Comparison

Here is a comparision of the original Amanda portrait next to the new portrait. They will not be next to each other in the codex

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Finished?

I cant decide if it needs more of a background...

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Feb 14

So its been a few days since I've written here. I have been busy busy catching up in classes. I got way ahead of myself in Portfolio in comparison with my other classes, so I needed to work some stuff out. I have now applied to present a paper in the Fenway Schools Undergraduate Art History Symposium and I have an interview tomorrow for a summer teaching job. On top of that my count down to Guatemala has officially begun!!

As of now: 17 Days before I leave for Guatemala!!

As for my work in portfolio; I have hit a wall. I finished the quetzal feathers and cleaned the piece up, but I had a legitimate criticism from a friend. The back ground of the piece is a void. the cradle and child float in a nothing space. Now in my other Maya pieces, ones with minimal blue and red, the floating and void works really well. however, this piece, with its bright and dominate colors, contrasts too much with the void around it.

For the life of me, I can't figure out something I like for the background. I will present the piece to my class tomorrow the way it is, and see what they think as well.

Feb 9th

I've been working away! I freakin' love crayons now! These feathers look so GOOD! Exciting!

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So I have decided that Crayon was a FANTASTIC decision for this piece! I am having so much fun with this! I have decided to stop for the night, but here are two more process pics!

Process

Here are two process pictures of my piece about Johnny-boy.

Stage 1 Stage 2

Feb 7

Been working on the Codex piece. Gonna call it a night and start up working again in the morning. So here is the progress so far!

Next portraits in The Boston Codex

Here are the next two portraits for the Boston Codex. One is a new portrait of Amanda this time holding Johnny in her many arms and the other is the first portrait of Eric. I can't decide if I want Eric reaching through the frame into Amanda's. I haven't done it before. I have kept the framing very important for all of the other portraits. This would be a new standard for the Codex. Family members would be able to reach between frames... I am really unsur eof what I am going to decide... I think I am leaning more toward not breaking the frame, but that could be from sheer terror of what that would do to the Codex as a whole.... hrmmmm... Maybe a little help here?

Sketches

Here is my sketch for Johnny-boy's first piece. This piece will be about 19in x 24in in its final version and it will be colored with crayons! :-D

Sketches for First piece

In terms of amount of information, I don't sketch well... I have always found that I do my best work the first serious time around. In other words, if I work too hard and do too much detail in the sketching phase of a piece, I can't duplicate my original from my sketchbook onto the final piece; and I always like the sketch better than the final. And so, I always manage to do as little as possible in the sketch phase and work 95% of the time on the final piece. All of my detail come to life on the final surface, and I always feel better that way.

Now The Boston Codex is a little different. I am starting to get more detailed in my sketches than I would normally do. But I have an explanation for this. When I am working on the Codex I am working on over twenty other pieces that have already been created and finalized. So I sketch because I am terrified. I am terrified that if I screwup on the new drawings in the Codex, I will have to sacrifice completed drawings for qualities sake. And it happens. I had to remove one portrait because I hated the way it came out. The figure didn't fit in the frame properly and I had to cut it out of the Codex. Now if I had had a drawing on the back of that portrait I would have been screwed, because it too would have had to go bye-bye.

In conclusion, I have decided sketches are worth my time and I am finding them useful in ways I hadn't before. They are still very minimal, and most of my work still goes in the final piece, but I am learning to trust my early stages more.

Feb 5th

I think I have decided what I would like to do for my first project of the semester. I want to do a piece that represents my godson Johnny-boy and the piece needs to be in a new material. I think I would like to do a Maya portrait of my nephew (I get to be his auntie!) but instead of the material I use for the Maya pieces, I want to use crayons. I feel like this would be a really great piece, representative of childhood and family. I am still trying to decide if the piece will be of just Johnny-boy, or of me holding him, or of his mamma holding him...

I will also be doing two more portraits in The Boston Codex. The first will be of Eric (Johnny's daddy) and the second will be a new portrait of Amanda (mommy) holding Johnny. These will be worked on in the next few weeks along with the crayon portrait.

Feb 3rd

This morning my best friend had a baby boy named Jonathan Patrick. He is 13lbs 2oz. BIG BOY! He is absolutely adorable! (from the one picture I have anyway!)

I've spent the day so far so happy I can't sit still! I am JP's godmother, and though I am not religious I am completely honored to have the role. I will be going to visit the happy family tomorrow with another of my friends, who actually has a means of transportation. I am writing about this not just because I am utterly delighted, but because I feel inspired. I want to make my first piece of the semester about my 13lb godson!

The first challenge of the semester is to make a piece that is made from a material I have not used before. I started something like this at the end of last semester; I explored using pigment and blood in two piece last semester, so I am in the right mind set to start up another piece exploring material. I am thinking I will make a portrait of the cutey. I am not sure what it will be made of yet... I have worked in a lot of materials in the past, and I am not sure where I will go with this yet. Anywho, I have a plan started; I will create a portrait of my godson Jonathan out of a material I haven't used a lot or ever. A new update will come soon!!

Class Feb 1

This was an awesome class. We got to look at everyone's work and get an introduction to who they are as artists and students. For this class we all separated into pairs and we had to introduce our partner rather than just ourselves. It was a really wonderful exercise. By the end of class everyone felt comfortable talking to each other and asking questions. We are conversing and joking and giving constructive criticism, which is really very nice for a second class.

The work that was presented is really fantastic! I am always surprised by my colleagues skills and work. I love the fact that Art Ed majors have work in a huge range of mediums. One artist in this major has a range from painting to fabric sculpture to sound to smell (right now all I can smell is cat-food and soap).

Sitting in a classroom for five hours with a blizzard ominously taking over outside, and we all seem to be comfortable staying in here and talking about our work in this class. I am very excited about this semester! :)