click to enlarge!
i have to give a shout-out to brother richard hull, who was my professor, advisor and friend through re-doing these. endless patience, that man...i couldn't (well, i wouldn't) have done these without his direction.
quick religious analogy (i thought of it at institute a while back during the perspectives lesson): working with richard was like us taking direction from Heavenly Father. 'paint it purple!' richard would say. 'but i like orange!' i'd retort (in my mind). 'make that a soft edge!' richard would advise. 'soft edges are hard to make!' i'd think.
nevertheless, i knew that richard was on the committee for choosing who would and would not get into the bfa (you can only try out twice). and i trusted him. so, i bit my lip and did what he said. long, grueling nights. lots of painting. even more re-painting. however in retrospect, i think these look a whole lot better than anything i could have made by myself. i learned techniques and theory about paint, style, narrative, illustration, and patience in general. things i wouldn't have discovered on my own.
because richard could see the potential of these pieces (again, i'm not saying they're amazing, but look at the improvement...) he was able to direct me to change them for the better. in the end, i made it into the bfa. i don't think these are the most brilliant art pieces in the world, or the program for that matter, but by being submissive (patient...meek...humble...any scriptures ring a bell?) i was blessed to be teachable and richard realized that. because i was willing to take his criticism and direction and try my best to apply it, he learned that i was a hard worker and i really really wanted to get into the program. and i think that made up for my gaps in artistic skill.
when we allow ourselves to be teachable by the Holy Ghost, and really try hard to apply what he's teaching us in our lives, Heavenly Father and Christ recognize that. if we do our very best with our end goal in mind, though we're not perfect (some edges never did soften in my paintings), we can make it. our desires and attempts will bridge the gaps in our imperfection, along with the ultimate bridge: Christ's Atonement.
just keep painting.
8 comments:
you would be a really good children's artist....thats all I have to say!
There has been so much improvement from the last time that you posted. They all look really, really good. It was also a lot of fun to see them in the process of being improved.
I also loved how you tied in trusting our Heavenly Father. It's so true. Sometimes we get so stuck on something that we like but it's not exactly what we need or what we should be doing. Sometimes our Heavenly Father has us do things that break us away from those things, even though we like them so much. Those things that we hold on to aren't necessarily bad either, but our Heavenly Father knows what is best for us. It's hard for us to take that first step, that leap of faith, which is usually a blind step in the dark. But if we follow His guidance, we will never be led astray. So cool. Good work, Kristin.
I love the wolf! Remember when we made a wolf out of that poster paper! And Ernie! Oh how I miss those days!
I like your stuff once again (the last is a fav)! How much would you charge to do a piece for Tula's room?
keep it coming.
and you were wondering about my post when Tula was born....hah I took my other posts off. oops.
Okay, some comments. The only thing I could sense that had changed in the first one was the over-all tone. I didn't see changes in fractals, or details, but then, I'm not known for powers of observation. It almost seemed like the first one might have been more crisp - but then, I'm on this comment page and unable to go back and make sure that I'm not getting it backwards.
2) did you remove the flower from the teacher's hair because it seemed contradictory of her surprise? There is an argument for irony here, actually, that I actually enjoyed in the first one. It's the choices that fascinate me, because they say so much about the process and your own mind. You opted out of the warm walls, and I can see why you might have, but I want to KNOW why you did. The little girl's face is also different - you have rounded her, taken the edge off the chin, but in some ways, she looks more intelligent in the first one. So I want to understand that, too.
3). I like the deeper greens in the leaves of the second one. But I find that I miss the whispy whites - shreds of cloud that give me a sense of being WAY off the ground. So - why did you change it? I mean, obviously, the contrast makes the illustration stronger graphically - but is that why?
4) Yes. The sheep is far more substantial and looks less than somebody from the cast of "Antz" in a sheep suit. Love the concept.
5) I love the color in the second one. I love it when acrylics pop. This reminds me of Dean Morrisay (sp?), those rich colors and reminiscent details. What I don't understand is how you can paint these things out of your head. How do you remember the details and the proportions so that your sister immediately connects? That had to be a really fabulous moment, having somebody swallow the painting whole and really instantly UNDERSTAND>
I love seeing your work, because it adds to my picture of who you are. The fact that illustration is my visual art of choice doesn't hurt. Someday, I'll have to introduce you to the Christensen man - you can gush all over him and he'll love it.
I love the illustration but beyond that the ideas behind the pieces are whimsical and intriguing. I feel like it does more than look pretty it says something.
thanks for the comments, my friends!
kate, that's my goal...so i'm glad you approve!
zach, i appreciate you commenting on the last part of my post as well as the art part. and i appreciate your patience in my working on these so much.
bethany, i do remember ernie! i miss those days too! some of my best 'work memories'.
whit, thanks! i'm actually figuring out prices now, so i'll let you know when i get it all figured out! i'm sad you deleted your other posts :( was it intentional?
kristen, thanks for your honest and well-thought out critique. here are my thoughts concerning your questions:
1) interesting that you thought the tone changed; i don’t think i really altered it. i think the only thing i really changed on this one was the details in the sail and ship. small details that sharpened things up. however, i probably photographed them differently so that makes a difference as well.
2) again, this one isn't completely done yet. thus, there was no reason i didn't include the flower in the teacher's hair. i meant to add it after i got the background color correct, but never had time. i was working on this the morning of the b.f.a. review. :) as for the warm walls, they were the biggest problem for me on this piece. i hated them in the first one because the colors were just so muddy. also, brother hull explained that since this was a humorous piece, the colors should be more lively and playful rather than ominous and deep. hence, the cooler, brighter walls. also, i wanted the teacher's silhouette and the little girl's flower to stand out, which is why i made one lighter than the other. as for the little girl, this one is more proportionate to what she really looked like (see response #5 below) and i wanted her to look smaller, more apprehensive. the face is better anatomically aligned as well.
3) to be perfectly honest, i really liked the wispy clouds too. brother hull told me to take them out again (he suggested them in the first place). i think it had something to do with the idea that he wanted them to be more substantial if they were included. something that looked more intentional and less accidental (though they were very intentional). this one does look a lot better in life than it does on the screen, because in reality the lighter blue-ish colors on the whole right side are the result of the overhead light when i shot this with the camera. in reality, those are pretty dark, too. as you mentioned, i think it has a better, stark contrast. and it is a book cover, so the title would be in the open area. i wanted a sense of background/foreground relationship.
4) yes yes yes! i really disliked this one in the beginning. it looked so coloring book-like. i'm really happy with it now. thank you :)
5) this was hard for me to change, too, but after i was done, i was a lot more satisfied. i'm glad you like the color. it was hard to just take that leap of faith and start to cover something that was decent with thick paint, trying to make it awesome. as for painting out of my head, i didn't. i thought of it, but then arranged these scenes (minus the wolf and sheep, of course) and photographed them. i then painted from looking at the photos. does that help?
i've met that christensen man. twice. and i gushed. both times. i would LOVE to meet him again, though. and see his studio. i'm getting all sorts of excited just thinking about it. :]
Okay, baby. I'll see if in a month or two, when family things take a breather, if I can wheedle a few minutes out of his studio time for us. Char would love it, too. Maybe I'll bribe him with homemade bread. I'm glad you don't mind my analytical and ignorant questions, because it's fun talking about aesthetic things and trying to understand how they work. Rockwell worked from photographs a lot. I think DePoala (sp) looks down on references like that, but then - I disagree. Lets sit down and go through your photo stuff in person some time.
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