Forest

Three hours. I opted to enroll in Sean Cheetham's head painting class to try and understand the mud palette he uses in his work. Deep down inside, I have the sinking feeling that this class might be a bit above my current level at the moment, but maybe I can rise up to meet its challenge and improve in the process. I unfortunately didn't get to the lights in this painting because I was too timid to move more quickly; I need to let go of my fears and just paint!

JJ

Two minutes each. JJ struck some badass poses!

Erica

One-and-a-half hours.

Period Architecture Sketches

About fifteen minutes to thirty minutes a piece. Drawn on location in Chinatown (Los Angeles) Olvera Street (Los Angeles), and Forest Lawn (Glendale). Our homework for last week was to sketch buildings which had a period feel to them, and to focus on the aspects of the architecture which gave them that distinctive atmosphere.

Huntington Gardens

One hour each. I'm taking a sketching for environment class this term. Our homework last week was to sketch out architecture that lent itself to the look of a period or a culture. I had so much fun with the assignment that I decided to take a trip down to the Huntington Library this morning to do extra sketches of the Chinese garden they had there. Just experimenting to find an ideal way to paint with a Pentel brush pen.

Noah

Two hours.

Karen

Three to twenty minutes.

Angela

Five minutes.

"If I don't practice for a day, I know it. If I don't practice for two days, my wife knows it. If I don't practice for three days, the world knows it." - Vladimir Horowitz, pianist

I know I've been slacking on my posts, and admittedly, my training as well. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've been very distracted these days. Updating my blog tonight has reminded me though, that I should be working harder and pushing myself even more than I am now to see marked improvement. I've got to keep up the good fight and stay focused.

Eric

Fives and tens.

Jennifer

One-and-a-half hours.

Watercolors

Two hours each. These paintings were done two weeks ago at a watercolor workshop hosted by Bill Perkins. I wasn't particularly used to working in such a loose and transparent fashion. There were many times I felt like I was on the edge of losing control of the piece - having to deal with water retention and the rate of evaporation are challenges I never had to struggle with when I was painting more opaquely. Absorbed an incredible amount of practical information though. Bill is a treasure trove of knowledge.

Doodlin'

One-and-a-half hours. Nothing special, just trying to rack up mileage with the Wacom pen.

Lily

One hour. Not much of a long pose today; I spent most of the time oogling Glen's new artwork and taking photographs of all the drawings on the walls so I could study them later at home.

Malo

Five hours. We finished our second long-pose head drawing tonight as well as the course. Thanks for all the help these past ten weeks, Aaron. Good luck with your show on Saturday.

Cassie, Week 10 (Final)

About thirty hours. That's quite a long time to spend on a single painting, wouldn't you say? In spite of all those hours invested though, what I ended up with is still unfinished. There are a few spots I could touch up or add more color to, but unfortunately, I ran out of time. I'm consoling myself with the adage that paintings are never finished, just abandoned, and with the fact that I tried my hardest, and that it turned out OK.

I learned so much from these last ten weeks, and not just about technicalities like color mixing and proper application of medium. The most important lessons I absorbed were of the character building sort, like understanding the value of patience, humility, and perseverance. There were times when I wanted to give up and drop the class because I felt I might have bitten off more than I could chew, but I was never one to back down from a challenge, so I just hung in there and hoped for the best.

I'm really glad I took the course in the end. It may not show in the painting, but I feel like it's helped me make a significant leap forward in my progress. Hopefully when my instructor Ara comes back next year to teach after he finishes his schooling in Florence, I'll be at a place where I don't feel like I am utterly clueless about what I'm supposed to do next.

Thanks Ara, for all the good advice, and thanks Cassie, for being so patient with our class.

Figure Drawing

Two-minute quick sketches and a one-and-a-half hour long pose. I started two weeks early for the fall quarter at the California Art Institute. It was suggested to me by instructors and friends at Watts that I check out the place sometime since I lived in the area, but I never really got around to doing so until a former student of the school turned teacher started posting her work up on ConceptArt.Org. I loved the way she indicated features simply and effectively, and immediately recognized this as Glen Orbik's influence. I've been trying to whittle down my style to the bare essentials, so I thought this would be an opportune time to learn the fundamentals under the guy who taught Jeff Watts. So far, so good. He's a fount of knowledge. I can see myself picking his brain for a long time.

Malo

Five-minute quick sketches and a two-hour pose. We'll finish up the larger head study next week.