Portraits and Bubble Gum

I believe the most appropriate way to start this entry is by saying that I finally saw The Dark Knight Rises.  

I decided to watch it in an IMAX theater, and in case you were wondering, watching The Dark Knight Rises in an IMAX theater is the equivalent of being in a category 5 earthquake for three hours.  Anyway, I know I don't need to say it (but really I do), THE DARK KNIGHT RISES WAS AWESOME!!! 

Other than movie-going, I also finished my third project in my painting class.  As you can see, we finish these paintings very quickly, so I've spent a couple late nights in the painting studio after-hours.  But aside from the hard labor, I've really grown to love painting.  It's like I'm a little kid again and I can do whatever I want. You would think I'd feel that way about drawing, but the possibility of failure is much more terrifying when you have had 20 years of practice.

Here is my self-portrait's journey through time:

Day 1-3

Day 4

And of course we started a new project yesterday - a second still life.  This time we are allowed to chose whatever objects we want.  I went for ugly things.  

Ugly Still Life (Day1)

I've been slacking on my scientific illustration research, but I came across some other amazing artists this week that need to be shared.  First is Christian Schad, a famous 20th century German painter and part of a movement called New Objectivity.  His portraits speak for themselves:

Dr. Haustein, 1928, oil

Operation, 1929, oil

Lotte, 1927, oil

Marcelle, 1926, oil

Imperial Countess Triangi-Taglioni, 1926, oil

Self-Portrait with Model, 1927, oil on wood

He painted this self-portrait in Naples, and the model behind him bares a scar on her face.  This was apparently thought of as a "proof of love," showing that she had a jealous lover, and women wore them with pride.  Strange.

The other artist I discovered is a current artist named Julia Randall.  If you can believe it, she makes all of her drawings with color pencils (I can't believe it).  Her drawings of chewed bubble gum, strange mouth-headed birds and wet tongues are both captivating and repulsive, and I love it.

Bubblemouth #2, 2012, color pencil

Lovebird #4, 2005, color pencil

Lovebird #2, 2004, color pencil

Strawberry #2, 2012, color pencil

Blueberry, 2012, color pencil

Bubblehead, 2012, color pencil

Decoy #1, 2005, color pencil

Lick Line #9, 2003, color pencil

If you wanted to know, I heard about her from the magazine Hi-Fructose, which you should definitely check out if you never have!