Good Cop, Bad Cop

Since I've been writing about the cool things in art, and the things that I like, I think it's time to do a blog on one aspect that I don't like so much.

WEARABLE ART...dun, dun, duuunnnn.

I have seen some not so great pieces of art, but wearable art usually tops the charts on the ugly scale for me. I really wonder what was going through peoples' heads when they created, let alone put on some of the pieces I've seen.

I suppose expression is expression. Just because I think it's ugly doesn't mean someone else wouldn't buy it for $100,000. Although what would you do with a hideous costume that could possibly fall apart if you tried to put it on? Now THAT is a dust collector just waiting to be bought. Am I right or am I right? Hopefully I don't turn into the world's biggest hypocrite and become a wearable art designer some day. Lord help us all.

It looks like I have nothing but trash talk to say about this certain genre. Maybe it would be best to let you guys see some pieces and judge for yourself. I'd like to see these things in someone's closet on an episode of What Not To Wear.

STELLA!!!!

Art appears in life, I have found it, it's called a Harlequin Great Dane! It seems that my love for art, contrast, and canine has all come together to make my dream dog. Yes I said dream dog. I hate cats, they're miserable creatures who only show you love when they want to be scratched. Dogs are almost always happy to see you and they love you no matter what. Like one of my teachers said, "If a cat had a five fingers, every time you'd walk in the door it would flip you off."

The deal with the Harlequin Great Dane, if you've never seen one, is that it is a Great Dane that basically looks like it has the coat of a Dalmatian. My favorite Harlequins are the ones with the pointy ears, but I would love a regular eared one just as much. These dogs are beautiful and graceful and down right cute! If I could pain a Harl I would, but I'm pretty sure there's no way I would be able to get the coat right. That's another thing! Their coats are so sleek and unique. The spots on the dogs aren't actually round spots, they look like torn edges of construction paper and are irregular. I'm not just writing this blog to talk about a dog I'm pretty obsessed with, I really do thing they are as beautiful as great pieces of artwork. The way I look at it, I just take the beauty of classic art and try to find beauty that matches or rivals it in the real world. In this case, it just so happens that I found a dog. So be it!

Someday I will have a dog that looks like this and her name will be Stella. She will be the best dog ever!

How to feed a starving Artist...

I've been contemplating how I would get along if I were on a tight budget as a professional artist. I'm not saying that if you become an artist you have to be constantly hungry and poor, I just think it's more fun to look at it that way. Starving does add some dramatic appeal to the whole scenario if you ask me. So I'm making a list of the things I would try to live off of if I were in some shanty little apartment with my dog, computer, numerous sketchbooks, and Lord knows what else.

Drinks
Red Bull...but not the sugar free, that's just pointless.
Starbucks products...if I could afford them, I just need coffee.
Vitamin Water...it's bland yet ridiculously tasty.
Kool-Aid...that's just a given coming from LJ.
Juice...I go through a bottle a week of juice, especially orange.
Powerade Packets...those babies make water taste like heaven.

Food
Ramen Noodles...only chicken or pork flavored, shrimp is sick.
Pasta-Roni...it's what I make when my parents are gone, it's easy.
Rice-a-Roni...God's gift to rice eaters everywhere.
Mac&Cheese...no explanation needed.
Tortillas...I can make my own homemade for cheap!
Hot Dogs...I refuse to learn what is actually in them though.
Tostino's Pizzas...AMAZINGNESS frozen and packaged into a box.
Spinach...so much better to make salads with than iceberg lettuce.


And that is a big chunk of what I would be eating. It's really not that bad, but I would have to exercise regularly, maybe even two times a day if I don't want to be seeing those Tostino's Pizzas when I look in the mirror. It's so nice to be a teenager and be able to eat practically anything I want and have the matabolism to burn it off. I better enjoy it while I can!

I'm off to find the ice cream! Ta ta!

Graphic Artist & Professional Recluse

Dear child, what do you want to do with your future?
Well, I want to be an "artist whose work can only be described as expressive, comical, and gross." Yup, that about sums it up.

I've known ever since I was little that I loved to draw, I just never really knew what to do with it. This year my art teacher has been trying to focus my skills and my brain on what I want to do after high school. He's told me he really couldn't care less if I never used my art to make a living, but now that I've been thinking about it, I think it's really something I'd like to do. If the power is there why squander it, right?

Even though with the economy being the way it is and with not many people in the buyer's market as far as advertising goes, I'd still like to be a graphic artist. I don't think I'd enjoy working in a big corporation, but I'd definitely like to be self employed and then work on commission for those big corporations. I may have to live off of Ramen Noodles when the business gets slow, but that's okay, I like Ramen.

In our college years and then when everyone eventually has kids, the band t-shirts you will wear and that your children will wear will be designed by me. And the album covers for the "sickest" bands will also be designed by me. You will think, "Oh my gosh, I remember that girl from high school, wow look at that, she really did something with her life." Yup, it's going to feel really good. It may even be worth coming back to our 10 year reunion for. Wait, let me think that through again, oh, no that was a lie. I'll be too busy making your shirts! And they will look fabulous by the way.

It won't be a gravy train, but it'll be good enough for me!
Please enjoy some of my favorite pieces by Derek Deal. I love you Derek!

Quotey McQuote Quote!

Personally I find art very depressing sometimes. Those times are mostly when I walk into the art room and realize that I have absolutely no burning desire to go anywhere near a paint brush that day. So I've decided that maybe some helpful quotes from other artists could help out a little. I'll just list off some of them and then start talking again.



"I've never believed in God, but I believe in Picasso."
-Diego Rivera (please don't be offended in any way about the religious reference)

"I dream a lot. I do more painting when I'm not painting. It's in the subconscious."
-Andrew Wyeth

"The only time I feel alive is when I'm painting."
-Vincent Van Gogh

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
-Scott Adams

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up."
-Pablo Picasso

"An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one."
-Charles Horton Cooley

"All art requires courage."
-Anne Tucker



I think that's good for now, I feel much more at ease just reading those quotes. To me art isn't something to be stressed over. Obviously it's different when you are in a class and you have a deadline on a piece and you are struggling to make the deadline AND get a good grade, but still, art should be enjoyed. Sometimes I never feel calmer or more centered that when I'm drawing, painting, or just plain creating something in general. It seems to be really important to remember that you need to have fun. And if it isn't fun, then you either need to convince yourself that is it or take up a new hobby my friend!

I'VE LOST MY CHILD!

Yes that's right I've lost my child! No, I have not completely lost my mind, only the part of it that is lost in grief!!! What I'm trying to say is that, I have lost my sketchbook! My tears, sweat, blood, joy, sorrow, excitement, determination, dreams, goals, influences, ideas, emotions, EVERYTHING is in that book! Not to mention the fact that I already had ALL 27 sketches done for the 3rd Quarter! My poor baby, he's missing his momma. For Pete's sake it wasn't even a third of the way full! Do you have any idea how much paper there was left in it? A ton, that's how much!

It's actually physically sickening to think that someone else out in the world might have my sketchbook. I have torn my room and my house apart looking for my dear book. Yes I have other sketchbooks that need to be finished, but I want that sketch book. The horrible part is that in pretty much every sketch book I've owned (that I would have minded losing) I have put an address on the inside cover or on the back so that if I ever left it somewhere and someone found it, they could mail or deliver it to me. What are the odds that this was the one time, I didn't put my contact information inside my sketchbook? I had some of my BEST work in that book, and now it's gone. I could try and recreate some of my works, but what's the use? They won't be the same as they were before. Good Lord, my stomach is starting to hurt just thinking about this. It could be sitting in a dumpster right now!!! That's right a DUMPSTER!

Goodbye Charles, my sweet, sweet sketchbook. May you rest in peace until the day of your final decomposition.

Body and a Bottle

Time for another look at art with Ariana! Today's topic is body art. Now before you get uncomfortable thinking of scantily dressed people showing off their covered skin, I want to assure you that I will not be posting any pictures like that. If those kind of images pop up in your brain then that is totally and completely your fault and I take absolutely no blame for it. That said, lets move along.

In this post I'm focusing mostly on body paint, tattooing, and henna tattooing. Body paint is pretty self explanatory, it's just like face painting, only on the entire body. I might not post a picture of body paint seeing as those pictures probably aren't very school appropriate, even though they are really interesting. I might be able to find one of a hand that has been painted though.

Everyone knows what a tattoo is. If you do NOT know what a tattoo is then I hope you are either under the age of twelve or come from a part of the world where there is no tattooing. If neither of those apply to you then you, my friend, are extremely sheltered and I worry for your future social well being. The way I approach the art of tattooing is that it is just another way of expression, just in a permanent manner. Although in my opinion it's extremely irritating when people get tattoos that are completely meaningless and they just get it done for the sake of having a tattoo. If you're going to get ink permanently embedded in your skin, PLEASE think it through first! I don't believe in art for the sake of art. Have a little passion people for pity's sake!

Henna is something that not everybody knows about, so I will do my best to give a short explanation of it. Henna, or Hina, is a flowering plant that is used to dye skin, hair, fingernails, leather, and wool. The name is also used for the art of temporary tattooing based on the dyes. Henna tattooing, from what I've seen is actually quite beautiful and intricate. I'm not quite sure on the cultural background of the uses of Henna, I want to say they use it in India, but don't quote me on saying that. If you're interesting in learning more about Henna you can look for information on Google or Wikipedia or anywhere else that suits your fancy.

I'll put a few pictures up now.

Peanut Butter Jelly Time! Peanut Butter Shoe Art Time!

So I've been thinking to myself about how boring canvas can be to paint on. There must be other things out in the world that are more interesting to make art from! And I've found it. SHOE ART! That's right, I said shoe art. It's true, you can Google it and be amazed.

The most amazing thing about shoe art is that fact that it's do different! It's one thing to paint a big mural on a brick wall, or cover a few train cars in artistic graffiti (which I'm pretty sure is illegal anyway), but it's completely different to take something that you live your life in and make it into something that nobody would ever think of! I really think that a lot of the time that is what art is about. As long as you inspire a though, or surprise the person that is looking at your art, then you have done your job.

I would love to see someone take several pieces of clothing and a pair of shoes and use them all to create some kind of art/sculpture/clothing/amazing creation! Maybe I should try that, although I have no idea where I would even start, it seems like it would take a whole lot of work and even more time. But if I was lucky I'm sure some museum would put it in an exhibit and someone would buy it for $2 million. I better get to work!