Do I Have To?

Image via: Real Simple

I am the exact opposite of a person with a foot fetish. I don't know why but feet have always grossed me out a little. Unless they belong to an infant (who could hate those cute things?) I don't want to spend a lot of time touching them, looking at them, working with them...etc. I will give myself pedicures and take care of my feet as far as I have to but that is the extent of my relationship with the appendages. So imagine how thrilled I was to learn that this week in my intermediate life drawing class we were going to spend all week studying and learning about the foot.

Actually, I was okay with that part. The feet are a tricky part of the body to do correctly and I could always use more practice. What I am dragging my feet about (no pun intended...well maybe it was a little intended) is that I have to draw 25 feet from life. This means I get to go around asking people if I can draw their feet (alone). Tell me that question wouldn't make me sound like a total creeper? Ha ha a boy in my class when he found out our assignment joked and said he was going to ask people if "they would remove their shoes slowly" before he began to draw them. Oh man.

Personal creepiness aside, as I mentioned above other people's feet gross me out. Lets face facts, most people's feet do not look like the pair in the image above. They are dry, cracked, and smelly.

Aw well, I guess I will quit whining and just get to work.

Until next time.

My Bald Self

 

With my Metric CD as my companion, tonight I set forth to tackle an 18"x24" bald self-portrait of myself that is due tomorrow at 8 a.m.!

I think I will  leave the look to Natalie Portman... I just can't seem to pull it off...

Simply Lovely

ALLISON WELLS

Monday Painting

For the first time in a long time I can say I am very, very happy it is Monday. Why is that you ask? Because here in the States it is Presidents' Day, which means I get the day off from both work and school! I hope that everyone is having a great holiday.  I have used mine mainly to work on a children's fairytale painting for my illustration class. The image above is how it looks so far, I still have a ways to go with it. Also, I apologize for the messy work space, the zebra printed thing in the upper corner is a blanket... I had to hang it up to block out the sun when it was setting.

Friday the 18th

Hello all,

I have decided to can the idea of only journaling on Sunday. Forget I ever mentioned it. While it still remains true that most of my free time to write will be on that day I prefer to write as it comes to me. Plus I would rather have lots of little posts than one gigantic post a week.

Without further ado, here is my journal entry for today!

-Morning & Early Afternoon- 

This morning I woke up early and had my hair cut, colored, and styled. I felt like such a girl and I loved it!

Shortly after I had my hair styled my work held a chocolate fondue party! They really went all out with it. There were many different kinds of chocolates to choose from, my favorite being the melted white chocolate dip yum! It was great to be paid to eat chocolate and hang out with my friends!

- Afternoon - 

I am a member of Students for International Development at BYU and it will soon be time for the annual Hunger Banquet they host to raise awareness about global poverty and to celebrate human dignity. Last year the organization hosted a creative competition for the event and I learned this afternoon that they are doing it again this year, woo-hoo! 

This year the competition is to promote their theme: "Peace by Piece." Artists can turn in pieces that express the theme with various mediums. I want to submit a painting. :)

 -Night (Glorious Night)-

 Tonight the moon was bright and the art was great! I went up to Salt Lake City to see the Big-Eyed Women show.

"Big-Eyed Women is a group exhibition of Utah female artists who meet together periodically in order to celebrate womanhood through various forms of creativity. These women represent diverse life experiences and backgrounds. They join together to explore the common strands that are woven throughout their lives as women. Their art touches on universal themes tied to womanhood." 

Okay, so I ripped that quote right off the flyer for the show...but honestly, I couldn't have written or described it any better... I went tonight to meet with the artists and to support my friend Emily's work (I wrote about one of her paintings earlier click here to view).  I was impressed with the gallery, the art, and the turn out. I was even able to leave with some poetry-creative writing books. Can you say score?

 Me being a dork by the art sign.

  

  

The girl in the red sweater is Emily! This is one of the paintings she did, isn't it great?!

 

Heather and Emily by her painting

 

After the leaving the gallery I went and ate dinner at the Rio Grande, a restaurant that according to many hasn't changed at all in 40 yrs. Their food is sooo good! If you are ever in Salt Lake City stop by there and order the #6. You will thank me.

-Conclusion-

Well, it is really late here where I am writing. To conclude, today was an eventful day, the weather was lovely and lots of good things took place. I hope that you all have a wonderful night!

Later days!

Live Our Lives In Color

"Gray is out. Gloom is gone. It’s time to live our lives in color!"

There are many ways to brighten the world around us. I recently discovered and signed up for a project that is too cool not to share! In March of last year, Dulux Paint started an international outreach project called "Lets Colour" to spread color to drab and dreary regions of the world. Their hope is that in transforming gray and weathered spaces (including houses, schools, bus stops, town squares...etc) to brightly colored spaces they will transform the communities and the people within them as well.

Stop by their site, the project's blog records the outcome in each city, as well as the locals' color choices and where their inspiration comes from. If you are like me and can't just drop everything and travel to places like India or Brazil at the current time don't fret! There are lots of ways to be a part of this neat project.

Brian Dwyer extended an invitation on his blog for people to join saying: "To those of you reading who favor brilliance and excitement over the mundane and depressing, I highly recommend picking up a paint brush and giving it a shot sometime."

What are we waiting for? Lets start coloring! :)

Sources:
Let's Colour
Bust Magazine

To Make : Pantone Cookies!

As an aspiring artist and designer I am very familiar with pantone chips. I love them and I use them often when I am trying to find just the right hue or create a good color pallet. I also am very familiar with and love cookies. So I was very excited when I found the work the designer Kim Neill featured on Fossil's archive page. This designer combines the best of both worlds!

Neill says that she came up with this clever idea when she discovered some empty pantone tins while searching through an art supply store. When she saw them she thought "what better a way to fill the tins than with cookies?"

The best part is that on her website she gives the recipe to make them! I am trying to put together a show to display my work and maybe I will serve these delectable goodies. :)

Check out Neill’s page and look at her recipe for the cookies Here.

Wish I had Known About This!!!

Artclash writes:

"It's time to get ready for our 7th Annual Fun-A-Day project, happening in January 2011! The premise is simple: pick a project (take a photograph, make the bed, draw a picture, bake a cake, etc), do it every day in January*, then show your work the following month in a big group show. Browse our photo archives for inspiration, and post your project ideas in the form below!

If you would like to participate, submit your project by the submission deadline for the show you want to be in (usually in the first or second week of February*). We will post submission guides and show information on this website as soon as those details are available. No registration required and we show all work we receive!"

I really wish I had known about this earlier! It would have been so fun!

Art Has Consumed My Life

Whoever said that artist's were lazy was seriously deluded. This week I have started working on a font book for my typography class. For those who are unfamiliar with the term (as I was a few weeks ago), a "font book" is a book that displays original, digital typefaces and presents them in a systematic way. Although font books normally display many typefaces, my assignment is to focus on one. I am to market my typeface's strengths on 12 pages in a unique and flattering way. The best part of the assignment? I have to make and bind the freaking book myself in a professional and creative fashion.

Seeing as I have never made my own book I have spent the last little while in the library looking up and studying book binding techniques. I have a feeling that the binding won't be the difficult part. Figuring out the printing is going to be the nightmare!

I am excited for this assignment, these books can turn out really neat when they are done well. I found a woman online who is brilliant at them. If you are interested at all in graphic design check out Claire Smalley's portfolio: http://www.clairesmalley.com/index.html. Her work is incredible! I hope that mine turns out half as good.

Along with my font book, I have to complete a narrative painting and a children's fairytale illustration. Did I mention that they are all due on the same day? If my paintings turn out good I will post pictures of them on this blog and my new art blog: Ink Blots and Paint Stains.

For my narrative painting we were given scenario's to work with, mine is "Dining Alone." I had my friend Alyssa model for me and we spent last Friday running from restaurant to restaurant in Provo center street and University Ave until I found the perfect one. The restaurant we took the photos in and ate at was called Spark. It is beautiful inside. I'll post some of the images I am using as a reference. I apologize, I am not a photographer and the photos when enlarged aren't that great. They were taken with a basic point and shoot and I didn't want to disrupt the natural light so I didn't use the flash of my camera. Also, I focused my camera on the center of her figure vs. her face to help with the distortion the camera creates.

(I believe I am going to use the above image as my reference. I love how her white cardigan looks with the dark background and the red couches behind her. I also love how the couches lead your eyes to her face.)

(I love the shadows on her face in this image!!!)

(Here is a random image of the food we ordered, fancy huh?)

I really like how the reference images turned out. Plus it was fun to go eat dinner and hang out with my friend. She was a great help and I am very indebted to her. I am not that far in my fairytale piece, but I will post pictures of my progress work and the end result later.

Conte Animated Blew Me Away!

Tonight I was blown away by an exhibit in gallery 303 of the Harris Fine Art Center. The Exhibit showcased Ryan Woodward's work of Conte and his most recent animated work "Thought of You." The animation is a dance animation and it blew me away. The amount of talent and creativity exerted by some individuals never ceases to amaze me. Really, I was blown away tonight. Maybe some won't appreciate the rough gestures done in Conte. Trust me it is not easy to create, let alone make it successful and interesting. It is incredible the way he manipulates his lines and how he nails the shapes, and directions. His figures feel as though they are alive and moving!

Tonight was the exhibit's opening night and I was able to meet with the artist himself, he gave me some great insight on techniques and business. Sometimes it is daunting to go to shows where the work is so much better than your own. When the artist is leagues ahead of your own meager abilities. However, I also love it. I love seeing the possibility and what my work can someday become if I work hard. I almost feel it is dangerous to fall in love with your own work. The moment we become completley satisfied with our work and ability we become static and changless. I am a a little afraid of reaching a point I become so satisfied with my own work I feel I no longer need to grow. Such a state sounds dangerous.

Anyway to my friends and family who live in Utah or anyone else who lives here go see this exhibit ASAP! For those who are unable to go I will post the animated video below and some of his sketches from the exhibit. Here is a link to his Ryan's Webpage http://conteanimated.com/, go check it out :) Also Check the video out. I hope that you all enjoy it as I certainly did.

Gold Rush

Today I was looking through images to help inspire me. While I was browsing it soon became apparent that my muse was suffering from a case of gold fever. Everything that stood out to me consisted of orange, gold, and black. I have never done any pieces with emphasis on any of these three colors before so I am really excited! I am not sure what I am going to do yet, but I think it would be fun to start dark and work from there. Perhaps I will use a dark card with a gold color pencil? I also have a bunch of gold leaf oil paint that I have been itching to use!

Possibly A New Tradition?

(Ehem...don't ask about this picture...lol)

Last Friday my friend and I went to the Provo gallery stroll, an event that takes place the first Friday of every month. It is free and consists of live music, food, and various fine arts. Often you get to meet the artists themselves. It is a side of Provo most don't see and it was a blast! This month even had belly dancers at the Provo Community Church. (Yes for those wondering, of course we stopped and watched this.) I had never been to the "stroll" before this trip, and I really only went because my friend Allen had his work displayed in the clothing boutique Mode. It really was a blast! I am definitely going to start going every month! While embarking down University Avenue I even discovered a new favorite spot to eat and hang-out, maybe I am becoming trendy but I definitely want to make a few stops at the new Pennyroyal cafe, I liked the atmosphere of it and the people who own it are nice too:)! Apparently they are going to start trying to have dances there, which is icing on the cake:)

I'm really sad that I didn't take more pictures of this event. At the time I wasn't sure if we could or not. However, I found various pictures online of previous gallery strolls to post for you:) I tried to my best to source all of these correctly let me know if I screwed up.

(This is the Pennyroyal cafe)

(Here is where Allen's work was displayed.)
the photos above were posted by: http://gallerystroll.blogspot.com/

(I love Coal Umbrella:) )

Photos posted by: http://coalumbrella.com/blog/