Week 5 - Ted Talk DONE.

When I was first introduced to this project, I thought: "Coolio! We get to choose whatever we want to learn and we're getting graded for completion!" 

But then I heard the words "culminating in your own TED Talk"...

First, there was a short period of denial:

Then, there was just hysterical crying (on the inside of course):

I had nightmares about the day when I would have to stand up on stage in the audion and talk about myself in front of other people, so I did what I usually did for presentations-- I procrastinated.  

But I have to say that my "procrastination" was more along the lines of "I distracted myself with oil painting", so I worked my butt off on each painting, making each one as perfect as possible until my head exploded with annoyance (mainly annoyance with myself for procrastinating).  Although putting off my TED talk until the last minute was not the smartest thing to do for a gifted project, it was through this intense process of procrastination that I was able to really do a lot more with oil painting than what I had initially expected to get out of this project.

What I mean is that I committed almost all of my energy to painting, so all those hours of painting (sometimes until 3 in the morning) allowed me to experiment with different styles and techniques, to develop my basic skills, and most importantly, to think about whatever I felt like thinking about.  If you don't know already, I am an introvert and I am extremely slow at processing some things, so the extra time I spent on oil painting allowed me to organize and ponder about things.  All that pondering ultimately helped me to come up with my oh-so-very-meaningful purpose for my TED Talk.  

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Now, to talk more about my actual presentation, I thought it was an average-Allison presentation.  I perfected my script, created a pretty awesome powerpoint (if I do say so myself), and then I practiced and practiced and practiced during the days leading up to the presentation (actually more like during those 48 hours before the presentation, but I did have a legitimate reason, I was at Deutschfest... well no that's actually just what I say to myself to make me feel better...).  

As usual, my nerves took over and I didn't trust myself to be able to present without my notecards, so I used them for the entire presentation, which is something that I need to work on for future presentations (this was some feedback that I got after my TED talk).  Someone also commented that they thought my purpose was really nice because it was different (Thanks!).

What did I think of my TED talk?

Well, I would agree that my lesson was unique, as it was mainly about what true art is and why this is important in our world today.  Like I said already, I really liked my powerpoint :D.  The only criticism I would have for myself is still that my public speaking skills need work.  I need to rely less on my notecards, enunciate and emphasize for more clarity, and move around on stage in a more natural way.  Thinking back to when I was standing on stage, I think I stood in the back corner of the stage, moved my foot around awkwardly/unconsciously, and the rest of my body was almost "stiff", which made my voice sound nervous as well.  

Overall, I am happy with the way this project ended for me.  The day that I presented was the most stressful day of school I had ever had because of several reasons:

1. I had to get to the audion on time with all four of my paintings, some of which still had not dried and I wasn't sure how I was going to transport them by myself and still get to class on time.  
2. I got blue paint on my WHITE shirt!!! (I'm not sure that it is coming off...)
3. I forgot my flashdrive (with my powerpoint) at home.
4. Let me say this again, I forgot the flashdrive, which had my powerpoint, at HOME. 

Now that it's over, I can breathe (and sleep) again.  I know now that I need to have backups saved online or directly onto my computer, so that I will never have to stress about such horrifying situations again.  I think I'm going to continue painting, maybe not at the same rate that I was painting at for this project, but maybe a little bit here and there because it really does let me take a break and think.  

I'm excited to see the remaining TED Talks for tomorrow and good luck!

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Perhaps, to help with the stress, here are some Lemon Crumb Muffins.

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P.S.

If you didn't get a chance to see my last painting, here it is: (I created it from a combination of two pictures, so it's not entirely original, but it is... kind of....)

Week 4 - Individual

It has finally come to my last painting!! And as some of you may have heard from my vlog in last week's post, I explained that I had changed my mind about what I would be doing for my last painting, that I was going to paint an image that already exists (and not make one up because I have no experience).  On his website, Simon Brushfield has listed six suggestions for creating original art.  

In short, Brushfield essentially says:

1. Be passionate and work to refine your creative skill.
2. Understand that you need to be patient, determined, and persistent to finish difficult creative projects.
3. Develop an ability to express compassion in your art.
4. Use contrasts for a dramatic and visual effect. 
5. Be able to express atmosphere, whether it's romance or a "unique untouchable mystery."
6. Express human emotion and imagination, but not so wildly that your art becomes irrational.

And just as a final suggestion, Brushfield writes that artists must live a life full of different experiences and interesting projects, which will contribute to an original painting's richness and character. 

Even if any of you do not know me personally, do you really think that I, a high school girl, has experienced anything worth painting about so far in my life? Well, I haven't, and I do not have enough experience with painting either, Say for example, I want to paint an apple and make it up in my mind.  I would have to look off of either a real apple sitting in front of me or an image of an apple, in order to paint the apple, because I wouldn't know how to make the apple look naturally realistic, which is why I changed my mind about creating my own painting from my own mind. 

However, I was dabbling in doodling one day (and having oodles of fun not worrying about my TED talk) and I changed my mind again, kind of… 

Instead of painting a scene from a single image, Stephanie suggested that I create an image by splicing together several pictures.  This way, I would not have to worry about my lack of experience with painting, and I could still reach my original goal of creating my own art (sort of). 

So I doodled some more and brainstormed to sketch out what I wanted to paint:

Many of you are probably scrolling down my blog, expecting an image of my last oil painting to show up, well it's not going to pop up any time soon (sorry!).  I have finished the painting, but I'm going to wait until my TED talk to reveal it.  For now, I need to finish memorizing my TED Talk script… while I'm happy with the way my paintings have turned out, I am not having any positive thoughts about my TED Talk.  To be honest, I think I'm screwed... Wish me luck.

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For my friend, who I call: 

I hope you'll enjoy these really yummy (and cute) mini Monkey Muffins!

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Week 3 - Texture and Vlog

This week's lesson was on applying texture in oil painting and I decided to paint an ewok... because it's so fluffy! I kept looking at this picture and I just couldn't stop smiling, which was basically my motivation for painting this, so that I will forever have an ewok's fluffy-ness to look at!

Although, I have to admit, I was also inspired by someone's little Yoda ;) and my childhood memories of watching Star Wars over and over and over and over with my brother.

Please excuse my camera for recording fuzzy videos, and my blabbering (that's not actually a word, is it...) and my horrendous grammar, as well as all the and's, because's, and so's... 

Here is my final painting if you missed it in the video (which was literally around 10 hours, so I had to sit there and sift through TEN HOURS of me painting and cut it down to five minutes.  I think my eyes died a little that day):

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Try these delectable Cappuccino Muffins! I think I might make them for my brother this week, he's a bit of a coffee addict.. :) Hope you have a great day!

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Week 2 - Shadows

The second lesson I'm focusing on is shadowing.  I have always had trouble with shadows because I just don't have that ability to see tints of color in dark areas.  For example: that little shadow behind the door.  All I see is "dark", whereas an artist might describe it as "some white, some orange-ish yellow (from the light), a tiny smidge of pink (from the wall-- yes my room is pink, don't judge), and maybe throw in a little blue as well."  As you can see, "dark" won't help me paint. 

Since it was just after Valentine's Day, I stuck a flower in a vase, threw a red table cloth (in the spirit of Chinese New Year) behind the flower, and decided to paint it.  I took a picture of the still life thinking: "I'll need to show my readers what I'm painting, so I should probably take a picture of it." 

Good thing I did because my mind wasn't really working when I chose to paint a flower as a "still life" because you know, cut flowers wilt quickly since air bubbles block water molecules from going up their xylems (learning biology! Yay…) 

Monet once said: 

"I'm chasing the merest sliver of color. It's my own fault, I want to grasp the intangible. It's terrible how the light runs out, taking color with it."

While the light stole Monet's color, nature stole my flower… so yea… this happened:

Anyway, I had already painted these so far:

Since my flower had died, I had to paint the rest of the still life based on the first picture I took, and since my camera's perspective didn't match my sitting-down-on-a-stool-and-looking-down-at-the-flower perspective, I had to change the shape and colors of what I had already painted….

Also, Stephanie accused me of hoarding paint.. because I wasn't sharing with the canvas??… whut?

(This week was obviously not a great week of painting for me.)

Anyway, I used more paint, as Stephanie instructed, and the painting looked rougher, but the flower itself turned out a little brighter, and I finished the rest of the painting in less time, so I guess now I understand what you were trying to say, Stephanie, thank you for all your help. 

From this lesson, I learned four things:

Lektion 1:

Obviously, I learned about shadowing.  First of all, shadows are not black.  Instead, shadows are all about that light! Because light can bounce off all different surfaces, light can diffuse throughout the room, tinting shadows with a little blue, maybe some green, maybe some brown, but regardless of what color, shadows are definitely not black! Many artists suggest using dark complementary colors to paint more realistic shadows, instead of painting shadows that literally suck the life out of the painting like giant black holes..

There are three types of shadows: cast, form, and proximity shadows. 

1. Cast shadows are formed from an object blocking a light source, so they are typically sharper, darker, and more defined. 
• Ex: your shadow when you walk, the shadow on the grass from a tree
2. Form shadows are a part of the object that is not directly under a light source, so they are typically softer and lighter to help give the object texture and shape.
• Ex: side of a cup, side of an orange
3. Proximity shadows are where two objects meet and are usually not affected by light, so they are typically the darkest areas of the painting.
• Ex: the dark lines around a closed door, between your fisted fingers, between two books

Today, many artists use a technique known as "broken color," which was developed by the impressionists.  Broken color is literally broken up color on the canvas, so artists use short brush strokes to make a sort of "patchwork" of colors.  A lot of Monet's paintings utilized this technique, which looks interesting and a little exciting to try out.  The end results are definitely intriguing because you can see the broken up colors, but somehow they fit together like a oddly shaped puzzle pieces. 

Lektion 2:

I told you above that I've always had trouble observing color, so I did some research and found this really awesome quote by Monet:

"When you go out to paint, try to forget what objects you have before you, a tree, a house, a field or whatever. Merely think here is a little square of blue, here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow, and paint it just as it looks to you, the exact color and shape, until it gives your own naïve impression of the scene before you."

If you don't already know, Claude Monet was a famous painter who lived during the Impressionist movement.  He loved to paint outside, where he could observe the scenery for himself, and with his canvas, he could convey what he was thinking and how he felt at that time.  Usually, Monet would paint many paintings of the same scene at different times of the day to explore the effects of light on shadows and color.  As Monet would paint, he would basically look at the scene before him in splotches of color.  Then he would mix those colors, add them to the canvas, and voila! Look at the painting and instead of seeing random shapes of color, you see a picture of a moment in time, and you might even feel whatever Monet wants you to feel. 

Sounds so easy right?

Well I'm not Monet, and I can't simplify what I see to that extent.  I always see an object for what it is.  For example: Monet looking at a tree might see dots of green for leaves; dark blue, purple, and brown sharp lines for the trunk; and maybe a few smoother brown lines here and there for branches.  I would just see the individual green leaves, a brown trunk and branches. 

However, I think that with time and more practice, I can become more comfortable with seeing colors instead of objects.  I've noticed that when I look at apples now, I don't just see shades of red, I can also see tiny lines of purple on top of the red, and yellow dots and greens and browns as well.  Oil painting has really opened my eyes to how complex and beautiful some of the most simple objects in life are. 

Lektion 3:

With this lesson, I got more practice with painting on wet paint, and I understand now why so many people love oil painting because painting on wet paint is literally amazing! I can "erase" what I've painted because it hasn't dried, and I can also mix new colors directly on the canvas!

Lektion 4:

I thought about why I don’t like to use a lot of paint (as Stephanie pointed out), and I realize that I am the type of person who wants to make her painting perfect and does not want to make a mistake because she feels that it is too much work to fix that mistake (which to be honest, really is a lot of work, at least for me because even though I like working with wet paint, it can still be frustrating).  So basically, I am a lazy perfectionist.  I'm not proud of being lazy, but it's true and I just have to accept that.  I am certainly hardworking in many cases (because I want something to be perfect), but I am also lazy.  Guess I gotta work on that.

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My friend really likes nutella, so I was thinking about trying to make these Banana Nutella Swirl Muffins.  Enjoy!

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Resources: 

- http://guidetooilpainting.com/shadows.html

- http://www.oil-painting-techniques.com/traditional-oil-painting-techniques.html

- https://impressioniststech.wordpress.com/the-technique/

Week 1 - Color Matching

First week is all about color mixing! To improve my color-mixing skills, I chose to paint this picture.  Why? ... it has lots of colors.

I had originally planned for this first "week", or I should actually call it "lesson", on color mixing to be about four days… but after the first day, I realized that I would have to wait until the painting had dried until I could add more layers on top.  So I waited…
And waited…
And waited…

For two whole days straight… and I didn't touch it (my mom actually suggested I put it next to the heater to help it dry faster... I think parts of my painting started melting from the heat because it started dripping.... or maybe I just used too much oil... probably the latter)

Finally, I just accepted that this painting was not going to dry, so I asked Stephanie about how I could finish this painting, and she looked at me like I was an idiot.  Her advice to me was: "Use more paint and less oil."  Alright, I guess I'll try it. 

So I did.  And it was, ehhh, it was ok.  It did take me an hour longer to paint, and I didn't even get as much done as I did on day 1, and some of my colors (especially for the smoky areas) were completely inaccurate, but there was some progress. 

Until I finally finished! :D

Not the most accurate shapes... but I didn't really care as much since this lesson was on color-mixing... and I think I did pretty well with getting the hues, intensities, and values correct.  I definitely got a lot of practice for color-mixing with this painting, which was what I was going for.

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Before I started any painting, I did some research on color theory and found a video (shown below if you want to watch it) on color theory.  The most important piece of information I got from the video was that adding white is not how you brighten up colors.  Typically, you'd think, "Hmm, gotta make this brighter. Oh! Guess I just need some white," but no, there's actually this whole "add white AND the colors going up the color wheel," as well as the fact that yellow is the only color that brightens up by itself when you add white. 

I already knew about primary, secondary, tertiary, and complementary colors, but color theory has so much more than these basic definitions.  (Well, actually, my research is still just a very basic level of knowledge on the color wheel, but my previous knowledge on color theory was minuscule; it was practically nonexistent.)

So anyway, on several of the websites I visited, they all classified colors using three categories: hue, purity/intensity, and value.  I will briefly define them for you below:

1. Hue: the basic color of your color
2. Purity (or some artists like Bill Martin call this Intensity): the saturation of your color
3. Value: the brightness of your color

This website (Oil Painting Techniques: Color Theory- Harmony in Paintings) also suggested five color schemes to follow that have been used by famous painters. 

1. Monochrome: using one hue
• Although Titian did not use just one hue for the entire Diane and Callisto, Titian did paint with just orange hues for one of the boys in his painting.
2. Complementary: using one hue and its complementary
• Monet used orange and blue to paint a woman on the beach in his Beach at Trouville.
3. Analogous: using three hues next to each other on the color wheel
• Eugene Delacroix's Death of Sardanapolis uses red, red-orange, and orange.
4. Split Complementary: using two colors adjacent to complementary color
• In Mary Cassatt's painting, The Bath, she creates a feeling of warmth and coolness using red, green, and blue.
5. Triadic: using colors evenly spaced on the color wheel
• Vermeer painted The Music Lesson using green, blue, and yellow. 

With this knowledge, I have a much better understanding of how to accurately (and efficiently, meaning I won't have to waste as much paint anymore) mix colors.  I realize now that colors really are so much more complex than just "green is yellow and blue" because you also have to factor in "do I have to add brown? what kind of blue? what kind of yellow?" etc.  

When I eventually started painting myself, I found how difficult and tedious it can be trying to get exactly the color you want.  To me, color mixing was like an annoying child who doesn't want to listen to what you're telling them to do, but I still enjoy the entire process of color mixing because it's like trying to solve a puzzle, and once you get the perfect intensity and value, it's like your own little "HOLY BAGELS! You got it!"

However, the satisfaction I got from painting was diminished by my soap debacle.  I admit, I am a stickler for keeping things neat, organized, and returning things to how I had found them.  It gets to be annoying for the people around me (so, sorry about that) because, well at least from what people have told me, I become unreasonable and I "insult people in the most rudimentary and straightforward way so it feels even more insulting." Well, I like simple.  Simple works the best, in every aspect of life. 

Anyway, cleaning up after I had finished painting each day was not simple, in any way at all.  Now since I haven't painted in like, four or five years, my memories about how to clean my palette were a little fuzzy.  I definitely recall that I used some sort of green soap from my sink (either hand soap or dishwasher soap), but since both my hand soap and dishwasher soap are green, I didn't remember which one I was supposed to use, so I just decided to use my hand soap…. Yea after washing my paint brushes for over an hour (did I mention that I only used four? So that's like fifteen minutes of scrubbing each paint brush on my hands, which used up pretty much half the bottle of soap, and it really hurt my hands!) on the first day, I tried using the dishwasher soap on the second day and it was SO much more efficient.  

Moving on to washing my palette: none of the soaps worked well... both times took about an hour of scrubbing until my board looked slightly closer to how it was before I used it to paint (but now it's forever stained with faint splotches of color), so yup, when I paint, I use one hour to paint, and two hours to clean.  I think I need to do some research on how to correctly/efficiently clean my supplies. 

Although this post is titled "Week 1", it really shouldn't be because my original plan was to focus on color mixing for four days.  Well, it took longer.  So I have revised my schedule: 

Week 1: color mixing - red

Week 2: shadowing - green

Week 3: texture - blue

Week 4: individual - purple

Now, onto shadowing…

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Hope you're staying warm in this weather! I love drinking hot chocolate in the winter, and I tried to drink and paint at the same time (notice the "tried") Alas it was not meant to be... I accidentally dipped my paint brush into my hot chocolate cup.  I don't even know why, honestly, oil painting does not require a cup of water for dipping your paintbrushes in, and since Stephanie suggested less oil, I decided to leave my crummy (yes the linseed oil I have is like 12 years old) oil in the bottle.  I think it was just a habit like "ooh paintbrush... cup... must dip paintbrush in cup!" 

Anyway, try these Swirly Hot Cocoa Muffins.  I suggest adding marshmallows and/or chocolate chips as well! 

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Week 0 - The Plan

There is a difference between painting something, and painting a picture of something. Painting something means that you are standing right in front of it; you are experiencing it for yourself and you can interpret it however you see it. A picture tends to limit you to paint what the camera sees and the quality of ink your printer uses. What I want is to really make art that comes from me. I want to experience the autonomy of art and the pride you get from knowing that this was all you. 

Of course, painting a picture of something is a necessary step towards achieving art that is entirely your own. I'll start with painting other artists' work (whether they're painters or photographers), see all the oil painting techniques that are out there, and practice developing my own style.

Through this genius hour project, I hope to improve my abilities in painting shadows (which are pretty much nonexistant right now) and textures, as well as practice my color mixing. I will paint at least one painting for each of these skills. Bill Martin's Guide to Oil Painting has great exercises that will help me master each of these skills. In addition to Bill's awesome blog, I have a friend who has been oil painting since they were 8-years-old, so I can also turn to them for help (for the sake of anonymity, I will be referring to this friend as Stephanie).

Each painting I successfully complete is how I will be measuring my progress.  For the first and second weeks, I will focus on accurately mixing colors and painting shadows.  I have always struggled with translating colors that I see into colors from my palette, so these two weeks will take longer than my last week of learning to incorporate texture into my art. 

Once I have successfully refined the basic skills of oil painting, my ultimate goal is to paint a scene that is directly in front of me so that I get to be the interpreter for my audience. Only then will I consider that to be "creating my own art", which may or may not appeal to the rest of the world, but I will take pride in what me, myself, and I are able to accomplish.

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Check out these heavenly Apple Crunch Muffins from Taste of Home.  

I hope you are not having as terrible of a day as I am.

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Genius Hour

A friend (for the sake of anonymity, I will be referring to this friend on my blog as Stephanie) once told me,

"If someone looks at your art and they get what you are trying to say or wanted to show, that's nice work. If they look at your art and go 'HOLY BAGELS!'...

well, that's just brilliant."

Although I'd really love for someone to look at my art and say "Holy Bagels!", the purpose of this genius hour is not to try and create art that is meaningful to others.  Honestly, I would much rather make art that is meaningless, because for me, art is freeing. I don't have to worry about how others feel about my art because this art is for me; it is how I express myself, and I want to keep it that way. 

Over the course of these next few weeks, I will be attempting (yes, I may yet just fail at oil painting, but with Stephanie's help, I might be able to create at least one decent painting) to improve and develop my own style of art in the way that I want it to be. The rest of the world may or may not "Holy Bagels!" my art, but I will take pride in what me, myself, and I (along with a couple muffins) are able to accomplish.

NOTE: if you don't understand why I'm talking about muffins... visit my old, but so much better, (as you can sorta maybe tell, I really don't like blogger...) blog.  

Have a wonderful day.