Figure Drawing - 1.16.2015

I thought that drawing a model in costume wouldn't be too much trouble since I usually go to cafes to get my life drawing fixes. I was wrong this time around, I found myself constantly struggling to get the model's skirt drawn correctly on paper. 

I did my best to make sure to understand the position of her legs and how they affected the shape of the skirt. Anytime I moved into drawing more details in the fluffy skirt, I just got lost and found myself not being able to communicate the skirt clearly on paper. 

I wasn't having fun. Without having fun, I was just churning out terrible drawings after terrible drawings. Towards the end was when I started to relax by exploring more with ink and the two tone pencils. I did some skirt studies in pen since the last pose was over 30 minutes, which started to make me realize what mistakes I was making earlier. I was just making every tier of the skirt the same size and shape, or drawing them on a linear plane. Unfortunately the session ended and none of the drawings I made reflected what I learned last minute, so some drapery studies are due this week!

Next week will be a nude long pose, I'm debating on if I want to try watercolor or if I can bring some kind of digital set up. 

Figure Drawing - 1.9.2015

I am very excited to get back into figure drawing! I don't think I attended any figure drawing sessions last year, mostly have resorted to getting my life drawing fix at cafes. Definitely need to change that!

I learned A LOT in those three hours, mostly spent fumbling around and making mistakes. 

I learned that I've become really impatient and lazy with sketching, so the first short poses were in ballpoint and are just unreadable. It wasn't until I switched to pencil that I started to slow myself down and really begin to get wrapped up in observational drawing. Towards the end I started to have fun with my materials which made me much more relaxed.

Next week is going to be a costumed model! 

2014 Art Summary

Whew I can't believe 2014 is almost over! It's been an incredibly stressful year for me between moving up to Seattle and getting out of a 4 year relationship. I did much better than I expected but I know I can do even better next year. :)

Most of these works can be found on my Tumblr or Instagram! I've forgotten about this blog... but I want to get back into the knack of writing and posting up progress shots again next year.

I hope everyone's new year is AWESOME!

Template credit.

Sketch Dailies

Hello my friends! It has been quite some time, hasn't it?

The first thing you might notice is the name change! I'm starting to use the moniker Staceart more and more often, and figured it is time to apply it to this blog. I am looking to use this blog again, while Tumblr and other social media is nice, I quite like having a place that I can show process shots and write more in depth about my work. I will also be using this blog for write-ups on different art related events I attend.

This year I've started to post my work on two new platforms: Instagram and my own Facebook Page! Instagram focuses more on my sketches and other traditional work, while Facebook features a little bit of everything from all the sites I use. Please follow both if you can!

Onto the art... There are also some other projects in the works, which I'll post more about in the future. For now though, I've been participating when I can in a great daily activity called Sketch Dailies and here are the entries I've drawn inspired by the daily topics from earlier this year.

Black Bird

Billy the Kid

Honey Badger

Robin Hood

Mermaid

Baba Yaga

Unicorn

Goblin

Valkyrie

Gremlins

I've really fallen behind on keeping up with the topics but Seeing these all together make me realize how fun it is to challenge myself and my process. I'll be sure to make more time for future topics and post them here on my blog!

Holiday Sprites

Happy New Year!

Hard to believe it's already 2014! I don't know what happened in 2013 but it wasn't until the end of the year that I really started to engage myself more in art and start playing around more with my art. Definitely will let that continue into this next year!

I have expanded my presence more onto other websites but I love using this blog to put the different steps of my projects into one entry - such as the holiday sprites below. 

Making sprites is always a joy for me and I really wanted to get back into making them again. I was a little ambitious this year in tackling a large quantity of sprites in a short time (my Christmas spirit was delayed by the warm weather, bah!).  

Sketches for the holly and poinsettia sprites.
Watercolor pencil and col-erase pencil.

The collection of 2.5x3.5 sprites given away to friends and family.
Acrylic with metallic watercolor wash.

A 5x7 poinsettia sprite - given to a close friend of mine.
Acrylic with metallic watercolor wash.

A 5x7 poinsettia and holly sprite - given to my family.
Acrylic with metallic watercolor wash.

A 5x7 holly sprites - exchanged during the Very Merry Art Trade.
Acrylic with metallic watercolor wash.

 Of course, I had to paint my cats for my wonderful boyfriend, hehe.

Oliver, Singer and Sargent.
5x7 Acrylic with metallic watercolor wash.

May this year be fruitful and bright for all of us!

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Just Keep Swimming

Ahh hello everybody, sorry again for another unexpected hiatus. Hard to believe it's August and it's almost already over wah!

Basically what happened was I fell into a depression, one of those that sneak up on you and after a while you get used to it unfortunately. It's sad when you don't realize you're even depressed, it just becomes a black hole of numbness. I unintentionally pushed away many of my friends and family without realizing it. It wasn't until I was in danger of losing my relationship that I finally noticed something is wrong with my current lifestyle and it needs to change. One of those steps is to start posting here again and to be more open about what's going on in my life!

Anyways, I made myself an art schedule but I have a hard time keeping up with it. I focus too much on the short term things that make me happy instead of the long term. I want to work on changing that, especially since I need to get a job. I have no savings right now and it scares me that if something happens to me or my car that I would go into debt. Right now I'm looking for a new day job since my hand is feeling better but eventually I would like to replace that with either a studio job or freelance. I am even thinking about relearning 3D since it would be nice to do something else for a job and still keep my art personal.

In the meantime, I will continue working on my studies and also continue finishing work (still my biggest struggle after all these years!).

Alright, here are some pieces from the past few months, just really experimenting with my process. Next week I'll put aside more time to scan some sketchbook drawings and also some current pieces in progress.

Nepsey the Harvester of Light

Golly, it sure has been a while since my last post - let alone, a finished painting! I'm working on changing that.

Here is my latest painting of my friend's character Nepsey,  a mermaid who brings light down to the depths of the ocean.

Here are some in progress shots I saved while working on it.

Alright, onto the next!