Paint a Portrait

 

 

 

 

Commissioned Portrait (Awaiting title from Patron), 2013

Oil on canvas, 12x9"

Krystal Booth

 

 

 

It's obvious where I've been today - finally in the studio!  Hallaluiah!  It was good to get this portrait done and now I'm awaiting feedback from the patron.  It felt great to be painting this evening.  I highly recommend it!  Do what you love this weekend!

 

Love to all!

Metamorphosis

So I've been hiding out.  Really, I've just been busy.  Life has been shifting for the better, which I am so happy to report.  I'm about to switch from a part-time position into a full-time postion this coming week.  Also, last week I became a bit of a mechanic...real mechanics would laugh, but for me it was a big deal changing my battery.  I cringe everytime I see jumper cables, so yes, it was a big deal that I actually disconnected the old one and installed the new heavy black box of magical go-go power.  To my surprise, I did not get electricuted.  Hallaluiah! haha

As for painting, I've been working on a commission.  It's a portrait that will be finished by this Friday.  I'll be excited to share the result with you.  For now, here's a sneak peek at a small portion of it.

Sneak Peek of a Painting in Progress, Krystal Booth

 

 

Nothing has changed in terms of the one hundred works goal.  I know it will be more difficult with working more hours, but it's still on.  It's important to keep going.

So with the new full time position, I'm having to switch stores. I'm not wanting to say good-bye to my current coworkers, but it's happening. I'm hoping that we can all still get together every now and then because I am truly going to miss them. There will be a lot of phone calls to pester them. I'm looking forward to getting to know my new co-workers. Nervous and hopeful. Excited. 
 
On top of all of that, I've been trying to get my health habits on track.  Exercise, eat better, sleep, repeat.  I've been reading about alkaline and acidic foods and wondering how far I'm going to get into this.  It has been making me re-assess my coffee habit, so perhaps it's getting a bit more serious than I'd like to admit.  I've been eating mostly vegan/vegetarian since mid-December.  Documentaries on Netflix are all fun and games until you see the quotes about the pigs followed by the footage.  It was too too too much.  Now I'm trying to get more of an education about health and eating veggies from Kris Carr's Crazy, Sexy Diet. 

Right now, I'm just being open.  Trying to be as open as possible to new information and new opportunities.  Life is just changing a lot lately.  I'm holding on, and going with it where it leads the best that I can.  Cheers to change! 

Hope that the Spring season is being good to you too.  Love to all!
 

New Painting

A new drawing that served as a foundation for a new oil painting on paper today along with the finished piece.

Under Drawing of a Torso, 2013, Krystal Booth

Graphite on Paper, 18x24"

 

 

 

Condense and Disintegrate, 2013

Oil and graphite on paper, 18x24" 

Krystal Booth

 

Look up!

Beautiful evening sky in Portland on my way home tonight -

Intense orange red behind blues, gray purples, warm gold tones above with peach -

 

 

After I took the photos there was a guy with earphones across the street walking by and watching me.  I looked at him and pointed at the sky.  He looked at the top of a light post.  He glanced over at me again and I pointed again this time saying loudly, "The sky!" with a smile.  Again he looked at the top of the light post and just brushed me off.  He probably thought I was crazy and seeing imaginary leprechans dancing on the top of the post.

 

One who has not learned to see the everyday beauty all around them lives a life of true poverty.  But I guess that depends on your perspective - I was missing out on the music he was listening to afterall. haha

 

I hope you are admiring the beauty in your part of the world as much as possible.  Love to all!

 

 

100 Works: Measuring the Progress

Where am I in the 100 works goal?

Detail of a Painting in progress

Oil on paper 24x18", 2013

Krystal Booth

 

 

Right now I am to start on number 26.  A quarter of the goal has been reached.  This is good since a quarter of the year is over as well, though that doesn't even seem possible.  It was not to my advantage to think of this idea later than the new year on January 20th, but that's okay.  It won't be too much of a hindrance.

 

What has changed?  So far paint handling has loosened up a bit.  I don't feel as though I'm strangling my subject as much.  It will be interesting to compare and contrast the works from the beginning of this year to the end of the year.  It's difficult to predict, but it's an exciting prospect.

 

Have I felt rushed?  I really haven't.  I thought that I would feel a bit stressed out and frantic at times with balancing this goal with work and daily life stuff.  So far this feeling has not been felt, and I'm hoping that I don't feel that upon the finish in December.  That's the last way I would want to end this project.

 

What about materials?  The stash of 18x24" canvases has run dry, but I've solved that for the time being by working on paper.  The paper, being more fragile by its flexibility, seems to run along better with the concept behind the works anyway, so it's not such a loss.  I've had to change from Turpenoid to Turpenoid Natural due to painting more.  It's non-toxic, which is better for the workspace that is not always ventilated that great.  The dizzy spell that occurred one night was the wake up call to change products.  (oops! foolish mistake)

 

The Flake White Replacement is a sticky mess and I hate it.  I'm still using it, as the tube is practically full and I don't want to waste money or material.  It's just not as smooth or solid as the Flake White I had been using.  Maybe I'll get more used to it and change my mind, but for now, it's a disappointment and a source of mental cursing upon the palette.  Any suggestions?

 

All in all, there have been some blunders of some instantly failed works, but there have also been works that have made me even more curious in technique and concept.  This challenge has been a good one that has made me realize that I'm much happier if I've been in the studio.

 

Thank you for supporting me by reading and commenting!  It helps fuel the process, and thank you so much.  Love to all!

 

 



New Original Painting on Canvas

Here is last weekend's oil painting.

 

Ubiquity in Limbo, 2013, Krystal Booth

Oil on canvas, 24x18"

 

 

 

Ubiquity in Limbo (Detail of)

2013, Krystal Booth

 

My cold seems to have become worse over night which gave a good opportunity for taking portrait photos first thing in the morning.  It was a car crash of the face - sinus drainage...my face itself seemed draining.  I will using these as references for today's work on paper.

 

Hope you're having a good week, and thank you for visiting!  Love to all!

 

 

 

 

Spanish, German, Russian, and Being the Fish

Hola!  Que tal?  Donde esta el mark that goes over the 'e' on que en la computadora?

I've been trying to relearn and learn more Spanish now for over two years.  The Spanish for Educator's book was dusted off again last night - it's time to try again.  The problem lies in my confidence in speaking it.  It wasn't always that way.  In the factory, Claudia and I held extensive conversations throughout the day completely in Spanish, though my part of the discussion was never eloquent as the verbs were sometimes not conjugated.  I was great at that caveman Spanish, but that was more than ten years ago.

Italian is another language I have wanted to learn.  I placed it as a reward for learning Spanish - "when I learn Spanish, I will then allow myself to learn Italian" - which of course has been quite the quest.  I'm wondering if I shouldn't just study both of them simultaneously.  They are similar, and it wouldn't hurt in comprehension and getting ideas across in either language.

I have noticed that there have been a large and increasing population of readers in Germany and Russia over the last year.  The numbers are quite surprising.  I hate to confess that I don't speak German or Russian, despite my one semester of German early in college.  Everything at home was labeled with stickers of German vocabulary.  They can still be found randomly at my parent's house, at least last I knew the reusable cheese container said "der Kase" and my mother insisted that it stay on there.  It has become a sentimental artifact.

The Internet is a crazy place where we can translate words with a click of button and presto!  No language barrier (although slang can be a bit difficult).  Borders and distance suddenly seem smaller, and anyone can begin to have a conversation with anyone in the world.  That's amazing!  Something that I usually take for granted, but it is truly amazing!  I don't think that I could have ever seen this as a possibility when I was a child.  I thought ET landing in my backyard would be more of a possibility than this. haha

I am writing this at a time when it seems that North Korea is getting closer to doing something awful.  I am worried for one of my mentor professors who moved back home to South Korea shortly after I graduated.  It was sad seeing her go, but she was excited to go back home in order to teach alongside her mentor.  We have lost touch with each other, and I hope she is doing well.  I miss her terribly to tell you the truth - she was a great professor and friend who was one of the kindest and most peaceful souls I have ever met.  She was particularly compassionate, empathetic and an animal lover.

Upon our last meeting while I was student teaching, we talked with each other about our philosophies of life.  It was not a traditional conversation that one would have about what went wrong or right during the lesson that was taught to a rambunctious group of 7th graders, and I'm so glad that it wasn't.  It was much more meaningful.  At the end of the conversation, she told me that we were like salmon that swim up the stream.  We have to work very hard to hold our ground in trying to make things better.  One cannot give up even if it looks impossible.  The minute we stop, we will lose our progress.  We have to keep trying in the hope that we can make it further and be successful in making life better - making the world better by doing our part.  My mantra became "be the fish" that day, and I utter it to myself often as a reminder to push forward, despite my shortcomings or struggles.

So I will be practicing on a shortcoming yet this evening - practicing the good ol' Spanish.  Love to all, whether you are reading this in English, Russian, German, French or Arabic, and thank you for reading.

Be the fish!