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

Sowthistles and Grasses Speed Painting

Happy Sunday!

For most of you, I'm guessing you have another day off, so hooray for that!
The good news for me today is that internet is back online! Woot! A couple of days without internet and I feel so disconnected. When did I become so attached to the web?

So, with internet available, I am able to share with you the second video for the painting Sowthistles and Grasses. I did mention that I am making a speed painting clip, and it's here! It's about 2 hrs of footage, sped up by a lot of times hehe. I hope you find it enjoyable.

Have a great afternoon!

<3 Kara

Sowthistles and Grasses (oil painting)

It's Friday! And it's Labor day weekend! So I hope yours is off to a good start!

Yesterday I finished a painting and I'm so excited to share it with you all :) It's based from a tutorial painting by Brian Bennett from the book How to Paint by Angela Gair and Ian Sidaway. So this is definitely not an original, but I'm proud of it nonetheless.

The medium is oil paints; this was my first experience with oil paints and it was very interesting. It took me a bit to get use to mixing paints with a medium, and also cleaning up with a lot more care. Furthermore, this tutorial was to practice palette knife painting techniques and that's a challenge in itself. The brushwork was minimal, which meant that I had to suggest certain details based on how I lay paint down with the pallet knife.

To learn more about my experience with this painting, please watch this video below! I am also making a bonus video showing about 2 hours worth of live painting, sped up 16x, and will be available soon! Have a fantabulous weekend!

<3 Kara

Giclee (zhee-klay) Prints

Good afternoon everyone!

Today I want to share with you all some of my recent research. Ever since I completed the painting of the girl with the dragon, I have been trying to figure out the best way to reproduce it. If you have read the post and/or seen the video, you know that I didn't draw it. My friend Andi drew it out and asked me to paint it for him. I wanted to give him the original and keep a copy for myself, but he's insisting that I keep the original and give him the copy. In either case, I wouldn't want either one of us to have a copy that won't last and isn't of good quality.

So I have been researching different methods of fine art prints. So far the one I have decided to use is called giclee (zhee-klay) printing. Giclee is a french word meaning "to squirt or spurt" which describes the method of putting color on paper/canvas that is characteristic of this giclee printing. Images are generated from high resolution digital scans and printed with archival quality inks onto various surfaces including canvas, fine art, and photo-base paper. The giclee printing process provides better color accuracy and archival quality than other means of reproduction.

To learn more about giclee prints, you can definitely do a search, or click on the following links:
 http://www.dpandi.com/giclee/
http://www.gicleeprint.net/abtGclee.shtm

There are various sites that offer this service but they all involve me shipping the painting to their company for scanning. I don't want to ship my painting out because you never know what happens once it leaves your possession right? Some sites have the option of me taking a picture of the painting and e-mailing that to them. The problem with this option is that I can't know for sure that the colors would turn out exactly the way it's supposed to. With that in mind, I have been looking for a local place that does giclee prints. This puts me at ease because I can bring the painting in and take it home with me, and I can pick up the print rather than having it shipped. I love online shopping and shipping but there are certain things that I would rather not go through the shipping process.

So, that's where I am at in my search. I'll definitely give an update once I find a local place and go through with it.

In the meanwhile, have a wonderful start to the week :)

<3 Kara