WHEN I WAS AWAY

Holy Post itz Batman! This greeted me as I came back to work from a 4 day holiday. Our resident prankster Jordan has once again had too much time on his hands! I sat on my un-posted-it chair looking and observing the meticulous work laid out like overlapping colored paper bricks. Unbelievable. Everything was tiled from the cpu, phone, mug, mousepad, even the narrow tops of the monitors were covered by half vertically torn post its. The 2 botttom drawers were taped together as I later on discovered. Good grief. It also came with a disclaimer and a note that justified the use of post its! Nice. Well played. It felt more like a treat than a prank. A cool work of art at the start of the day. Amazing. I felt kinda bad having to destroy it all by taking it apart so I decided to slowly lift off portions of it until the end of the week. If anyone needs post its, don't ask. Just take 'em!

STILL LIFES

This was my second attempt on the same still lifes. I used masking fluid for the highlights on the glass jar and corn kernels. The masking fluid is like rubber cement. Once it dries, you can freely paint over the area without fussing with which parts to leave out. When you are ready to reveal the highlights, you simply rub the dried masking fluid off with your finger or the sticky side of some scotch tape. The preserved white areas will have a sharp edge to it though, so if you need to soften the edges, you will have to go over it slowly with just the right values. In this exercise, I left the highlights as they were and did not retouch any of the edges. 

BEN CUMBERBATCH

Back in the day, I remember asking myself if it were possible to solve the mystery while reading one of the Sherlock Holmes Chronicles. I went as far as taking notes of each character, their quirks, every evidence presented in the story, finding connections, jotting down my impressions and hypotheses before I got to the end of the story. When I did, I was far from solving the crime. (Maybe a puff of opium from a pipe would have helped?) There were crucial details left out in the story. (Unfair!) Details that Sherlock observed that Watson missed. From that time, I decided to read it for sheer entertainment. Having seen the TV Series adaptation of Sherlock portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch, I am so looking forward to Season 4. This is a quick sketch I made using a blue colored pencil.

OPPENHEIMER PARK

I was told that Oppenheimer Park used to be where the center of the festival activities used to be. It is now occupied by homeless people protesting the removal of residents in the park. There was the occasional screamer, (a guy trying to pitch his tent but couldn't. He eventually did.) but otherwise, this peaceful scene was a direct contrast to all the activity 1 minute away from the other side of the street.

HIKE AND SKETCH

        The grey skies and rain did little to dampen our spirits. We broke out our sketch books and did quick 10-20 minute sketches when we hit the falls. The sky opened up in the afternoon, the sun came out to greet us, the scenes changed from light and shade to misty and atmospheric. Here are some snaps on the way up that made the cut. It was a full day of hiking, painting, photographing for me ~ three of the four activities I enjoy doing, all in one event with some awesome artists.

LIVE HIGH

       The view up there is amazing. 900 meters. Waterfalls. Tree ladders. Ropes. Chains. Steep inclines. Misty forests. If anyone tells you to "take a hike", do it!