Day 31 Do nothing for as long as possible
With the 4th of July weekend, it seemed perfectly appropriate to get this card. I pictured a girl laying back on a blanket under a tree so I drew just that. I will admit this was my second attempt since I couldn't erase pencil from her face on the previous one. I like how the leaves depict a slight and relaxing breeze in the air.
Day 32 Would anybody want it?
I loved the way the aloe in the middle turned out, but felt like I rushed the rest. Still someone cool wanted this one, so they get it.
Day 33 Emphasize the flaws
Her hair is untangled and her brows are unkempt. I actually sewed it with the intention of using the other side, but the back looked less perfect. This was inspired by the Girls Don't Like Spiders podcast episode of That's Deep Bro with Christina Pazsitzky. Women are expected to be so perfect these days and so many are going along with it.
Day 34 You are an engineer
With this card, I wanted to create a 3D paper object, but the two things I tried failed miserably. I ended up just painting Lick Observatory at Mount Hamilton. I was quite thrilled when Lick Observatory themselves commented on my Instagram photo.
Day 35 Be dirty
This one felt too easy. I was going to draw a bunch of dirty things: martini, movie, socks, etc. and allow the viewer to interpret that. Somehow it felt a little too easy or literal. It was almost like I knew it would be a "successful" piece and thought I should push myself to do something different. I decided to put a lady and a plant in the dirt. It ended up looking like they were in bed together. Do you see that? As if the sky is the pillow and the dirt the blanket or comforter. I purposely wanted the woman to look Tahitian, sort of thinking of Paul Gaugin's paintings.
Day 36 Reverse
I have been dying to make an animation from my art. It's been on the list for well, at least since Instagram implemented video. When I pulled the 'reverse' card, a car immediately came to mind. At first I was going to just draw a car going backwards, but soon thought of animating it. I chose a Ford LTD since we had a wagon when I was a kid (not this one, but a brown one). I also loved the Vacation movies growing up, so wagons are a vehicle occasionally seen in my work.
Day 37 Faced with a choice do both
I see the influence from Day 34 here, especially the hillside. I also see this becoming a bigger painting on wood panel. There are recurring themes with this project and I am taking note on what I am drawn to. I like how this one turned out because it isn't necessarily literal or obvious to the card. It stands on its own. The exciting thing about this one is that I finally bought some Holbein Acryla Gouache and got to test it out.
Day 38 Work at a different speed
I thought I'd hurry up a bit and get a few of these done in one day. Speeding up the record player RPM to 45 seemed like a good idea. I used Acryla Gouache again. At first I was going to make a highly detailed background, but decided to go with this once I lay the colors down. I am trying to push myself to do things differently than I normally would. At the same time, I formerly painted record players (about 8-10 years ago) and this felt like I was revisiting a past theme.
Day 39 Give the game away
Whether isiting art museums, art openings, blogs or art & craft fairs, I am still surprised by how homogenous the artists and supporters are. I want to do something to change this. It's my dream to start a non-profit down the line that supports artists of a variety of ethnicities and race financially. I also want to make sure I'm not afraid for my art to say something. I had some apprehension before posting this one, but ended up receiving great positive feedback. This piece finishes the following conversation:
"Pssst...the art world feels homogenous."
"Still?"
Day 40 Destroy - nothing - the most important thing
his piece means a lot to me. As an artist who relies on multiple streams of income, I do rely on multiples with prints, both digital and hand printed. When I block print, I usually make as many as will sell. For this piece, I decided I would make one and then destroy the block. Last week's What Goes On blog post included a playlist with the song Big White Cloud by John Cale. I am pretty obsessed with that song and wanted to make a big white cloud in this artwork. I used copper printing ink and loved how it looked on its own but felt like it needed something special. I decided to hand paint over the print. When I tried this it looked terrible at first! I wiped away and added paint until I felt satisfied with it like this. I am quite happy with the purple and copper feel. I am actually pretty excited to make a series of these for a future show.
Alright, getting near the halfway point. So excited about where this project is taking me! Thanks so much for all of your support. I'm blown away by your comments and interest in this project!