After the urging of two of my teachers and one of my friends I finally made my foray into the world of books on tape. It's meant to be something to do while working on a painting or drawing. I'm usually happy to put on old movies in the background while I work, but I'm getting a little tired of my regulars, and seeing as how there is so much I'd like to read, but never have the time, I decided to try it out.
My first is a fairly obvious choice for me -- a British novel set sometime in the mid-to-late 1800's -- Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte. I must say I'm thoroughly enjoying it, and it aided greatly in my work on Wednesday night as I stayed up the entire night to get a piece finished on time (yep, didn't go to bed Wednesday night, and didn't sleep until 3:00pm Thursday when my teacher graciously sent me home early). After Jane Eyre, I have 5 other books that I've purchased and am anxiously awaiting "reading" - a trilogy by CS Lewis that I have never before heard of (referred to as The Space Trilogy) - can't wait because I love everything I've ever read of his; then I have The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan - sort of a follow up book to The Joy Luck Club, which I really enjoyed; and last, but definitely not least, I downloaded a highly rated, dramatized reading of The Bible - something like 90+ hours of listening. That should last me for quite awhile and I can't wait to hear it... :)
In other highlights I went out to dinner and bowling with friends to celebrate a birthday last week! It was so much fun I almost forgot about school for a few hours. And not that I mean to make it like school is so terrible, but it's utterly consuming and terribly exhausting this term - I would enjoy it a whole lot more if only I could take a real break now and then or get reliable and decent sleep on a regular basis, but it'll be over soon - only 4 more weeks of this term.
But enough talking and on to the good stuff, right? I've got some of my recent work scanned in and ready to share (in order of completion):
Salt Creek Pupfish Cyprinodon salinus, watercolor
So for whatever reason, I've long wanted to paint a fish ID (which is what this is). I chose the pupfish (which is found in shallow, salty pools in Death Valley) because of it's lovely color, and the good reference material I could find of it. It proved difficult for many reasons and effectively dissuaded me from taking on a larger project of an aquatic scene. I don't think fish will ever be my "thing" but I wouldn't mind doing more IDs of this sort - after some time away from it, I'm starting to like it... :)
Bear Grass Xerophyllum tenax, acrylic
This painting was done for an assignment requiring a "full scene" to be rendered in acrylic. The topic could be anything of our choosing and I decided to do this flower, the flower part of which I had never seen before despite being quite familiar with it's leaves from use at the flower shop. It was my intention to push the palette in this paining beyond what was strictly "natural" and though I succeeded at that, I believe the results have forced me to relegate this painting to the "fine art" pile rather than the "scientific illustration" pile. It's still pretty, just not what I had originally in mind and therefore, unfortunately, not terribly successful.
And lastly (and most recently):
"Microhabitat" of allium, colored pencil on ivory paper
This was a somewhat unusual version of our latest assignment. We were asked to create and then render a "micro-habitat," which is really what it sounds like, but as you can see, I've done a collection of garlic, onions, and shallots -- not really a "habitat" per se, but it achieved the other aims of the assignment and therefore satisfied the requirements. I was up all night on Wednesday night finishing this piece, but at least I can say that I'm very happy with it, and I'm finally feeling much more comfortable with colored pencils.
Though it cost me sleep, I'm happy to end the week and this post on that piece... I have one other assignment that I completed early this week that I have yet to share with you, but it needs a few finishing touches before I can post it. I'll try to get to those this weekend, but might not as I have another assignment to work on that's due next week.
I hope to make at least one more post before the end of the term, so be on the look-out. :)
