New Paintings: 'Soul Gatherer' and 'No Regrets'

DH and I finally took photos of my latest paintings. It was actually more work on his part than mine. He set the whole equipment and made sure the images represented the real painting. You know how I feel about any digital work related....I think it's a pain to do, so I'm glad I have someone to help me in that department :)
He also uploaded them on my website and updated the look of my website.
Here they are

No Regrets

20"x24". oil on linen. 2011

Soul Gatherer

20"x24". oil on linen. 2011

You can also check my website to take a look at those paintings.

January's Painting in Progress

Sorry for the lack of update since I had no internet connection for almost a week. None of us suspected that it was the modem, because it happened right after the first blizzard. It started by having quick intermittent problem and slowly had gotten worse. I know that this will make me sound like an addict for technology, but honestly...life is so lonely without internet connection, it's like you're isolated to the whole things going on outside.
I've been meaning to share these two photos of my painting (a bit of study and a bit of fun) on paper. I have this left over small papers that I know it'll go on waste if I don't turn into something. So I painted this girl. It was pretty quick, there was neither underpainting process nor layers and layers of colors. The other one is a quick drawing. You can see the embossed of the paper brand in the corner...he he.

Aside from that fun things, I'm currently working on this painting. It's still under one of those beginning phases, working slowly while my mind suddenly thought into something to add or change into this painting. The other paintings are actually done, but we just haven't had a chance to take photo of them. DH basically needs to create a quick photo studio space in my space. That means I have to move some things away around this tiny room, so he'll have enough room to put his equipment. We're going to post them soon:)
If you live in Northeast, I hope you stay warm and cozy.

A peek of my current painting

Sneak Peek of What I've been Working on

I still haven't sent my sketchbook, but I plan to do it this week. I gave deadline to myself to finish it up before New Year and I'm glad I made it. Someone told me that artist shouldn't have deadline. Obviously that doesn't apply to sketchbook project which even the title screaming deadline to you:) I don't know how art lesson at school taught here, but art lesson that I experienced back home was all about deadline and chosen theme for our assignment. That's how I feel about sketchbook project only with more pages waiting to be filled in.  Now that it's done, I can focus on painting or drawing what I want and having that freedom gives me so much joy. My mind and imagination can wander freely again:) My approach with my painting is completely different. I don't give deadline but I do try stay focus on schedule. I always make mental notes of what I need to do for the next day, whether I need to make a rough drawing, transfer drawing, work on a painting, or even just sitting and doing a bit research to cultivate the idea in my head for next painting. I'm aware that the danger of working alone is to let yourself get lazy and eventually you neglect your artwork. I really don't want that to happen. Painting itself is a slow process for me involving some steps. Those steps are really loose because if I plan it too detailed from the beginning, the momentum will slip away carrying my excitement for that piece with it,
My plan for today was supposed to be transferring rough drawing to canvas. Well, I should wait till tonight or tomorrow when DH's computer is less fussy:) His computer is the one connected to the projector. Instead I'm doing a bit browsing for next painting or  who knows what it may lead to, and also posting this sneak peek of my painting.

Happy New Year 2011 and My Sketchbook Project

I hope your 2011 will be wonderful and you can reach all your goals:) I don't really have any particular goals for 2011. My main hope is great health for people that I love, so they can be around me forever. Last year has been great, but there was an unexpected thing that would change my life and definitely affect my artwork of which I would have no control at all. It was quite scary when I thought of it.
The other thing that I want for 2011 is for me to keep making art. I'm making art because I need to make it. Artistically, I need to paint for my own satisfaction. I don't paint something because I think that's what currently works or that's what people see as cool or even worse....something lucrative. I don't really care about it and I try not to be bothered by it. I said trying because sometimes you just can't control the distracting 'noise' around you. When I check my facebook, blog, twitter, or any other things for a tiny bit, I encounter that 'noise'. It can be motivating at times, but sometimes it's just not healthy for my mood..hehe.
I was kinda slacking on all of those fb, twitter, and even this blog during holiday season and it actually felt great to kinda ignore them. DH and I had a pretty relaxing Christmas and New Year...just the two of us. We were glad that we didn't plan to go anywhere because that snow blizzard was pretty bad. We had movie marathon and lots of chinese food ^_*

I finally finished my sketchbook project before new year. I haven't sent it, so I'm pretty sure I will add itty bitty things here and there when I flip through the book. I plan to send it out this week.
I have some pros and cons about this project. It's completely personal and I'm pretty sure other people will have different feeling about this project.
I honestly think it's a great idea. A project involving your creativity and promoting artwork to this world, is just amazing!
When I signed up for this project, I had plenty of time to do it. I knew it would be challenging because I didn't sketch and still don't do it on daily basis. I would doodle something on my moleskine when I have an idea, draw it on bigger paper , then transfer it on canvas. Most of the time, I will just jot down the idea instead of doodling it. Ideas sometimes come out when I'm in the middle of painting. Writing it down is nice because I don't really have to pause in the middle of working on a painting for too long. Anyway, after I got the sketchbook, other things came up so I had to postpone this project. I didn't start it again until the end of November.
The other challenge is from the book itself. The paper is really really thin. You can substitute to better paper  rebinding the book, but I don't do that because I'm not crafty and I didn't sign up to this project because it would highlight crafty skill. For me, the thin paper restricts my creativity. I can't create something completely spontaneous on each page because I have to take the fragile paper into consideration. Graphite drawing just doesn't look right because it doesn't blend right. I can only do simple painting to avoid the colors to show up on the other page and turn each page into super wrinkly page.
It's an interesting experience and I'm glad I do it, but I don't think I'll do it again in the future.
Some humble sketches from the book