July 20, 2008

Today I did something I haven't done in a while. I painted still life. I think the last time I did this, was in 2005, when I used oils. I tried using watercolors this time though I am still afraid of them. I think it was a good exercise and it certainly gave me more confidence for the next time I'll face watercolors.

I've also tried to sketch my sister Sofia. No, it's not even close to the way she really looks. This looks more like the sketch of a person who looks like my siter and who also has a very, very big nose. I'll have to try again.

July 7, 2008

It rained this past week-end so I fixed up my bike, which broke again on my way to work today -- I guess I'm just not a very handywoman -- and spent quite a bit of time sketching. I took up again the drawing I started back in April. I think it's becoming more obvious what it is about, but I still don't want to say too much at this point.

I've also tried to draw some portraits. I drew myself first and then I attempted to draw my two brothers. I didn't manage to get the look I wanted for Paul. He's a beautiful boy, but he also has a very mischievous look. I haven't drawn my two sisters yet, I'm leaving them for when I've had more practice, so I can do them justice. I think the portrait of Cristian is quite good and quite close to the original. On the portrait of myself, I think I have a different chin in real life and the friends I showed it to had to look at it twice to recognize me.

Myself

Cristian

Paul

July 2, 2008

Happy Canada Day a day later! I actually worked on Canada day, but I did get to go home early. I had Monday the 30th of June off instead. I love long weekends! Who doesn't? My boss probably.

My bike got a flat tire on Canada Day, so I spent about an hour on the balcony at work trying to fix it. In the end, it was good enough to take me home, but died again at my house. I got a new tube today, and when I got home I realized it had the wrong valve. I love my bike and I love biking. This flat tire business is hurting a lot. Thank you Bicycle Tutor for the video on how to fix a flat tire. It helped a lot.

I spent a day of my long weekend at the North Vancouver Festival. I forgot the exact name for it, but it's still happening at Lonsdale Quay. I baked in the sun while I listened to blaring drums that sent vibrations through my whole body and watched for the waves that would propel splashes of water through the boardwalk cracks. It was wonderful! My friend Julia danced for a while and she was unbelievably beautiful. Quite a few people caught up to her as we wandered the shops to thank her for dancing.

We looked through the windows of a closed gallery and I noticed a painting of tulips that I really liked. I liked it because it was very simple. The tulips were not defined, they were just an idea, a hint, but unmistakably they were tulips. I admire that because I think it's really hard to do it properly. Brancusi was a master at telling everything in the simplest and yet most profound and beautiful way.

I don't know if I understand modern art. I do believe that a lot of what it's passed for modern art nowadays, it's pure garbage. It's a bit of an emperor's clothes effect. Nobody wants to say anything because they don't want to look stupid, so they all pretend they understand it. I'm talking about paintings that contain a bunch of lines that signify nothing and raise no feelings other than nausea. I have seen paintings that seemed like there was nothing else to them, but a bunch of lines, like the painting of the tulips, that gave me a lot of pleasure to look at. Unfortunately, I believe that a lot of people look at these paintings and say to themselves "that's easy" and they go home and waste canvas and paint, where they would have probably obtained the same effect by throwing up on a dish rag. It often seems that we live in an age of amateurs and everything we gained through the ages, especially Renaissance, it's going down the drain. So few people seem interested in studying art, a lot just go straight for the paint tubes and squeeze them right onto the canvas. It feels like such a waste when little or no thought put into the whole process. Enough ranting… but one more thing… I do believe that an artist should master the techniques and the rendering of real nature first before attempting to render feelings.