ALWAYS GRAY!

so the whole self-portrait thing has picked up a lot since i last wrote. over the weekend, i visited risd and absolutely loooooved it. i also got my acceptance letter to the risd pre-college program, which i will not be attending (it's pretty expensive and my parents can't afford to send me there the year before college). kind of upsetting, but i didn't get my first-choice major anyway. i've been working a lot from photographs or the live mirror on photo booth, making tons of small self-portraits. none of them are spectacular, but i realllllly enjoy doing something that i call "playing" which is not having any real aim when drawing, just letting things go. in this drawing i started using pencil and then added ink and paint and went back in with the graphite to add value. even though it's simple, and short of stellar, i still really like it. i've also been working on my sculpture but i've got a physics test tomorrow that i need to study for! ahh! school is kind of terrible...especially electric currents...

nothing, really.

first of all, i did another design-y thing...i'm not sure how i feel about it. i am terrible at using my scanner and i don't think it did the picture much justice. i am really getting into the whole idea of craft arts, and i think this pattern sums up that influence. just dabbling in some folk art motifs...will explore more later. it took me about an hour and my hand aches so much from pressing so hard with the colored pencils!

ALSO: this self-portrait is pretty much torturing me. i don't know what to do, but my teacher has advised that i put it aside for the time being and work on my new self-portrait. but that's also a problem. i have been practicing by drawing a bunch of quick-sketches, more developed color drawings of myself. it's hard though i want to do so many things and there is so little time before the art show. inspirations for portrait:

comparison using tiger lilies, watercolor and prisma (j. david mckenney style?
some type of book or something like that...possibly an illustrated story
something with fibers? could use crocheting and embroidery skills
inspiration: red foxes. and cardinals. maybe an illustration? that might not be enough though
something having to do with colonial life. incorporate some recently discovered motifs?

--edit--

ok i finally came up with an idea for my self-portrait. it's exactly what i want--something familiar, yet something new. the new part is that the portrait is not a painting or a drawing...i don't even really know what i would call it. it's basically a scene constructed with clay figures. i am wearing my usual yellow coat, seated on a park bench in a snowy scape. this is just my first idea, though. it's only in its beginning stages. hopefully i can get some advice about clay/paint etc. to use...let's pray that there are pictures to show!

Stanislawa

this isn't really what i was hoping on getting out of today, but not bad i guess. a simple fashion-y illustration. reminds me of my older stuff--i hope it shows improvement. i've been checking out a lot of folk art stuff, and this polish doll of mine provided the inspiration.

aside from the color illustration, i need to vent about a self-portrait that i had started in late september, and have yet to finish. it's my own fault, but i just can't manage to salvage it. my teacher has some ideas for a fix. hopefully it will be finished for may 5th, the LM art show. along with my new self-portrait.

i've been revisiting a lot of mckenney stuff and i absolutely love it. it's great, and i've discovered that not too many people leave feedback on his blog. perhaps i can contact him somehow?