drawing

100 Days Project

Photography, Thoughts

bookandpencil

My good friend Nicole told me about this great project: 100 Days Project

Here is a summary of the premise taken off the main webpage:

“The 100 Days Project is simple. 

Choose one creative exercise, and then repeat it every day for 100 days.
Record each daily effort and see what evolves in the work and in the self over time.

The project gives anyone a framework and the permission to be creative. It challenges you to dig deep into your creative reserves, to rely on your readiness to work in order to achieve creative breakthrough. It can be an end to procrastination, and the development of resilience. It takes a lot of energy, and yet the rewards can resonate for a long time after the 100th Day is over.

In 2011 Emma Rogan decided to start a 100 Days Project after reading about Michael Bierut’s ‘100 Days of Design’ class at Yale. She invited others to join her and word of the project spread. Since inception hundreds of people have participated in the project.

This 100 Days Project is not a commercial undertaking, and is not in any way (but spirit) affiliated with the Yale School of Art. Good things will come from the rigorous repetition of a process or idea over the 100 days. To see what others have done before, have a look at the previous projects.” – Emma Rogan


1 thing | Everyday | x100

I decided that my project would consist of one of my favorite hobbies : DRAWING

My artistic passion is fulfilled when creating pen & ink pointillism drawings (where little tiny dots make up the whole drawing). But, considering the time restraint and consistency of this contest, I thought it would be best to go with pencil sketches (which also fulfill my artistic passion). The time limit I put on my sketches each day is : 10 minutes. I think it’s the perfect amount of time to set aside each day to draw a quick simple sketch. Putting a time restraint on this exercise will help me with time management throughout the 100 day process, and allow me to not get sucked into a drawing for hours upon hours. Finally, I will take a photo of my finished sketch, and post it on my MAIN 100 DAYS PROJECT SHOWCASE PAGE. I will keep you updated weekly with my sketches on here too!

So you may be wondering, how will I know/pick/determine what to draw everyday? Glad you asked 🙂 Last year, my wonderful co-worker Roger gave a me the PERFECT gift for this project – it’s a drawing book consisting of 100’s of fresh white pages with a total of 642 different items printed throughout the book to sketch. I often use an image/photo as a guide in terms of shadows/proportions when I draw, but this time I will sketch solely off of what I concoct in my mind. Hence, the drawings may not be the MOST detailed, but I’m excited to see what I will be able to come up with 🙂

To be honest, I have only taken one Art Class and that was in High School (which was over 7 years ago-EEK). With that being said, another reason I chose drawing as my exercise for the 100 Days Project is to practice creating shadows/depths in my sketches. My goal by the end of this project is to hopefully SEE a steady progression of the realism of my drawings. Also, having a pencil and fresh sheet of a paper in front me puts me in a state of relaxation and intrigue. Just like how being in nature makes me the most happy in life, drawing does something similar for the happiness of my soul.

There are 760 other participants who are involved in this project as well – you can view all their creative projects HERE. Each person has come up with an exercise that relates to them- and they range from photographs, pieces of writing, videos, etc. Here are some random chosen examples:

* Tamai: Everyday I will draw a different alien. With different colors and different abilities. I will also give each one a name.

* Tara: Take photos of my husband’s pet skeleton, Nigel.

* Lester: Write a funny one line joke, or a funny story everyday.

* Karl: Shoot one, one shot, one minute video everyday, which when cut together, will create one, one hundred minute feature film set in New Zealand and the USA.

FOLLOW my Personal 100 Days Contest Page:
Chanel’s 100 Days Project 🙂

SNEAK PEEK – My first drawing of the contest – DAY 1 : SWIM FINS
Although, this is not what I’d call my best piece of work..it’s a start right? Cheers to the next 99 days of art!

Day 1 : Swim Fins

Day 1 : Swim Fins

“Fun” – It’s Different For Everyone

Photography, Science, Thoughts

Whilst reading The Happiness Project on the plane ride back to Los Angeles after a week in Dallas for the Thanksgiving holiday break, I read a chapter that really triggered the inspiration for this post.

The sub-chapter that stood out to me was titled: “Finding More Fun” in your life. The author talks about how she loves the idea of such activities like playing chess, or doing a crossword puzzles, or getting a massage…but when she really looked into it, those were things that weren’t FUN for her.

“Only recently had I grasped one of my most important Secrets of Adulthood: just because something was fun for someone else didn’t mean it was fun for me– and visa versa.”

– Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

I took these words and applied them to my own life. What was I doing that a lot of people think is fun..but wasn’t really that fun for me? And what was I doing that truly brought me happiness? Some people may hide activities that bring them happiness because they aren’t considered ‘legitimate’ or ‘normal’ – but I say who cares?! It’s your life, and you just have to do what you need to in order to make your life amazing each and every day. Below you will find my unfiltered list of some activities that I do for fun.

I want to hear what all of YOU do for FUN!

Don’t be afraid – Don’t be embarrassed – Be proud to announce to the world whatever makes you happy. Please leave a comment below with some FUN activities that YOU DO FOR YOU.

NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY – I’ve been a nature lover since the beginning of time. And once I got a camera of my own, boy did I go wild! Whether I’m on a hike, on a whale watching boat, or at the beach..you can bet I will be there snapping away. When I’m in nature, I feel one with the planet and myself (cliché, but that’s exactly how I feel).

SCUBA DIVING – Being submersed under 100ft of salt water, with fish and sea lions swimming curiously around you, you really are in another world. The ocean has been my passion and love since I was 5 years old. It’s never diminished- only grown and enhanced. I recall the first time I saw a shark, I thought I was going to freak out and swim the opposite direction, but instead I squealed in my regulator and instead followed it around the kelp beds for 5 minutes!

A NIGHT IN AT HOME– Some nights I just have no urge to put on nice clothes, make up, and a smile to go out and mingle on a Friday or Saturday night. Or, I just downright don’t have the energy to move from off my couch. Instead, I prefer to light some candles, cook a delicious meal, open a bottle of wine, and pick out an awesome movie (or 2). Let me tell you, Netflix is my best friend. I know that I’m young and I should enjoy my youth, but sometimes it just feels SO GOOD to stay in my pjs on a Friday night instead.

Credit: http://www.accidentalsexiness.com

DRAWING – I started drawing after taking an art class in high school. I found out that I love chalk, pencil, and pointillism. Although, I also discovered that oil pastels were my enemy. So when I graduated high school and went to college, my mom gave me a pointillism/pencil set because she said how awesome my drawings turned out in high school. Thanks mom- that was a great gift that has now concluded with an awesome portfolio of all my work (and still growing of course!). When making a pointillism drawing, it involves A LOT of patience. This allows me to escape into my own world for hours upon hours. No distractions. My only goal is to create an amazing piece of art that I am proud to put my signature on. I really think it’s fun to create personalized drawings for people close to me. This year I created 3 drawings as newborn baby gifts! Let me know if you want one too 🙂

My Easter Island Drawing

BEING A HOSTESS – There’s just a feeling of satisfaction and enjoyment that comes over me when I know I’m having company at my little abode. It’s an excuse for me to have my apartment looking top notch, first off, and also it’s exciting to welcome someone into my ‘space.’ As I get older and more independent, I’ve noticed how much fun it is to decorate my house and make it MY OWN. When I have people over, I turn on the ‘house wife’ appeal 😉 – you won’t be disappointed with my service. Below is a picture of my girlfriend Miranda visiting from Canada earlier this year.

TIDE POOLING – If you want to put a smile on my face, just drop me off on the coastline and let me be free to explore the wonders of the tide pools. I love exploring and finding fascinating little creatures hidden away in the nooks and crannies of the rocks. There’s even more fun to be had when I have someone else there with me (not too marine science savvy), who I can dish out all of the knowledge I have about the ocean and its creatures! Below I  made a little progression photography piece of my love for tide pooling 🙂

Dolphins Smile For The Camera!

Photography, Science, Thoughts

I saw a great viral video recently containing footage from a fishing trip off the coast of Santa Cruz, CA. Mark Peters, the one who filmed the video, created a little torpedo capsule for his GoPro camera to get some underwater shots of the tuna him and his friends were fishing for. Little did he know how precious that GoPro would be when a pod of dolphins started swimming next to their boat… Check it out below!

“The Blue“

Isn’t it hard not to smile when you see a dolphin 🙂 ? Dolphins are such beautiful, curious, smart, and for the most part very friendly creatures. The Pacific White-Sided Dolphins as seen in Mark’s video are very common off the coast of California. I actually did a little pointillism drawing a couple of years ago of a Pacific White-Sided Dolphin as seen below. It was a fun and relatively simple drawing to do 🙂 Hope all of you are enjoying your week thus far- keep smiling!

My Pacific White Sided Dolphin Drawing

I’ve got Eastern Island on the brain…

Photography, Science, Thoughts

Easter Island is definitely one of the many places on my Bucket List I must visit and witness in person. I actually have a couple friends venturing there next year..they invited me to join them once they got to Easter Island so we shall see if my dream comes true very soon.

The island is also known as “Rapa Nui.” I know many of you must have seen the photos of Giant Heads (called Moai) on rolling hills along the ocean before in photos for videos…it looks like something out of a movie. (But it’s real life!)

The island is located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean near Chile completing the Polynesian Triangle. The history of the island is very VERY fascinating!  If you don’t know the story.. I’d suggest doing some research- I don’t want to give away all the juicy details 😉 I actually learned more about the island watching the documentary on Netflix 180 degrees South a couple of months ago. It’s a great movie about a young man’s journey to Patagonia (plus much more)- check it out!

I drew a little sketch of some Easter Island Moai after watching the movie I wanted to share with you all now:

My Easter Island Drawing

I’m not a huge fan of the clouds I did- it’s tough to get the perfect fluffy texture (I know I’m my biggest critic..haha)! At least the Moai look pretty cool, huh?! Took me about 30 mins to pencil sketch this out while doing laundry 🙂 I’ve got to find a little frame for this sketch and hang it in my place.

For many years researchers thought that the Moai were only humanly head masterpieces…but after some further digging a recent discovery was made that most of the heads actually have full BODIES that were hidden underground! These huge stone pieces of art are hard to imagine being made with simple man-made tools 1,000’s of years ago…similar to structures like the Egyptian Pyramids. So of course archaeologists and researchers pondered for many years how the previous islanders moved this massive statues…until now:

Pretty cool huh?

Have any of you been to Easter Island before?! What’s one of the top places on your travel list to visit before you die 🙂 ?

It’s a NEW YEAR.

Thoughts

Wow. 2011. What a year you were! It definitely was the year of change in my life.

I won’t bore you with the details of last year- but everything that happened helped me grow, appreciate certain people more, disregard certain people (haha), and become a stronger individual.

I don’t really make New Years resolutions- but I have just created some standards that I want to hold up throughout the rest of my life.

Such as..

1) Surround myself with  more positive people- and less with negative ones. I know it may sound simple- but really take a step back and address friends in your life and how they treat you and others. I’ve realized that I have a couple friends who are always negative nancy’s and debbie downers. And it is usually not fun to be around them when we hang out…so what’s the point? I still care about these people, but I will just spend less time with them throughout the year. Life is too short to be unhappy.

2) COOK more. I got lots of fun cooking supplies for Christmas. I feel like I should turn into Betty Crocker or Julia Child by the time this year is over. I moved into my own place in September- and I really haven’t used my kitchen at all- I usually eat out or get food made by the chefs of the restaurant connected to my office that my boss always owns. So my goal is to buy more fresh veggies and eat less frozen foods.

3) DRAW more. After taking painting/drawing in high school- I kind of became fascinated with pointillism and pencil/shading drawings. I’ve got a nice little portfolio of my drawings that I want to increase over the next year and beyond. I already started a little drawing last night for my friend’s new baby girl that came into this world a week ago. It’s an escape to relaxation and creativity that I truly enjoy. I’ll be posting my new drawings throughout the year for your eyes to feast upon 🙂 Be on the look out.

I think those are some good goals to start off with for now. All these goals will hopefully make this year better than the last. I hope you all had a fantastic New Years- filled with friends and loved ones and possibly new friends. It’s 80 degrees and beautiful here in Pasadena CA – so I couldn’t ask for a more perfect way for 2012 to start. Being a sun child..life is good right now.

Cheers to a new possibilities!

Welcoming the New Year with open arms!