Art Chanteuse

Haunting News sketches

2012-02-09T13:31:00.000-06:00

Living in Chicago has opened my eyes to a world of crime and cruel fate that I had not been exposed to previously, either because I was simply younger and didn't listen to the news, or just far enough in a suburban bubble to not take notice. And while you'd think a case of date rape on my very block or a serial purse mugger working my trainstop would be close enough to home to warrant a freak-out, it's the atypical stories about tragedy and terrible luck that both bring me to tears and conjure visual scenes in my head that pester me to recreate them. Here are some thumbnails I forced out (as always, click to enlarge):

October 11, 2011 Child Cut From Womb
January 8, 2012 High-Rise Fire Victim
August 6, 2010 Lake Michigan Rescue

The fourth thumbnail is an unrelated idea about strong plants worshipping the sun perhaps to lighten the mood. The larger quick doodle is of a woman shoving the rest of a hamburger in her mouth before leaving the drive-thru lane. And slightly similar to that, the last image is of me pulling a large amount of gum from my mouth, a moment from a dream.

Sampson Color Study

2012-02-05T12:24:00.000-06:00

When I visited my parents house this past Thanksgiving, my sister's cat Sampson was curious about who I was. I caught him peering at me from around corners in a guise of daylight and wood flooring. Here's a color sketch I did of the memory with drawing inks:

My original idea was to paint the scene, but after enjoying how this quick mockup turned out, I am considering layering a pen drawing over this with Gimp and keeping this same color palette. I guess I could try both, we'll see. I like how Sampson is in control in the top corner of the image and streaming light from different directions layers between him and the viewer. I also like the idea that the viewer is a stranger but with a familial smell, creating a light confrontation about who is intruding on who.

Tree Composition

2012-02-03T18:46:00.000-06:00

I'm not a fan of trying to duplicate a drawing I've already drawn, but I do welcome the act of drawing the same scene twice. It helps me think about what it is the drawing wants to be about. So here's a girl in a tree, reminiscent of this earlier post:

The thoughts I had while doodling this were more about the viewpoint from up in a tree. And as the drawing inertia dwindled, I became pretty content not finishing the top or bottom of the tree, my interest was more about the immediate area around the girl and those windows between the branches. I sketched out a new composition starting with the sun/moon in the background and layering in front up to the girl in the foreground:

There are a lot of new ideas at work here. I see an opportunity to explore color behind a woodcut plate, using a dark detailed cityscape to illustrate a scene that is both day and night. The trees are aggressively reaching around tall buildings and metal porches while the figures take a more inactive role each in their own blue-white light of technology. The main figure is perhaps in a time-freezing daze while the streets are overrun with animals (coyotes, bunnies, rats, cats) in the absence of humans traversing them. An allegory about taking to the trees, moving forward with new knowledge and backward with respect for the earth, releasing control over our environment for the refuge of our own present minds.

View from the Mirror

2012-02-01T19:18:00.001-06:00

Making a self portrait is always a fun way to get back in the groove of observational drawing, and with a new haircut and a new studio set-up it felt like all the more reason to make one. It was a sunny Sunday with coffee and crosswording going on simultaneously. I am quite pleased with how the drawing turned out, but it took me far too long to stitch the scanned images together to create a digital version. Why must white space be so hard to keep uniform... Despite my complaining, I do hope to start working on compositions that are even larger and more colorful.

Pulling the start cord

2012-01-31T16:10:00.000-06:00

Thanks to my DVR for being aware when I'm away from the tv, I've been enjoying a show on public tv called 'Art through time: a global view'. The last two episodes I've seen were about hybrid cultures and dreams represented in art- two topics of interest to me. The first made a point about anecdotal information included in artwork as a sort of invaluable way to describe your local experience. An artist showing the close proximity of different items can describe one culture blending into another. And the episode on dreams talked about how an artist's rendering of dreamscapes helps a viewer become more open to an imaginative realm different from their own but still accessible through recognizable imagery.

I made a list of things in my everyday life, things I see around me often. I hope to include more of this kind of jargon in my images. (Speaking of jargon, this morning I had another dream where I pull an inordinate amount of chewing gum out of my mouth.) Also, here is a scratch board image I made last summer about my swimming sessions at a neighborhood outdoor pool. The act of swimming laps until you can lap no more is hypnotic, and the time of day that I went coincided with the sun blindingly setting behind a tree.

Look forward to more frequent posting on this blog as I find a 2012 art routine!

Street Fighter Blanket

2010-12-03T16:08:00.001-06:00

FATM Imagery

2010-12-03T16:06:00.002-06:00

Dancing Suit

2010-12-03T15:55:00.002-06:00

Chilly Fall Faces

2010-11-19T15:58:00.001-06:00

Coffee and Ideas

2010-11-17T11:03:00.000-06:00

Disabled Camera

2010-10-17T15:23:00.000-05:00

One of the digital cameras that I use has been slowly losing its' ability to take accurate photos. Instead, it has been spending its' old-age producing mysterious images loosely based on reality. Here are some of the more interesting results...

Purple Bouquet

2010-10-17T15:05:00.000-05:00

The Indoor Skylight Too

2010-10-03T11:39:00.000-05:00

Today I came across a post about a product called SkyV that made me recall an invention post I wrote last year. The SkyV is a digital skylight that displays a selected image from an archive of beautiful scenes. It is pretty similar to what I was imagining, but I still like my ideas of having it relay a personalized sequence from a remote camera and incorporating some kind of natural light emitting display.

Fingernail Vermin

2010-09-17T18:26:00.000-05:00

A morning post-apocalyptic train of thought about some kind of cross between pets and nanobots.

Summer Dress

2010-09-10T07:31:00.000-05:00

Palm Leaves

2010-09-09T09:13:00.000-05:00

On this particular evening I could not fall asleep.

Dragonflies

2010-09-08T11:03:00.000-05:00

These doodles don't even do justice to the number of dragonflies that were swarming in the sky on this warm, breezy mid-August afternoon. It was really something spectacular.

Sandal Toes

2010-09-07T17:34:00.000-05:00

Chummy Knees

2010-09-07T10:08:00.000-05:00

Bird Dance

2010-09-06T12:10:00.000-05:00

This is the first sketch of a series of doodles I've been doing on yellow notepad paper. The drawings date from the past few summer months. The yellow notepad helps lessen the pressure of sketching after somewhat of a hiatus.

Cloud Embrace

2010-09-05T16:56:00.000-05:00

Once you start drawing a cloud, it gets carried away.

Mural Progress 1

2010-04-24T18:03:00.001-05:00

I finally put a paintbrush to the wall in my kitchen. Here's the wall after a three hour stretch. I'm going to break for a bit and refuel. Stand back and stare at it for a while. You can see the preliminary sketch that I did here. I wonder how far along I can get it to this weekend...

Internet spring cleaning

2010-04-16T12:44:00.004-05:00

In an attempt to organize my internet activities in one place, I added my Starred Items and Twitter account to the right sidebar for your all-in-one convenience. So check back here to read daily blog posts that tickle my fancy and my silly tweets. I also added a link to my Tumblr account where I post photo links to Artists who spark my interest. And lastly, a link to posts on Tumblr that I have 'liked' - I'm still trying to figure out how to add this link to my Tumblr sidebar, but I'll get there...

Feeds:
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/user...
http://www.twitter.com/AdaDancy
http://www.AdaDancy.tumblr.com

Link:
http://www.tumblr.com/liked/by/adadancy

Some new artwork is on the way I promise. In the meantime, become a follower of this blog so I know you're waiting and wanting more! <3

New Eye-con

2010-03-12T14:28:00.000-06:00

I made a new icon for my portfolio website. I saved the file as a larger image so it could be seen here.

Imagination adds ten years

2010-02-13T17:19:00.000-06:00

Art to-do list

2010-01-21T19:22:00.000-06:00

Today I challenged myself to write down brief descriptions of the pictures brewing in my head.

Lamp

2010-01-07T18:18:00.000-06:00

Here's a light drawing I worked on today. Will be adding ink and/or color as well as adjusting the image some more.

Pterodactyl sketch

2010-01-07T17:41:00.000-06:00

These are some sketches I did a little while back for this paper mache sculpture I want to finish.

Left hand anchoring

2010-01-05T16:33:00.000-06:00

From the Sky

2009-12-11T15:40:00.003-06:00

Impressionist Painting Pentagonal Hex

2009-10-09T15:05:00.004-05:00

I used six pages of an old impressionist painting calendar to put together this paper orb. I haven't glued on the final piece because I haven't chosen a hanging method yet. I may make more and arrange a mobile of sorts. You can see in the second photo that the inside ended up looking like a spherical calendar. I am continuing to contemplate the idea of circular art. I don't know how I want to make it.

Headdress Woman

2009-07-30T09:56:00.004-05:00

I watched a marathon on the travel channel about contemporary indigenous peoples of the world and it's been on my mind. Here is a little marginalia drawing.

Mural Sketch

2009-07-09T15:17:00.003-05:00

Sketching an idea for the kitchen mural...

I would have to downplay any specific likenesses and in general make the scene more decorative by adding texture. The wall is currently sponge-painted and I was going to try and incorporate that as the background and just paint in white on top. The other challenge is working on the curve of the wall and have the image be readable even though the surface curves.

The Indoor Skylight

2009-04-23T10:38:00.004-05:00

I enjoy having a large south-facing window in the bedroom. I have already noticed an improvement in my sleep and ability to get up in the morning. We should make indoor skylights, to help those city-dwellers with out the correct sunlight exposure. It would be the size of an ordinary skylight and installed over or near the bed. It would either act like a remote window, where video from a roof camera is streamed to the 'skylight' screen, or an even fancier version would relay perfect amounts of sun and moon rays according to the day so it'd be like sleeping under the stars. There could even be Tivo functions, so after a long day at work you could come home in the dark and then lie down in bed and watch the sunset from hours earlier. Just like how some people claim that returning to the sea for nutrients will help us be healthier and more connected with the Earth, I think reconnecting with the sky is also important to reconnect ourselves with the cosmos.

Red Balloon

2009-04-20T17:11:00.004-05:00

Our red balloon from a very fun Valentine's Day party is still floating around the condo. Recently I went upstairs and opened the sliding door to let in a breeze. I was happily surprised to hear the crinkly balloon bouncing up the stairwell after me. It was a fun moment so I took some photos:

Was the balloon trying to escape? Wanting to sunbathe? Looking for fellow balloons? or a lost love?

It's also just interesting to judge local temperature changes and drafts with balloons.

Egg Dye and Wax

2009-04-11T09:29:00.006-05:00

Last night we had some friends over for drinks and I pulled out my egg dying supplies for everyone to play around with. It seemed appropriate seeing as it's easter weekend, but I prefer to think of egg dying as an everyday, calming craft than anything with religious connotations. I didn't catch photos of my friends' eggs before they left, and it was pretty late by the time I melted all the wax off my egg. I hope I find time to make some more!

Unnatural Fiction

2009-04-02T14:24:00.005-05:00

This afternoon we're going to visit a friend's baby and it has sparked some interesting thoughts. Making a spin (with Margaret Atwood's "Handmaid's Tale" in the back back back of my mind), I envision a surreal America where world enemies have contaminated the great lakes with birth control causing a mass sterilization of the population. In turn, drugs are developed to induce breast milk production without pregnancy so woman can become breast feeding cows. Women try to literally nurse the population back to health while thinning men struggle to create new raised plots of earth to grow food, and above ground irrigation to deliver clean water. Some more imagery related to this chain of thought: creating a man-made ocean between the rockies and the appalachians as an attempt to cleanse the land with sea water, a family business based around a mother at her breast pump, young young women being pregnant and praised, and the propaganda that will make it all seem totally natural.

Feeling like an April Fool

2009-04-01T16:51:00.005-05:00

I've been on a relatively long hiatus from blogging, but I'd like to return. I've decided to start writing about my art ideas even if I have no pictures to post. I'm working on a new album cover for my friend. It's a drawing of a wooden puzzle (trying not to give too much away). I enjoy drawing wood grain and thinking about the history of a piece of wood almost as if it were human. A tree can have good and bad days too. It can starve, get sick with disease, lose a limb, or even be set ablaze by a blast of lightning. A tree can get lonely when the rest of the forest is cut down. I guess a lot of what wood grain reminds me of is negative or sentimental, since the tree is dead and in front of me to inspect.

Some other projects I'd like to get around to working on include some non-easter egg dying and a mural to cover the badly sponge-painted wall in the kitchen. As soon as the weather gets a bit warmer I'd like to try some plein air oil painting on the roof deck too. I can't believe it's already April...

Winter Scarf Shimmy

2009-01-27T15:12:00.005-06:00

It's been a cold and unproductive winter, but also very exciting. I'm posting two versions of this doodle because I like how the overworked sweater appears rippled in the color scan.

Raccoon painting

2008-12-10T17:54:00.003-06:00

The Lazy Lair - revisited

2008-12-09T20:45:00.003-06:00

I used acrylic paint to rework this pastel drawing that I did in July.

Mud Pool - final & details

2008-12-05T21:09:00.004-06:00

Mud Pool in progress 3

2008-11-21T20:03:00.000-06:00

Loosening Up

2008-11-20T12:15:00.003-06:00

I've spent some time hating the painting, so I did another sketch quick with inks in hopes to figure out how I want it to look. I'm still lost but a little rejuvenated. I'll post my progress later today.

Mud Pool in progress 2

2008-11-17T19:29:00.000-06:00

Mud Pool in progress

2008-11-11T19:53:00.005-06:00

Mud Pool underpainting

2008-11-10T17:07:00.001-06:00

Raccoon sketch for painting

2008-11-07T15:46:00.003-06:00

Graveyard Trees

2008-11-05T14:15:00.003-06:00

Mud Pool sketch

2008-10-21T17:55:00.002-05:00

Fall on the Chicago River

2008-10-11T15:59:00.003-05:00

The Chicago Tribune building is in the background. I see this inspiring tree outside the window, so I finally went out to snap a portrait. As always, click to enlarge the image.

Studio Hoodie and Scarf

2008-10-02T12:01:00.000-05:00

Stump Scape on wood 4

2008-09-30T17:57:00.003-05:00

Stump Scape on wood 3

2008-09-29T17:31:00.000-05:00

Stump Scape on wood 2

2008-09-26T17:42:00.002-05:00

Still thinking and planning...

Stump Scape on wood

2008-09-24T15:24:00.004-05:00

This is from a sketch in an earlier post in March also called 'Stump Scape'. I'm adapting the idea to this block of wood and plan to carve it into a woodcut. Click on the image to zoom.

Tree Runway take two

2008-09-23T16:32:00.003-05:00

I had a hard time coming back to this one... I didn't end up adding much more. In this drawing I was describing how I experience flight in dreams.

Tree Runway

2008-09-17T17:41:00.001-05:00

This is a photo I took with my cellphone. I'll probably work on this drawing some more tomorrow.

Center Un-Folding

2008-09-16T15:31:00.000-05:00

Drawing as Tree Climbing

2008-09-15T15:08:00.000-05:00

Inked Face

2008-09-15T15:01:00.000-05:00

Cloud Path - pencil details

2008-09-12T18:40:00.003-05:00

I went over the white areas with a white oil pencil which gave it a nice opaque and textured surface. I detailed the faces with pencil and the figures with colored pencil. The background is still translucent enough to see the woodgrain underneath. I like how this one turned out so unexpectedly wonderful.

Cloud Path - Acrylic on wood

2008-09-09T19:37:00.002-05:00

I had been thinking this image was going to be created using paper.. then maybe woodcut, but at the last minute it became Acrylic on wood. I plan on working over the whole thing with colored pencil.

Cloud Path

2008-09-05T16:14:00.002-05:00

This is a sketch for a larger paper piece that I've been thinking about for a while, but haven't started yet. Maybe posting this will encourage me...

Woman on a Horse

2008-09-04T19:56:00.006-05:00

Lady Godiva escaping up the mountainside.

Looking out

2008-08-29T15:58:00.004-05:00

This reminds me of a post I did in May. It was a pen drawing called Shelter. They both describe natural spaces constructed with rocks and trees.

Just falls from the sky...

2008-08-28T19:33:00.003-05:00

A tangent idea sparked by cowbell in a song.

Lizard Mare

2008-08-28T10:30:00.004-05:00

About a dream where I was chased by a rodent lizard up stairs.

Ada with color

2008-08-27T10:25:00.000-05:00

Rail (previously)

2008-08-26T17:36:00.002-05:00

Rail

2008-08-26T15:56:00.002-05:00

Two trees to the sky!

2008-08-26T15:51:00.001-05:00

Woman from bush

2008-08-26T15:28:00.004-05:00

a last minute quick one

Boat

2008-08-26T14:47:00.001-05:00

Beach pose

2008-08-26T14:45:00.001-05:00

work in progress

Three trees

2008-08-25T14:43:00.000-05:00

Downward Face

2008-08-21T15:03:00.000-05:00

A doodle with some new inks.

Colorado drive

2008-08-09T15:37:00.002-05:00

A good-bye sketch of the mountains.

You as Fondue

2008-08-03T13:00:00.002-05:00

A portrait of Zoe and Tyler as strawberries in chocolate.

Bicycle Parking

2008-07-31T16:00:00.004-05:00

This photo was taken outside the annual Pitchfork Music Festival. There were bikes everywhere.

I will be away from the internet for the next 2 weeks... see you when I return!

Forgetful candy making

2008-07-17T19:14:00.004-05:00

I've been pretty distracted lately. Summer heat is in full swing. I looked in my purse today and realized that I've been making an m&m candy bar :)

Life Nature Library: The Mountains

2008-07-16T18:05:00.004-05:00

I picked up this book from 1962 that someone was just going to toss in the dumpster... It's full of lots of great old photography and illustrations about the earth. These are some highlights that I scanned. The first image illustrates how a gopher eats the roots of plants, the second is pretty self explanatory, the third is a photo of inside a crater, and the last one is a photo of some women mountaineers. I can't imagine hiking in those outfits...

Sunny Saturday Stroll

2008-07-12T15:40:00.001-05:00

Wildflowers take over a small vacant lot and large flowers bloom in Wicker Park.

Family Dinner: Someone is always unhappy.

2008-07-11T17:21:00.002-05:00

Bridge Gazing

2008-07-09T16:52:00.003-05:00

The Lazy Lair

2008-07-07T15:25:00.002-05:00

Wildflower Bouquet

2008-07-02T15:19:00.004-05:00

Picked from right outside my studio...

Birthday Flowers

2008-07-01T07:09:00.002-05:00

the way it goes

2008-06-30T13:20:00.002-05:00

Five Trees and a Breeze

2008-06-28T18:18:00.001-05:00

Coffin Cloud

2008-06-24T16:35:00.002-05:00

Hair Pull Dance

2008-06-18T09:13:00.002-05:00

Fernando Torres - Stick your leg out

2008-06-17T15:38:00.004-05:00

Bicycling off the Nine-to-Five Bloat

2008-06-13T16:16:00.003-05:00

Artistic Privacy: Drawing the Line

2008-06-12T18:27:00.004-05:00

KeeWee: the sounds of a Kiwi after consuming a PeeWee

2008-06-11T16:36:00.005-05:00

Balancing

2008-06-09T21:58:00.002-05:00

New Hampshire is green

2008-06-04T06:31:00.003-05:00

I'm in New Hampshire for the week. I flew in for my sister Leah's college graduation ceremony on Friday. Here's a photo I caught from the plane. The weather's humid and drizzly, but the air is nice and fresh. I was greeted by chirping birds at 5 in the morning and Willie licked my feet clean while I ate my breakfast. As far as I know I'm in for a day of cleaning and gardening, but maybe I'll try to sneak in a doodle.

The Internet

2008-05-29T17:01:00.003-05:00

Shelter

2008-05-23T17:01:00.002-05:00