Visual Space

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Friday, January 26, 2007

No nudity on the front page! Ok, I think it's totally ridiculous to worry about some sketches of some nudes on websites, but I have had a couple of comments from people that they became embarrassed while looking
at my blog at work etc.. Then my teacher sister & bro-in-law both said they would get fired if they looked at any nude art online while at work. My other sister and I grilled them on this... even the Statue of David??? Yeppers! Ridiculous I say! (And it makes me wonder about visual depictions of genitalia in Bio class, are drawings allowed there? I remember there being at least cross sections done, but why would that be ok and David not? Where is the line here??)

Still, as ridiculous as it might be, I don't want people to get into trouble for looking at my blog, so.... for anything that has any nudity here (and there is only one post so far) I will not put the picture on the main page, you will have to go to the actual page for that post to view the artwork. So if you notice any postings that don't have previews on the main page, that's why. But that is as far as I will take that kind of censorship. I am not going to have any warnings in the titles, or anything like that, you go to the rest of the pages on my blog at your own risk. But the main page is safe! (Haha! The post in question was actually a piece called "Safe!" Oh the irony!

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The Fine Art of Freezer Paper Stenciling

So I came across this artform online somewhere and immediately I was filled with the urge to immediately try it out. And I did, a few months later. Basically you create a stencil out of freezer paper (like wax paper, but it only has wax/plastic coating on one side), iron it onto a piece of fabric, and paint over the stencil. This is like poor man's silk-screening, only cooler because it takes less of an investment of time, money, equipment, and even chemicals.

So here was my first effort:

I made these as Xmas prezzies for my bros-in-law and
my hubby. This is hubby sportin his. I quickly learned (after three botched shirts) that some important things to think about are how thick/runny your ink/paint is (and therefore how much bleedage), and how you can't have any floating areas of white within the black because that piece of the stencil will just fall right out. Also, one major difference between freezer paper stenciling and silk-screening (aside from the evenness of the ink) is the ability to redo an image over and over. Freezer paper is pretty much a one-shot deal. So if you want to make multiple shirts, you have to re-cut the design every time.

My next project was a tote bag for my niece. It's super-freakin sweet, it's this colorful, stylized, butterfly-covered tote that I put a huge image of her face/name on to personalize. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera handy to get a shot of the bag, but for now, here is the design I placed on top of the tote's existing pattern:

Again, there were little bits of floating white everywhere, so I ended up changing some elements quite a bit when I actually cut the stencil.

Then came this little project:

A baby-shower gift for some friends. I wanted to personalize it further with the baby's name or something but, even though they've already picked out the name, the baby still hasn't been born yet, and you never know, so I kept it generic. Still having trouble with those round edges, and getting clean lines with my xacto.

Now my pride and joy:

A friend of mine just gave birth to this cutie pie and I wanted to send them something special to celebrate. This is from a photo of the little munchkin when he was still at the hospital. As you can see, I am really starting to figure stuff out. My biggest revelation: freezer paper (with enough coaxing) can go through my printer, so I can print my design and cut through only the freezer paper. I had previously been doing freezer paper plus design sheet laid on top. This makes cutting that much easier and therefore more accurate. I am sooooooo proud of this one, I can't wait to think up another design to try out. Hubby thinks I should offer custom designs for people if they send me their photos. Maybe I will!

Let me know what you think!

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Friday, October 27, 2006

A Little Sunshine Must Fall...

Sun Rays -- Pen -- 2006

Just a little experiment with a different style.

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Friday, September 01, 2006

Our Little Bean

Yep, that's right! I'm pregnant! And here is the first picture of our little bean...

"Hurley-David Jr. -- 32 weeks before birth." -- GIMP, Sept 1st, 2006.

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Illo Friday - Safe

Self Portrait, 8 weeks pregnant -- Pencil, Sept 1st, 2006.

Baby. Safe in Mamma's tummy. I suppose this is as good a time/place as any to let the world know. I'm pregnant!!! Hubby & I are terribly excited.

I wasn't sure if I was going to post this drawing. One of the dangers of using yourself as a model is that your drawing may end up looking even more like you than you thought it might. Of course, I intended it to be a drawing of me, pregnant at 8 weeks. But I guess I thought my rough sketch lines would stylize it a bit. My husband chuckled when he saw the drawing, he said it definitely looked like me, but said it seemed tasteful enough to post. My mom said it would have been fine if not for the fact that it has my face. I started getting nervous posting it myself. My friends, relatives, art customers/clients, and salsa students all come here from time to time, and now they get to see me naked. Well, it's not really me naked. I mean I did take some artistic licenses of course. I came up with several censored versions of the drawing, but found myself getting a terrible taste in my mouth and wanting to rebel against my own censorship. So here it is. Unaltered. Raw. This is me (sort of). With Baby safe in Mamma's tummy, but with Mamma feeling vulnerable and exposed.

How sad that we can't just appreciate the naked form. As soon as it has a face/identity, especially if it is recognizable, it almost becomes lewd at the moment of recognition. But I started thinking about it. This is the way this drawing had to be. It had to be recognizable as me. It's me pregnant. Baby is safe in my belly. Maybe I could have drawn it with clothes on, but I think that would have taken away from the purity of the connection between me and my unborn. Then you would have identified me by my clothes and categorized me as a certain type. But, here, I am me, just me. No cover, no guise, nothing but me and Baby.

This reminds me of an article I read yesterday. Totally different situation. But we Americans definitely have a problem with nudity, especially motherly nudity. Why? Who knows. But apparently there is a big uproar about the scandelous photo of a nursing baby on the cover of "Baby Talk" magazine. Ridiculous! It couldn't be less sexual or lewd, or more beautiful.

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Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Illo Friday - Skyline

GIMP

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Friday, June 23, 2006

Illo Friday - Rain

Faroe Rain, 1997

Storm
by Elisabeth Hurley

Tinkling at the window
Tapping at the wall
The rhythm starts out slowly
As rain begins to fall

The sky begins to darken
The ground begins to spot
The leaves give way softly
As drips turn into drop

Now people look for shelter
To shield them from the sky
Pulling up their pants and skirts
They scurry right inside

Then puddles start to gather
And rivers begin to muster
The breezes start to blather
As winds turn into bluster

A heavy wall of water
Gushes down the street
The rain is crashing, thrashing down
And splashing up on beat

The thunder picks up tempo
from drumroll to drumbreak
And with a flash of lightning
Trees shiver, shimmy, and shake

And now with cymbols smashing
Storm gives her ending call
And with a great crescendo
Thus ends this mighty squall

The rain slows to a trickle
The river is just a sputter
The leaves are barely whistling now
in a wind that's just a mutter

And as the sun begins to peak
And drips begin to dry
People run outside to see
A rainbow in the sky

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Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Illo Friday -- Dance

After so long away from the blog, how could I resist this topic on Illo Friday?

When we salsa, it's like magic...

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Thursday, May 11, 2006

Boise - Best photos of trip

I have been neglecting my blogs a lot lately. But it can be difficult to keep up with them when you have life going on. I recently took a trip to Boise to visit my sister, I have gotten myself a graphic design contract with a big company, and I got myself a pet baby corn snake all in the last two weeks. It's been very busy! I really haven't had any time to draw. But since I have a couple nice shots from my recent trip, I thought I'd include those here. (Click on any image to enlarge)

Some portraits first...

My Sister

My Niece -- gorgeous, even with bed head.

My Nephew

Then some landscape...

They took us on a drive up into the nearby mountains to do some hot spring-ing.

It was gorgeous.

This little nook was a mini hike down from the highway. The water was warm enough that it was difficult to put more than your feet in for any real length of time.

Then we drove some more for some pools that required a hike through a forest to get to.

Look at the steam rising off the rocks! This site only offered us mini pools, so we didn't soak here like we did at the previous spot.

My hubby soaks in some rays at the first hot spring spot.

The drive home to Denver...

...offered us some surprising sights. First off we saw a small planted forest right by the side of the road.

The trees were planted in very precise rows.

This is probably my favorite shot of the whole trip. I love the soft oranges and the graphic lines of the trees. I also love that you can see through to a similar planted forest in the distance.

Then we spotted some cows feeding.

This is probably my second favorite shot.

Just to give you context, this is looking to the right of where I stood, and if I turned and looked to the left, the feeding cows stretched just as far into the distance.

Our dog Bongo watched everything from the back seat of the car. Here he checks out the cows (as you can see in the reflection in the window.)

Well those are the best ones... hope you enjoyed them. I am starting to really wish I had held out for a digital SLR instead of plopping down that money for the next step down (Sony Cybershot DSC-H1). I miss the quality and options that the SLR affords, and using a digital viewfinder just can't compare to seeing the real thing through those lenses. Still, this camera gives me some decent pictures every now and again. Since the user's manual stinks, I am still learning how to use all of the features by trial and error. But one problem that I have found that doesn't seem to go away is that there is often significant chromatic aberration -- particularly in areas of high contrast. Also, there isn't full clarity in these pictures. I wonder if this is because of the lens, which for some reason is the only lens on any Sony camera which doesn't bear the Carl Zeiss name.

Incidentally, I am becoming more adept at digital photo editing. I am learning how to remove unwanted details in digital images. I found I had to remove the food from my nephew's face in many shots (ahhhh boys), and was pretty pleased at my initial efforts in doing so.

Here is one such photo...

Before

After

And here are some close ups of the before & after shots.

They're not perfect. I had to edit this one so much that to me there is something odd about his mouth in the after version. But others came out pretty convincing in my opinion. Like the one of him laughing in the portrait shots at the top. He had food on his face in that shot too! Not too shabby eh? Like my hubby said when I showed him... It's cool, but also really scary.

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