60 minutes study of a self portrait

I was doing a study of another self portrait yesterday, while only allow one hour for each session, the painting turned out better than I had expected. The form is more solid and proportion of the facial contour in comparison to the structure is closer to the subject than my past results. I think I captured some details of my over all look, despite certain areas were depicted too harshly, like the eyes and the nose. The lips are also too full they looked as they belong to someone else. One of the biggest problem of the study is that I usually tend to observe and receive too much, so much so it made my colors muddy and flat.
life at PAFA is still going good, plenty of friends:) I only have two classes this semester, one is landscape by Larry Francis, the other is a drawing seminar by Ron Wyffle, both are lovely people.

The gym I am a member of is well known by its uplifting gay spirit in the rainbow neighborhood of Philadelphia. I really like the place and the people working there. Most of the associates are muscularly built and can have an intimidating appearance. But if you make the right complements...

They are as soft and squishy as Mary and the little lamb...

La Fiamma Sketch and a thought about art

COMCAST BUILDING VIEW

A view of the Comcast building from the 9th floor.
I've always wanted to capture the solitude of this very quite moment. When the morning sun sheds its first smile on the Comcast building, the mirror reflection of the building next door creates a very interesting dialogue between the two structures.
The solitude of this painting would also describe my current mood and disposition, which is quite obviously on the blue side.

MOM'S BSN AND MORE

MOM'S BSN!
I am so proud to see my mother receiving her Bachelor of Nursing Degree :D
She had a late blooming career but she never gave up perusing it. There were many occasions in life where she was almost beaten down by the harsh reality but it always failed to claim her as a victim. A single woman with no financial support, who worked on her hands and knees to continue her study in the nursing field. I look up to my mother more than ever, and I am just proud to see her hard work has paid off. Moreover, she is already enrolled in the MSN program and will be darting to her next but sure not the last destination, MD for medical doctor.

Kathleen Battle, a truly amazing inspiration to my vocal tainting. She might have been dismissed from the Met Opera but she will never be dismissed from her career on stage.
When I receive my MFA and find a job teaching I may consider going to AVA or Curtis Institute where Anna Moffo received her formal training.

Kate Q, still singing beautifully. Thanks for putting up with me :)

Steph and her newly wed hubbie--Ben, what a match :)Love you guys!

Cold Winter Sketches

Some sketches from the weekend

Downtown

Around the Neighborhood

Been busy lately, will try to keep the sketching up though.

Important events of the night of Jan 18th

On the way home from work, the radio news was addressing two major events: the Obama pre-inauguration visit and the Eagles's loss. HA! Both of them seem so irrelevant to the traffic jam on I95. I was stuck on the road for nealy 45 minutes, long enough to watch a half of the game. So"OOOOPSSS" to the Eagles and "WEEEEee" to Obama, good luck to both!