More Painting

I had some more time to paint yesterday. Two more days until the artshow at work. So, I need to pick up a matte and a frame today or tomorrow. The orange in the engine cowl and the tip of the prop really stands out against all of the blue/black/gray. It's coming along pretty well. I wish I had more time. I don't think I'll be able to paint a pin-up girl on the side before Wednesday.

Studio B

I finally started painting yesterday (in what I now refer to as "Studio B", a.k.a. "the master bedroom"). I don't remember the last time I actually took some time to paint. I sketch every so often. But it has been years since I painted. I bought a set of gouache paints when A.C. Moore went out of business. Here's my progress after a day.

Outlined

Last night I set up the opaque projector I just bought. I laid out a an image of a B-25 to use for a gouache painting. I want to paint something small before I start tackling larger canvases. I can't remember the last time I painted. My plan is to finish this painting in about a week and get it into the artshow at work next week. The subject of the painting will be perfect. Here is a quick photo I took using my iPhone. So, please pardon the poor quality. I tried to sharped it in Photoshop, but there was a lot of noise.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind this weekend. I kind of didn't want to. So, I half watched it and half sat there drawing. I had watched it once before and had a hard time. I am still a bit squishy over my last break up and just didn't feel like dragging it back out to the forefront of my mind. I just tend to think about things too much and knew I'd just be reopening myself up. Oddly enough I had a dream that morning that I'd called my ex to tell her we should spend some time together and she hung up on me.

So, it was interesting to see Joel (Jim Carrey's character) talking to Clem (which was his mind's version of her and not really her). It made me think that in my own dream, my ex was my mind's interpretation of her that hung up on myself. I was also interested to see that Joel's incomplete memories were literally represented as blurs and disfigured people. It's hard not to put myself in those places.

I guess what really weighs on my mind is if I'd ever be willing to give up such memories. Would I be willing to lose the good in order to eliminate the bad? And really the goal is to remove the good memories that are so hard to let go of. The ones that are forever drawing you to the other person. Let's face it, the bad memories never leave you wanting more. I don't think I could ever do it. As much as I cling to things. They are so important to me. And when he realizes that he doesn't want to go through with it. That he fights like crazy to hold onto whatever he can. It kills me, I can absolutely feel myself going through that struggle. I think its great in the end how they've found each other again. Even though they have been reset. But then start to fight again. It's like no matter how many times they get they're minds erased, they will always be inexplicably be drawn to each other. Even if it always turns out bad. So, is it worth it for them if they always end up hurting each other?

Drawing

So, my first weekend without having to worry about the old house was great. I got to sketch several ideas for a B-25 bomber painting. I got an opaque projector to start using on some larger paintings. We used to have one at school, and it made life so much easier. Here's a sketch I worked on Saturday.

I framed and hung a print I had sitting around for a while. I am really considering ordering Mermaids (Whitefish) by Gustav Klimt. It's one of my favorite paintings by him, and it would look great in my room.

The chase is all that you know, and she stopped running months ago...

I heard "Your Heart is an Empty Room" while I was eating lunch in Boston Market this afternoon. It's such a great song. And of course it kind of touched on things when I heard it.

It was a long, short weekend

This weekend was only a two day weekend for me. But it was pretty arduous none the less. Jeff and I spent yesterday and today clearing out the rest of Floral Dr. It's a 50 something year old house, and it shows. The electricity and water had been turned off, making it especially challenging to clean up.

I also still had some sinus issues, even though I had thought it was all clearing up. Yesterday, I had a striking pain in my ear when I was blowing my nose. This later led to a nose bleed. I am hoping it was just from my sinuses being dry or something. I'm glad to be out of the old place.

And I did have a chance to go out. Last night we went to Uberbot. I bought a World War Robot art book there. Then we ate sushi and went bar hopping. Now it is already Monday and work is anxiously awaiting my return.

New Slang

The Shins have just fit my mood lately. I am not sure how they've managed to turn all of my emotions into song. I've must have listened to New Slang 20 times today (and luckily enough, it is out for Rock Band today!). This is by far the best youtube video for it.



"Dawn breaks like a bull through the hall,
Never should have called
But my head's to the wall and I'm lonely.

And if you'd 'a took to me like
A gull takes to the wind.
Well, I'd 'a jumped from my tree
And I'd a danced like the king of the eyesores
And the rest of our lives would 'a fared well.

I'm looking in on the good life I might be doomed never to find.
Without a trust or flaming fields am i too dumb to refine?
And if you'd 'a took to me like
Well I'd a danced like the queen of the eyesores
And the rest of our lives would 'a fared well."

Ugh, I usually hate posts like this. I like including videos. I hate the posting of lyrics and the sob story. But I do like looking back on old posts and remember what I was going through at the time. And well, this just seems to capture the present.

I keep feeling like there is something I am doing wrong. I'm not unhappy with my life. It just feels incomplete. And all the parts are there, but never at the same time. I am sure with all that's going on lately, I should be feeling this way. I am hoping as my allergies clear up, so will this black cloud. 

What's Happening

Where to start? I don't know. I guess at home. Everyone's getting used to the new space and each other. Tonight we had some issue with the plumbing and the toilet downstairs overflowed like, "Woah!" Someone should be out tomorrow to fix it. I drove over to Floral Dr. to shower since we can't really run any water here for now.

Work has been going well. I talked to someone who had a review of our material with the customer. They were unhappy with some really old illustrations in the training. So, I was asked to create some new illustrations. Apparently, the customer had doctored up some stuff they were going to show us as suggestions on how to improve. But then they saw mine and liked them even better than what they'd come up with. It's really nice to hear such positive feedback.

I need to nail down my reservations to Peru. Every week I keep putting it off until the next payday. I am semi-excited about going. I looked up some photos and Macchu Pichu looks amazing. I am hoping to get some time to sit down and sketch while I am there.

It has been kind of cold the past couple of days. So, I got the chance to wear my awesome new sweater. By the way, the iPhone cover is houndstooth...