Head Gasket Replacement

Head Gasket Replacement, a set on Flickr.

Just finished replacing the head gasket in my lovely (cough) '99 Jeep Wrangler. It took all weekend and two other hands worth of help and guidance, but we got her back together and according to the test runs she's doing ok.

I really just wanted to share some pictures.

Empty Promises; Corfu, Greece

As always when I start something, I seem to bite off more than I can chew. The good thing is that I'm always pushed further than I would be if I didn't bite off enough, the bad thing is that I often have to scale back.

So here I am scaling back. I can't promise weekly updates like I want to--but I will post pictures with every post; even though they might need to come from the past. I don't know if KayL will keep giving me assignments, but I'll try to find time to draw every now and then.

The following drawings are ones I did in my freehand drawing course. I cheated a bit with them, as I drew them from a picture I had taken. That type of drawing is something I want to move away from. I would like to do more observational drawings.

These drawings come from my travels through the island of Corfu, Greece in 2007. There were many old and abandoned structures across the small, mountainous island that required some investigation. One of the buildings my friend P and I explored was a Catholic church that's roof had fallen into more serious disrepair. The light from outside was shining through the rafters and onto a depiction of Christ.

I could not even begin to capture the decay and radiance that moment, with my camera nor drawings, but I hold it in my mind still.

Assignment #1: Complete

I bet you thought I'd forgotten.

Click the thumbnails for a larger view.

Assignment #1: Contour Line Drawings

For the first assignment I want you to do a contour drawing.


Pure contour is basically outline drawing. The line describes visible edges of an object; this is the simplest form of line drawing. Many artists enjoy using pure line in their drawing, and clean contour drawing is an essential skill for cartoonists.


This shouldn't take you long at all.


I want you to do two contour drawings. 

1. One of your hand in a fist. 
2. And then another of an interesting object of your choice. 

Draw them from life instead of a picture, it makes you look harder at the image.


Pencil will probably be your best medium for this.


Here is an example:

Sample contour line drawing

- KayL

What to Expect

Why's This Blog Even Exist?

I've got a tendency to dabble in things. It's great fun and all, but it also means I've always had a hard time maintaining a blog with any unified purpose. There is one thing, however, that I've always come back to, and that's creating. Some day I'd like the opportunity to get into a decent design school to focus more on design / art / industry.

2008 water color, cool light source

2008 water color, warm light source

As a full time software dev, I don't get many chances to play around with sketches and full on drawings anymore and as such, don't even have a portfolio.

So here's what it comes down to:  My good friend, #1 biker buddy and future art teacher (we'll call her KayL for now) is giving me weekly drawing assignments.

What You Can Expect From Me

1. I will post these weekly assignments
2. and then, later in the week, I'll post the results
3. There will always be some sort of image with every post

My drawings won't always be good, in fact, I guarantee they'll mostly be garbage, but I hope somewhere in there I'll hit a stride and get better.

What's in it for you, you ask? Well, I invite you to join me, of course. Follow along with the assignments and post your results! Or, simply follow along and watch me struggle through.

"What's this? There's color everywhere!"

Introduction

Heyo, I'm Liz Wong. I'm currently a software developer in my mid-20s living on the East Coast of the USofA.

There are literally hundreds++; of Liz Wongs in the world (unsurprisingly)--it's a fairly common name combo. Really! Google it or even Google Elizabeth Wong. You'll find amazing illustrators, scandalous politicians, chain smokers, photographers, and actually... a lot of creative types. None of which are me.

I guess what I'm getting at is that I'm just Another Liz Wong in a world full of them. Hang around and get to know me a little better, maybe someone will be able to weed me out from the rest.