(cw: drawings of nude people with the three holy b's: boobs, butts, bush.) i have been drawing figures on and off for several years but hit a huge bit off off-time since my local art school stopped doing weekly live model figure sessions. last month, i decided to get back into it and wanted to share with you some of my sketches and paintings from january. none of the models were live, so huge shouts out to quickposes and sketchdaily for its expansive library of reference photos and timer resources. i am very rusty but having a lot of fun.
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i have written previously about getting back into reading again. when covid quarantine went into effect, one of the things i stopped having the attention and appetite for was reading books. but since fall, i have been chipping away at a pile that had been waiting for me since 5 years ago, and i am intentionally trying to read at least 2 books a month. in january i read fuzz by mary roach, and natural causes by barbara ehrenreich. i'll write about fuzz and my thoughts about and journey in divesting from specieism another time. today i want to talk about natural causes and, especially, barbara ehrenreich's impact on my outlook on death, wellness, and how i have navigated those topics before and going into the trump administration.
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a few weeks ago i finished a special sketchbook on stream (ahem, like and subscribe) and have been adding photos of it to my portfolio (which i've been coding on stream hehe). the sketchbook is a letterpress grid watercolor pad from case for making and the paints were gansai tambi which i've really been enjoying.
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i was thinking about how i'd like to set some intentions for the new year but have been blocked. i have more time on my hands than ever in my life, so i'm currently working on navigating that without the paralysis that comes from having so many options and ideas, and adhd - a damn hottie disorder. then i realized tonight, while scouring the live laugh blog archive, that i wrote one of these posts when 2024 started, so let's start there.
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i've been feeling antsy from not having played around with my candle supplies in awhile. an exception was the weekend after thanksgiving, when a couple of friends came over and each left with their own candle. those were fragranced and poured in recycled jars, though, and i had said almost a year ago how i wanted to go more sculptural. the problem is that i didn't know where to start, which is a common roadblock to my creativity.
my urge to wait until i have sketched designs lead to me not making any for so long, so i decided to try an experiment: fill as many of my variety of polygonal molds over a couple of days with different colors, then then put together those wax building blocks in a way that would make a cohesive collection.
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a couple of weeks ago i started spending a lot more time on candle-making, which had me working on a couple of apps to help me, and perhaps other candle-makers, to do their craft.
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*that's going to age poorly* is a common refrain that's projected by people - who themselves are probably aging poorly - in the comments of any videos or photos of tattoos. or *you'll regret that* and (my favorite) *what does your mother think of those*. my tattoos are pretty innocent, i only have a handful of them, and they're all on my shoulders and above the elbow so they're often not even visible. i love them and i'll get more.
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i mentioned having drama with my air compressor in my last post. the issue was that the compressor's drain cock valve - the pee-hole, on this blog - was leaking air. notice how i said 'the issue was' and that's because i fixed it. to celebrate, as well as deliver on my promise to jenn nation, here's...
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if you ever read anything about airbrushing on a technical level, you'll be told that it requires immense patience. there is nothing more truer in this world! it can be quite unforgiving and needs a lot of setup and cleanup, but the results are really beautiful and it's such a versatile tool. one of the things testing my patience with airbrush right now is that my compressor is leaking air from the drain valve. instead of shutting a window onto my neck about it, i figured to step away from the tank and show you my humble library of airbrush books. i've been collecting them for education, inspiration, and to feed my innate urge to buy used hardcover books that cover my somewhat niche and outdated hobbies.
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