First semester final projects!

Last Thursday was my last class for this semester at Kwantlen Polytechnic University! I was a bit skeptical taking art classes there, not sure how good the teachers would be compared to taking classes at a university such as Emily Carr or Capilano. But I've learned a lot this semester and had many wonderful and fantastic teachers! In my drawing class I learned a lot on drawing the human figure. Our last assignment was to draw a skeleton based on the plastic figure in class 

Amazing!

Looking back on this assignment I wish I had more time to put detail in it, however im happy with how it turned out!

I'm much more proud of my project for digital media. Again, I wish I had more time to work on it! 2 weeks to film, edit and do other things inbetween (other classes, part time jobs, social life) but I'm happy with how it turned out, I'm looking forward to continuing my studies and hopefully get into the selective entry program for graphic design. Until then I'm taking the next level for digital media and I'm also taking up sculpting because... Well... It looks fun! 😳

if if you want to see my video for digital media I'll put it below here! 

I have a lot of room for improvement, I know, but I think I've gotten better :) I think what I loved the most this term was meeting so many new people! Talking to them about art and sharing ideas and giving each other feedback was amazing! I only hope the luck I've had with amazing classmates continues into next semester!

Me: Learning to draw the human figure

For my first semester at university I took a drawing class to help me draw the human figure.

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My attempt at a self portrait 

the last 2 weeks we've 2 nude models for both classes come in and pose for us. Honestly, I was a bit nervous about having a complete stranger pose nude infront of me but once the session started it wasn't awkward  at all. 

My teacher had the class pose for a minute like the model before we started drawing so we would understand how hard it is for the model to hold a pose. Looking at the model pose hardly moving at all makes it seem so easy. But it's not. Like.. Not at all.

My skill at drawing the human figure has significantly improved from the last 2 classes

End class result after first day of live model drawing

On the second class I felt a lot more confident. Drawing the figure was a lot faster and (I think) I improved a lot on proportions

Start of second drawing 

Finished drawing 2nd class.

I feel like I have a lot to improve on but so far I'm happy with the progression of my skill :) next week will be the female model. I'm excited to see how my next portrait will turn out with how well they've been improving so far :D ! 

A Thank You Letter

Sometimes there's just incredibly (almost unrealistically) nice people out there. In this day and age, if you leave your monthly transit bus pass lying around in a public place you can expect not to see it again if you accidentally leave it behind. If you've been to a grocery store or (like me) work in one part time, you'll know that every so often they'll ask if you'll want to donate 2 dollars for childrens charity. It's so easy to say no and for me, working as a cashier, I went through countless customers until I had the first one say yes to donating. The worst part of this? when the customer said they would donate 2 dollars I said "really?!" because I felt like I was going to have no customer donate to charity...only because for almost my entire shift...no one did.

You would'nt believe how much in disbelief I was when my dad told me his client had donated me and my sister $250 each towards our education. 

he gave me this letter from the awesome woman who generously donated the money:

umm how cool is this lady?

120% cool. get on her level.

I know this post isn't worth $250. One day when I have enough money and i'm in the right position to, I'll give $250 to a student. Until then, Thank you Glenna!

A Quiet place to work

I can't stress enough how nice it is to have a spot to do your work. Be it homework, studying or art. Looking back in my days of highschool I miss having so much studio time in my art classes. Now that I'm in university all my studio time resides in my own time at my home. In my home, where there's plenty distractions, clutter, noise...

You get my point. And although there are days when the studio at school is open for anyone to use, getting to the studio by transit and lugging all my supplies there and back isn't really worth it in the end.

The desk where I had my other textbooks and desktop computer was also where I did my art. And that quickly became cluttered. 

My work space

My desk was constantly full of papers with limited space to move anything around without messing up another part. My drawer was full of sketch books, pencil crayons and paint. I had glass jars packed full of paint brushes and markers to give my desk some sense of organization.

Having a quiet, organized area to work is important because....​

1) It helps you stay focused. (this means you get your work done and you produce higher quality work!)​

2) ​It makes you inspired. (Choose a spot where you're comfortable. I set myself in my room because I don't have a tv or computer upstairs and I'm surrounded with posters and a lot of work I plastered on my walls)

3) it's easier. (When you have a space that's just for doing your work everything you need is around you! You don't need to scramble around for all your supplies)​

obviously, I needed a new space to do my art. I was painting at the same place I did psychology homework, typed up essays and did my digital work... And I just don't have enough desk space for that!

My room was the optimal place for me to do my art. I had no distractions, it wasn't a shared room like the office was, and my room was practically empty except for my bed and vanity table (and of course my posters and art but I don't like to call that furniture!)

The first thing I did was buy a drafting table. I chose a drafting table because you can adjust the angle of the desk to suit your prefererance. Drafting tables are fairly large so you can fit pretty big sizes of paper on them and have a lot of work space. You can also just use them as a normal desk and put your laptop on them (I don't have a laptop though.... not yet at least)

​I ordered my drafting table from Deserres, a really awesome art store that beats Micheals by a long shot in my opinion. They give 10% off to students with the creative club card! (Which is free!) and their selection of materials and supplies is superb.

The desk I chose.

Anyway, back to the discussion of my drawing board! I chose the deluxe craft station, which came up to $246.49 with taxes. Shipping was free and there were no additional charges at the door when they delivered it (woo hoo!)

My craft station when it arrived at my door

I chose this desk because it seemed like the best deal. It comes with attatchments to hold your supplies.

The desk is secured with some rubber stoppers and styrofoam while the other parts are wrapped in plastic. The instructions were easy to follow and came with all the parts needed to assemble the desk.  It took me 3 hours to make the desk by myself but of you have someone nice enough to help you it should take an hour and a half.

A look at the desk unassembled in the box

My only issue with setting this up was the black drawer box that hangs below the table. The box comes seperated in 3 segments and the instructions simply tell you to push them together. It took me forever to get the boxes to snap in place and a lot of force. It was a lot of work for such a simple thing!

Although setting it up took FOREVER I'm very pleased with this crafting table. It feels very sturdy and there's a lot of spots to put supplies in!

To finish up my art space I bought a lamp from Target for 24.99. 

This lamp was so easy to install. You just twist the rods together, put in the lamp shades and plug it in and you're good to go! It's very trendy and looks so cute in my room I absolutely adore it. The best part of this lamp is you can adjust each light to shine where you want it.

I think having a quiet place to work undisturbered is amazing :) I feel comfortable and cozy and just ready to work! 

what do you think?