Day Forty Two

Sooo... Today I dyed some jeans. (The second pair I altered). I dyed them purple!

I just dyed over the already existing blue with its fading and everything, trying to get a look like this:

It seemed to go well. I followed all the directions and checked around online to see if people had other helpful tips. I used two dye packets because I wanted them pretty dark. After about 45 minutes in the dye I rinsed the jeans and put them in the washer. I was pretty confident I'd done everything right... so I was surprised when I pulled them out of the wash.

For one thing they weren't very dark, and I knew they'd get even lighter once I put them through the dryer. So that was pretty disappointing.

THEN, on the front were all these blotches and streaks where it had barely been dyed! I was shocked! I don't know how this happened... I thought I stirred them around in the dye plenty, but I guess it wasn't enough.

So now I guess I'm going to have to re-dye them. I think that if I try to do it again as it is, the lighter spots will still show up, since the entire jeans will get darker at the same rate (So the parts that did get dye will get darker as well as the un-dyed spots, so those spots will still end up lighter. If that makes any sense at all). What I'm going to have to do is bleach the entire thing white and then redye, which will end up with a look more like this:

A more solid purple, without the darks and lights created by the blue behind it. I'm ok with this too, and I may end up liking it more, but it just means more work and having to wait longer for my purple pants! I'm also worried about the bleach weakening my poor jeans.

I'm just so bummed that this didn't work out today. Sad face.

Day Twenty Three

Almost finished the painting I started yesterday... I think I might go in with a white or light gray (grey? I've always liked grey better but I think technically it's gray in the US) acrylic paint to add some highlights. On the other hand, if I mess with it any more it may be ruined.  That happens to me way too often.

I'm not entirely pleased with this one. I used india ink, which behaves pretty much like watercolors, and I can never quite master the more watery paints. There is so much less control than with acrylics or oils. The ink/paint is always spreading somewhere you don't want it to go. Ugh. And there are a few places where I misjudged how strong the ink was and made it way too dark, and there's very little to do to fix that. It was quite frustrating!

On the plus side, I managed to make the shadows on the lower half of her face not look like a beard, which it did when I started.

I haven't worked on the rug today. I really should probably go do that, because if I skip a day I may never touch the thing again.

Day Fourteen

I FINISHED THE SHOES. FINALLY.  My kitchen is free! And Mitch can wear his shoes again!

I am really pleased with them! After a refresher in drawing I'm feeling good about tackling new projects. I'm going to be taking care of my three cousins for the next week while their parents are out of town, so my next few posts are most likely going to be fun, crafty things that I can do with them.

Day Thirteen

Yesterday

Almost done these danged shoes. Just need to finish off the laces.

Day Twelve

Still working on the shoes. I need to finish them tomorrow so I can get them out of the middle of the kitchen floor- that was poor planning. I've been having to put a dining room chair on top of the shoes so my husband and I don't trip on them. (Clarification: I put them in the middle of the kitchen in the first place because the kitchen has the best lighting of the entire house).

I'm liking this rule change; getting to take my time on one piece and really make it perfect, instead of hurrying to do something new everyday. Though it's lot less interesting for anyone reading this. Sorry.

Two days ago

Yesterday

Day Ten, Some Changes, and a Rant

So... I'm realizing that I may have set a goal that is a little unrealistic. I think I'm going to change my rules a bit so that I'm still being challenged but so this blog doesn't end up being my whole life. So from now on instead of having to complete an entire project every single day, I just want to do a significant amount of work on a project every day. That way I can work on larger projects and not always end up with dinky last minute sharpie things.


I spent a few hours on a drawing, but didn't finish it because I am sloooooooow. I had absolutely no idea what to do today and finally just did a still life - when forced to do them in art classes the suck, but I've always like drawing shoes.

It was nice to just let my brain go numb while shading and listening to podcasts, especially after a crappy day.

EDIT: I had a few people contact me saying that they were disappointed with this change to my rules, claiming that the previous goal of a finished project every single day was "completely attainable" (I don't see them trying it!) and even giving me lists of ideas and links to sites with kiddy craft ideas. This rather provoked me...

I have this to say to anyone who disagrees with my rule change (this is what I told them):

I don't think you understand what I am trying to do here with this blog. I am not trying to make a blog full of ideas for kids craft projects; there are already a ton of those. What I am trying to do is to create a mechanism that forces me to continue being creative and making art. ART. I want to be an artist. Not a crafty mom, not a writer (I got a lot of suggestions that were all writing focused). Art almost always takes a long time to make. If I'm constantly stressing about getting something semi-artistic done by midnight, I'm never going to work on bigger pieces, I will always just make little cutesy things and that is NOT what I am going for here. Yes I will do some crafty stuff too because I love crafts, but I also want to make large paintings and drawings, and maybe sculptures if I get some clay. 
(Reading over this, it occurs to me that this sounds extremely snobbish, but it's not intended to be- I just have different goals, and crafts, though I love them, are not a big part of those goals).

Everything takes me a long time. I worked on that shoe sketch for three hours and wasn't even halfway done. I'M SLOW. I'm a perfectionist. For me to not constantly be disappointed in the things I make (which would end up with me abandoning the blog altogether), I need to have a lot of time to work on them. And with me getting a job soon I won't have all day to work on art projects anymore.

I am working towards my goals more than I ever have. To me it's obvious that this decision is the best one for me. I'm not going to do what other people want me to do just because they think it would be cool. Those are not my goals. I am following my goals, and I am following them even more effectively than I was before, because I changed my rules for the blog.

Day Seven

You know how in drawing class at school they teach you to draw people by first making a few lines and circles and then filling in the details of the body around them? I never quite got that. I started drawing before I was taught that, and when I was taught it, I thought it was dumb (and/or more work) so I stuck with my own method. My method was working pretty well for me at the time, so why change? More accurately, I couldn't tell yet how my method was not working for me. My method was to start at one side of the person or object I was drawing, and draw in the outlines (in way too much detail), working my way over to the other side. I almost always ended up having the end lines not quite match up because something got skewed along the way. I'd either have to do a lot of erasing and redrawing, or I'd just fudge it and somehow make them match up, usually ending up with an oddly warped drawing. I'd shade it beautifully and meticulously and that usually hid the error in proportion enough to satisfy me.

All that to say that for my art requirement today, I practiced my gesture drawing, and tried to use those lines and circles. My husband was a dear and let me draw him- lucky devil just had to work on the computer, watch TV, and not move much. I pulled out my 18 x 24 newsprint and a pastel stick and got to work!

My first go was not what I would call successful. The couch is alright, the shirt & pants are pretty good, and I'm quite happy with the hair, but the face and hands... sigh. I really messed up on his facial features and when I went in with white to try to fix it, they just looked weirder. And the hands are kind of disproportional blob things.

My second go was much better! I'm actually really proud of those jeans, and I got his hair spot on. And look at that hand! Such an improvement. His face is still not right, but it's better. I'm quite good at drawing faces in close ups, but tiny features in a bigger drawing like this always mess me up.

I guess I need to keep practicing. If anyone follows this blog at any point, they may be seeing quite a bit of Mitch; he's an easy target for portrait practice.