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


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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

watercolor 04

first full-figure portrait: Calvin Klein spring 2010 model on the runway.  started this during class and used the grid method to enlarge the original photo, which is a super fast and very useful technique to reduce/enlarge originals.  i went to an approx. 12"x24" size from an 8.5"x11".  learned a thing or two about washes, and hot press paper, which apparently is not my favorite.  really like the textured look, but i suppose this is a more appropriate finish for higher detail work. 

love the dress!

watercolor on hot press

-cristina

goofy

this is a christmas card i painted for my husband this past december.  we were at navy pier a couple of summers ago with some friends, being goofy as usual.  it's the first portrait i ever painted! 

-cristina