Watercolor is getting easier. I guess it just takes a lot of practice. There are many different techniques to learn and try before you can decide which one works best for you. Because watercolors are translucent, you can either build up your colors, mixing them on the paper, or you… Read More »Learning to use watercolors.
I’ve been keeping a sketchbook consistantly this semester to organize all of my thoughts, thumbnails, and small studies from my four studio classes in one place. Oftentimes, ideas I generate for one class work well in another and help me to focus my thoughts. In previous semesters, I kept notes… Read More »Keeping a Sketch Book
This is pretty straight forward. This charcoal drawing was done in figure drawing class, from a live model, in about 2 hours.We worked on gray paper so that we could bring out the highlights with a white charcoal pencil. I worked up the drawing with vine charcoal first, and then… Read More »Portrait in Charcoal
Warning: This post contains drawings of nude models for academic purposes. I have been cranking out work lately. I guess that makes sense when I am enrolled in more studio classes at once than ever before. The class that turns out finished drawings most rapidly is figure drawing, because for… Read More »Drawing the Figure.
In figure drawing class, besides drawing the figure, we are working on weekly assignments that focus on one part of the body at a time. Here we have the skull. I chose to work in pencil because it is clean. I do not care for charcoal, even if it is… Read More »Skull Studies
Drawing from Life: it’s my fourth studio class this semester. My “elective,” even though I have to take another studio class. So far, so good in the course. We’ve met three times and the professor seems very nice and I think she loves what she does, so that’s always a… Read More »Describing with Shadows.
This semester, as part of my illustration major, I am taking a course in watercolors. I have dealt with watercolors in the past, but this course will go into a whole new level of technique and detail for me. It’s been a few years since I’ve touched a watercolor set,… Read More »Watercolor class.
I’ve been very drawn to owls lately. I love the way they look, and the many ways that they can be distorted and stylized but remain recognizable. So naturally, my last visit to Plaster-Fun-Time had me painting an owl bronze. I wanted the owl to look metallic; lots of owls… Read More »Plaster Owl.
I have added a batch of new images to the galleries. Almost all sections have received additions. At this point, I think I have added just about everything I wanted to. But of course, new work will come as I make it. If you’d like to see more pictures, you… Read More »New Pictures in Galleries and more on Flickr
W00t! After weeks of learning and working and trying and re-trying, I finally fulfilled several of my web goals. I have learned how to build a simply website from scratch using HTML. I have learned some very handy basics of the coding language, and I have found ways to manipulate… Read More »Exciting New Web Galleries!
About a month ago, my mom and I went to go check out a new Thrift store in town. In a junk bin of miscellaneous jewelry parts, I found half of an old, fake watch. It was terribly dirty–black even. But it was interesting non-the-less. I asked if I could… Read More »Unique, Homemade Necklace from a Thrift-store Find
New painting! This one is a commissioned piece. Its a portrait done from an old photograph. I restored the colors and worked in washes at first to build up an underpainting, and then went in with my final colors and strokes. The face took me a very long time to… Read More »Portrait on the Grass
Geez. What a week. I was supposed to be on vacation, but instead I assigned myself an unreasonable amount of work to do. I decided, as I often do, that I am not yet completely satisfied with my web prescence. But what is a girl like me, with no coding… Read More »Conquering the web….or not.
Once again, I have re-made my website, or at least the design. This time, hopefully, I will be happy with it for a little longer. The big change, and the big reason why I think this one will be one to keep for a while is the width of the… Read More »I did it again.
Yesterday I felt like drawing shoes. I started out with trying to come up with fairly normal, practical looking ones that were still somehow original, but the more I drew, the weirder things got. You can see me progression pretty clearly if you look from right to left, top to… Read More »Crazy shoes.
So not to long ago, when I was messing around in photoshoop, trying to learn new techniques, I started making wallpapers for my friends. I came up with a few cool ones, I think. So now, here they are for the world to see, and use if they’d like!
REFRESH TO SEE UPDATES ON SHAUNART.NET (if you are reading this from the main site, sometimes updates don’t show up without a refresh. so do it now) But back to the post– So, I’ve told you all about this piece of work before, but I made you search your iTunes… Read More »iTunes Album art in Commissions gallery
As you may have noticed, the website looks quite a bit different than it did a day ago. I have moved the navigation bar to the left side of the screen, and changed the color scheme and the web banner. I have been going around the site cleaning out old… Read More »Big Changes.
I am in the process of re-working my website. I hope to make it simpler and easier to navigate. I also want to cut down on unnecessary content while giving important content more space to stand out. One of the first things that I have updated it my biography. You… Read More »Reworking the site.
Hey everyone, So typically, I do a lot of updating after getting back from a convention, and believe me, I do have a lot to update. However I am experiencing some super computer problems which are going to make it very difficult for me to update the site or the… Read More »Forgive the Lull in Updates
This past weekend I attended Connecticon for the third time. It was located in Hartford, CT at the Connecticut Convention Center. If you missed the fun, you can look into registering for next year at their website. Whether you were there or not, you can read my review of the… Read More »Connecticon is over.
Hey! My brother just released his first itunes single, and I designed the cover art. But I’m not going to show you the art here just yet 😉 If you want to see it, go to your itunes store and search for “Lemon Lime,” by Eric Leva. And while your… Read More »My Art’s on iTunes!
Sadly, I am very disappointed in what I saw on the actual fourth of July in terms of photographable fireworks. We were stationed on the beach in New Hampshire, surrounded by fireworks going off in the distance, but there were very few close enough to shoot. The best shots I… Read More »The Fourth: Food and Fireworks.
Last night I attended another fireworks display, this time in Wilmington. This show was a really dazzling one, but more difficult to photograph because the fireworks went off at irregular intervals making it more difficult than the Lexington show to get the timing right. I got a few good shots,… Read More »Fireworks Round Two.
This post is a visual post more than anything; my favorite part about The Fourth of July is the Fire works, and because the Fourth falls on a Sunday this year, I get to enjoy fireworks all weekend long. Below is a gallery of the fireworks show I saw last… Read More »Fourth of July Visuals
Just a reminder to everyone that Connecticon is happening the weekend of July 9th through the 11th at the Connecticut Convention Center. You can get your regitration online or at the Convention Center. Regular Price: $60.00, Single Day Memberships: Friday Only Membership: $30.00, also available for purchase in person at… Read More »Connecticon is fast Approaching!
I would like to thank the The Colonel Connelly Park Committee, and the Friends of Lake Quannapowitt for having me as a Caricaturist at the opening celebration for a brand new playground built at Colonel Connelly Park on lake Quannapowitt, just off exit 40 of route 128 in Wakefield. Though… Read More »Park Opening at Lake Quannapowitt
Looking for a fun, easy, nearly effort-free activity to do with kids (or not)? You should go to Plaster Fun Time. That’s what I did yesterday. I love that place, and I’m what? 20? And I’ve loved it since I was what? 5?Plaster Fun Time is recommended for children ages… Read More »Fun with Plaster
For my brother’s graduation this past Sunday, I decorated his cap for him, as many students do, to reflect their interests and personalities. The whole thing was done in acrylic paint and sharpie markers. Thanks to two years in college, this cap looks a lot better than my own did… Read More »Graduation cap
For anyone who is wondering, I buy the Mehndi Henna Kit by Jacquard every time I feel like drawing all over people. I think that they recently changed their formula, because this time around, the mixture was MUCH smoother and stained a lot darker, and a lot faster. They also… Read More »“You should charge for this.” More henna.
A while back I designed a business package for a fictional musician or music school with the hopes that it could someday be modified to fit my younger brother’s needs as a free-lance musician. Yesterday, that business package, which included a business card design, came in handy. Now my brother… Read More »Custom Business Card in Commissions Gallery
What to do with these long summer days? I know, I shall learn how to knit! Or should I learn crochet? Let’s do some research on the internet before I invest in one or the other…..lets see….they say that knitting is harder to pick up, but crochet has more different… Read More »To Knit or Crochet?
Late spring is a wonderful time to grab your camera, and head out exploring. Take a hike, go hunt down a few yard sales, and stumble upon a some unexpected treasures in your own backyard. This is what I’ve been doing all weekend, and the sights and sounds that I… Read More »The Spark of Spring
Now that my sophomore year is over, I decided to make a list of what I think are the ten most important things that I have learned this year. They may not be in perfect order, but I tried to somewhat number them by importance. Hopefully, knowing these things will… Read More »Top 10 Things I learned this year
Classes are done for the year! All I have left to work on is some final papers. But as far as studio classes go, I am DONE with work. This is my latest piece from drawing for Illustration. Our assignment was to draw a gargoyle in an architectural setting. Now,… Read More »Gargoyle Illustration
This set of two is my completed final project for Lithography. Typically, when I set out to compose a work, I try to put together a window that allows to viewer to see into a complete scene. As an illustrator, I deal with narrative, setting, and continuity. Foreground, middle-ground, and… Read More »Third Print: My turtle!
This is the finished version of my second lithography project. After many disasters, I managed to pull four good prints to make an edition. Our assignment was to use a newspaper to inspire our work. What we took from the newspaper, no matter how much or little, was up to… Read More »Second Print
Once again, as part of my science and art class (which is now finished btw) we spent some time becoming familiar with different kinds of paint. This tiny little piece is my very first time working with oil paint! This panel is only 4″x4″ and has been gesso’d and sanded… Read More »First Oil Painting
This week in Illustration, the class built human skulls out of super sculpey, a “ceramic like” polymer clay that hardens after baking. Fresh out of the box the sculpey is quite rigid, but the heat from your hands start a chemical reaction that softens the clay as you work. This… Read More »Building a Super Sculpey Skull
Yes, I’m still on my henna kick. I did this design on my hand today during my film class. I can totally draw and watch movies at the same time. So I would like to clarify, first of all that the henna in these photo graphs is not the color… Read More »A little more on henna
I have completed a new illustration! It has been added to the website’s main gallery as well as the illustration page. This is a graphite 9×12 illustration of a waterfall spirit. Our assignment was to create some sort of denizen of nature. A spirit, or ghoul, or god of the… Read More »Waterfall Illustration
In my science and art class we have been learning about different kinds of paint: how to make them and how to use them. I’ve only ever painted with watercolors and acrylics, so it was my first time using fresco, egg tempera, and oil paints. Egg tempera is traditionally a… Read More »First Egg Tempera
Style and appearance are very important. We can all agree on that right? That people judge you first by how you look, and then by what you do. Hair cut and style is included as a facet of someone’s appearance. Hair can make a person look put together or sporty… Read More »All About Hair Straighteners
Another day of henna in the beautiful weather. Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures of everyone that I drew on.
We’re in the middle of Spring fling 2010 at the University of Hartford, and so far, the highlight of my weekend really has been the henna that I have been doing. I have a few pictures here for you of the work I’ve been doing on people. Henna is a… Read More »Spring Fling Henna 2
As I did last year, I will once again be bringing henna to the festivities of Spring Fling at the University. I am very excited to get started and plan to do some practice henna on myself tomorrow in I have a chance. If not, it will have to wait… Read More »Henna for Spring Fling
So I was very nervous about lithography, as anyone would know if they read my “End of the Year Crunch” post. Fortunately though today in lithography I got more than I thought I would be able to done, and will be printing the first state on Wednesday. I thought that… Read More »Printing Wednesday
I finally have enough pictures of my Sheik costume where I feel I am ready for a critique. I plan to fix up this costume for Connecticon and future cons to come. If you have any suggestions for me on how I can improve, please Critique my costume on the Cosplay.com… Read More »Costume Critique
Really only three more weeks until this semester is over, and everyone–both students and teachers–are feeling the pressure. Those poor graphic designers! They’re reviews are coming up this Thursday and my boyfriend has been in the studio non-stop for three days. Lots of majors are preparing for their portfolio reviews… Read More »End of the Year Crunch
A lot of people have heard of the idea of using duct tape to make a dress form that perfectly matches the model’s shape. It involves wrapping the model tightly in duct tape, cutting him/her out and then stuffing this hollow shell with foam or newspaper or fiberfill. I have… Read More »Duct tape Corsets?