Self Portrait on a Lily Pad, 2007

Good day Lured Ones!

Today I want to give some insight into a portrait I did for my high school IB art class in 2007. I showed an image in a previous post about my visit to my old high school, but I did not explain. So here goes!

Around this time I was learning the process of canvas making, and decided to make my own canvas for the self portrait. The dimension requirement was pretty large, so I decided to make it about life-sized. As you can see the small top left image, Ms. Drum was helping me make the canvas, and bottom left you can see how big the canvas is relative to me (I am 5 foot, 1 inch tall). 

 

On the right is my finished painting done in acrylics. The whole concept was that I am sleeping, dreaming on a lily pad on the water. Initially I intended for the water on the lower part of the canvas to have unclear dark images that suggested a nightmare. I had trouble sleeping and often had scary dreams that bore no clear meaning. The fog is suppose to be dense to give a hazy and dream-like mood. 

After I finished, I spent some time observing the painting and I decided that I could have done better around the stomach area. The fabric of the shirt on the stomach is too straight and unreal. Also on the hand, the ring finger is longer than the middle finger, which is highly inaccurate >_< I've always had trouble with hands. Also, it was pretty unfortunate that someone took a pen on my painting on the face area. I had stored it in the supply room, so there was no way to figure out who. That's not too important because if I wanted to spend some time fixing it up, I could cover it.

If I were to fix up this painting, what do you think I should change or do differently? Ideas are very much welcome and appreciated :)

Until next time, I hope your weekend is going fantabulously!

<3

About Me

Hello everyone! Thanks so much for visiting my little space in cyber-land.

I love artsy and crafty things! I've always liked drawing and painting but never had the opportunity to experiment and actually do anything until high school. My high school has a comprehensive program where students could opt in for what's called an International Baccalaureate diploma. In this program there are certain courses and a number of subjects you must take. I chose IB art as one of my electives, and I loved it so much that I tested for it in advanced category instead of standard.

My time in IB art was such a learning experience to me. There were lots of successes paired with failures, but that's how it goes. I found that I love researching, painting, and experimenting with different mediums and styles. My knowledge, approach and perspective evolved over time, and somewhere towards the end of the program, I found that my subject matter revolved around babies. This is most likely influenced by my beloved baby sister, who was always at my side.I even took her to tennis practice sometimes =D

In college, my focus was all in classes, tennis, organizations on campus and also work. I always wanted to paint, but with everything going on, painting just took too much time. I could squeeze a drawing in here and there, but not really painting. The one time I actually got to painting, I was so rushed and pressed for time that I wasn't fully satisfied with my piece. It was pretty natural that my interests shifted to photography, since I could take pictures way faster than waiting for paint to dry. Literally! So I took a photography class offered an my university, loved it and my aunt gifted me with a fancy DSLR for practice. I have a friend who is very passionate about photography and we actually teamed up to do a photography business proposal competition. That was so much fun that we actually did a couple wedding shoots together, with me as his assistant. But I still wanted to draw and paint! So, during my senior year of college, I took an intro to drawing class. In IB art, the curriculum was what you make of it. We had mandatory projects and pieces to produce, but what we wanted to learn we sought out. So I never had formal guidance on drawing specifically. This drawing class taught me so much and I realized I love art way too much to let it slip away.

Now, I am married to my wonderful and supportive husband, Patrick (aka "Sugar Patty" or "Patty Cakes"). Woohoo! Proud army wife! After our wedding, we've moved to San Antonio and are schedule to move again soon! Needless to say, no one wants to hire someone to train only for them to quit soon. But on a positive note, I have the time and means to pursue my art! Yay! My super supportive husband has definitely invested in my supplies and art space. This is so great and important to me because I have my station set up. I can have breakfast and walk over to my area and start painting if I wanted to because everything is there! In addition to drawing and painting supplies, he's also invested in my supplies for my crafty projects, like card making. Isn't he wonderful? Thanks babe!

With that said, I want to thank you again for investing some of your precious time here! I hope you like what you see, and believe me, I plan on showing lots of fun things!

<3 Kara