My Involvement in ArtWorks

So today I attended a meeting that was scheduled to allow for a presentation of one of this summer's murals.
The final design is completed and the apprentices have all done their research about the area and the purpose behind the mural. I am on the neighborhood committee that has generated the discussions in choosing the lead artist, talking about what kinds of things we would like to see included in the mural design, giving feedback to the lead artist on the preliminary designs, and explaining to the non-artist residents how all of this mural stuff works.
Today we met with the group that will be painting our mural for us. There were 8 apprentices, a lead artist, a working artist, a photographer, the liason from ArtWorks, the veterinarians who work in the building being painted, and local neighbors who have been a part of the planning committee, like me.
The apprentices each did a great job of presenting their part. The final image is beautiful. And we had an awesome Qdoba lunch courtesy of the neighborhood committe who has been our sponsor, of sorts - Price Hill Will.
The mural will be about 1 1/2 blocks from my house so I will get a chance to see it evolve.
I thought about you, Maddy and KNOW you did a good job on your presentation! What a great job to have for summer. But Man! It is going to be some hot work on some of those days!!

Ker-Plunk

Hello!

Horay for summer.  It seems like summer has been moving so quickly already, it reminds me not to let my free time dwindle away! But then again, I do not have much free time.  There is the picture of the wall I will be working on this summer, and it looks intimidating! It is the biggest mural they have ever done and I am so excited to be a part of it.  We are reproducing a famous Charlie Harper, called "Homecoming", you should look up his work if you haven't heard of him, it is very interesting.  I even got to visit the Charlie Harper sanctuary (basically) a huge 8 story house in Over-The-Rhine with TONS of his ORIGINALS.  It was a great experience.  And our tour guide, Chip, was a hoot.

I also took this second picture in Over-The-Rhine, and working downtown exposes you to a lot of graffiti.  I have come to find it as very artistic and I even appreciate it at times. The good stuff at least.  I have also became familiar with the work of Shepard Fairey and I find his work very inspiring.  There are displays of his work in many places downtown, especially near and inside the Contemporary Arts Center.

 

As for working on art, I have started a piece, but am waiting to post a picture.  I really like the idea, but it didn't work out the way I would have hoped.  So I will try to give it another go before I post a picture, nothing is perfect without effort anyways I suppose.

 

Overall, this summer is going great.  I have learned a lot already, met a lot of great people, and still have time to have fun with my friends.  I will be working on that drawing you assigned this week or next week most likely.

 

Also, if you want to laugh, here is a super-cute video I found online.  It is titled, "Two Adorable Old Dudes Disagree Over Adele’s Contribution to Pop Culture" http://www.repinly.com/pinterest-video/258/1/People/Two-Adorable-Old-Dudes-Disagre/

 

M

Getting Started

So it seems we're experiencing a bit of a delay. Hopefully by resending each email individually today, you will get them this time so we can get going. Does anyone have work finished already?

My Apologies for the Delay

So here we are and it is summer... FINALLY!
It took awhile to get back into this because I have had some things going on at home that needed to be taken care of right away. But now my plan is to check in here daily and see what you are all doing, be it art or otherwise.
As for me, so far I have done some house cleaning, some house painting outdoors, some gardening and taken care of my dad. He had back surgery. That is the real reason for my delay. Oh! And I saw a movie: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It's kind of quirky, but interesting. But maybe it's more for people my age than yours. I have started reading Catching Fire, too, although I am not very far into it yet - chapter 3 or 4 I think.
In any case I have done no art so far. But I sure plan to before the summer is over. I have to get at least one piece done so that I have something to show. Mt St Jo is hosting a show for art teachers this year and I need to have something for that since I have already committed to it. But I hope to have more than one piece done by the end of the summer.
I also have a goal of doing some work to upgrade my teaching license. We'll see if that happens.
It seems I have so many things I need/want to do before school starts. Some have already been started. How about if we write down what we hope to accomplish, each of us. Then we'll see how many things we really do get to do.
I will also be posting suggestions for work hopefully by next week.
In the meantime... do a nice drawing using stippling only. I know it takes time and can be monotonous, but really it is all about your mindset. If you have fun with it and see it as a challenge instead of a chore then it will be more tolerable. Or let's say this: Do the basic drawing with blind contour, then shade with stippling in some areas and hatching and cross-hatching in other areas.