Artsy Summer

I had my western phase this June. I am good with un-erasable art techniques, but I was still surprised how easy it was to work with markers. It may not be one of my best pictures, but I had fun and I still like it. I feel like I released my inner fauvist through big areas of one color and my inability to mix them into shadows. And I really fell for this scenery, I have to go to the west if I will ever have my big US road trip.
Also, I got a lot of postcard-sized paper. 
The timing was great becauseeee...

Plain air was coming.
We went to Jeseníky mountains this year. Even if we are very friendly and giving collective, you can imagine that some of us feel like we are the worst. I used to cry every day in junior year, as I felt that they will discover my inability to get any better and kick me out because of it. 
I had a good feeling for the first time this year. I think I drew what I wanted and how I wanted, and it was even good. Teachers suggest I would draw some nature, (as I everything else I did was crooked :D) and it really helped me.  
Girl on all those pictures is Klárka, originally a brunette, who had a dye job because of my lack of brown marker at the time.

I promised you a landscape and here it is. Wanna know how long it took?

Two hours. 
I don´t want to tell you that I loath realism. I have nothing against it. I just always enjoyed impressionism and its´ descendants more, so I figured I might try it. 
This is my first real landscape drawing and I kinda like it. I always get a kick out of the mountains, mainly because I can do air perspective here. I really enjoy gothic paintings and early renaissance, too. 

End, of course, some figures. Kája and again Klárka, at lunch. Kája has a lovely profile and Klárka expression. Teachers recognized and even liked how her almost iconic grin turned out. I on the other hand like her hair, it almost reaches her butt. Sadly, I coulnd´t draw those. 
I think this might be some of the best portraits I ever did, of course with a pen.

I call this Still Life with Vivi, alternatively Vivi as One of My French Girls with My Barbie Shoes on the Ground. Pen drawing again. Now, thinking about it, I really work only with pens and fixes. I can get a bit repetitive :D.
Our gang was chilling at the moment, but that did not mean we did no work. We got marks and feedback every night, so we had to work.

Two smaller pictures, a cemetery scenery and a church. I got burned (by sun, not the holy water) at that cemetery, and it´s still very visible. So now I have big round on my leg and it will be here until January, which is when I usually get butter white :).
I consider this church to be the only good architectonic work from that trip. I like working with orange-red palettere and it´s not too crooked. That´s win for me.
The third one contains my first works that were well liked. That´s another reason why I started to work with markers. That black and white arch from our accomodation is considered to be my best work by many. I suposse it has some atmosphere? I like it a lot, too.
Those snails are not finished, those byotches kept running away.

Here is mix from plain air and summer job. Lipno (Horní Planá) is cool, but there was not a lot of drawing material, so I always did sceneries from place where we went to chill and tan that day.
I added a steeple, a rare example of coloured pencil.
I think you can see my downhill spiral at some of those pictures. The worse I felt, the more expressive my draiwngs got. My markers started to die, too, so I had to get creative.

You can see one of the figurative tanning Petras below, experiment with pastels, and yet another pen drawing.

Few pictures from our family vacation. My mom got me another box of markers, which I am very thankful to. Even though I idealistically imagined how I will draw the entire time, I did not have a lot of time or will to actually do it :D. 
We went back to Lipno for vacation and there was a lot of sailboats, so ehm yeah, this is what you can see on my first drawing.
Chaotic roofs are from Český Krumlov, stone wall under it is from Velhartice. It could have been SO better, if my family did not suggest so openly that they want to go already. Next to it is forrest road, which intrigued me with it´s creepiness. I don´t think I pictured it very well.

Another picture from Krumlov, I had more time for this one. I am not very happy with it, but I know I had a great time with it. Looking at it now, I can see how crooked it is.

To add some non-landscape stuff, I will show you what I did when I came home from my summer job.  As soon as I stepped over our threshold I dived into classical art. I read a lot about it and I also did some studies. 
I like those three most, angel because of its´ expression (poor kid looks like living of cofee), Bacchus for that dramatic lighting and da Vinci´s Annunciation. Working with pastels might be dirty and hard, but it´s also rewarding. My friends liked it too, which mean I actually had enough courage to show it to them. 
I got books about Leonardo and Michelangelo under the Christmas tree, so I got enough material. Also, if I will pick Renaissance Painting at my finals, I will be more than happy :D.

This is one of the few original drawings that I am pleased with. I think it´s kinda nice. It´s inspired by the exhibition MEN at Hluboká castle (look it up, it´s one of the most beautiful buildings in our state), classical paintings and my friend Kamča, the spiritual father of all half-naked angels with a higher number of eyes.

I went to some exbitions, too. Even to the Egon Schiele in Český Krumlov. I am not sure how I feel about him, I liked some of his works. I also went to see paintings  Theodor Pištěk, artist who stands behind costumes for Amadeus. Those were not the only ones I went to, but I don´t want to make another rant here :D. 
On the other hand, I got to the cinema only once, to see Maverick. It´s a shame, but I don´t think that there was something else worth the money this year.

School starts tomorrow, but I am not overly nervous. I was anxious the whole summer, for various reasons, but this thing leaves me cool. I just don´t look forward to spending 10 hours at school again, or at waking up at 5:30.
How do you feel? :) I hope you are fine. Well, at least as fine as possible. Hopefully, nothing will go south this year, no matter if in school or at work.