abuelo's

If you want yummy, easy Mexican food, make a trip to Abuelo's in Pilsen. Michelle and I both like this place! I had the pozole, the vegetarian taco and the vegetarian sope. Very flavorful for veggie dishes, and the guac is awesome! but go easy on the green sauce ... spiceeeee!

-cristina













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Location:Pilsen

SAIC Continuing Ed exhibit

this is a snapshot of the work exhibited at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  This is collective work done by students in the Continuing Education program, all classes, watercolor, drawing, fashion, sculpture etc. 

it was so much fun seeing the variety of work and meeting new people!  looking forward to my next class, hopefully this fall!

-cristina



Ann Moon's work - Figure Painting class

 

exhibit

one last event at the saic: an exhibit of all the continuing education program work.  my very first show ... awww! 

-cristina



with Chris and Ricardo





Chris' work





Barb's work




with Michelle and Brad



watercolor 10

so this is it: school's out! 

our last day of class we did a review and critique of our work, and it was so interesting to see the progress everyone made.  i feel like i got so much out of this class, more so than technique.  i got a better sense of what painting is all about, expanded my view and approach, got tons of ideas, and overall got very inspired and motivated to keep going. 

ricardo showed us his work, which inspired me and helped me understand abstraction more.  i was very inspired by his point of view and his interpretation of the painting subject. 

i had loads of fun in this class, and made some new friends along the way.  it was such a cool escape, and i'll miss my monday nights!  hope to take another class next fall, and to run into some of the same people again too. hopefully moving on to figure studies ?? 

-cristina

vegan truck

yesterday i ate the most yummy vegan mac'n cheese for lunch from chicago's first and only vegan food truck, Soul Vegetarian!




the truck drives around the city at lunch time, between 11:00am and around 3:00pm, and stays about 10 min at each stop. the food is 100% vegan, mac 'n cheese, sandwiches, desserts, and they only take cash for now. it also makes special delivery and caters lunch or dinner with advance notice.

i am so excited we have a vegan food truck in chicago ... i mean, this is chicago we're talking about, land of the meat! and there was actually a line of people waiting the entire time. i don't know how the driver keeps a schedule. my friend Ruth (who told me about the truck) and i waited only a couple of minutes past the scheduled time for the truck to get to Clark and Jackson.







so check it out if you're in the mood for a yummy vegan lunch ... and don't forget to get the carrot cake for dessert too, it's delicious! so delicious in fact that i ate both the carrot cake and the mac'n cheese and forgot to take pics of both!

http://stemartaen.com/food-truck/





-cristina


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Location:chicago

watercolor 09

more washes yesterday, and experimenting for the first time with white gouache.  i did 3 washes, in different hues, which i may use to develop further and add some glazing, and painted with white gouache in a monochromatic pallete on one of them ... used a picture of me and grandma when i was about 9 as an inspiration for the abstract.

-cristina

wash and gouache scumbling

watercolor 08

this time we experimented with washes and did some transparency, staining and color mixing exercises.  i kept 4 of the washes as they were, and used one to create a quick sunset landscape.  i'm addicted to washes!  i love to see the dramatic results, mixing the hues, and manipulating the mixing process with gravity.  sometimes you get amazing results without expecting them!  colors are just fascinating.

-cristina

wash and drybrush scumbling

 

watercolor 07

no, there's no watercolor 06!  unfortunately i missed that class, work got super crazy again.  very frustrating.  so here i am, posting two landscapes i did a week ago in class, in our 7th week.  i was only half there, as my insane deadline at work was fast approaching, and i was stressed and tired out of my mind.  i really hate it when this happens: i check out of my life for a while, until deadlines are done. 

i painted these two landscapes of the same subject with different hands, to try to engage in the process a bit more, as i was so out of it.  honestly, i thing the two bags of Pirate's Booty and the bottle of Ginger Ale did the trick, and even those, only half way through the class ...



painted with right hand



painted with left hand

 -cristina

what to wear

just got the new fab color issue of InStyle today, and i found a few new inspiration images for fun outfits. hope to use some of them to actually style a few new looks this summer. trendy is good, but in restrained doses ... at least for me. i like to mix up classic cuts with pops of color, simple silhouettes with subtle construction architectural details, and volume contrasts - think skinny bottoms with loose, slightly longer tops.

love this preppy look in the new InStyle, so summer fresh and easy going! and i'm obsessed with stripes at the moment. the pop of color in the red shoes adds that last finishing touch and happy fresh note. not a hat person myself, but this newsboy cap is cute!

InStyle April 20011

pairing skinny jeans and heels with a cool, crisp, summery longer blazer could do the trick for the office. come to think of it, this could be my new uniform this summer, especially with that cold a/c blasting all summer long at work. throw in a scarf while indoors, and I'm all set. i love Charlize's effortless vibe and the pulled back hair! and again, a pop of color with the red bag. totally doable!!

InStyle April 20011

and this seems to be so in right now: cobalt blue! not so new for me, as i've been wearing and obsessing over it all last summer! still into it, and i'll definitely wear my few pieces from last summer this year too. love this hue!

InStyle April 20011

-cristina


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watercolor 05

a week ago, on march 7, we painted from a live model! that was my very first experience with painting from a live figure: harder than i thought! 

we did a bunch of 1 and 2-minute burns, then a few 5-minute quick sketches, and then a couple of longer ones, around 30-45 minutes.  took pics of the butcher paper sketches at the end of class.  butcher paper was extremely crinkled, so even the pics came out rough, like the quality of the gesture sketches. 



watercolor on butcher paper



watercolor on butcher paper



watercolor on butcher paper


this is a 30-min sketch, used purple for dark values, yellow for highlights.



watercolor on hot pressed paper


45-min study of values.  built it up from lightest to darkest values with monochromatic shades of purple.  being a painting model is a tough job ... imagine holding a pose for 45 minutes straight!  yikes!



watercolor on hot pressed paper


-cristina