I’m working on my new decorative painting project. The subject matter is based on a direct request from Shad, who demonstrated the poses that he would like the monkey’s to be in.
Monkey Paintings -WIP
Mind you, this is still a work in progress. I will try my best to make these a masterpiece.
I threw it out. It was terrible.
Instead, I bought these 2 canvases. Although they’re blank, I’ve once again jumped the gun and hung them on the hooks. It will help us (Shad is part of the brainstorming process) visualize what their subject matter should be. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thanks.
Little Canvases
I bought 3 acrylic paints that were on sale for $0.79 each and a paintbrush for $1.66. My current investment in this project is $4.03 plus tax.
It’s not too exciting yet, but I want to show lots of progress shots… I feel like it will be cool. Last update here.
These were the only colors available for $0.79, but I think it worked out okay so far.
Yellow Woman
I took another stab at digital skin. I don’t think it turned out as well as my first attempt, which could mean that the the first effort was dumb luck, that I need more practice, or both. Anyway, I think I’ll try a red one next and then try to refine and develop them as a set.
I mentioned that we were civilized a while back…. no more eating on the floor for these cats!
I forgot to mention that we have crossed the line into fancy territory. First of all, we bought a rug and I stained our dining table…
Unsurpassed Fanciness
We also got matching rugs for the office…
Matching Office Rugs
And here is an update on my fine art project…
Art Update #2
This my last post today!
Last week, we went to the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum. It is Honolulu’s museum of science and culture, and I’ll tell you what. I liked it.
It was small, considering I come from a big metropolitan city with a museum that has a fancy, state-of-the-art planetarium and a lot of stuffed dead things, but it was focused, and I appreciated that. The exhibit covering Hawaiian history (in a recently renovated wing) was assembled in a very inviting and interesting way. It was divided into three floors covering ancient history, daily life, and the culture surrounding Ali’i (chiefs) and gods. All in all, I learned a lot and got to spend a beautiful, rainy day inside a cozy museum.
I had three favorite things. I only have pictures of one of those things, so let me tell you about the other two first.
1. The storyteller. We watched and listened an extremely talented actor tell the story of an old ali’i who was kind and just. It was awesome and he did a wonderful job of not breaking character despite the screaming baby whose mother appeared to be deaf.
2. In the science center (totally made for kids, but there weren’t any, so had the place to ourselves), there was a ridiculous, psychedelic, painted cave that did not teach me a damn thing, but perhaps I’m missing some of the nuances of Hawaiian history in black light. Either way, it was awesome and I liked it.
3. In the Hawaiian wing, on the first floor, there so many amazing statues of gods with brilliant facial expressions. I wanted them all for my house… at the same time, I want to make something similar myself. Here are some pictures.
We have two random hooks, so I decided to make some random art.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Cardboard Starting Point
I’ll post updates whether this becomes something cool or really bad. The benefit of art like this is that if it’s hideous, it’s easily trashed, replaced, or laughed at. When you come stay with us, you will be required to contribute.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to preview the Yves St. Laurent retrospective at the DAM. The first, and most important thing that I have to say about the exhibition is that you should go see it. It is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity to see so many of his designs presented so well in one place. And I’m not even especially into fashion. In fact, I’ve been ruminating (perhaps a bit too often) about how much I love wearing jeans and Chuck Taylors. Still, I was in total awe of how influential Monsieur St. Laurent was on how we dress. If anything, he drove our our style culture into the direction of comfort, particularly for women.
For instance, I learned yesterday, that Yves St. Laurent designed the first women’s pant suit. In a time when women were expected to be dainty, he pushed a masculine look. In a time when women were treated like objects of entertainment, dressed up for everyone to admire at the party, Yves St. Laurent created an elegant pant suit, that made women comfortable and perhaps a bit more able to enjoy themselves for their own sake. It’s definitely an interesting and educational experience, particularly for those of us who didn’t even know that we were interested in these types of things.
Also, if you’re not sold yet, the Denver Art Museum, as always, has some fun interactive experiences for kids (or adults like me) to partake in. We discovered a workshop equipped with light tables, supplies, figure templates and tracing paper…
Fashion Sketches
You can just call me Coco.
My friend, Meghann, and I have been working on this blog, the Animator’s Sketchbook, for 10 weeks now. Each week, we alternate in picking a theme and we sketch it. It’s kind of awesome. I just wanted to mention it here, because this is place where I mention things that are kind of awesome.