School.

I haven't updated in a while because...well, I don't really have much to show haha.
I was too busy with school and work so I'll post some of it.

This was my first (or second) assignment for both painting and watercolor class. For painting class, we did the typical grayscale swatches. The bar on the right is my first attempt, the left is a my second which came out much better. The one of the right was my watercolor assignment, which was to copy an old master's painting. I decided to do one of Bouguereau's piece (fuck I can never spell his name). Had a fun time doing that one.

This was just in-class painting session. The first week was drawing with burnt umber and then wiping the highlights, second was using a mix of burnt sienna, french ultramarine, and permalba white  (I used titanium white)  to create a limited but colored portrait. Then the following week we used Zorn palette which is the 4 colors Anders Zorn used (ivory black, white, cadmium red, and yellow ochre). A lot of what we do in this painting class is similar to what I've learned at the Art Students League but more basic and breaking down the steps. The top painting is painted with the Zorn palette, kind of wish I have another 10 min to work on it (at least paint over the brown under-painting seriously lol).

Okay now that I talked about school stuff, here's a downside of it.

I'll be quitting school. 

(Actually, I'm taking a leave of absence for 2 yrs and then I'll do a voluntary withdrawal if it works out)

Yeah I know right. Well, it's not like a sudden thing or because I'm tired of it. It's true I don't have enough money for college, but I've been thinking about what's best for me this past 5 months and I've finally decided. We all think about what's best for ourselves and for me it came down to this. It was kind of accidental the way this happened because somehow recession hit very hard and banks stopped lending money. But I thought I can work and make up for the tuition myself if my parents can't. I don't part time, but I take freelance work which is a pretty good monthly pay. That's why I started my second year but it didn't go the way I thought it would. Balancing school and work was just too difficult. It gets tough when you only get to sleep every other day (sleep 3 times a week, 3-5hrs each) and stressing about getting good grades and good relationship with your client. There was a time when I thought pulling an all-nighter was so stressful back in high school. This is incomparable. Chest pain, vision blurring, seeing purple spots, sudden hives, and fingernails deforming... it gets really scary (especially the nail part. ew ). I asked myself if it's really worth it for the next 2 and a half more years for a single piece of paper that shows I graduated from college.

I feel that most people go to college to learn what a studio experience is and study art that's unavailable in high school education or to just build confidence. I feel that art college is redundant after going to ASL for almost 3-4 years during high school, and I do plan on returning once I take a leave - concentrate solely on what I want to do.

Well if I did have the money, I would've wait it out and graduate safely if I could. But given the choice right now, maybe it's a time to step up and make a difference. My parents knew this was coming and it didn't take much to convince them because I have a solid plan. Who knows if it'll work out or not, You'll see.