Hors D'oeuvres and More Costumes

Where to begin!?  So many art related things have been happening recently!

Well, before I get to the art, I'd like to take some time and talk about Thanksgiving.  Yes, Thanksgiving.  I love this time of year - people are happier with each other, sometimes there's snow, I get to eat a lot of good food, and things are just great.  I wish we could feel like this all year.  My favorite scripture right now is 2 Nephi 2:25 "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy."  I wish I could make everyone in the world really believe in this.  People are supposed to be happy.  Sometime I feel like other people (and even myself sometimes) believe that you can't truly be living unless you're stressed or worried or unhappy about something.  Being happy isn't going to make it so bad or stressful things don't happen in your life, but it'll sure make it easier to get through those things.  For example, take the Sterling Scholar process I just went through.  At first I was incredibly stressed about the whole thing; I'd been dreaming about this since I was in 6th grade.  I knew I really didn't have a chance and I really started to beat myself up over it.  But when they made the announcement of who won, I was standing in the hall outside the faculty room with my friends.  It no longer mattered to me whether any of us won.  I was with the three nicest, smartest, awesomest people I've ever met, so I was happy.  What else could possibly matter?  I guess what I'm saying is that I'm thankful for this season of Thanksgiving and for all the things that make me happy - friends, family, skinned knees, space.  Good stuff like that.

Speaking of Thanksgiving . . .
Hors D'oeuvres Contest!  It used to be a tradition in my family that every Thanksgiving we would have a contest to see who could make the best appetizer.  We haven't done it for a long time, but my sister decided we should reinstate it this year.  So we did.  And this is what I entered.

Long gone are the days of plates covered in frosting and Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes.  No longer is my definition of Hors D'oeuvre 'something weird I can do with stuff in our pantry'.  I now give you: Cheese Crackers and Tomato Basil Soup!  Actually, this wasn't even my idea.  A week or so ago I was at my best friend's house for lunch and he didn't have any bread so we made ourselves grilled cheese sandwiches on saltines and dipped them in tomato soup.  It was amazingly delicious.  Anyway, I had forgotten about our contest until the day before when I was at the same friend's house and his mom asked if I had any assignments for Thanksgiving.  That's when I remembered that I still hadn't come up with anything, so I decided to make this.  It's really simple.  For the crackers I had three different kinds - one with Gouda melted on top, one with Provolone, and one with a Cheddar and Monterey Jack blend.  Then I sprinkled Marjoram leaves over all of them.  For the soup I made a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup and poured a bunch of Basil in it.  Overall, it was pretty well-liked (even if the soup got kind of cold).

And here are (some of) the other Hors D'oeuvres.  My dad had sliced peppers in ranch, my oldest sister made Biscotti, and then there's a random pot of Wassail that isn't actually an entry in the contest, behind that are cupcakes that my brother's girlfriend brought over (she just happened to show up with some right in the middle of our contest - it was perfect), and my brother-in-law made a Sweet Potato and Pomegranate casserole.  Not pictured is a vegetable tray my mom put together and pretzels that my other sister made.  We never actually chose a winner, but my choice would be the casserole.  It was really sweet and tasted nothing like a sweet potato.  It was delicious.

Also on Thanksgiving I started a new sewing project.  Although I couldn't get very far on it because my sewing machine was broken at the time.  (Yes, my brand new sewing machine that I just got two months ago.)

My friends and I are going to the midnight premier of The Hobbit.  Being the die-hard Tolkien fans that we are, of course we have to dress up, so I'm turning this old plaid shirt I have into a hobbit vest.  I used a seam-ripper and took the sleeves off the shirt.  Eventually I'm hoping it will look somewhat like the picture on the left, except with three rows of buttons instead of four.  Unfortunately it will still button the way a girl's shirt does because I'm too stingy to redo every single button and buttonhole.  Also I'm not sure about leaving the collar on.  I like the look of it in my picture, but vests don't normally have collars, and I really don't have an eye for 'fashion' so if anyone would like to make some suggestions, I'm open.

Since we're on the subject of costumes - I finally got some 'action' shots of my Hallowe'en costume.  My sister and I took my niece out for what we call an "Aunt Day" and since we (and by we I mean I) didn't really have any money to take her anywhere we decided to go to this park and take pictures together.

Little kids do wonders to your inhibitions.  I would've felt so much more awkward had I not been running around with a four year old all day.  While we were driving I said that I felt ridiculous and my niece said: "You're not ridikulus, Aunt Amanda.  You're beautiful!"  It was just out of nowhere and the most adorable thing I'd heard all day.  So if you ever need to do something you're not totally comfortable doing, take a little kid with you.  They make everything better.  We ended up running around playing all sorts of make believe games - my niece was the princess, my sister the queen, and I got to be the king (although at the start of the day I was told I was dressed up as Snow White).  We probably annoyed several other people who were there taking pictures, but we were having fun and it's not like we ever got in anyone's way.

 Ummm, I'm in a bush . . . yeah.  And, as you can see, I never ended up making boots for my costume, so I just used a pair I found in our closet.  I know, it kind of ruins the effect.

This is absolute favorite picture we got.  I love the pose and the lighting.  Just ignore the picnic tables in the background.

I'm not entirely sure where the liripipe part of my hood is, but I like this picture all the same.

This and the rest of the pictures were taken back at our house and as you'll notice, I stopped caring about backgrounds and such.  These are mainly for showing certain details on my costume.  Like this one just shows the bottom part of my puffy sleeves.  I like the point that I made on them . . . when they're in the right place that is.  The sleeves like to slide and I end up with the point sticking off the side.

I wanted a picture to show the liripipe in the back.  I think it looks cool, but unfortunately it's not really functional.  Liripipes were supposed to be used as scarves when it was cold.  Mine isn't nearly long enough to be able to wrap around my neck.  But it also happens to be my favorite part of the costume, and surprisingly, it was the easiest to make.  So we'll just look past its disfunctionalness.

 And then there's the front of the hood.

 Detail of the detachable sleeves and the neckline without the hood.

I'm not really sure what it is about this picture, but I love it.  I think it's my odd expression.

And here's the costume without the massive sleeves.  Detachable sleeves sure seemed like a genius idea at first, but they're an absolute pain to lace on and off again.

 This picture ended up being my cliche cosplay pose.  Although for it to truly be a cosplay pose (minus the cosplay costume) I'd probably have to have some fiercely intense expression and be holding some massive weapon in one hand.  Overall, this picture is just odd.

Pants!  These probably took me the longest and caused me the most grief.  I ended up using my concert pants to create a pattern for the pant legs.  Unfortunately my concert pants are stretchy, while this material is not.  Everything was fine until I got to my waist.  Originally I had wanted to make a flap for the front (after visiting Williamsburg, Virginia and learning a bit about colonial fashion) but I didn't think I could work out the pattern.  But because of the goof in our pattern, the flap became essential.  And then when I was sewing the cuffs on the bottom of the pants, I accidentally made one too small and I couldn't bend my leg.  So, being lazy, I just cut a slit on the inside and sewed in a triangle of fabric to let it out a bit.  For my first attempt at pants, though, I'm amazed they turned out this good.

And yet another picture of my costume.  But in a slightly different format.  A few weeks ago I decided to rewatch the old animated Redwall series.  The Redwall books are amazing and I think the tv show wasn't half bad.  Anyways, while I was watching I decided that animation sure was an interesting thing.  And it's amazing how people can come up with such fluid styles.  Rather than trying to come up with my own style, though, I just borrowed the one from the show and sketched all sorts of Mossflower-type creatures in my sketchbook.  I really liked the look of this one, so I pulled out my tablet, did a quick inking and then colored it.  It's probably my favorite thing I've ever done with my tablet.  There are some things I missed and I'm certainly not a master with Photoshop, but I think I'm improving.

Alright, I really ought to be signing off now.  Originally there were a million things I wanted to put in this post, but I think it's probably already too long.  Hopefully that means I'll be posting again really soon, though, because there's a lot of ideas I want to share.

Happiness Renewed, Inspiration Found

Sorry for the long hiatus anyone who still remembers my blog.  The past month I sort of went through a phase, I think.  I lost my purpose, my artistic purpose, that is.  I didn't really know why I created things.  Was it for attention, was it for grades, was it for recognition?  I had no idea.  So I just sort of stopped.  As far as I know, I didn't break my challenge during this time period, but I worked on things slowly and half-heartedly.  I suppose it helped that I have art classes on both A and B days and the fact that I needed to finish my Hallowe'en costume, but even then, it was almost painful to pick up a brush or sit down at my sewing machine.  I felt lost.  That is, until I began filling out an application for the Fine Arts Sterling Scholar.  I don't remember the exact question, but I began to talk about how art makes me happy.  A sure fire way to help cheer myself up is work on something fun and whimsical.  I've tried 'expressing' my feelings through art before - y'know, drawing furiously when I'm angry, but that just makes me angrier.  I explained that rather than expressing myself through art, I was really changing myself through it.  I pledged then and there that my art will always be for me.  I don't want to get caught up in what the world thinks I should be doing with my talents.  When I do the things I truly love, then I am happy, and that's when I create my best works, in my opinion at least.  Art is my safe haven, it's something that I can always fall back on in times of need.  If I like what I create, that's all that matters, and if other people like it then it's a huge bonus.  Maybe that's a selfish view of things, but if I can't be happy with my art then what's the point?  This new realization has also led me to want to research the use of art in psychology.  I don't know if there are any studies out there, but I think that there could be.

Anyways,  like I said, I've been working slowly lately so I don't have all that much to show, but at least I do have something.

 Here it is!  My Hallowe'en costume sort of mostly completed.  I'd like to go back and actually make shoes and some other accessories, but I didn't have the time before Hallowe'en.  I'm also planning on taking some more 'action' shots some time and some detail shots.  But that might have to wait until our snow disappears.

This one just shows the liripipe part of my hood a little better.  The hood is probably my favorite part of the whole costume, and, surprisingly, it was probably the easiest.  I might also be using this costume in my AP portfolio.

Also, on All Hallows Eve, I got to go help out my high school do this thing called "Haunted Hallways" where all the clubs put together different rooms for little kids to come trick-or-treating at.  I was with the Art Club (surprise, surprise) and we painted kids' faces.  It was a lot of fun and a real neat experience.

And now, my favorite art doll I have possibly ever done:

 It's a robot!  Whose name is Audubon.

 I recently read about this material called Pearl Ex powder that creates this wonderful metallic look on sculpey.  I bought it thinking that it would probably fail, just like every other 'normal' technique I try, but it didn't.  It worked . . . amazingly well.  Then I thought I was going to ruin it by brushing green paint over everything, but that didn't seem to fail either.  I think it created a rather nice patina effect.   I'm so happy with the texture and colors!

 I also really like the asymmetry of his legs.  And the fact that he can stand by himself.

 Oh look, there's the ever-amazing Pearl-Ex powder hanging around in the background.

 Ta-Dah!  He's got wings now.

 And a hat.

 And also a scarf.

 Here he is with no hat.  I was trying to decide at the time whether to do the hat or not, although I think I'm pretty set on having him wear it.

 Here's just a close-up of the belt thing that holds his wings on.  I really like the uneven stitching on the one side.  It has character.

Just some specs: He's 8 inches tall, has a wingspan of 11 inches, and he took about seven to eight hours of loving labor.  He's made from Original Sculpey, various types of wire, 2 alligator clamps, 2 screws, a nut, a broken endpin of a cello, blue ribbon which came off a pair of pants I wore out, fabric and thread, feathers I've collected while walking, copper Pearl-Ex Powder, green paint, a found object, and a matte finish fixative.  Oh, and love.  A whole lot of love.

Costume Update, Fall Break, and the Second Art Critique

So I'm beginning to think the whole update-every-Monday isn't really working.  So I guess my posts will just be random.  I'd really like to be able to update once a week, but what with school and my ongoing search for a job I think I can only legitimately promise an update once a month.  I'll likely have more than that, but hopefully no less.

Now, on to the art!

Over the weekend I worked a lot on my Hallowe'en costume.  For fun, I drew how I want my costume to turn out in more of an aesthetic design.  It's like I turned my notes into a work of art themselves.  Not that I think they look super professional and amazing or anything, but it's just different than what I normally do.

My costume has three different stages or "options" if you will.  The first option is just the tunic and the blouse, in case it's really hot or something outside.  The second adds a second set of sleeves that can attach to the tunic with leather or some other form of laces.  And the third adds the liripipe (the hood - it's kind of the only technical term I know for any of the parts of my costume, so you'll probably see me dropping it around a lot.  You got to admit, though, it's a cool name for a hat).  At the moment, it's the only thing I'm really worried about making without a pattern.  It's kind of a complex design and because I'll have to buy my own fabric, I really don't want to mess anything up.
Although this picture took a great deal of effort and it's a very good reference for me, it really doesn't serve a purpose unless I actually make my costume.  So, I now present to you my peasant blouse:

Originally the design was based off this tutorial: http://urban-sidhe.deviantart.com/#/d5459gt

But then I had to make a whole ton of modifications because I accidentally made the sleeves too tight.  (I don't really read tutorials, I just glance through them and then pretend I know what I'm doing).  I plan on making my own tutorial about all the adjustments I had to make if anyone is interested.  I'm incredibly pleased with how this turned out.  I've never actually made clothes for an actual human being before without having a tangible pattern.  It was a rather exciting adventure.  The neckline gave me some grief, but I think it turned out alright in the end.  Oh, and sorry about the interesting camera angles, I was taking the pictures myself and I didn't really want it to look like I was awkwardly holding my iPod backwards at arm's length.  I'm not entirely sure I succeeded or not. 

 And my parting gift is my latest AP art project which was technically due today.  I'm not entirely finished with it, yet, so I'll explain some of the finer details later.  All you really need to know is that it's a tree-building-thing.

I'm Not a Procrastinator, I'm Just Slow

This post is only going to be full of pictures and pages of my sketchbook.  I don't know where my camera is and I don't really want to go looking for it, nor would I wish to deal with the poor quality pictures it takes.  So this week is about doodles and sketches.

I did this quick sketch in my AP European History class because I was bored and I wanted to make bread.  It just sounded like a pretty nice option at the time.  So then I went home and actually did make bread.  Italian Herb Bread.  But since it really isn't my recipe, I won't be sharing it.  I'm sure you can look one up online, if you like.  It's really good bread.  I actually made it in honor of . . .

Yep, September 21.  The 75th anniversary of the release of The Hobbit.  Also the day before Frodo's and Bilbo's birthday.  My friends and I all ate bread and then later my sister and I watched the Rankin/Bass animated Hobbit.  I adore that movie.  I really hope the new movie turns out amazing, but I know in my heart it'll never replace the movie I grew up with.  (Although just to be clear, I have, in fact, read the book and I know there is absolutely nothing in the world that could be better than the original).  I also made a goal to have the Silmarillion finished before the Hobbit comes out.  I feel really bad that I haven't read that one, yet.

So there I was, happily minding my own business, standing by my corner after school, waiting to pick up my friend, when this bee starts flying around me. Patiently I wait for it to realize I am not really a flower and, if you'll excuse the pun, buzz off. Well, despite the fact that I began to twist and turn in ways that a flower most certainly can not, the bee still would not leave me alone and promptly insisted on trying to fly up my shirt sleeve, at which point I threw my box of chocolates and Coca-Cola lunchbox across the school lawn and nearly tipped over backwards. Needless to say, the bee at last realized that this was no ordinary hydrangea and left me to the bemused and amused faces of passersby.

And now, the thing I've been most excited about showing, my plans for Hallowe'en.  Oh yeah!  I'm actually dressing up this year.  And as an added bonus, I'm making my own costume, too.  Currently the story is I'm going to be an Apprentice Painter in the Renaissance, though this is liable to change.  The costume most certainly will not be 100% historically acurate, but I hope it'll at least look pretty cool.  My oldest brother initiated a family-wide costume challenge recently, so this is why I've finally buckled down and decided to make a full scale costume and not just ones for dolls.  Wish me luck!

By the way, if you like my drawings, feel free to check out my online gallery at autnott.deviantart.com  

Learning Experiences

First of all, let me apologize for not posting last week.  I was incredibly busy working on finishing my first art project for AP Art.

Ta-Da!

The first 2D assignment was to create a self portrait using contour lines. I thought it would be kind of cool to try and incorporate the 2D design assignments into my own projects. Here is the first result. I decided to come right out and confront my fears of creating large-scale sculpture, and believe me, it was a terrifying process.

The theme of the sculpture kind of developed as I worked. Basically it's supposed to represent how in high school (and probably even afterwards) we try to figure out who we are and what our personality is. It's like we put on different faces trying to figure out which one fits best. I wanted it to be a bit more quietly personal, rather than yelling in your face saying something like "People are fake and they just put on masks and pretend!" I wanted it to be a little more withdrawn and saying "Don't mind me, I'm just trying to figure things out."

I don't know if any of that made sense, so here's a description of how it's made. I made the body by having my awesome sister wrap me in duct tape (section by section) and then, after cutting me out of my cocoon, I wrapped the form in papier mache. Erg! I really dislike papier mache; it is a very thankless process. I don't understand how people can get everything to look so nice and smooth. It may have helped if I had had time to do a second coat, but things started coming down to the wire and a second coat wasn't really an option. Then I spray-painted the figure with black spray paint and I actually missed a few places because I ran out, but they don't really show. Also, I poured gravel in the feet and stuffed the rest of the body with shredded paper to help keep its shape and weight it down. The dress is a simple length of fabric sewn in half with a hem on top and bottom. I drew the contour faces on it in blue, black, and purple fabric markers (does anyone else absolutely love contour lines? I just think they're so cool looking). I used the other half of my fabric and drew one face on it and framed it in an embroidery hoop I spray-painted purple. (Originally it was going to be black, but I ran out and luckily enough, I had purple spray paint that matched the markers perfectly). I then arranged the square on her head and glued it into her hands just with tacky glue. Securing the base was possibly the most stressful part. Because of the way I stuffed the body, the ankles ended up really weak (hehe, weak ankles) and it didn't like to stand very well. So after much brainstorming and a very trying trip to Home Depot, we found two threaded rods, a circle of wood, and cement. I drilled two holes (about an inch wide) on the base where I wanted the feet to be. I then made holes in the heels and shoved the rods up into the legs. Then we poured cement into the holes in the wood and put the bottoms of the rods into the holes and let it dry. And then, there it was. My long, stressful, sleep-preventing project was completed. And even though I absolutely despised it when I was finally done, it's starting to grow on me. I got some real positive feedback from my class and people seem to like it.

Sorry the pictures aren't all that great, I had to take them with my iPod.


Also, here are some pictures I decided to share with you all. This first one is a comic I did at the beginning of my challenge, but I haven't been able to upload it until now, because our scanner wasn't hooked up. It's about how happy life can be when you finally let go of something. Like a grudge, or a regret, or something like that.

And this is just a page of doodles from sketchbook that I rather liked. They're mostly Avatar: The Last Airbender related. Such a great show . . .

These are rather large files, so sorry if they're hard to see. And here's another doodle I did for fun with one of my best friends the other day.

Days Created: 36
Total Projects Finished: 6

Confessions

Well, I knew it was coming.  I missed a day.  I didn't do anything on Saturday.  Nothing!  I spent forever racking my brain yesterday, trying to think of something I might've created.  I didn't even draw anything.  I got up at 10:30, went on a walk, showered, cleaned our kitchen, went to a concert with friends, and then went to bed.  (Okay, I probably would've been even more bummed if it weren't for the concert we went to - The Piano Guys, so cool!)  I even thought about drawing pictures in the condensation on my friend's car's window, but I didn't.  At least that would've been something!  Anyways, I felt really crushed about it yesterday, and I felt like my project was ruined.  But then I decided that I wouldn't let this one mistake ruin my entire project.  I decided that rather than ending my project exactly one year from when I started it, I'll just have to end it a day later and just hope I don't slip up again.

"Keep Moving Forward" - Wilbur Robinson.

Well, despite my missed day, I have been rather busy this week.  First of all, I've developed a bit of an obsession with robots.  Yes, robots.  I drew one at the beginning of the year and at first didn't think much of it.  But recently I've continued returning to that design.  I feel like they're my babies, y'know.  I mean, I created them out of nothing.  I didn't research robots beforehand or base it off any reference, they just sort of appeared and now they're growing and developing personalities and they feel more real to me than any other character I've come up with.  I now present to you: Robots.

These robots were initially built for use in hospitals.  Their steady, mechanical fingers could more efficiently and safely perform delicate operations and procedures.  As technology advanced, a similar style of robots were created to be housekeepers in American homes.  They steadily became more popular and thereby cheaper and soon every middle class citizen owned at least one.  They preformed simple tasks day and night, such as taking out trash and cooking meals and doubling as the household security system.  Inevitably, technology continued to advance.  Newer, even more efficient machines were invented that slowly began to replace the outmodes.  However, no one ever had the heart to dismantle their mechanized nannies.  They were very kind, appealing little robots and most people considered them to be a part of their family in the same way their dog or cat was.  As men began to leave earth in search of adventure beyond the atmosphere, the robots were merely turned loose.  They were sturdy and resilient little machines.  They hardly ever needed repairs and when they did, they were quite capable of fixing themselves.  Unsure of what to do with their newfound freedom, they turned intensely curious.  They love to take things apart, though they hardly ever remember how to put it together again, and do simple, kind of crazy things.  In the first picture you can see that they both love to bake and to put things on their head.  They're fascinated by human celebrations, such as birthdays and Christmas.  Also, it is disputed that they feel somewhat 'depressed' that they have no lungs to create music with.  (In the bottom picture - my favorite - the robot is holding a harmonica).  Well, I hope you enjoyed this brief history of my robots and find them just as adorable as I do.

If you're wondering about the quilt girl, I was feeling particularly cold at that moment.  Seriously, our school is freezing.

Here are the latest pictures of Mystery Man.  I'll give you all a hint: he's a character from a book.

 This is a project I started this week for AP Art.  I've been drawing contour self-portraits all over this fabric which I will then use with a large-ish sculpture.  I'd rather not explain it until I have it all finished.

These are the beginnings of said sculpture.

Days Created: 22/365

Total Projects Completed: 5