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Art Basel in pictures.

2011-12-08T16:43:00.001-08:00

Most of these were taken by Johnny Zhang.

Sleep deprivation is a good thing.

2011-08-04T23:45:00.000-07:00

Photo by Johnny

It is.

...For me anyway.

I have so much to talk about.

After work today, Johnny and I went to the Fort Lauderdale art museum for the photography/installation exhibit for his class. It was an oddly appropriate trip for this entry.

A display of the creative genius of man.

I had a sudden surge of creative inspiration happen to me last night. This doesn't happen as often as you might think- in fact, it's actually really rare. I don't want to sound like a cheap poet, but the best way I can describe it is it's like an old friend coming unexpectedly and you've missed them so much that no matter what your plans are for the next day, (in my case a full day's work on my feet followed by a trip to the Fort Lauderdale art museum,) you have to, and willingly, stay with them all night. So that's what I did. My oldest friend and I stayed up all night discovering new things and filling the last pages of my 1.5 year old sketchbook to completion.

I used to have a habit of abandoning my sketchbook halfway through.

Being older and looking back at them, I hate the white space I didn't fill.

I've since made a promise to myself to fill them front to back.

After all my initial ideas were furiously thrown on the pages, I started to take a good hard look at my body of work. Not just the sketches. The room next to ours that is full of paintings that are finally socializing together after being sent back home from Los Angeles and our solo show here. I couldn't help but think "what would they have to say to eachother?"

If you walked into a room filled with my work, you would notice that it's all kind of scattered in style. Nothing really resembles the other and it looks like a horribly broken collection. There have been times that I've asked Johnny if I have a style and he happily approves and lists characteristics that I'm never satisfied with.

Same eyes, same lips, same hair.
Not good enough.

It's time for a change of direction into something much tighter in composition and more recognizable as my own style. It's time to incorporate self discipline and stop getting in the way of myself.

I'm talking about reinvention.

After my 24 hour stint, I came home, went to bed for 4 hours, woke up energized enough to start developing the new work. I've never felt so good.

I can't say how different the new pieces are going to look- I'm experimenting right now; letting the girls tell me who they want to be, but I can tell you that no matter where you are, you will be able to discern my work from anyone else's.

And you won't be able to resist it.

~J

Back into it.

2011-08-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but I keep abandoning my blogs and then coming back to them. I've always thought that writing is a form of therapy that's needed to get it all out. Not to mention that this could serve as a nice way to keep my inspiration in order.

~J

Sneak peak at new painting

2010-12-08T02:58:00.000-08:00

I'm not posting the actual painting until after the premiere of the entirely new collection sometime next year. :) But until then, here's a peek at one that I was working on.

Pressing your pigments! (A tutorial!)

2010-06-24T10:59:00.000-07:00

I recently had a disaster!

I dropped one of my Urban decay eyeshadows and it disintegrated inside it's well. :( I was so upset! I HATE it when that happens- but I LOATHE it when it happens to my GOOD makeup. :(

Me being a hardcore DIY'er, I figured- "umm... There's gotta be a way to press the powder back into the well again!" So after a bit of research I found out that companies press it with rubbing alcohol because it evaporates from the powder but allows it to keep it's shape! :D How awesome!

I figured I'd share this with everyone so no girl has a hissy fit when their expensive eyeshadows go capoot.

BTW! This is also a great way to put all your pigments into pots! :) If you have a mini heart attack every time you ALMOST tip over your precious, intense pigments like I do- this is a lifesaving way to put them all in one palette. :)

What you'll need!

- Isopropyl alcohol (I read that you needed 90% but I used 70% and it was fine. :)

- Cup to mix in

- Toothpick/bobbypin or something small to mix with.

- Pigment you want pressed.

- A well you want to fill.

- Paper towel or some material with a texture you want pressed into the powder. :)

- A dropper or something to drop the alcohol from. (I used a palette knife. :)

IF YOU HAVE ONE- a wax seal press. :) I'm a nerd- so I had a few. lol

Ok!

Since I already did my Urban Decay, I decided to fix a cheapy brand for the sake of this tutorial. :) It totally disintigrated! :(

oh noes!

Not to fear! Dump all of your shadow into a cup. The smaller the cup the better! It's easier to scoop up all the pigment once you're done mixing. :)

Now that your powder is out of the well- give it a good cleaning! :)

Now that you've prepped your well and you've got the powder in the cup- mix 3 drops of alcohol with your powder- if you don't have a dropper, use something that the alcohol can drop off of- anything metal works wonderfully. :)

This is what it should look like when mixed! make sure it's very crumbly!

If it isn't- add alcohol one drop at a time until all of the powder forms into

these crumbly little balls. :)

Next- Pack it back into your well and pat it down gently with your toothpick.

Pat, pat, pat. :)

Now place your quarter into your fabric (in my case, a paper towel) twist, and press firmly into the damp powder.

This is what it should look like! :)

Now if you're like me, and you want everything to look fancy, and if you have something to indent into the makeup, then this is your chance! :) I had a few wax seal stamps hanging around so I used this one.

Before you press, make sure that it's centered. It'll look kinda weird off to the side.

Apply pressure and slowly pull it off the powder and...

VOILA!

It's important to let your powders dry out before using them because they are still damp and fragile! If you mess with them too much, you'll interrupt the base and you could cause miniature fissures all throughout the cake. :( It's best to put them on a window sill and let the sun evaporate the alcohol. :) But there you have it! For cheap shadows, or expensive- it's a lifesaving lesson for your favorite pigments!

A few tips!

~ If you have multiple powders/pigments that you want stored away but they came in a deep wells, invest in a magnetic palette! They're pretty inexpensive and best of all- the pans are magnetized, so you can mix and match your palette for whatever occasion. :) Remember! If you order the magnetized palette, check to be sure whether or not they come with the pans or not!

Enjoy!

The Adventures of Power Girl (Pic heavy!)

2010-06-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

Whoo! It's been a crazy few weeks!

I finally made the decision to transfer from the art institute to a local community college on account of financial aid problems. It's just time to let it go and stop beating a dead horse. :/

Anyway- In my spare time, I've been working on my first large bust of Power Girl. :) She's not my absolute favorite comic character (It's a toss up between Harley and Catwoman :) but she's always been a super cool heroine to me and I love the sense of humor in the comics- not to mention boobs are ALWAYS fun to sculpt (Getting them smooth makes me so happy!) and since she's the most well endowed heroine around, I only thought it natural to sculpt her out first.

I started out with a basic sculpt w/expression mapped out accordingly and a general outline of the opening in her uniform.

Then I added the piping and gave the uniform some wrinkles where that stretch would be.

I smoothed out her face a little more and added the cape and the shoulder plate.

The chest strap is tricky! Because I'm going to cast this in resin, (this goes for anything for that matter!) there can't be any holes between the chest and the strap or else the mold will grab underneath and it could potentially break the casted strap when you pull it out! MAKE SURE you don't have any open spaces anywhere!

Oh no! This is where disaster struck! (I knew it had to somewhere along the way!) Because Power Girls.... erm... "assets" were too heavy for my tin foil and wire armature underneath, the bust completely separated from her head!! (which is supported by a wire dome that came with the armature set I bought from Pearls for $16. It's probably WAY easier and CHEAPER to make your own armature- just an FYI. :) Needless to say, I grabbed Johnny, gathered the last of my money and sped to Utrecht to grab the last of their no. 1 Plasticines! (Lucky me for being so unlucky today!)

(My jerry-rigged "bra" until I got back. This was the LAST half of a plasticine block that I had left! D: Once again, so lucky for being so unlucky!)

Here is the final result! :) I haven't taken pro pics yet, but I will soon! - And as soon as I'm done casting my first replica, I'll be posting that as well! Hooray for self-taught hands on learning experiences!

(I LOVE the base!)

Hope you guys enjoyed it! I know I did! :)

Just because.

2010-05-14T11:19:00.000-07:00

Some in progress of "...But Home is Nowhere"

2010-02-09T05:58:00.000-08:00

I was rummaging through some fuckery and I found these. :)

MANY revisions and MANY corrections til the finished product.

Aaaaaaaand then after being much too busy to take progression pics; the finished product. :)

Hope you enjoyed. If not, here's something you might enjoy more, you fucking Nancy, you.