For any of you TeenPact Alumni out there, go vote absentee tomorrow (June 1)!

Plugs: vote for our own Tyler Rits, from HI!

Also, I'm supporting Malachi Ege and Samantha Adams for the presidential team. So vote for them too. =)

Happy Memorial Day everyone! Hope you enjoyed the long weekend. Special thanks to all of the members of our military, who have given their time, futures, and lives to protect our country and its values.

Been reading from A History of Graphic Design by Philip B. Meggs. It starts out with a detailed history of the development of the alphabet and gives extensive explanations of the development of calligraphy throughout the Middle Ages. It is amazing to observe the beautiful writings and illustrations of the monastic Bibles. I can't imagine the patience it took to write these things.

Something I found interesting is the almost cynical attitude the book had toward the Christians who created these Bibles, people who placed such important emphasis on the Scriptures. Though the author clearly appreciates the beauty of the artwork, he tends to present the subject matter of the works as childish, illogical, outdated.


Of course this was sometimes true, especially regarding the undue superstitions many people held during this time perioud. But the high repect for God's word held during the Middle Ages is a quality our time really needs to pick up on. If we spent half as much time reading the Bible as these scribes did copying it, our lives would be so much better off.


Well so much for my random thoughts of the day.

Stuff

Well, I just completed the test for the last module in my Advanced Chemistry book. All that's left is the final, 'n then I can say HALLELUJAH!

I can't belive the school year is almost done. I'll be a senior next year. dang.

In other news: this morning I had the immense pleasure of visiting the company Info Grafik, a graphic design company founded by Oren Schlieman, a former high school classmate of my dad. It was very eye-opening and encouraging to see graphic design used in such a real way, and I greatly enjoyed meeting the company's employees and seeing them at work. Hopefully, I'll be able to go back to learn more, and perhaps even help out in order to learn by observation and experience.

My photo of the day

TJ and Timmy are in another surf contest tomorrow. Go boyz!

A quick note:

This is my shout out to Sara, Jonathan, Kenji and David. I hope the worship night comes off beautifully tonight! And, of course, I hope you'll get lots of donations!!!

I'll be there to enjoy it. =)

Kickoff

Well, I've decided to start a blog... mainly to share my artwork and photography, and just general thoughts about my life, what I see and read, people I meet. I've got nothing special to say right now, so here goes I suppose.

Some things from the past...

This post features some art pieces I did several years ago. As a young child I always loved art, but not until my early teens did I begin to really realize my passion for this area. Now, as I am fairly certain that I will go into art as a career, I look back and see that I have been headed toward this goal, unconsciously, all along.

This first picture is an oil painting of Chinaman's Hat from some time in 2003, when I was either 12 or 13. I don't really like this painting any more, at least not on its own merits. The water looks unrealistic and I don't like the colors I used in the sand. I do think the perspective is good, however, and the rocks and grass are good. This work has value for me, however, because it was one of my first "really good" paintings. I had never had the patience to paint much before, and the experience of creating this piece showed me that I could indeed enjoy creating art. And, what's more... people liked it!

I love this turtle. =) The reflection is really fake-looking, but the turtle itself is beautiful. I should paint another one of these...

Anyway, this was the next painting I did after Chinaman's Hat above. I learned volumes about brush control and color choice in this painting, and I am still pleased with the results.

I don't have this painting with me because I gave it to my grandpa in Washington, so sadly I don't have a good copy of it. I don't regret giving it to him though, because I love giving my art away--it's one of the best parts of the whole artistic process! Though selling artwork isn't all that bad either...

This last painting hangs on our kitchen wall. It was supposed to be my mom's birthday present in 2003, but I didn't finish it until two years later, in December 2005. This was partly because I stopped taking regular art lessons and consequently did not work on it much at all for long stretches of time. In addition, I kepton adding more leaves to that darn tree... ughhh. It took forever and I still don't like how it looks!

The only part of this painting that I am satisfied with is the fruit bowl. I really like how that turned out. But the painting as a whole was a bit of a disappointment to me. I don't like the composition or the perspective.

Nevertheless it taught me very important lessons about planning ahead and doing studies before starting on a final piece. I regret rushing into this painting without structuring it beforehand. Next time Iuse such a large canvas, I'll map everything out much more carefully!

When looking back at my artwork, I appreciate where I've been, but I'm also very glad for what I know now, and what I'm learning every day. It's funny to me that now, although I have expanded to digital art and photography, I still love traditional media--perhaps I appreciate it even more! And, though I don't know for sure what I'll do with all this, I can't wait to see where God will take me with art.