Runs in the family?!?

  Hey everyone; today's feeling almost too good to stay cooped up inside, so I might go see a buddy of mine and just relax w/ 'em.  However, while sitting around on the computer inbetween looking at various nothings and cooking lunch, my eldest niece bought to me a very cute little drawing she did w/ markers (Crayolas, I'm assuming; hell if I ever could get this level of clarity out of them) on writing paper.  I think it merits some exposure, and so I present The Sunshine's Geisha..

 

  Just goes to show you that a passion for art and creative endeavors can begin at any age; she's just eight years old and already experimenting w/ color in a fashion most of us probably didn't start doing until we were teenagers or later.  It's interesting in seeing how a child interprets color, b/c I think they have a natural affinity and raw eagerness in them that we naturally lose grasp on as we become adults.  Sure, we can learn all we want about color theory, temperature, harmony and concord--and I'm certainly not saying an adult's understanding of advanced color properties is never utilized to stunning effect (or that studying those concepts is hurtful; in the end it's a more beneficial route of knowledge)-but sometimes all the theories and studying, all the formulating,..it can rob us of our ambition to just "let go" and be childish in using color to accidentally stumble on some fantastic mistakes.

   In any case, at least children don't become so pretentious and serious w/ their works as to seem cold, uninviting and overtly analytical of others and grossly overestimating in their own abilities.  As adults we unfortunately take on those qualities (even in miniscule doses) naturally as we understand the concepts behind the talent more concretely.  I think there's a saying in "too much knowledge can be destructive"...I'll just probably leave it there.

   Okay, off for lunch and enjoying the rest of the day.  Hope to post a WIP of a current painting or two over the next several days.  Everyone just enjoy the weekend and kick it mad stylin' like (oh the horror in the infidel's meager attempts for teh "coolnez" x3).  L8r.

She's Almost (Sorta) Ready

  What up peeps?  The days have been good and this is a little two-part bloggity-blog where I'll feature that Mai picture one last time before it's, well, actually done, and gloss over a bit on something I'm apt to wanting to do as soon as tomorrow night, if all things go over well.

   First off, Mai.  The current progress on her is pretty good, and yes I understand there's some anatomy issues.  @ the same time, w/ absolutely no preplanning or prepardness going into this one, I guess it ain't half-bad.  W/ more practice in this technique I'm sure to steadily improve.  Right now I have one final glaze to do on the skin, and from there I need to go back and add some more detail to the red bit of the gown before doing the background and the final glazes to set a mood.  All of that aughta get done tomorrow, as I promised, all things considered, so..yeah...what's next?

  Moving on, last night I kinda had a really rad thought pop up while outside:  why not try doing a painting at midnight?  A lot of artist do what they call "midnight jams", staying up the whole night in their studio working on some piece.  Welp, my studio ain't nothin' special, and the temperatures are very warm outdoors so, barring any wet weather, I don't see why it's a big issue to set stuff up outside some night, maybe get the music going, and paint my ass off (of course, there are those stray animals,...creepy sonsabitches!).  It's not like me going off on some deep tangent of thinking the best art is done in the after-hours, but it'd be interesting to see how the night sky influences my thought process (plus, during the day it's too much a hassle to set things up outside and it truly is HOT around here during that time).

  So, uhm,...tomorrow night I'll be starting on my first midnight painting session, aiming to do a piece that only gets worked on during the afterhours, and maybe incorporate some of the scenery around if possible.  Should be interesting...welp, I'll mention it again tomorrow, in any case.

 
   Ah, before I jet, did u read this news story on Yahoo about a 4-year old Australian art-"prodigy"?  If 'ya didn't I got a link here.  Now, it's stuff like this why I somewhat choose not to associate w/ that particular sector of the art scene; we just don't see eye-to-eye on this stuff (literally, in this girl's case we don't, she's freakin' four years old).  Still, it's always neat to hear about young kids showing any sort of interest in art given that most girls her age are wanting to be the next sleazy pop-star whore, and I must admit, there is some strong talent in this kid, particularly in some of the pieces like The Leopard or The Luck Dragon, Cosmic Leap, Chinese New Year and Sunflares and Pegasus's Flight (very nice colors and composition).  Yeah, I probably don't know two shits about abstract art, and it's not actually something I'm interested in (in a "purists" POV), but I can at least say the kid has a couple of good pieces on her.  Let's hope she's not a fraud.

   That'll do it for tonight; hope this was of anything interesting and maybe even insightful, eh.  Damn, if I wanna stay up all night, I'd have to rework my sleeping schedule.  Awkward...

   Welp,...g'nite...