What Matters Most

Things are crazy and there isn't a whole lot of time. Family demands, church and school keep me and my family busy. As I think about this past school year, however, I feel like I have really been given the opportunity to recognize those things that are most important in life. Not to say I didn't realize it before, but I have internalized and come to understand that family and friends are everything. Going to Art School in NYC has been a huge sacrafice. We have had to give up a lot of monetary items. We are currently living with my wife's parents. Thanks to them this has all been possible, but it is difficult humbling ourselves to accept their help. I feel so greatful for an understanding of those things that matter most. I see a lot of people that are mis-directed. Before I came to art school I was pursuing Dentistry. There were courses that I absolutely loved, anatomy, biology, but then there were others, like chemistry that I hated with a passion. I found myself trying to make something work that I didn't believe in 100%. One of the things that helped push me towards art was the believe that I would be most successful doing what I love to do. Monetarily it may not be as rewarding as dentistry, but as I have come to accept that I have set my sites on greater goals. You can be happy, truly happy when you focus on what matters most.

Moving Forward

I really don't have a whole lot to report. School is going well. I am trying to get the Salt Lake Temple Sketch digitized and printed-I'm not sure how long that is going to take me. I finished the hand cast drawing I was doing (I'll get a picture of it this weekend) and will probably begin my final cast drawing in March. Right now I am working on my block-in's before starting the final. The night class is going well. I only have two more days to finish. I'll take a picture Friday to show the progress.

Here is the progress on the lab I started at my brother's house during Christmas break. To the right is a cast I was blocking in the other day at school.

Finally I get to Paint!

Last month I started taking two night classes, which I plan to continue this month, portrait painting and portrait sculpture. I am really enjoying both, but especially the painting. The first three weeks were spent drawing the head and finally this week I transfered it to canvas and started to paint. The transfer process is not entirely accurate. It lacks the human touch, so this week I painted the contours and added a light wash. I have included the canvas up to this point. Next week I will start modeling or makeing the head look 3-d. I am really excited. Because of the added problems with color this first painting will be monochromatic. Essentially, everything I have been doing up to this point is in preparation for painting. It is the same process, just paint instead of graphite. I have included both the painting and the drawing I transfered it from. The model is the younger sister of one of my fellow classmates. It is a two month pose-one night a week for three hours. So I will have four more weeks to paint.

In class I am finishing up the hand. After that I will spend several weeks working on block-ins before starting my final piece. The final piece should take 2-3 months and will be a lot more complex than I have attempted thus far. After that I will start the whole process over, but painting casts instead of drawing. I hope I can start painting before school ends in May.