Done in the style of...

For my final project in my Design Fundamentals class, we had to research an artist that was on our list and then sketch up some drawings done in the style of that artist.
My favorite artist, Frida Kahlo, was on the list. I discovered her when I was living in Mexico. Seeing her paintings was the first time I truly could actually feel what was on the canvas. The research would be easy since I have a great biographical of her.  But, I wanted to use this opportunity to learn about a style and artist I had never seen or heard of.
I chose Rene Magritte, a Belgian Surrealist/Futurist artist.  I checked out some books from the campus  library and have been looking and reading about some works on a website. I feel like I'm still getting the hang of what surrealism actually is. I have a loose grip of the meaning so I hope what I drew will be approved. Take a quick look at that link to see a few of his paintings, then check out my rough sketches to see if you think my drawings are done in his style.

top left: energy (the sun is replaced by the timepiece), top right: supposed to be a shark in the morning coffee
bottom: supposed to be a coffin sitting where Lincoln would be placed at the Lincoln Memorial

from one artist to another

As many of you know, I entered a blogging scholarship contest. I had posted my essay for you all to look at on Facebook. I think a total of three people looked at it, so thanks. Anyway, I wasn't even chosen for a finalist and I'm pretty ticked about that. Obviously my blog is not original or inspiring or anything else they were looking for. Should I try again next year anyway?
For now, I find solace in my blogging friend, CC. She was also older when she decided to go to art school and I like reading about her college days.
Here is an excerpt from her blog, Heartland Daily. Enjoy!
The sketchbook and the Greek

also, here is a link to a video of Duffy singing "Mercy", I like this song and heard it yesterday at Park Tavern when I was walking past to go to Whole Foods for a snack while on break in class.

Well you see judge, what had happen was....

When I worked as a court clerk in Amarillo, that statement above usually indicated to me that a good story was emerging and I should sit back for a moment from my note-taking. Most of the stories were pretty inventive (Southerners are born story tellers) and some needed work. The reason I bring this up now is because I have a story.
After Observational Drawing on Wednesday, my classmate, Cody, asked for a ride back to the dorms where he lives. Even though it's in the opposite direction from my house, I don't mind; it's only a few miles. "But," I said. "We're listening to 80's tunes." He laughed and said "Yes!" He's 18, he thinks the 80's are cool.  At the stoplight, my friend Nick (the 19 year-old who yelled at me for driving around downtown Dallas at night by myself; I still think it's cute that he was concerned) pulled up next to us and rolled down the window. "Hey, you got your skates?" he asked.
Cody shouted back "No."
"Not you-Vicki. Hey V, you got your skates?"
I looked over. "Yeah but you're not gonna wear them."
He laughed. "No, let's go skate on the trail I was telling you about. I got my longboard." He jerked his head to the side to swish his long hair away from his eyes.
"Okay." I said, turning up the M.C. Hammer song playing on my All 80's station.
"Cool. Follow me."
I looked at Cody. "Why do I have to follow him? I know where you guys live."
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."
So we get to the garage at the dorms to drop off Cody and to leave my car. I pull on my skates and stand up, balancing. Nick rolls over on his longboard and says, "Whoa. You gonna make it?"
"Relax. I got this."
We start down the sidewalk, cross the street and start heading downhill. At that point I should have crouched down, but I stayed up instead. Then a set of railroad tracks appeared and I thought, "I can jump that." I had jumped things before...several years ago.
Yeah I didn't make it.
I landed on my right wrist, of course. That was it. No bumps, scratches; forehead was intact, nothing broken.  Nick freaked out though and came running over. "Oh my God! Are you okay?!"
I laughed, got up, brushed the dirt off my pants and said "Dude, I'm fine." I lifted my arms. "See?"
"Don't do that."
"Don't put any railroad tracks in my way."
We skated past the train stop to the Angelika Theater where I walked down the stairs on my toe-stops. When we got to a steep hill toward the crosswalk, Nick turned to me and said, "You better hold on to me." After my last stunt, I had to agree with him. I took his arm since I didn't want to end up in the middle of a six-lane intersection. My wrist was starting to feel sore.
Once we got to the trail, everything was pretty smooth. Most of the people were jogging. Of those who were biking, most of those bastards rode like they were on a mission, yelling "On your left!" as they whizzed past us.
Nick was doing a switch-foot trick on his board and I asked him, "Are people staring at me because I'm the only one wearing old-school skates or because I'm old?"
He looked at me and said "I think it's because of that awesome black Pea Coat you"re wearing."
"You're a nerd."
When we finally stopped about two and a half miles or so, I went to adjust my skate laces. That's when I realized something was seriously wrong with my wrist because, wow, it hurt when I yanked on the laces.
"Nick! Give me piggy-back ride."
"What?"
"My wrist hurts. I don't think I should skate anymore in case I fall. I didn't bring my shoes."
"Walk in your socks."
"Walk in my socks?" I scrunched my eyebrows.
"We'll go back. Take my shoes."
So he longboarded for a ways in his socks and I clomped along in his big man-feet shoes. I said "How do I look?"
He said "Everyone looks good in those shoes."
On the way back we shared stories. He told me about his ex-girlfriend moving to Australia and I told him about the time my friend April and I snuck into the Shania Twain concert.
"Who?" he asked.
"She's a country singer from Oklahoma, like you. You don't know her?"
"Do you know everybody in North Carolina?"
I gave him an incredulous look. "Uh, yeah."
He laughed.
We got back to the garage and I found my car. "Ah my salvation! See ya later." I said.
"Bye. Sorry you fell."
"I'll be okay. I live with a nurse and a pharmacist."

Well that's the story about what happened to my wrist. I'm doing everything left-handed: eating, going potty, brushing my teeth, fixing my hair. I even put on makeup yesterday left-handed. good thing I had been practicing using my left hand for cases such as this. I mean, you never know. Comedian Kathleen Madigan once told her brother that her financial plan was to learn to write with her left hand. "Not gonna get any money from the bank if you can't sign that check...who's laughing now?"

Okay, so here's a test for you. Don't worry, it's not being graded. I had to finish my class assignment yesterday drawing with my left hand. See if you can pick out which ones are lefties and which ones are righties.

the check marks only show which ones my teacher picked for me to ink up in a larger scale

it's in the atmosphere

Even here in Dallas, the leaves are changing color and they were blowing all around the courtyard during the school's fall festival. The Chefs galley served up two kinds of chili: meat-full and meat-less, served with all kinds of fixin's. Both were good and both were free! All you had to do was sign in.
The social clubs set up tables and games with goodies and games encouraging students to sign up. One group, SHIFT (student harmony in forward thinking) introduced a Soultrain dance line. They played music and we all took turns dancing down the line. Some people sat eating their free chili and watched. We all had fun for an hour before classes started up again.

I do not love lamp

I normally love my Observational drawing class, but today I got upset at a stupid candlestick!
The teacher set up the still life which contained a draped sheet, a bottle, a clear vase and two silver ornate candle sticks. I started drawing and I just could not draw today. Every time I put a line on the paper, it was off. Every time I tried a different approach, it was off. Finally, I just sat there drawing circles until break time, then I continued to draw circles trying to get my ellipses right to draw these things. When we took another break to walk around and observe other students work and to see ours from a distance, all I had was three circles on a page. I told everyone that I had started over about four times at that point. One girl said, "Well, they're very nice circles." She was trying to cheer me up.
After that we had about an hour and a half left. I finally just said, screw it, I'm just gonna draw these stupid circles. Then I started connecting them and soon it turned into a candlestick. I threw up my hands and yelled, "That's it! I'm done, I'm not drawing another candlestick." Everyone was peeking around their easels at me and the teacher came over to critique it. She suggested a few adjustments and said, "Good start. Now you just have to finish the others." Which I did. The rest didn't take me but a few minutes to knock out and my classmates were impressed that I drew everything so quickly.
Now I just have to finish the shading and the background, but that is the easy part.
Stupid candlestick, I hate you.

almost done

stupid candlestick

ArtLoveMagic

ArtLoveMagic is an organization here in Dallas that does exactly what the name implies. They hold art events and I went to one on Friday. Last week when I decided to go, I told my friend and classmate, Nick, about it and he said he wanted to check it out too, so when Friday came, he gathered his posse (random people from the dorms) got on the DART and headed my way. He called to see where I was and I told him I had taken a wrong turn and was lost downtown instead of where I needed to be in the neighborhood of Deep Ellum. He yelled at me. "What are you doing driving downtown by yourself??!!" I thought it was cute, he's 19 and concerned about me. I told him "Relax, dude, I've been in far more dangerous places before. I won't get out of my car, I promise!"
Finally I found the place and a spot to park with out having to pay (bonus!). We met up and had a blast dancing, meeting random people, getting faces painted and watching really cool artists create pieces. Later, the group walked with me to my car (I had to go to work in the morning, ugh, always ruining my nights) and they headed in another direction to Geo-cache.
I'd only be 20 again if I knew what I know now!

a sugar skull I created at the event

someone dressed as a ghost on stilts in the courtyard where most of the artists were gathered

one of the artists working (I liked the Batman painting)

When I start to look my age, will I still be young?

School is cool as far as my classes go. I'm getting better at inking, pencil drawing and shading. I'm learning all about color and the use of it in design aspects. I get along with my classmates just fine. I get stopped in the student lounge or in the hallways, "Hey Vicki! You going with us to such and such?" or "I loved that thing you brought up in class last week...."
A friend of mine from school had a little crush on another classmate and we talked about it. That's when I realized that there is nobody in school my age for me to date. The suggestion was made to meet guys at a club or a bar. Well, I've done that in the past and it's not the way to go, even for funsies.
Dating was not an aspect of going to college at my age that I had thought of before. My concerns were: "will I be able to keep up in a technology-rich environment" and "will I be as smart?" Not "who will I meet up with Friday night?"