DONE! I think?

Katherine:

Haley:

So....pretty much, life. I had the best day ever! My friend decided to paint me and that alone made my week! But, I also, somehow, finished my paintings! I couldn't get to them all break because of the ice cancelling school, but....I worked my butt off and it all worked out! I'm excited because I was really mad at my painting of Katherine and I started painting over it tonight to make the skin tone less pink, purple, and green, and now it is every color of the rainbow! (in a good way) and because it was less purple, I was able to make the background purple, her favorite color, so that made it even better! So good...and I managed to get my painting of Haley to a satisfactory point. That was my first time painting at home and I enjoyed it way too much. Pretty much....best day ever and my paintings are "done!"...maybe.

CCA and Still Working...

This past week I have been working on my painting of Haley. I am struggling slightly and think that some of the proportions are off. I have been having trouble making sure that the skin color doesn't become muddied and I need to find a new yellow because lemon yellow is not my friend :(
I also went to see the people of California College of the Arts to discuss my early admission to the school. They gave me early acceptance and a merit scholarship and I am very excited, but still am worried about the remaining price. Gah! Art school is so expensive! Financial aid please!

Beginning Stages

This week I began my oil painting of Katherine. This is what I had completed on day 1. I started with drawing out the image and then painted a grisaille in sap green. A grisaille painting is an old technique that focuses on value by using one color. I used sap green to achieve the cool undertones of the skin. I feel like I rushed the opaque painting process and did too much while the sap green was not quite dry. It became a bit muddy, but there is much work to be done. I am going to focus on color and detail on this piece for the next couple weeks.

I have also started my sculpture of the obese woman. I have already gone through three bags of clay! It is so heavy! And I am excited to start shaping it into an amorphous woman as there is nothing more natural and beautiful to me that working with the earth to create a sculpture of a nude creature of the earth. I am passionate about this and can't wait to progress in this piece in the following weeks.

I have now chosen and printed off the photo I am going to use in my next painting of Haley Jonsson. I choose these images greatly based on an expression that my friend uses quite frequently in order to capture them in truth.

I have finished my WOA project and it is a negative image in sharpie of an obese woman’s fat roles on her back. It is proportionately accurate, yet abstracted by my use of value and simplification. I am quite proud of this piece and on it the word "look" is written. This word means a great deal to me. It has come up numerous times as I have displayed my body in self-portraits, vulnerable and up for judgment. The work look is symbolic for me in many ways and tells the viewer, in my eyes, to analyze and reconsider pass views. It gives them permission to judge and criticize, yet asks them to think deeper than they have before and reconsider. Maybe the "ugly" that you see is truly misundertsood "beauty."

NEW WORK TO BE DONE!

Hey everyone! I am so excited. Now that I have "finished" my self-portrait and sculpture, I am off to working on 4 new pieces! I know what I'm for three of them. I have to create four new pieces this month. So much to do! I am doing two portraits of my friends (Haley Jonsson and Katherine Hill). I can't wait. These will go under the category of "expressions" for my concentration. I am also going to start working on a life size sculpture of an obese woman from the thigh up to the lower stomach. This piece will be followed by another, from the lower stomach to the breast. I have the photos of my friends taken for their portrait, this is the one of Katherine. I truly can't wait to start painting! This break has been killing me! Write me if you have any ideas for my WOA project. I'm crunched for time and all my ideas will take too long...lots of work to be done.

-Ashley King
P.S. this portrait will go on the left side of my collection of pieces to draw your eye across to the other paintings.