VINTAGE

COMPOST in GOUACHE

Hmmm...does compost qualify as vintage? I'm reaching here, I know. This painting was for our "Micro Habitat" assignment. This was an easy one to collect specimens for. I actually still have the still life sitting in my garage. I am curious to see what it looks like. I created a little container for it with a glass lid. I haven't checked it since I finished the piece (2 weeks ago) and am intimated to look at it. Yuck! Being a somewhat yucky topic, I made the decision to stylize this image and not go for a super realistic technique. Since this scan was taken, I've added little fruit flies so I'll have to share it again when I have a new pic.

MEMORY OF SMELL - GOUACHE and COLOR PENCIL

This piece was for the "Conceptual/Editorial" assignment. I chose "memory of smell" as my topic. Click on the image to read the perfume bottle labels. It will make more sense that way. Believe it or not, I've never painted glass before and it was a real treat. It was almost like an abstract painting because you just really look at the shapes the light makes on the glass and brass tops. You just start putting those down and all of a sudden the form starts to take shape. It goes through a really ugly stage and for a moment, you question whether or not you know how to paint. The other fun thing about this assignment was that I got to hunt around for vintage perfume bottles, and two of my classmates and I discovered some great antique malls and stores in the Monterey Penisula - Cannery Row Antique Mall, Olio and The Holman Antique Plaza.

*all pics were taken from their websites.

INSIDE CANNERY ROW ANTIQUE MALL

THE BACK OF THE BUILDING

THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING

The Cannery Row Antique Mall is located inside a historic building that used to be a sardine cannery. It is one of few remaining original structures from the Steinbeck era. After being used for sardines, it was taken over by Nichols plumbing for a long time. It was bought in 1994 and a year later, the Cannery Row Antique Mall opened its doors. It's huge and hours of eye candy.

OLIO is a small little vintage shop on Lighthouse Ave in Monterey. The woman who owns the store is incredibly nice and she has a wonderful kitsch collection. I really enjoyed browsing through her store. It is nicely decorated and the displays are easy to look at.

THE HOLMAN BUILDING in 1924

The Holman Antique Plaza was built in 1924 and was originally the Holman Department Store. They are located in Pacific Grove also on Lighthouse Ave. Like the Cannery Row Antique Mall, it is HUGE! They are very different. I would say that the Holman has a lot more furniture while the Cannery has a huge variety of vintage finds.

We have only 3 weeks left in the term! I am always blown away by how fast school is flying. We have 3 assignments left:

Color Final
Trompe l'oeil
Article

In between that, we have a workshop that will show us how to construct a 3-D head in clay from a skull. I am so excited about this and can't wait to show you the finished project. I feel really dorky and cool like I'm in forensics or something. I like how science illustration makes me feel both dorky and cool at the same time. Never saw that coming.