JEN KELLER ART

It's been a long road, but here is the ALMOST complete first painting from my Mattie stories. It's a little sad, but don't worry... the story perks up shortly after this!

In Bill's class we've continued to hone our pastel figure drawing skills... and as time goes on, I'm finding that I'm starting to enjoy it more each time I do it. Here are some samples of the work we've been doing. We've moved on the clothed figure, and we've had some fun costumes to draw. We even had a Charlie Chaplin impersonator come in (though he was a bit more portly than the original Charlie) For the Chaplin drawing, I did a more monochromatic color scheme, concentrating on darks and lights, with a hint of color, but not too overpowering. I think it turned out okay! I'm experimenting more and more with the medium...I find it layers really well, and I can get some cool effects with it. It's been fun and I've been learning a lot.

This past week we made our second trip to the San Francisco Zoo. I do enjoy this zoo a bit more than Oakland because it has a wider variety of animals, and because of the old school exhibits they are a lot easier to see. Of course it does make it a bit depressing, a bit too much concrete for my taste. And the weather, of course, is always far better in Oakland. I spent the majority of my time with the big cats, drawing lions and tigers (and bears, oh my!) The lions made pretty good models, and two in particular... a father daughter team, were crashed out in plain sight. The big male was incredible, not only huge, but probably the most relaxed lion I've ever seen. A big cat grin on his face, hoping for someone to rub his belly... The tigers were a bit more active, and seemed a little agitated. Word at the zoo is the tigers have never been the same since the Tatiana incident. Her presence is still strong in the air, with folks wondering which containment she was at. A tragic ...