octo-trunk

new painting from the new year! i did this recently for funsies just to stray away from all the artsy obligations i've had from the holidays. i spent some time cleaning out and organizing my hard drive and found a ton of old sketches i had saved from previous years. when i made my giant octopus mural (...that was recently stolen from the outside walls of the college of new jersey), i had several sketches before deciding on a final one.  this tree/octopus sketch was one of them, and i found that i actually really liked it. so i painted it. 

i really love paintings with a lot of layers or textures. some of my favorites of my own have these elements, so i added a bunch of lace and sand around the border of the painting for some fun textures, which you can hopefully see better in these detail pictures:

also, today i start my job. i am not even going to say how long it has been since i've had a full time job, that's how embarassing it is. i'm ungodly nervous about it, and i'm terrified of what it will do to my art, but i am determined to keep my art going strong. i have tons of deadlines and projects that will last a long time, so even if i get "lazy," i have no choice but to keep going. which is a good thing.  in addition to my naturally awkward personality, my social skills have gone beyond downhill since i graduated from college. i can thank my addition to painting and locking myself in my art room all day, everday for 2 1/2 years, for that. i am hoping this whole fun-filled "working" thing i've heard so much about will help me gain some better social skills and confidence that i have been seriously lacking. or maybe it will just end in me taking lots and lots of naps, which also sounds beautiful. wish me luck. good luck, me!