Oh yeah, AND I sing...

I almost forgot. I do sing. I don't know how well. People always are inclined to say nice things to you when you hold a microphone, but my paranoid nature plays against me with this. I'm not sure I'm as good as I think I am. That's ok, I guess. Singing is such a weird, tied up issue for me.

I do love crooning though. Last Saturday night Hickory Wind, which I sing with sometimes, played at a benefit for Twin Lakes Food Bank in Folsom. It was a laid back thing, and we were just playing our mellow stuff.

It was fun, and I got a good meal out of it!! And I get to be with such cool people!!

Painting class #11

We were to bring in 3 to 5 objects to create our own still life that communicates something. We were given some: a secret, a tragedy, a triumph, a conspiracy, an argument and a conversation.

What I came up with ends up, to me, being a combination of a few of those things. I at first gathered up a lantern, a rusted pipe and a pitcher. After further thought, I pulled out an old clarinet we have and was just positive it was what I needed in this painting.

Could I have chosen a harder thing to paint? I suppose so, but this is pretty rough. I love the feeling of the still life set up:


But the execution is pretty rough. Here's my underpainting:



And this is what I ended the class with:



Oh, I hope I can pull this one together. That back ground is...tough. I want to achieve some realism with the clarinet, but those keys are going to be a total pain!!

The color scheme of this bugs me. I suppose right now, it's analogous, but I tend to like things that cross the color wheel a bit. What should I do? Add some colors to the clarinet that don't exist? That hurts my brain a bit, but I think it is the answer.

Figure Drawing Class #14

Ok...this was last Wednesday! I'm such a bad blogger.

We had one pose for an hour and a half- it was wonderful and terrible all at once.

I started with a gesture and proceeded like normal until about 25 minutes in, I realized- everything was off. REALLY off. This pose was very very foreshortened from my point of view and I had made her legs too long, her torso too long...and thus everything around her was wrong.

SO frustrating!!

I think, in the end, I came very close to getting it right. At some point, though, with a model in front of you, you have to make the best of the time you have. I did this by getting her face right...and I feel I did.

I know her legs look short, but they aren't'!! I swear!! I loved this pose- she wore red shoes, a straw hat and a black boa. Diane is awesome!

Forgive me, NaNoWriMo has eaten my brain.

At least for the last three days. I'm behind, too!! I'm supposed to be up over 13,000 by now, but I'm at just over 10,000. Above is a word count calendar for this month. It really pays to stay on track, let me tell you!

I think I can catch up today. All it takes is a couple day of NOT writing your 1,667 words, and suddenly, you are stuck with a deficit that will take hours to make up!!

I like my story, I think. It's different than I'd imagined it. It's a fantasy, for sure, but I need to start making it more fantastical, I guess. It doesn't really matter, though. It's good to write. Even if it's utter crap.

I'm still researching my "real" novel. (I'm not sure whats so real about it) I've got some wonderful library books I'm charging though. I'm taking lots of notes. I guess I'm a geek- I love research for research's sake. I need to work on my other characters, too, it's just that John is so central to the plot, I need to develop him completely. The girl in it (who used to be Nina, but I changed to Priscilla....there is alot in a name!!)is so much like me, it's hard to "research" how she'd react to anything. I know how she would act. I'm an expert on that one.

Finished?

"Losing His Grip"

I think it's done. I think. :)

Figure Drawing Class #13

We had a few long poses and a lot of 5 minute poses.

Here's one of my longer ones- photographed badly, as usual. I sighted this in quite a bit, but her head seems too small? I feel the face is correct, though. She's such a wonderful model.



Here's a shorter standing pose that is still in gesture-mode:



Last weekend I randomly attempted a self portrait. I haven't done this in years. I didn't finish, but I was interesting to try this again with some sight skills under my belt.

NANOWRIMO 2010!!!!!!!!

Woo-hoo!! It's already started and I am right on schedule to reach 50,000 by the end of the month!!!

Currently, I'm at 1,958 and cruising along on a story about a kidnapped queen and an impending war!!

I love Nanowrimo. It's not too late for you to start!! Ever wanted to write a novel? How about a memoir? This is your chance!! DO IT!!

I'm obviously passionate about this-- I think its an awesome opportunity to try writing on for size with out any fear of ridicule.

I hope to get a widget on here that posts my word count...we'll see if I can figure THAT out.

Here's a link to my author page, just in case I don't.