I DREW A THING

Look at it

LOOK AT IT

Okay. I'm sure what most of you see is another figure drawing. "Aileen, we know you're good at those. This one is good, too."

But all I can see is her head and neck and face and shoulders, and GAHD. I'M SO PROUD. I also like how I did her torso. And legs. and foot. ...Hell, I think I drew her really well. 

We had two models simultaneously that day, but I couldn't help and focus more on one than the other.

See? In the top one, I was all about her gorgeousness, and in this one I couldn't help but focus on his.

HE HAS A VERY ROMAN FACE. 

This is a model you all have seen me work with in the past.

This guy.

Very strong brow, straight nose, scruffy face, generally handsome.

(I like drawing him.)

Anyway. I did more than just those two drawings, I had some homework I had to do. The assignment was "Take quick drawings we did in class, and work them for exactly thirty minutes."

You recognize this one. It's not too old.

A bunch of gesture drawings.

And this one... I didn't really like it before...

And I still don't. Ew. I don't like how I handled her race or the hand or ANYTHING.

But the continuous line drawings I did were pretty cool.

AND THEN-

TA DAAA!

CERAMICS!

This pot is so tall.

SO TALL.

But I didn't mess it up!

YES!

And last but not least:

SHUT UP I'M REALLY PROUD OF IT, OKAY?!

No art, just happiness.

Today has been such an insanely good day.

Well, comparatively.

Basically, last week my laptop finally went kaput, I spent a lot of money getting some art framed, my car was having trouble (it was using WAY TOO MUCH GAS. Like... Portland to Gorham took an eighth of a tank), and then the electricity bill came in (which we missed last month). So in a manner of DAYS, a bunch of things went wrong in the most expensive way possible.

That was the downslope.

Today, I brought my car in to the shop to see what was wrong with it. I was ready to spend $400+ on a new sensor in my engine or something like that- but they just cleaned my fuel lines for $50, and now she runs just fine. And- AND- when I explained to the guy who was talking me through everything (you know, the whole "this filter needs to be changed every 30,000 miles, this kind of oil makes your car run cleaner," etc.) that I've spent a lot of money and I don't really have any to spare, he stopped trying to up-sell me, he explained the cheaper options for the things I needed, and showed me my filters and said "I mean, it COULD be replaced... but it's really fine. Just change it next time." It was a very different experience than other times I've brought in my car for work to be done.

Bonus: when I got in my car to leave, I noticed they even vacuumed my car and cleaned the outside of the windows. God, JiffyLube in So. Po is AWESOME.

Then, I went by the art gallery to see if any of my art got into the juried show, and pick up any possible rejections. This was my first time submitting to an art show or gallery in general, so I was pretty nervous to see if anything got in. We were only allowed to submit three pieces, and when I dropped them off last Thursday, there was art EVERYWHERE. So my hopes weren't too high, I was just crossing my fingers to get one in, at the very least. And guess what? I GOT TWO PIECES IN!!! Which is, apparently, not normal. Everyone else I've talked to so far only got one in. So I'm feeling pretty fly.

Fly!

I've showed you guys both of the pieces that made it in here in the past. These two: 

This I named "Muse of the Manor" because I can totally see it hanging above a fireplace in a huge creepy mansion.

This one I called "Strange New World," Partially because I was thinking of Brave New World, partially because of the lyric from Fiddler on the Roof "Soon I'll be a stranger in a strange new world."

Aww yiss.

Muse of the Manor I needed the back to be wired so it could hang in the cheap frame I bought. So I brought it over to the painting studio where my favorite Professor Jim Flahaven was teaching his intro to painting class. I asked if he could help me get some screws in the back, and he said "You came to the right part of the galaxy for that kind of job. Just throwin' some firefly lingo your way." And I replied "Shiny."

He said he's teaching an advanced drawing class next semester. I am so excited.

Then I bought new sponges and did all the dishes in the sink, even the ones that weren't mine, so I feel generous.

I'm so happy.

So.

Happy.

Also, Hi Dave, it was nice talking to you today, however briefly. <3

Hustle and Bustle

I call this post Hustle and Bustle because I spent several hours today driving around getting some of my paintings and drawings matted to submit to the juried show here at school. My hopes are not high for any particular one getting in (In fact one isn't matted, so I KNOW that one won't), but I really hope one of them makes it in.

Anyway, I dragged Derrick along, because he's visiting and I needed to get them framed and matted, and I still made it to class on time. My pieces look really nice now that they're framed, but of course I don't have any photo evidence. I'll post some pictures of them next week.

My classmate was wearing his hat oddly. Like... It was sticking off the back of his head. He didn't take it off. I wanted to draw it. So I did.

Then, my teacher asked me to make a drawing based off of what we had done for the homework. Well... I didn't do the homework. So I drew this in my shame. Don't bother reading it, it's just angsty drivel, but I like the how it came out.

A new spelling of my name for the logs. My favorites are still "Eiline," "Aye-Lean," and "Islean."

Literally the only productive thing I've done...

I really need to get my ass in gear.

Condolence Cards

Someone I hold in very high esteem suffered a great loss recently.

'Course, I'm awful with words. I mean, I didn't know what to say or do or think... All I wanted to do was go give him a hug, but he probably wouldn't have wanted that, either.

So I made this.

It's all I could think to make. It's all quotes and song lyrics about the importance of Music.

Maybe I should go into card-design for a living.

Ha.

"Living."

So in experimental drawing, we did collages.

Pretty cunning, don't you think?

All else I can think of to say is that I discovered a new game I can't wait to get home to play. (And by discovered, I mean my friend Logan introduced it to me.) It's called Organ Trail. It's the Zombie Apocalypse version of Oregon Trail.

I.

Can't.

Wait.

About a week's worth of updates. WITH CERAMICS.

It's going to be used for Brown Sugar. I'm so excited. 

The runes down the side corners there? Those are Tolkien Hobbit runes for "Brown" and "Sugar."

The other runes are just celtic gibberish. 

Started serious works on my dad's blanket again. He's moving to New Mexico in a few months, and he and Jill said they're only bringing homemade sentimental things, so I've really got to bust this out and get it done.

(Learn more about his trip out and trying to live off the grid here! )

(The word "here" is a hyperlink. If you can't see it. I think they come out black.) 

"Amanda" modeled for us again. All these words are things my teacher said or told me to do.

I liked inkwashing... I didn't want to add anything else... I HAD to for class :(

A Frank Miller style of my coffee table with John's mixing board on it.

An adaptation of the previous drawing.

YAY MAINE.

ALL THE MAINE.

More Monotypes

They're mono TYPES. Mono PRINTS are prints that can have many made that are all the same, and then they are edited and worked on after printing. TYPES means only one unique one can be made.

So Mary the Model came in and posed for us, and we did more monotypes from her.

Blue!

Terrifying profile portrait.

The original of these two prints, the paint dried a lot before I could take the print.

I was determined, though, so I went back into it. I really like both of them for different reasons.

The print itself was soaked with water while I made it, and then I went back into it with colored chalk.

I dumped all my paint out on the table and then finger painted into it.

And my drawing class took a trip out to Bates College and wandered around their museum which had two exhibitions going on: a collage exhibition (which was actually really cool, but I have no pictures), and Chinese Shaman artwork. IT WAS AWESOME.

 These are the messenger gods. They interested me the most.

And

AND

'Ishah and I went to an Oriental market on congress street, and normally I would have felt too weird to go in there. But she wanted miso spoons, so I wandered in.

I LOVED IT IN THERE.

The guy at the counter was more than helpful- he basically gave me a tutorial on how to make miso soup, and when I thought that was too complicated, I grabbed a bag of pork and leek dumplings, and the guy explained to me that I should use oil based sauce, because they had thicker wrappings, and if I just used soy sauce they'd be way too salty...

It was great.

They came out DELICIOUS.

Also, Greg.

It was awesome seeing you this morning.

I want to see you again soon.