Cafe scene at Cosi

Artist: Yoko Furusho
Music: International music found typically in cafes

This week we have some freakishly nice weather in Chicago (seriously, it should still be snowing right now; it's almost as weird as when it hailed in late June). So I took advance of the weather and went out to downtown to relax with my friends, get some fresh air, fill out job apps, write resume and cover letters... the usual.

On Monday, Amy and I went to Cosi, a cafe franchise, down on Michigan Ave and across from the Art Institute Museum. While she was submitting paperwork and being productive, I took out a crappy "watercolor" pad and started to draw the scene in the cafe (I guess I was being productive too in a way). I continued the piece once I return home and finished it in the middle of the night and the next morning with little sleep. Here are the results:

I didn't like the finish results that much, especially the zombie guy on the left of the piece and the monster tree in the background...and the awkward oval table to a certain degree. They throw the composition off. I scanned the image and messed with crop.

The picture looks odd to me at first because I am not quite use to the square composition(?) but it already looks a lot better with zombie boy out of the picture (sorry, zombie boy).

I crop another chunk to make the image more rectangular; however, it looks a little bottom heavy after this edit since all of the people are situated on the bottom half of the picture. And maybe I should have left the zombie guy in this picture but remove bit of the chair. Never really occur to me until now.

I decide to balance this by cropping the top but according to my friends this crop took off some of the interesting elements in the pieces, ie: the angles of the door frame.

Right now, I am leaning towards the square crop. Feel bad that zombie boy can't join us but he's in his first stage of decomposition and would probably like to be left alone anyways. The pattern for this piece is inspired by illustrative works of Yoko Furusho. She is amazing.

1st Gallery Show

Current obsession: Jason Isaacs
Music: Disney & musicals

I deeply apologize for not updating in so long. This blog is undergoing some major changes. First off, I reformatted the entire layout. The background image is taken by me for Teaa's Flowers. The colors were so lovely and vibrant that I ended up with a theme based around it.

I had my first gallery show on Saturday, October 22nd. It was curated by Elena Katz and feature works many young established artists in Chicago.  I had 3 paintings up on display. One of the pieces is brand new. It's not finished to the point in which I would have liked for the show but I ran out of time (after a full week of nonstop painting too). The piece is called Cinderella and it will be finished by the time for my good friend/fellow artist, Joy, and my next show. Here is sample chunk of art thus far:

The full image will be a surprise.

It was pretty awesome to see all the people that showed up in a mere 3 hrs. I almost sold one of my old editorial pieces, "Homeless House;" however, the buyer changed his mind last minute. The piece almost didn't make it to the show. I am happy either way because it shocks me to see that people actually enjoy and appreciate my artwork.

Teaa's Flowers

Addiction: (on break)
Obsession: Stories and Tom Riddle (but to a lesser extent)

A friend of mine has recently opened up a flower shop in downtown called Teaa's Flowers. In fact, yesterday was the grand opening. The location is 501 north Wells Street in Chicago, Illinois (2 blocks north of the Merchandise Mart stop on the Brown/ Purple line). The shop is right on the corner so it's fairly easy to find.

   

The flowers are high quality in a decent pricing. Delivery is also very inexpensive. The shop itself look relatively modern and is dog friendly. The owner himself has two small dogs that may or may not be in the shop. Also, the shop aims to be green and environment friendly.

There is also an art studio (in the making) downstairs where my friend and fellow artist, Joy, and I will be working at. I am going to probably be there for half the time to work on projects, so there will be artwork feature in the shop every once in awhile.

    

So if you're in town and in need some flowers (Mother's Day and graduations are coming up!) stop by Teaa's Flowers. Also, bring your dog!

 

Apologize for the pictures; only had my digital camera that day.