Work in Progress as we like to say it.

This is a special New Year holiday post with not just a single nor double but a triple post!!!
This is part III! the final part of the 1 week series!

 A little WIP to see the process of things.Some digital, traditional and hybrid of traditionbal and digital.

Some Sketchbook stuff full page and closeup. See how I take something from one image and take another part of it to create another image. Some Concept stuff and thumbs for a full illustration. Which I haven't shown in awhile.

 I did some work for a project I was proud of once. But it kind of went sour. The person I was working with kept saying that they did some work they didn't really like and did not wish to follow that path.

 I realized I can throw the same words back.

The work I did did not speak me. It went against my nature. Style, emotion, presentation wise. So now that is out of my system. I've learned don't take any jobs that you know you are fighting your own nature and of what you want to.

 Sorry I closed shop in doing logos for other people. Hey at least I tried to do something that I know I won't like to do in the future.

Anyway here is like +45 pictures to be astounded with. Don't blame me if your computer can't keep up.

 When I doodled I thought of jet packs and then this song I got the Magic in me by B.o.B in me came on so I imaged the magic song with this drawing. Problem is I don't want this song in my head too much so I haven't touched this piece since,

Winter Sleep, I liked this song when I first heard it years ago. But I was taking a nap one time and this dream came with this song. So I think I have the right visuals to do this song justice. I drew this and then went back to sleep.

Last week (I mean about 2-3 weeks ago wrote this before I went on Vacation) I was  enamored going through my computer and this image titled Spanish Woman by John Singer Sargent. I was so with this image I starting doing thumbnails that night and really started to sketch this out the next morning.

 So like the musicians say. I'm back in the studio y'all!

Gramps told me that with any study try to paint it on a smaller canvas. I told him I was aware but was really excited to work on it so when I hang it on my wall its bigger! At some point I forgot the title of the image and some of my artist peeps and I debated and settled on the model was a man. Sike! I'm sorry J.S Sargent didn't mean to get confused.The collar bones and the shirt I was mistaken!

Most of the time when I work with tape It temporary and not permanent. Usually I stick it on my pants leg, or jacket or shirt sleeve. To weaken the adhesive. Sometimes I forget the tape is on me and go out in public with them on. I get some occasional strange stares. When I was in the studio with Gramps and other students I got up and took a break after some time. I got a look from Gramps and he asked me if it was some sort of fashion statement. Its not, I just forget that I have tape glue or paint wherever.

One time someone from the drawing group said the great thing about getting paint on your clothes is that you have another pair of painting clothes! Practically all mine are! haha  whooohooo



I did this one today. It was a live session. I brought my computer today instead of paints or graphite pencils. Just Photoshop Cs6

I am so sad that the pictures of the model got corrupted! :D': I wanted to show a picture of a far out shot. and a zoom into Bob's face. It was fantastic! I was the only one with this view. You could't see his eyes only a bit of his eyelid showed. What a bummer. I'll have to keep it in my memory and recreate that situation in another piece.

 Almost done...and

Finished! Oh man! How I wished to do the eyes more!

Part II of the Triple Post in 1 week series to kick start the fresh New Year!

I went on vacation a few weeks back.
So any time I go out of town one of the first things I like to do is find the local art store and a cafe' near that.

If you are in the Colorado area there is a great chain of local art stores in the area called Meininger. I went to the Colorado Springs one and it is so awesome!!!!!! I wished I hadn't stopped at Hobby Lobby before I went there.

The Springs store had everything. It was so beautiful. They had everything I could think of. So if you are in the area drop by! I oggled about it so much I didn't even take pictures.

On a side note there was a pencil grip thing near the register that I decided to buy and experiment with. I didn't realize it doubled as an eraser as well! That's so cool!              

There is an art store in Santa Fe called Artisan that I go to whenever I can. One time I was going through copic markers and testing them. I forgotten for the longest time that they had a sign near the marker display please don't...something. I forgot what exactly it said but basically don't touch or use the makers.

There was a few colors I liked so I tested some and got carried away. The marker display is near the front of the store near the cash register. One employee noticed me and was about to head into my direction. But was stopped by another and I her say that she's a good patron and tends to spend quite a bit at times. After hearing that I fiddled around with a few more markers and went to check out. I bought a little more markers in a way to apologize.
I've joked with some of my friends I've dropped so much dough in that joint that have special privileges! VIP folks.

Someone asked what does Musings and Quips mean so…

Happy New Years!!!

This kicks off the year fresh with a series of a triple post this week! So this is part 1 hope you look forward to what the year may bring! Stay tuned to part 2 & 3 more detailed with some previews of the artwork i'm working on.

I stole this from someone else's blog thought it was great!

Also I like to thank everyone and thank you so much for supporting me at Musings and Quips of an Artist through a lot of change and transitions. 

I’m working on something really special for the fans and newcomers of the like so stay tuned later off this month I’ll have this project completed. An unexpected surprise surprise. 

So teasers and cliffhangers are like this Baaahdadah.......da da da ta ta da ta dah

Once again thank you so much for supporting Musings and Quips of an Artist. Hopefully my ramblings can be of some use. Happy new year and I hope the year is swell and pretty productive for everyone. Thank you I can't be grateful enough for all the visitors that come here.

Much Love and Peace
!
~Krisana

I own three computers and I mainly use two of them. I don’t particularly like to be glued to the same workspace at all times. So I move around not to get bored and to stay focused. The advantage of having multiple computers is awesome and if there is ever a hardware problem then there is a backup. And also the convenience of a portable workspace. I used to joke with my sister or having a mobile command station. My main computer is heavy and hooked onto many cords. So in reality my mobile command station isn’t mobile.

Now the downside and the most annoying part if one is working on any kind project and wishes to transfer these files on another computer it is a pain. Whether it is a doc. Pdf. Psd Rif Tif png gif and jpeg files. I like to work in extremely high .PSD resolutions like 7000 pixels or greater twice the standard print size resolution. With this these files huge they tend to be about 100mb or more.

Its unproductive in my opinion to take the files drag them wait for them to load on a flash drive or disk or whatever. Safely remove it and go to another computer and load up the files.

An example of my first computer that still works after 8 years after literally burning fumes

One of the risks of moving files around like that too often it does not happen as much but files can corrupt.

Sometimes you save a file and for some reason after rinsing and repeating the process for sometime the file becomes corrupted or just get plain annoying. Most of the time it happens when you blindly do things fast or tired.

So the solution and fix to my problems a few years ago was to use dropbox. Its an online network that one can link computers and any peripheral with your data. Its easy to use and is fairly fast if you have a good internet connection. I save a file and it’ll update across the board to all my computers and with the peripherals you can choose which files you wish to download. Even with my saving huge files its fairly quick I can go take a small break or just go and refill my cup of coffee and files will sync. So its liberating no wires, mess or chips to complicate the day.

There are home networks one can set up. They are easy for some to set up and difficult for others.  Years ago I made a Bluetooth network that would share one folder it was rather slow clunky and savage. And when the dell b130 went down and when it was fixed later I could not remember how to repeat the steps or find the proper instructions because that method became outdated.

Also on my phone and music players I have the function set up if I take a picture on my device it will transfer to my computers. For awhile and sometimes if I’m feeling lazy I’ll snap a pic on my phone and it will transfer to my computer and I can either bring it straight to photoshop or painter.

And if I’m somewhere else or on another computer that is not mine that the dropbox application is not on the computer. It is not a problem.

Just go to dropbox.com and log on and you can select which file you wish to download. Even without internet the files placed in the dropbox application are still accessible but just cannot sync and will sync again once a connection is once again established.

An example of how digital workspace is set up

Some of my friends don’t see the point in it. Which I can see why. And there is a data limit. I pay the premium of 9.99 every month which I have 1.3tb of information I can place. While I was sleeping one time I included my huge 20gb reference library of pictures into dropbox.

the white flat thing in my banner is one of my computers

So drop it in the box. Get dropbox if you have multiple workstations.

First musing of the month. I have a pleasant surprise next month so stay tuned.

It's the end of November where have I been? I've been catching up with: sleep, deadlines, balancing things out and well....the rest is secret.

Everyone has their highs and lows. I try to be mainly positive but I have to admit I haven’t painted oil on canvas for about 5 months.  I’ve been down, busy and most of the typical excuses.  Yadayada
Sometimes you are tired and have to push through and hang in there! Just because you are having a bad day don't spread the negativity around!

As one of my friends used to say when asking what are you doing? "Eh Sometding?" and I reply "Nawthing" Up to Nawthing.

I had a few posts planned and I wanted to release but…TBA

It occurred to me when I briefly visited my dad on Thanksgiving and when I walked out the back door he said, “Amumh ma ah ang en dere!” I have relatively bad hearing. And I exclaimed “Huh! What?! What’d you say” and he was actually said “kick ass! You can do it. Hang in there!”

Sometimes those are the words you need to hear. I told him I will. What he mentioned was part of a saying of a quote I think I made up. If you disagree you can tell me privately and that is alright, I won’t be offended. If so I'll be honored to see who first made it up.

Anyway when I was taking Color Theory from the Academy of Art University I was tired of it kicking my ass. I turned almost everything on time and every thing I did was rejected. Anyone from that school will tell you Color Theory is one of the most difficult classes to take.  I wrote on my board and I think I wrote it on one of my old blogs, “I’m tired of getting my ass kicked. Imma kick (their) ass instead” So take it to heart when you seem beat all seems to be down. Remember you can get up from where you are and do something. You may not be able to control all the circumstances around you but you can control your response to that action.

One quote my dad always says besides the “Past does not equal the future” Is also “With every adversity comes with a seed of a equal or greater benefit." So there is something to be learned with every situation.

It was a tough during that time, physically and emotionally. I almost died twice during that time. I saw the lights at the end of the tunnel one light one dark. But hey during those times I can see color. I can stare at a white wall and see all the colors within it. It isn’t white or the fact I can look at a black curtain and see what every bit of color. Technically in color theory black and white are not colors.

 I can stare at a blank field and I cry sometimes because I see the beauty of all the colors and how they flitter and dance in front of me. Nobody can see them only me or sometimes people with trained eyes. Not every artist can see color it is a gift. Or even the fact if you can see it can you bring the emotion in it. It is my job to highlight and bring color in people’s life.

                                    A bit of color theory madness from back then.
                          Usually as the night wears on more caffeinated drinks would be noticeable
                          I was working with gouache and it is more than a pain than acrylic paint!
                            

Another thing I’ve said even before that when I was about 10. I was drawing this shark comic. If I find it its not funny but to a ten year old it is.

“Im like a shark nobody sees me coming but when I arrive I will open my jaws and chomp the competition and take them all out.”

I say that because I’ve always been the one that they called: dumb, ugly, stupid, people would not call me by name, and something strange and off about her because I always had a sketch book in my hand. Doodling. Head in the clouds. Nobody was afraid to say this to my face. And would even tell me to be like other people and not be myself.

But now it’s the opposite: smart, brilliant, innovative and beautiful. I’m still not used to these comments but I’ll take them. And also people are now curious to see what I have in my sketchbook, what projects I’ve working on, and what pictures I have taken with my camera. People even like my cloud pictures!

 Sorry people who take pictures of random ones I only like to take pictures of cumulus clouds!

                                                  Little Pico is a song by Raujika I
                                          think that song alone can be made into a game!

I’ve made a postcard about 5 years ago and someone told me when and if I get famous or something they would sell if for a million dollars. I told them it is not possible because I own the copyright. They got a little sad and I was actually joking about that and signed the front. I believe that is the only one I signed the front of.

So it comes to a surprise to when I do something to people who expect me to fail because of my past and being raised by a single father with no mother. People who knew me at my darkest times don’t want to see me now.

It ain’t that bad!  As people always say. I always tell them it’s still bad though!

So I painted this like 5 months ago didn’t think it was hot and didn’t share it but its not that bad.

In case your wondering

 If I had a past life I totally was a ninja.

If I was an animal I was shark. I’m a shark.

Some people use the season Spring for a chance to get a fresh start. Well in the Fall I get this feeling to start anew. I go through all my things and organize them like Spring cleaning but for fall.

I’ve got most of my friends since September on this idea of #freshstart. Getting rid of old ideas, habits, stale unreliable boyfriends, and moving to another place. In a sense a fresh start. Yay for fresh starts. Fresh perspectives 

As my friend's aunt says out with the people who weren't there and in with the people who stayed around! 

I've been grumpy and have totally been a grouch lately.  My mp3 player broke. because the  charge port had been abused from continuously being used TTTT____TTTTT I have had the samsung galaxy player 5.0 for a few years. It was a mini tablet and mp3 player.

So to soften the blow the Warranty company is going to reimburse me for the warranty and the price for what I had originally paid for. Since they deemed it unfix-able and its still under my 3 year hardware warranty.

But the big issue now is that mini tablets have practically been discontinued because the majority of people use their phone as an mp3 player or get a huge tablet. Countless friends joke about how I'm the cool kid on the block with two phones. I'm an audiophile and the sound quality from a phone and a dedicated music player is night and day to me. I had the 5.0 before I got a "Smart" phone.

 But I like my mp3 player and phone to be separate. I don't like clicks, whistles and people calling when I listen to music and in the zone with making art. It breaks my concentration.

Sorry I got distracted with my point with this rant. So my options that are irritating me are 7inch tablets or built in memory devices that run from 6 inches. Problem is last year I upgraded my 32gb micro sd card to a 64gb and I would like to use it. I've owned a 7in tablet before this 5.0, and I broke it from dropping it all the time since it did not fit in my pockets.

I've gotten to be a cranky old grandma that is set in the ways. No change please. But guess that I'll have to adapt unwillingly.

Anyway so I'm wired to my computers. Still listening to tracks. So enjoy the overload of music and art. ;] I've been quiet for too long.


Onward sorry if you have slow internet. Hope I don't freeze your computer, tablet or phone.

ART DUMP
Sketches and sketches and even more sketches. I have so many ideas that I come up with. Can't find all the ones I wanted to show off. But here are some. So I'll dump them here. Also one aspect I wanted to show is how small I work. And from something so small I can bring it into photoshop and make it bigger. My hands are small but in the picture one can kind of guess how small I generally work.

I wanted to draw this image since I was in highschool. It's a tiger vs. crow. Martial arts with dilapidated buildings in the background. I have the skills now to complete and convey what I want to with this image.

Another note. Awhile back my friend and I had a interesting conversation and somewhat debate. He was saying that hip hop has changed over the last 15 years or so. His argument was that now in days most people pay attention to the beat instead of the lyrics in rap music. I admitted to him that most of the time I catch the beat first before getting the lyrics. I'm like everybody else. Pretty much we discussed after Dr. Dre it was all about the groove in hip hop. But a change of pace is nice after awhile hearing poetry in a song. Currently the most most recent song that has awesome poetry that is somewhat is ignored is the song 3005.

Here are a few examples of my favorite emcees, where its really not about the groove but about the poetry.

Perfect lyrical smoothie. The flow and poetry I used to listen to this in high school all time. It was theme song. Yo regardless.

I used to listen to Highs 2 Lows and Paradise all the time. People would ask what I was listening to because I always had my ipod when I transferred my junior year in high school. Life ain't no crystal stair. A little love from Langston Hughes.

The last bit of poetry is so smooth.

Cause when them checks clear, they're not here
Cause they don't care
It's kinda sad, but I'm laughing whatever happens
Assassins are stabbed in the back of my cabin
Labrador yapping.

The assassin's verse is my favorite line in the song. Elegant.

So dedicated fans I've waited 6 years for this.  Uyama Hiroto's cd Freedom of the Sun.

He's real mellow but I really like the essence and soul Hiroto brings to his beats. So buy it!You know you want it.

Another point if your'e reading this far. On 10/23/14 there is a partial solar eclipse! I love to take pictures of eclipses and solar events with my camera. I haven't seen a solar eclipse since I was 8! I seen a bunch of Lunar Eclipses. But my first one was a total solar eclipse that in the middle of the day it got dark. Some people never witness this phenomena in their entire life! I've been so fortunate to have seen a total solar eclipse.

 I've always been a resident stargazer and can find constellations. I've seen all the planets with my eyes through a telescope. Seeing Jupiter and its moons are amazing. One of the most beautiful things I've seen in my life. It takes precision and careful execution to take pictures of planets and stars. One cannot burst shoot. My camera the panasonic FZ100 weakness is taking pictures in the dark but I work with it and adjust for it. I can go on and on about astronomy. I'm just an enthusiastic hobbyist.  I'm super psyched to have seen one again  if you can't tell. It was a partial so most of the sun was exposed. If you were not aware it was happening people have missed the majority of the phenomena.

 A couple of examples of astronomy pictures from a while back. A Lunar eclipse, it is red because Mars was in the trajectory of the moon. If you live in North America like I do Mars can only be seen in the winter time mostly late at night.

These two songs are constantly stuck in my head.

Chotto Matte


Nothing can calm the savage beast but music. I keep saying that to myself every time I get irritated that everything is quiet without my music player.