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

Visiting my old high school's IB Art class

Good afternoon everyone!

September was a busy month and I wasn't able to post as often as I'd like. However, I was doing things that I could blog about all the while - just didn't have time to sit down and gather photos and edit video clips for uploading. Now that I am back and have some time to myself, I can slowly but surely update you on what I've been up to.

Two weeks ago, I visited my high school teacher and she invited me to return the following day during her IB art class and meet the new kids and see what they were working on. This was such a trip down memory lane because they were working on their self portraits and I was at this point in the class years ago. I was able to speak to some students and learn about some ideas and messages behind their pieces. It was very insightful and I felt so honored that one student shared a particularly personal story behind her piece.

The students were great and so was their work. Here are some works done by students in Ms. Drum's IB art class. I will also share the self portrait I painted at the end. So make sure to scroll all the way down, and enjoy!

 

Now here's what I did 5 years ago when I was at this point in the class:

I intended for this post to be about my visit to the class, so I shall give further insight to to this painting in my next post :)

Until next time!

<3 Kara

Poppies with Courtney

Good afternoon y'all!

It's been a while since my last post, but don't worry, I haven't forgotten! My friend Courtney was visiting from out of town for the last 6 days, so I've been spending lots of time with her; lots of sun and lots of pool time! While she was here we also went to Whimsy Art Studio for a painting class and had a blast! We went for the Poppies session and it was so much fun. You can see the paintings we did above. I love doing these type of wine with painting classes because you don't paint alone. When I'm alone in my own painting space, the way I go about painting is very different than when I'm socializing with others in a class and enjoying a glass of wine (not that I can't enjoy wine in my own painting space). The class and socializing frees me up and I paint more fluidly and freely. I don't have to agonize about the technique I must use to produce the results I'm looking for. In the class, I just follow the instructor's tutorial, relax and let go. It's nice too that I can add my own flare to the painting if I want to :) I've done classes like this 3 times now and I love it! It's a great date or double date night and also girls night!

I've noticed this new trend in painting where people can go to tutorial classes and drink the wine they bring. The first time I had this experience was at Painting with a Twist, and Whimsy Art Studio is the second place I've visited. I have also noticed another location in San Antonio called Vino van Gogh and want to check this place out too. Maybe I'll do a date night with my husband at Vino van Gogh in the near future. This location is the closest to where we live, so it's a lot more convenient. I'm sure there are more studios that offer this painting class where you can bring your own wine, but these are the 3 I know of. If you think this is something you might want to do, I highly recommend looking for one in your area. It's so fun! And if you go with your boy/girl-friend, friend(s), or your spouse, you guys can have matching paintings!

The way these places usually work is they have a calender with different paintings you can do. Each day is a different painting and they rotate each month I think. You sign up and pay for a class for one evening to do one painting.. You can do this alone but usually people sign up in duos or groups. Each class lasts about 2 hours.You may bring wine (or other beer or soda if you prefer for some places) and drink that while you paint. The instructor will walk you through each step of the painting and the whole experience is very relaxing.

At Whimsy Art Studio, I learned that the instructor is an attorney and paints as a hobby. She decided to open up a wine and painting class studio and rocked it. She's only been open for 2 months, but it looks like she's doing great. I was so excited to hear that because I want to earn a law degree but I also want to paint, so there is hope for me yet!

So that's my latest art adventure. I hope you enjoyed reading about it :) Until next time...

<3 Kara