Basically, the contention of today's artist was that 30 days is a long time, and at points along the way we may get discouraged and want to quit, so we should look outside the drawing and perhaps into our own lives to find motivation to continue. One of the ways she does that is to pair a word or words—maybe a caption, but maybe just a feeling or a thought—with her drawing. So with today's model, we were asked to find a word that either expressed something about the drawing, or about where we were personally. I found one that worked for both.
Today's model, Jason, is a cool dude but he also looks like a guy with a lot on his mind. It seems like there must be a lot of worrying going on for a guy his age to develop those creases in that forehead. He's not an unhappy guy, but he's also not so lighthearted. So my word for him was "intense." This also worked for the more dramatic use of color in this piece. I wanted to get splashier and more random than I did, but I have this compulsion to smooth things out, to connect and fill in everything! Maybe by the end of the month I can get past that.
I'm also feeling that word right now, for a lot of reasons. January snuck up on me! On February 3, my very first online course (Young Adult Literature) goes live at Library Juice Academy, and I've just started developing the class. The material is all there—I can create the new class from the UCLA version—but I've never taught online before, and it's a whole different experience. Not only do I have to pare back a 10-week class to give as much content as possible within six weeks, but I also have to rewrite lectures into half-hour segments, redo powerpoints to illustrate those scripts, and then record audio class units.
January is also a big deal because I'm appearing at two Performers' Showcases for five different library systems to promote myself as an arts and crafts teacher for teens for summer reading club.
There are two art shows into which I would like to enter some art for the first time: One is a plein air show that benefits the California Wildlife Foundation, and for that I have to paint at least two paintings. The other is the Valley Watercolor Society annual juried show, into which I can also enter two paintings.
And, of course, there is the daily Sktchy 30 Faces challenge. Not to mention a little social life here and there—a retirement party, an evening at the symphony, a lunch here and a movie there.
Oh, and the IRS may be looking for me....
INTENSE is the word. Thanks, Jason, for modeling.
No comments:
Post a Comment