Bamboo Pen and Touch!

I am so excited! My girlfriend gave me a Bamboo Pen and Touch for Christmas! I have wanted one for months now! I will be able to draw with ease digitally. I can use it to journal in my own handwriting onto the computer as well. I can't wait to explore the options! Plus, it would probably be useful in NYC if I get this teaching job! Oh, this has turned out to be a great year! I applied for a teaching job in NYC to teach Earth Science and I had to write several essays in the process. I gained an interview in the New Year Jan. 15, 2011.

I gave the finished sailboat picture to my friend for Christmas tonight! Melanie loved it! She had made me a print for my sober birthday back in October. She is a pretty good artist. I watched some of her process at her art studio and was intrigued. I am always awed by watching the ideas that come from others. I love trying new mediums in art. I wanted to join her studio but now I am happily waiting to see if I am called to NYC.

Art is an important part of my life, so is helping others, and I pray that teaching maybe my next avenue! In the meantime I will be working on Digital Art on my new Bamboo!

May all have a blessed Christmas,
Love Ant

Oil on Bristol Board- by Ant

I finished the background and the sky. I worked this painting from the water to the sky. I filled in the sailboats last and highlighted the water with some red reflections so it didn't look too flat. I must continue to work on painting water.

Sailboat in the bay of San Francisco

Dec. 2010 by Ant

I completed this one last night. I am giving this one to a friend of mine for Christmas. She kept popping in my mind while I was painting it. So, I figured it must be for her.

Water

I paint from what is within. Sometimes I see the image in my mind first and then paint. This is actually how I started painting when I was a kid. Other times, I paint and I have no idea what I am going to do and it just forms on the paper. These pieces are usually the best, in my opinion, but also the most reluctant for me to share because they are so personal. Lately, I have been painting with a purpose. To learn and grow and push myself further. So, a lot of what I have been painting are of pictures that I have taken. (I love to take pictures...maybe I will photojournal some and post in a slide.) ok back to the point...I believe that every painter struggles with painting something like showing expression on a human face or some may not be great at landscapes just as they have perfected a certain style like a cartoonist. Well for me it is a motion from one of our elements: water. I have a hard time creating the motion and bringing 3D to something on a flat surface. Then there is the simple fact that H2O is so amazing and awe inspiring such as the Ocean and I feel that I can never bring the feeling into my work. So, this I am practicing now so that I can grow as an artist.

Bristol Board, first attempt at an ocean using oil paints, from a picture I took in San Francisco Nov. 2010
This is a work in progress. I started it at 11 pm lastnight, will finish today!

Oil Painting

Today I purchased some oil paints, new brushes, some linseed oil, and some cleaner for my brushes. I have never oil painted before. I am currently painting the Marilyn Monroe I did digitally. I purchased a used Optoma projector yesterday at a local pawn shop. It is working great! The opportunities seem limitless!!! After I painted for a few hours, I realized I was contemplating perspective as I sat staring out the window. The thoughts were pouring into my mind. I was thinking about all the components that go into a piece of art and how they just come together naturally without any real thought. It also occured to me that at times I zone out so much that it is like I am in another dimension or time. I love it!
This is a work in progress...I like documenting the progression of my pieces. I can look back later on and see improvement or what needs to change.

Currently working on...

Today was a great day! I went Christmas shopping for my family. I am one of those whom usually buys you something that you can actually use or do. I got my nephews some cool outdoor gear. I got my brother something he can consume in his belly and my mom wanted an IPod. So, my partner and I are at the mall! I came across the ugliest wooden geisha doll. Fortunately, it had only been lightly painted on and most of the wood was still plain with a varnish. A month ago, I was in the Japanese tea garden in Golden Gate Park and I saw the most beautiful Geisha dolls. I wanted to buy one for my mom for Christmas but they were way too expensive and after much debate I left empty handed. So, I bought the ugly one today...sanded it...and now I am painting it for my momma!!! I am so happy! After all, I think she is still my biggest fan.
-Ant

Work in progress!

Older pieces by Ant

 This is the first painting I completed after getting sober so it is an important piece to me. I was afraid that being sober would take away my creativity. The truth is booze had taken everything and my sobriety has brought back a passion for art!

I pen drew this Native Woman for my mother while I was in highschool. I matted and framed it and gave it to her for Christmas. My mother's house has a southwest influence throughout and so a lot of my early pieces decorate her home and are in a southwestern decor.

I pencil drew this after my trip to Alaska in '08. I was awestruck by the beautiful North Western art and artists. The natives of Alaska did beautiful paintings with paint created from the natural world. One day I want to grind up a little bit of Nature and make a print...

Frida- Digital Art by Ant

Frida Kahlo, was an amazing artist. I created this with great respect for her as a fellow latina. -Ant

Lotus- Acrylic on Rock by Ant



I painted this lotus on a metamorphic rock for a friend to practice her morning meditation.

Goldfish- Acrylic on Rock by Ant

LC- Digital Art by Ant

This one I did for a friend of mine. She is a bass player and was looking for some auditions. I created this image for her and then we marketed on Craigslist! She got some auditions! I love doing portraits of people I know!
-Ant

James Dean- Digital Art by Ant

Marilyn- Digital Art by Ant '10