What Goes On 12/18/15

December 18, 2015 in Weekend

Partying

We celebrated a close family friend's 90th birthday last weekend. Her daughters threw the party at a North Beach art gallery, North Beach Bauhaus. It made me stop and think about what an amazing person she is and all the people she has made an impact on with her incredible spirit, intelligence and wit. If only we could all live as full and rich lives.

Listening

Receiving

Elissa gave me one of her sketches from SoFA Sketch. How cool is this?? A little landscape in a globe. I love it so much.

I got some cool stuff in the mail this week! On Monday, Etsy sent me this awesome pin just because and my friend Jeremiah Harada sent me this sweet drawn postcard.

Loot from Michael Hsiung - my new favorite shirt!

I also got this Parabo Press risograph print. The Jealous Curator had posted that her first 100 readers to sign up would get a free print of one of their photographs. I chose this scene of a Moroccan rooftop from my trip last year. Pretty cool, huh? You can have your photos transformed and printed a variety of ways through the app.

Shipping

I've been shipping lots of 100 Day Project calendars this week. Someone even ordered 6! Thanks for all your support!

SoFA Sketching

Anabella making an awesome flyer for her sister's annual New Year's party in Albuquerque, NM

MIguel Machuca sketching with a battery-operated eraser

My 100 Day/SoFA Sketch. I finished it at home later that night.

This week we ran our final SoFA Sketch for the year. It started in July and we kept it going the 4th Wednesday of every month. For December, we met a week earlier since the 23rd seemed a little too close to Christmas. These last few months have been some of my favorite. SO many good artists and everyone is so great to be around.

What Goes On 12/12/15

December 12, 2015 in 100 Day Project

Buying

I supported the Kickstarter project for People I've Loved earlier this fall and received my reward this week. "Things will work out" is basically my life motto so I had to select this print. Carissa Potter's art is super funny and charming, so be sure to check out her work.

Gifting

A dear family friend is turning 90 and we are celebrating her birthday in San Francisco today. I illustrated this poem by William Blake, one of her favorites. I thought it would look nice aged so I used paper dyed with tea and walnut ink for the writing.

Making

In the last couple of days, I've been making wood stands for my desktop calendars. My friend Chris, of Patton Design, generously lent me his time and skill to make these great stands. I've been sanding them down and will seal them today. I'm super excited to get these out to customers. If you want to order one, you can get them here.

Planning

I'm sketching portraits for the last of my holiday orders right now. It's getting close to that time. I've had a few secret projects in the works too. More on that later.

Sketching

The last two days, I've gone to B2 at San Pedro Square Market and sketched people. I ran in to my friend Gordon there Thursday and went there with Bryan Friday morning. I want to start doing this every week.

What Goes On 12/4/15

December 04, 2015 in Weekend

Buying

I bought this awesome notebook from Subtle Acts on Etsy. Erica makes great block prints and I have been admiring her work for a long time. This one really spoke to me. Also, it's even prettier in person with shiny gold ink on navy.

Disciplining

I have my first jiu jitsu competition tomorrow. I will also be competing in a jiu jitsu tournament in January. This means some heavy duty training until then. Since I will also have an art show in early February, I am sensing some heavy duty discipline in the next few months.

Exhibiting

I will have these works available at the Hark show at Kaleid Gallery. The show opens tonight, Friday December 4th and will be up until January 16th.

Listening

I love Sheer Mag. They are the perfect 70's, punk and rock n' roll blend. They make me nostalgic for music that I used to listen to.

I also listened to The Pop Group this week. It had been a few years since I listened to this album all the way through and I think it's such a gem. Being a post-punk band, they are of course catchy and dissonant at the same time.

Reading

Lately, I've not been able to pick up on book I'm currently reading. Instead I've been reading articles about evil people in the world and trying to even remotely understand their actions. Incomprehensible and depressing.

Seeing

The sunset from a couple nights ago was (obviously) beautiful.

SoFA Sketch

Just an early reminder, Wednesday, December 16th will be the next SoFA Sketch. I thought I'd share one SoFA Sketch artist, Suhita Shirodkar, is featured in the new Archisketcher book by Simone Ridyard. So awesome!

Watching

The new season of Fargo is awesome. I love the music, tone, acting, feel and just everything about it. If you like good film or art, you must watch it. It's captivating, funny and dark all at once.

The new Aziz Ansari show, Master of None, is SO GOOD. I find it sweet and funny, but it is also so refreshing to see a diverse cast. So much of TV is caucasian and I don't think the general public always notices this. A big bonus that the soundtrack includes Yo La Tengo, The Slits, X-Ray Spex, Arthur Russell, Brian Eno, Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin, The Cure, Depeche Mode and more.

I'm sometimes mixed on South Park because they can take it too far for my taste, but I have to admit their geniuses at making fun of everything. The recent episodes focusing on gentrification with a new Whole Foods and living/shopping/eating development, SoDoSoPa, are so accurate and relevant. The idea that they built the development around "historic Kenny's house" reminds me of what they have done in San Jose by building San Pedro Square Market around the historic adobe. See this quick video to see the gist of it.

Weaving

I wove this tapestry earlier this week. It was so fun to make and I anticipate making more. I made the loom from stuff I found around amongst my supplies. Whenever I sew, hammer or make with my hands, I experience such a deep satisfaction. It reminds me that I need to do more than just paint.

Though I have been really busy lately, this weaving reminded me to slow down and do things for myself too.

Spain Art Residency Revisit Part 3 - Working in Cádiz

December 03, 2015 in Art Residency

This was my very first sketchbook entry in Cádiz. I already saw something different here. I was jet lagged when I drew it, but I also felt a change in the colors I was using and the abstract feel. I think the colors and lighting of the city had something to do with it.

There were days when I just had work everywhere: laid out on the floor, taped to the wall and covering the table. I was experimenting far more here than I had been back home.

We had a huge rooftop to go out and work on. I didn't spend much time working there, but did take my coffee out there when I arrived each day. One of the other artists in residence, Amy Podmore, created these legs with blue painter's tape. She made one each day. It was really cool to watch this evolve. Her work is amazing.

I literally could not stop making work while on this residency. The horizon line between the sky and sea endlessly inspired me, as well as random memories of my past. In fact, that was one of the most eye-opening aspects of being out there: being away from home and familiar circumstances causing me to revisit past experiences that I had not thought of in a long time.

The stone sketch that inspired the life-sized fireplace installation

Dioramas, collage, installations, drawings... Rewriting this post reminds me that I have a lot of unfinished ideas to pursue.

One thing I loved is how much I painted from my imagination in Cádiz. I often begin a drawing with either a photograph or life reference. The above painting was inspired by the forts I made as a kid, but from my imagination.

This is one of my diorama ideas that I got really excite about while out there. I had stripes of watercolor that I cut loosely with an X-acto knife. I lay these in front of the Blanket Fort painting and really liked what was happening. I wanted the idea to relate to memory and how it becomes harder to remember the whole picture clearly.

I'm looking forward to my upcoming show at The Arsenal in February 2016. I think you'll find a lot of influence from this time period. Thanks for following along in this series! It will continue through December.

100 Day Project: Days 71-80

November 30, 2015 in 100 Day Project

Well, it's feeling pretty good right about now. I'm 80% done with the 100 Day Project. Funny thing is, this was probably the slowest going batch yet. At this point, I am really looking forward to the art to come after it's done. In fact, I'm already working on some new work based on these sketches from this project.

Day 71 Take a break

I bought a large and long photograph of campers at the YWCA Girls Camp in 1917. They have the most interesting faces and I thought it would be fun to do a large Sumi ink painting of these ladies. Their expressions range so greatly! Some are smiling, some smirking and others frowning. It makes me wonder what life would have been like for them back in the day...

Day 72 Only one element of each kind

On the day I drew this one, I realized lately I have been training jiu jitsu, sleeping, eating, reading and painting lately. It's been busy but productive around here.

Day 73 Discard an axiom

I went with my dad to see Michio Kaku speak a little while back. His talk focused on the topic of "the future." It was pretty mind blowing to hear his vision of the future so I painted this portrait of him.

Day 74 Use an unacceptable color

I have often avoided the color pink because of the princess and girly association it has so I knew that would be my unacceptable color. While sketching with a friend at our neighborhood coffee shop, I decided to draw/paint these geraniums.

Day 75 Simply a matter of work

I tossed a few unexciting ideas around until I thought of painting a Greek vase with some hard working silhouettes. I was so happy with how this turned out. I think I will be doing more silhouette and vessel paintings.

Day 76 State the problem in words as clearly as possible

I don't quite remember how I exactly came up with this, but it was exciting to me once it hit. I wanted to convey that my head was in the clouds. This painting came out quite naturally, from the hairs around the bun to the complementary orange and blue color scheme.

Day 77 What are you really thinking about just now? Incorporate

Some friends and I were headed to a cabin for a friend's birthday at the end of the week. My mind was on the mountains and the possibility of seeing snow (which we did). This serene scene reminds of a tiny painting I made a few years ago.

Day 78 Retrace your steps

I decided to draw my favorite shoes I have had over the years. These classic shoes have been trustily getting me from one place to the next: Salt Water Sandals, Vans, Sperry Top Siders, Bass and Clark's Desert Boots. I really loved how these turned out.

Day 79 Voice nagging suspicions

As you can see at the top of this image, I decided to compete in my first jiu jitsu tournament. It makes me nervous and excited, but I am so glad I decided to do it!

Day 80 Accretion

You know, the build up of layers over time. I once visited the Oregon Caves, which were at the end of miles of windy road, cold and dark as you would expect.

Well, onto the last 20!