Self-portraits

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I had a bit of a camera malfunction but everything is fine now.

This was for my painting class. We were supposed to spend an hour on the drawing and then four hours on the painting.

Only ten days until I fly home! I find that hard to believe. I probably won't believe it until I'm sitting on the plane.

It is snowing here again. As of this morning. I wonder if it will last a little longer this time.

Today I need to come up with a plan for my nine and a half hour final drawing assignment. It is supposed to be about 24"x36" and show myself in two different environments. I have been thinking about it a lot but so far I have no idea what I'm going to do.

Mast and Sails

For this weeks drawing class we went to the Maritime Museum. I wanted to draw the boats but we were supposed to be doing perspective drawings of the building.

The term is so close to being over. I am excited to be coming home so soon but I also wish I had more time to finish all the projects still left to do. We only have two more photo classes and I'm not even half way finished my final project. Mind you, some people haven't even started so I guess I'm doing okay. I hope to get it near completion this weekend. We'll see.

Drawings and a Print

This is from our life drawing session. I think we get to do it a couple more times this semester.

An in class self-portrait. A bit wonky but at least it looks like me. I'm working on another one as a home assignment right now.

This was for our Paint/Print class. The teacher supplied the photos to work from and we had to first make a pencil portrait and then one with stamping. I was really frustrated and annoyed that we had to do this and I left it to the last minute the night before. So I ended up doing both of them in an hour and a half. The funny thing is, I'm actually pretty happy with them.

Prints

These are some prints from a couple weeks ago. I am knee deep in ink right now(ok, exaggeration, but I do have ink on my feet where I accidentally dropped an inked plexi glass plate). Only a couple more days of print class so our teacher has loaded on the projects.
These prints are lino cuts that I have printed on a background painted with gouache. The photo doesn't do the colours justice.

Local Tourist Assignment

This assignment was to choose something or somewhere we walk by everyday and don't normally notice, and explore it with our camera. We were to make a series of three postcards and write a note on the back of one of them.

I struggled with this assignment because my whole roll of film turned out overexposed. I did what I could to save some of the shots but I would have liked to be able to pick three completely different shots rather than two being very similar.

Oh, and there is a shoe in the second one, it's hard to see in the scan.

A White Surprise

This is what I woke up to this morning.

Cat Portraits

I've just been playing around with my camera. I am constantly amazed at the shots that I wouldn't even have tried before because I know my old camera couldn't do them and yet they work perfectly with this one. Particularly low light shots.

NSCAD Library

This is just the third floor of the library at school. This is where all the lovely coloured periodicals are kept.

Collage

This is one of a few collages I had to make for my Paint/Print class. I'm not sure what it has to do with either of those things but maybe I will find out in class today.
As always, you can click on the image for a bigger version.

A New Camera!

Well, I probably don't have to say how excited I am.

So many options and settings and whatnot.

I'll be sad to say goodbye to my old camera, though. I have had it for so long. But it will be in good hands with my mum.

It will be different not being able to just throw my camera in my pocket. I guess I will get used to having it hanging around my neck.

I really struggled with the decision of which one to buy. My last camera was a Canon and I suppose I was feeling some loyalty. It came down to how they felt in my hands. The Nikon just felt sturdier.

So I guess you'll be seeing better quality pictures on here from now on.

Film Still

This is a still from a movie Autumn and I worked on years ago and is still in the editing process.

The Nine Hour Drawing

Drawing 1

We had our midterm interviews in drawing class so I brought home all the drawings I have done so far. I had a request that I put them on here. These aren't all of them but these are my favorites.
Sorry they are too big to scan so it's back to taking pictures of them.

We started with contour line drawings.

Here we were sticking with contour lines but working on accuracy in proportions.

This class was about perspective and vanishing points.

Finally we started tonal drawings. First we did an egg but I think that is in my locker so I can't post it.

We spent a whole class drawing mushrooms.

Last class was about hatching and cross hatching. This was my first time using a bamboo pen and ink.

These are all in class drawings. I haven't been to proud of my home assignments. I will post a photo of my latest one when it's finished. It had better be good after I put nine hours of my life into it.

Mittens!

Jenn is home after being away for three weeks. It is really nice to see her again.
I haven't met her mum but she was very sweet and knit me these wonderful mittens as a thank you for looking after the cats while Jenn was away. The inside is all fleecy and cozy.

Tea

Stormy Morning

It was very windy and rainy this morning. Knocked over our big canvas umbrella in the back yard.

Of course, by the afternoon there was not a cloud in the sky and it was lovely and warm.

I also finished my final Studio Practice project today. Tomorrow is the last class.

These are terrible photos. We don't seem to have good lighting for taking photos at night in this house.

I'll try to take some better photos in the daylight.

The Top 250 Best Movies of All Time Map

This has been my guide for movie watching lately. Of course a list of the top 250 best movies of all time is completely subjective and I totally disagree with some of them on here but I have also found some really good ones. As you can see I have quite a few but you can definitely see which genres I am more interested in. War movies, Westerns, and Mysteries are looking sadly neglected. I'll get to them eventually.
(If you click on it you can see it bigger and hopefully be able to read it.)

Black Dresses

This is a return to an old idea where a figure's garments are done in solid black ink and the rest of them is done in pencil.
I did this back in the beginning of september but I finally have a scanner so the images look okay now.

(P.S. I have a new favourite song: You Were The Last High by the Dandy Warhols. Not sure why I like it so much but it probably won't last long as I have practically had it on replay all night.)

Public Gardens

Assignment: Self Portrait in Relief

For Studio Practice we had to create a self portrait in relief using non-traditional materials and a photo of ourselves that we had already used for a previous assignment.
I had fun with mine but didn't have enough time to execute it as well as I had envisioned. I think the teacher liked it but I probably will lose marks because it doesn't really look like me.

Yes, I know, it is sitting on the toilet. That is simply because it was the best lighting for photographing it at night. Oh, and I must have added the eyelashes after I took this.

Cameras

In photography we learnt how to use the Mamiya which is a medium format camera. It shoots large square negatives and there are only twelve shots to a roll. It doesn't have a built in light meter so we have to use a separate one.

You see the image by looking down into the hood.

This is what it looks like with the hood up and the bellows all the way out.

I am glad to have the chance to learn how to use this camera but I don't think I will switch to using it for all the assignments. It simply takes too long to set up a shot when you have to figure out the light meter and then you only have twelve shots to play around with.
So I am still using the Pentax as well. This is the lens I have on it right now.

Well, it's a sunny day. I should get dressed and go take some photos because I need to develop and print two rolls by thursday.