I Do Photography, Too.

Not, like, professionally or anything. I just took a black and white film photography class while at community college. No big deal. But it, too, ended up being something I loved to do until the love of my life I met in that class decided one day after two years that he didn’t love me anymore.

Anyhoo, one day I was at a school in Fountain Valley and, of course, I got there early/on time and what happens? Our first class gets moved to an hour later. -___- So, rather than sit creepily outside a school in my car for an hour, I decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood. It was a pretty sort of area, with lots of trees, a park, and respectable homes. I took a few pictures, but this one was my favorite.

I took this shit on Snapchat of all things. That’s their black and white filter, too! I’m super impressed! I don’t know what kind of plant this is, but as I walked by, it immediately caught my eye. It was like a cool blue-green color, kind of like an ice plant. Or something. I don’t fucking know, I don’t know plants.

I know it’s not the most amazing picture ever taken, I just think it’s a cool ass picture of a cool ass looking plant.

Sketch of the Day

Today was my first true day off in a while, so my BF and I decided to make a day of it! First, we woke up (duh and springing forward sucks. Fuck losing an hour of sleep), then we literally hurried to the theatre to catch a matinee of Zootopia –which was ahmazing, oh my god– then we  ran back home, packed a one of a ridiculous amount big reusable bag and walked to the beach (’cause we can do that. Yes, I’m bragging here.) Well, actually, we went down to the Shoreline and got something to eat. And did we have a time there, let me tell you! But that’s a story for another day. All you have to know is that there are some people who should not be parents. Quick example: whilst trying to enjoy our pizza and pasta salad, a family comes in and immediately are just the worst kind of people in the obnoxious sense. It was a husband, wife, their kid, and the wife’s brother…How do I know this, you ask? I say again, they were obnoxious. Anyhoo, at one point, the wife reaches over me to unhook the door so it closes, doesn’t say “excuse me” or “can I get by you real quick?” Nothing. Just reaches over me, unhooks the door, and says to the owner (who I assume gives her a look like “wtf?”) And I am not exaggerating, these were her words, “Sorry, I had to trap my kid.” ….I’m sorry, if you feel like you have to “trap” your kid, maybe you should actually raise your kid to not need to be trapped. Then again, I’m not a parent, so maybe I’m wrong. But, of course, the kid started throwing a fit and all she says (in her speak/yell voice) is, “he hasn’t taken a nap today, he’s been up since 7!” This was after she came barging into the restaurant speak/yelling, “do they sell beer here?!”Again, not a parent here, but with that knowledge, wouldn’t it be best to go home so he could take a nap? Or, hey, if you’re going to get 2 pitchers of the beer you demanded, maybe get a sitter? You clearly don’t want him there.

Woah, sorry, I got off track there. Where was I? Oh, yeah, they’re terrible and as soon as we were done we got the hell out of there and walked down to the beach–which was, thankfully, way more relaxing. I had forgotten my sketchbook of course, but had my phone again, of course and took a bunch of pictures, which I then used for this sketch just now.

There were way more people there than I have here, but I picked my favorite things that I saw while there and I’m lazy. It was cloudy, and windy, and cold, but no matter the weather, the beach will always be my happy place. It thrills me that I’m now walking distance from one! After living my whole life hour/s from the beach, this is like Christmas every day!

I almost didn’t add the color, but I’m glad I did. I feel like it adds a bit more depth to this. I used vine charcoal, black artist pens, and chalk pastels. Oh, and my fingers to spread those pastels.

Women’s Day

I know I’m late with this. Boo, hiss, blah, blah, moving on.

So, as a woman, I felt the need to post at least something, what though I wasn’t sure. So I found a picture on the interweb (if I knew who took it, I would totally credit them, but I don’t so I’m guna credit them anyway ’cause that photo was gorgeous) and broke out my favorite medium and drew in a way I haven’t for a few years. And it was amazing.

I took a figure drawing class while I was in community college a couple years ago with the best art teacher I’ve ever had named Bill Paskewitz. He has since (quite suddenly in 2014) passed away, and for a while I couldn’t find it in me to pick up any medium. Until I moved, I hadn’t (as douche-y as it might sound) felt inspired to draw anything.

So, to honor him and women’s day, I chose to do a figure drawing using the pastels and paper he had the class buy. Not being able to afford a figure drawing class, I found a picture online like I already said that had both warm and cool lighting and an interesting body position. I smiled as I drew because I knew if I was in class, he would be telling me I’m not using enough of the paper and too much pastel, which is something I definitely struggled with! I still loved these projects, though. I love looking for colors you wouldn’t normally think were there. We were only allowed certain colors: 1 black, 1 white, 3 reds (light, med, dark), 3 blues, and 3 yellows. And with those, we created interesting and beautiful works.

I picked this picture because I liked it and thought it would be a good challenge.

Biggest regret of the day though: my BF and I didn’t go to IHOP for free waffles on Waffle Day (which was the same day)

 

Such a Lonely Day…

That System of a Down song (“Lonely Day”) is the song I think of when I look at this drawing I drew. Originally, I was just trying to draw me to see if i could finally do it. Inspired by this picture (I am also an actor kinda. This was me as Ilse in Spring Awakening):

As you can see, at some point I said “fuck it” and went in a slightly different direction because I didn’t want to draw a face (even my own. Yes, I’m THAT bad at faces. It’s very upsetting. I don’t wanna talk about it anymore. Maybe some other time.). For a while, I felt like it needed something, but I didn’t know what. When I showed it to my BF, he told me he thought it was great the way it was and said it reminded him of a song, and preceded to play “Lonely Day”. So, I left it.

Maybe it’s because of current events in my life, but it also make me think about how alienated we can be even though the people around us, be they friend or family, are constantly giving advice and encouragement.

(Uh-oh, I can feel a rant of sorts coming on. Get out while you can! You have been warned!)

So, right now, I’ve got two jobs and my BF has none, having lost it in some political bullshit (don’t ever use the sub-contractor AllPro they’re the worst). Anyhoo, that was about 3-ish months ago. Please know right now that I love my boyfriend to the moon and back a million times and that no matter what, I am going to be by his side. Even If no one else seems to be. Every single day he sends out more applications. I see how it’s tearing him up inside that I am always the one paying for things. I know he’s trying, and like I already said, I am going to be by his side the whole way. What I’m getting tired of is not being able to have a conversation with other people in my life like my mother and even my best friend, now without them commenting about his lack of employment. I want so badly to tell them to fuck off but, of course, I can’t do that. And when I try to defend him, it just sounds like, like…I don’t know like I’m that dumb bitch staying with a freeloader. As I’ve said before, I in NO WAY think that way, but I know my family does. The thing is, I know they’re coming from a place of caring, I just wish they’d stop already. It’s not like I don’t know that this is not a good situation. Or that, even with two jobs, we still can’t afford to live in our apartment and my parents still have to help us out and his parents send us some money every now and then. It sucks! I know it sucks, HE knows it sucks, and he’s doing everything he can to fix it. So, if people could just stop ragging on him, that’d be great. I wish they’d realize that it’s damn near constantly on my mind and I don’t need them to talk to me about it every time we have a conversation. It got old real fast. No matter what happens, I know he’ll find something. And at the end of the day, that’s what matters: I believe in him.

Rant over. Thanks for listening.

P.S. I used pencil, vine charcoal, and artist pens.

Happy [Belated] Birthday Pokemon!

I had hoped to have this done on the actual day (the 27th), BUT better late than never! Right?….Right??

Anyhoo I just wanted to wish one of my favorite childhood cartoons that I’ve been binge watching a HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY! Yay! You’re no longer a teen! *sniffle* They grow up so fast!

It’s hard to believe it’s been in for TWENTY YEARS! I remember racing home to turn on Toonami on Cartoon Network to watch Reboot, Sailor Moon, and Pokemon! I’ve loved it ever since the first episode “Pokemon, I Choose You!”  And how could you not when you’re around 10 years old just like Ash?! Not going to lie, I still wish it could be real sometimes! How cool/terrifying would that be?!?! Unfortunately, it never happened, so I had to satisfy myself with my Yellow, Red, Blue, Gold (that infuriatingly no longer saves), and Crystal version GameBoy Color games. Oh darn, right?

I just want to say thank you, Pokemon, for giving such joy to 20 years worth of future Pokemon Masters. We will for ever be trying to “catch ’em all”! (too sappy?)

Living in Long Beach, CA

As you may have guessed from the title, I live in (kind of) sunny Long Beach. I moved here from the San Francisco Bay Area with my boyfriend in October and, while it’s been rough at times like now, it’s been a wonderful experience. I feel so lucky to be here, sharing this experience with him. I’m a firm believer that California is one of the most beautiful places on this earth. I’ve got the perfect example right here.

This is an actual sunset down here in Long Beach, specifically at The Pike (which I recommend checking out if you’re ever in the area. Bonus: there’s a ferris wheel) . I’m so glad I took a picture of it at the time ’cause no WAY would I have been able to do this before the sun set completely. See what I mean when I say “California is one of the most beautiful places on this earth”? It definitely has some pretty spectacular sunsets–check out #californiasunset on Instagram if you’re not 100% convinced. Time to plug myself follow me on the aforementioned Instagram @miss.jessicaaaa I post things like this plus a whole bunch of other shtuff! (I should probly mention now that actually have quite the sailor mouth, but I’m going to do my best to keep it professional here. Just don’t get offended if I slip up as I am, in fact, human. Shocking, I know)

Supplies I used: regular sketch book paper, pencil, chalk pastels and water (for the watercolor effect), and black artist’s pens.

Welcome!

Hello! And welcome to my shiny new art blog! Now, I’ve never had a blog before, so please forgive me if my first posts are rough. I wanted to try something new slash be more active creatively, so I’m going to shamelessly steal an idea I saw in an article on Faceyspace about how carrying a sketchbook around in your purse, pocket, etc. helps you live a better life and blah, blahh, blahhh. It was actually quite an interesting article, I’m just lazy. Regardless, I’m going to try it out and I feel like keeping a blog for it will keep me on track. My goal is to do at least one sketch, painting, etc. everyday, but I work two jobs so they’ll probably be less frequent than that (hence the reason this blog is called “FrequentArt” and not “DailyArtsyThings” or something).

I’m not here to flaunt my abilities (that aren’t spectacular) or art degrees (that I don’t have) there’s just so much ugliness in the world right now that I’m using that idea I mentioned earlier to see the beauty of this world one day at a time. And that, beauty, is something I strongly believe our species needs right now.