The Latest and Greatest

I had a lot of fun with this weeks assignments.
The images I am sharing are not complete, but you'll get the idea.
I wish I had more time to devote to these, but I still feel like I'm lagging with the sicknesses making their rounds through the household, over and over and over and over...

Anyways, the face and especially the individual features are one of my
absolute favorite things to draw. This was no exception.
I really enjoyed it and had fun with the drawings.
I picked some real fun ones that I haven't done yet
and am excited to try sometime, maybe when this semester is over.


Mouth


Ears


Noses


Eyes


Well, enough babbling for this middle-of-the-night post.
(Hey, so far I may still make it to bed earlier than last night...
...Between 12am and 4am is pretty standard now,
and the kiddos make sure to be my alarm clock around 6am-7am!
Yeah, not planning on much rest for the duration of my schooling...
...but it sure would be nice..... *dreaming*.)

Fall Fun #3

It's that time of year and I am SO excited! I haven't had time to find a pile of leaves and was really wanting the kiddos to play in some leaf piles while I watched through my camera lens.
I had almost given up on the chance of it happening this year when...
...to my surprise, there were heaping piles of beautiful leaves waiting for us at our
Tuesday lunch with Papa. I went running for my camera.

Great fun, and the kids just LOVED being tossed into them.
(Colson was funny though because he didn't like to sit in them, you had to remove him about
2.5 seconds after you threw him in. LOL.)

Ahhhh, I am so excited I got these pictures! =D

Fall Fun #2

Busy weekend. Friday night we went downtown to Metro church for their harvest party. The kids had fun despite our short stay. And Saturday, after all the pumpkin patch adventures, we made our way to the Pumpkin Patch Bash, as usual. It was fun, but the kids didn't get to do much. Really crazy lines and they were just a bit too cranky and tired. Anyways, we didn't really have much in the way of costumes, but we scrounged, and this is what we came up with...

...A PRINCESS!!!
Luckily Kaylana had tons of princess stuff she got for her birthday... Sparkles, makeup, a crown and lots of giggly girl smiles for the fun she was having! :)

...AND A CUTIE PIE!

Colson was more difficult. Tried to pull off a 50's -ish look. First night we were indoors so, eh alright, second night outdoors and too cold, so not entirely sure what he ended up being at that point. Wired and tired if I remember right. (We came home and Colson started doing splits and falling in every room of the house! Lol. My goofballs are so precious!)


Next... leaf piles!!! (I saved my favorite for last... even though they are also in chronological order, I still wanted to save the best for last!)

Fall Fun #1

I had so much fun with my kiddos recently doing things I have always dreamed of doing with my kids. So, I'll start with the pumpkin patch...

Donuts :) to start the morning right.
Then checking the animals out...
(my kids just LOVE the animals, especially Colson)!


And of course, the pumpkin patch...

Next... costumes!

Finally past midterms

I can say that I am learning a lot. Slowly but surely, I will continue to learn.

Unfortunately I am a little behind because of this season's nasty sicknesses that seem to repeat. But, moving forward is where I am trying to focus right now. I really didn't like this most recent week of studies (arms and legs muscles,etc.), but I am really enjoying this new week.
We are studying the face in detail. Very exciting!!! :)

Anyways, for those of you looking for my most recent homework...

Study of the Torso Muscles

Mine (above) Michaelangelo's (below)... as if you couldn't tell...

Not the best work I've done and definitely not the easiest either! It is really difficult copying someone that you admire and who had really gone somewhere in their artistic career. Kind of puts the pressure on, especially when it is one of the greats! The line work was really difficult and I ridiculously underestimated the complexity of this piece. Good lesson for me though.

Michaelangelo's Libyan Sibil

Michaelangelo's Statue of David at Bernini

I did not have enough time in my week to finish this project. This 1/3 I got done took me 12 hours to do. (I know, I know, I am such a perfectionist!) I would love to finish it sometime. But that probably won't happen until at least my break between semesters, if not longer. Only time will tell. Wish I had more to share, but that's it for now.

Next I want to share some pics of the kiddos this fall. Super adorable. Well, until next time...

Recent Schoolwork

School is now in session (actually I've been in school since September 3rd and am approaching midterms quickly now.) I have had a lot of people asking to see my work, so I will be trying to juggle my blog with my classes and my family as well as the rest of my schedule. Hopefully I do better than I did in the past. Anyways, keep looking for updates!

Please be forewarned... this class is a figure drawing class. Yep, that means nude images. For those of you who want to see some of my course work... here it is. :) Without further ado...

WEEK 3These two images were exercises in proportions.

WEEK 4
Lines of Rythym and Weight Value

WEEK 5
This was a copy drawing working with values.

WEEK 6
Shape Finding and Planes of the Figure


It took weeks to get to this point and we still have about half the semester left.

Tune in later, same blogger, same blog...
(I know it's lame... it's late and I don't sleep anymore! I have good excuses.) Lol.

New Direction

So, I am still loving photography and dabbling in it from time to time. But, I have been super busy with school and going towards a drawing/sketching direction. Before I switch to posting more artwork than photography, I have some newer shoots to share.

These are a couple of the final yearbook shots for my brother-in-law Paul. He has been so much fun to get to know over the past few years. I love it when he is passionate about God, it really brings out the best in him. I can't wait to see the man of God he will be as he continues to mature. These were fun to take, but I had to get him to relax in front of the camera first.


One of my personal favorite shots of the day...

We are planning a second session to do more active shots of one of Paul's passions... skateboarding. I can't wait! He is probably gonna grow his hair back out and I know that day will just be so much fun. Until then... back to the drawing board. ;)

Been Too Long...

I have no real good excuse other than normal life and the craziness of raising two children. However, I still intend to catch everyone up a bit.






The holidays were almost a blur they seemed to have passed so quickly. Kaylana looked beautiful in both of her Christmas dresses and Colson looked so handsome in his holiday suit. We had a lot of fun being with our family for the holidays. It's always good to be with family. Although the weather made it much more difficult. We have had the strangest, snowiest winter I have ever seen in this area. Felt like we were actually in Alaska or somewhere in the Northeast, instead of rainy Washington. Very strange indeed.



Then, with the snow melt and added rain, our house flooded and we have had a very interesting time with our living situation and re-flooring our living space. So of course that is a large portion of the craziness in my life as well. We are living on the futon, clothes strung over the couches and just a madness of having nothing where it belongs. We are in the process of fixing the problems, but it's been over a month already and let me tell you: I am ready! Ready to be back in our rooms with our clothes in the closets, with the kids in their beds and everything in it's place... Oh, so ready! It's slow, but at least we are heading in that direction. And I still have much to be thankful for throughout the process. We have had so much help and support from our church, friends and family as well as God's provisions and allowing me to find it quickly so that we did not lose any of our stuff. Just the flooring and some of the other house stuff was damaged, but even then it is a blessing in disguise allowing an updated and finished place for us to live.

And the best news of all for January was my brother's wedding. I am so very grateful to have been involved throughout the process. I was able to take engagement portraits that were beyond fun to be the photographer for! Those two are just hilarious to be around and they truly bring the best out in each other. My cheeks seriously hurt from all the laughing and smiling I did behind the camera! What fun. And I was also a part of the invitations, the favors, Tim's gift to Nichole and the wedding itself as a bridesmaid. The location was amazing, (a castle; no really, a castle!), the dress was divine, the food and wine exquisite, and the whole day was so wonderful! And I couldn't ask for a better addition into the family. CoCo (as she is fondly nicknamed) is sweet and caring and a great wife for my brother as well as a new aunt for my children. She slipped right in as if she always belonged, and I know that's exactly how God wanted it to be. (Sneak Peek pictures coming soon...)

Kaylana is using full sentences and astounding us all the time with her new vocabulary and understanding of things. She loves to be helpful with the housework and her brother, although it is sometimes more difficult, but her heart is in the right place. Colson is walking already and just adores his sister. Both of their antics keep me running, cleaning and laughing! What a joy despite it's difficult moments.

Geoff is still pursuing his new career choice and we are trusting God for continued opening and closing of doors in the right direction. We know that He has given us this desire for our future and as long as we are paying attention He will give us the right opportunities and will lead us into that future.

I am really getting passionate about what I do now that I have a little more time with my kids being a little older. No more infants makes a business a bit easier, for me at least. So, I am really setting some goals and seeing where God leads me in this next year. I am nervous, excited and somewhat out of my element. I can't wait to look back and see what's happened. I'll keep updating, so stay tuned...