worked on and to be posted on Saturday, but I did not have access to my computer or scanner, so thus the late entry.

Done on a 4x6 watercolor pad, and a brush pen for emphasis.

Every Day In May - Three

In order to give myself and everyone else a break, I did a mini watercolor painting tonight.
It was inspired and derived mainly from a photo I took of a young woman carrying this baby, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
She did not notice me, and that makes the whole thing so much more authentic.
Having carried babies in those Baby Bjorn carriers, I can tell you that once they got close to 20lbs. in weight, I was ready to give those up, and quick. She, on the other hand, seems perfectly confortable.


Watercolor done on 140lbs. paper

Every Day In May - Two

Just a continuation from yesterday, a bit more paint has gone in. Not as much time to paint today, so all of what was done, was done tonight.
I do have to make a trip to the supermarket sometime, since Fresh Direct will not deliver to my house. Thanks for that reminder today, Susan!!
Anyway, here's the second installment of the same painting.
Can you tell what I worked on?

Every Day In May - One

A work in progress, this was a painting I started working on about 2 weeks ago. But with the kids being sick, and getting ready for the painting I did at church, as well as working to get the church's website finished up, I just hadn't done anything but got it ready.
Today, paint finally made it's way onto it.
It's experimental, joining collage and acrylics. I'm excited to see how it will turn out.
If you find it hard to see, that is because this is sorta at the underpainting stage.
It will be nice to see the work develop the next couple days.
Stay tuned, and let me know your thoughts...