Wow what a year. 2020 was insane. I'm not exaggerating. We lost so many amazing people this year due to COVID-19. Stress and anxiety rose in all of us. We didn't get a real graduation. We didn't learn anything in school. We didn't get to tell some people goodbye. It was truly a struggle. 

Even so, I'm glad I was there to experience it. COVID is a new part of history now, and we will remember what happened. To try and distract myself from the chaos, I tried painting some nature and people that inspire me. Here's two of my recent works. Watercolor and gouache paintings. 

Black gouache on sketchbook paper

Moth study
Watercolor on paper

I haven't posted in a long time. It was hard trying to stay positive during all the mess. I've been worried about my future, but everyone has a different path. There isn't an answer for every artist out there. I just need to find my own. Thank you if you are reading this. 

 

This Year at UNT

Hello everyone!
If you are new, this is my blog. I've had it for a long time actually. I never thought that I would have to use it for a school project, but here it is in all its glory.

This year, I've learned a lot about myself and my artistic goals. I've learned that I should not make decisions that are too quick, even if I know that it will make others happy. It's important to keep in mind that whatever decisions I make as an artist, I must make decisions that will put my health first, otherwise I will not be able to fulfill my goals. If you aren't happy in the short-term, how will you be happy in the long? I can't paint or draw if my personal life has issues.

As a junior, I've also realized that it's important to have a strong social network. Being around people that have the same passions as you do can increase your chances for new opportunities for jobs and events. For example, I had a friend from drawing class that let me know about a small art show that took place in Denton. Going to this event, I got to see artists display their work, and now I follow them on social media to gain inspiration.

Something that I noticed is that a lot of artists have their own style, but other artists try all sorts of styles. I'm still not sure if having a style is a necessity for an artist to get noticed in the world. But if someone does have a style, it can be easy to point them out in a group of art pieces. So, the question is, do I need to have my own style? And how am I supposed to have a style when I'm interested in more than one?

Thoughts For the Future

What is there to do with an art career? A constantly thought about question surfs through my mind on a daily basis. Illustration, Freelance, Art Director, Concept Artist, Design, Photography, Museum careers, etc. But what is it that I want to do? I'm twenty one and I'm still not completely sure. I might want to work in a museum and get some experience in Dallas. Possibilities are endless, but will fate decide?

I'm pretty skilled in photography, drawing, painting, and designing things. I've seen my peers try to design logos, and I can't help but laugh internally as they try to create logos from cheap phone apps instead of Adobe Illustrator. I have the capacity to design such things, but I have so much fear built up that keeps me from finding my dream job.

I don't even know if I should be worrying about these things. So I distract myself with things that have nothing to do with art. Eventually life is gonna hit me in the face and force me to get my life on track. (When I graduate) What am I to do then? I'm a junior in college, almost a senior. I have to start doing something quickly. All I know right now is that I should get my art into galleries. Maybe apply, apply, apply until someone accepts my work. Dreams...

Whenever someone I don't know asks me about my major, I feel like they are always laughing at me on the inside. I feel disappointed in myself for some reason, because they don't seem to think highly of me for doing something that I'm passionate about. It's sad that I have to live my life worrying about what other people think of my career. "What do you plan on doing with your major?" "How is that gonna work?" "You wanna be a starving artist?" "How is that gonna help you as a career?" Sometimes I just wanna know how to respond without sounding like I don't know what I'm doing. The sad thing is that I DON'T. But is it entirely my fault that I don't know what I'm doing? In high school and college, no one tells you what you can do with an art career. They just say "Oh, there's too many things that can be called 'art'." I understand that, but can we get into details???

Hello Again. Semester Spring 2019

No one reads my blog but that's okay!!!
We are back at it at UNT, painting something new, and meeting new people.

This next painting is non representational, and combines my take on color theory with repetitive but unpredictable patterns. The top portion contains different mixes of blues, greens, and yellows. Analogous colors I guess you could say. The pattern of colors are formed by rectangles that repeat over and over in vertical and horizontal positions. After continuing this pattern for a while, the painting will transition into a dripping effect that shifts in color hues as well. Why am I creating the painting this way? I got my inspiration from a couple of artists that were listed by my professor. I don't recall their names but I will soon. As in right now:

LIST
Shuji Mukai, Lucio Fontana, Alberto Burri, Piero Manzoni, Enrico Castellani, Sadamasa Motonaga, GÜnther Uecker, Robert Ryman, Wassily Kandinsky, Kasimir Malevich, Sol Lewitt, Donald Judd, Frank Stella, Mark Rothko, Morris Louis, Paul Klee, Kenneth Noland, Josef Albers, Agnes Martin, Sean Scully, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Alexander Calder, Ellsworth Kelly, Judith Murra

Some of these works I did not enjoy looking at at all, but the few that I did were incorporated into my inspiration. The artists that caught my eye the most were Mark Rothko and Wassily Kandinsky because of their interesting usage of color.

Digital Art

First completed digital art piece that wasn't created for a college class!

Used Adobe Illustrator and my Wacom Tablet! I created my own custom brush and learned more about the program as I created my work. The tutorials on the Adobe website are super helpful..
I even signed it at the bottom, and I always forget to sign my work no matter what medium it is. 😥

Fall Semester 2018
(junior)

Rookie Mag and College thoughts

It's almost the end of my first semester at UNT. It's unbelievable how much art work I've created in just a couple of months including design sculptures, figure drawings, still-life pastel work, photography collections, and other projects. 

I definitely love this school more than I should. Right now I need to stay focused even though it's almost the end of the year. I think it can be easy to slack off and especially right now since I started watching the Office. Sometimes I wonder how I am keeping a social life while worrying about all these projects. Low key.. I do lose my sanity sometimes and resort to procrastination and video games. Journaling helps my mind when I feel fed up at home.

Rookie podcasts are really keeping me happy though and I NEVER listen to podcasts. Ever. If you don't know what Rookie is, it's an amazing website that I found online that was created by a woman named Tavi Gevinson. Tavi is a big inspiration for me, because she has helped women understand that they can be whoever they want to be even if society tries to push them down. I feel like one day I would love to work for the magazine or create illustrations for their books.

The site is sort of aimed for teenage girls but I still read it even though I'm 20 since it's still really interesting and helpful for me. There's also lots of art and comics that interest me whenever I feel like having eye-candy or inspiration.
www.rookiemag.com/

Update on School Projects for Drawing Class

Hello everyone! I created an amazing post that I wanted to share a second ago. It disappeared because I accidentally exed out the tab. It was a long post too... I am so frustrated right now. It was about college, my art projects, and my biggest inspiration. Wish that I didn't lose that post.

Currently, I am working on a pastel drawing that includes mainly primary colors. Simultaneously, I'm planning to begin a self portrait for Drawing 2. I'm choosing to transform myself into an owl because they are one of my favorite animals of all time, they are night creatures (like myself), they have big eyes like me, and they are just so beautiful and overall cute. Owls are supposed to represent intelligence or something like that. I feel like I can be very intelligent but also very slow. Everything I do takes a lot of thought. Anyways, I don't know if I can connect to owls on a spiritual level, but that's what the internet said when I took the "What's Your Spirit Animal?" quiz.