“I don’t believe in loss,”

At home over Spring Break, I opened one of my desk drawers to find a letter to myself that I forgot I wrote. I quickly recalled that I wrote it on the last day of Winter Break, when I was feeling particularly anxious and dreading my return to college after a somewhat difficult fall semester. In it, I assured myself I would feel better when I read it in the future than the way I felt when I wrote it. In two short months, I was shocked to realize how true that statement was. 

“And I doubt there is a heaven.”

Some days are harder than others, and it can be hard not to get discouraged and upset with myself when I’m not feeling 100%. I am not generally as patient with myself as I should be. I have a hard time accepting that progress is not linear – I can have good and bad days while still being on an upward trend. One bad day does not mean I am a failure. One emotionally-taxing moment does not take away from the fact that I am continuing to improve myself. Hearing my mom tell me last week over Spring Break that she can see how much better I am doing now in comparison to over Winter Break helped me realize how far I’ve come. I feel better inside now, but my mom can see it on the outside, too. 

“My heart belongs to me,”

In those two months since Winter Break, I’ve gotten so much closer to my friends here at Michigan. I love my classes and professors. Being here in Ann Arbor once again feels hopeful and exciting. I’m so glad to have rediscovered the beauty here and all of my potential and the possibilities that can become a reality with patience and hard work. Here’s to finishing the semester strong, and here’s to progress – as nonlinear as it may be.

“And I know I’m happy now.”

Listen to Cheerio (by the band Malaria!) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAoJYefMZO8 

There were a lot of lines I related to in Rex Orange County’s Pluto Projector, I had a hard time deciding on a set of lyrics to visualize! Though it’s likely that Alex O’Connor wrote this piece about his emotions as a growing artist in the industry, I think it can be applied to anyone who has worries or doubts about their current life path. I’ve met people here who seem to have their entire life figured out- they’re confident in what they want to study, they’re passionate about their future aspirations, they’re on top of classes- when I start comparing myself to others it’s easy to feel behind. I’m sure some of you relate to this too. But it’s important to remember that everyone goes at their own pace! I know I don’t understand myself fully yet, but I trust with time things will all work out.

THE WOLFMAN BUSKER

The theater lights blend to 

stars, blend to the curling

bumble of a lightning bug 

bent on illuminating the 

small cracks and drainage

covers worn by the street. 

 

Here, the grass is missing, 

though a nature of sorts-

that of exhaust pipes and 

busy tidings- remains. A

wolfman howls, plucking 

a pizzicato confession of

 

loneliness, the tune sings

the somber spring of March.

Though still, the wolfman

bears a flannel husk, bears

a thousand hours through

the chilled night while few

 

pauses are granted by the 

occupied binoculars of each

passerby. Study their faces. 

Notice the curled lip and 

premature wrinkle formed 

upon the brow, as if to say

I have thought too hard

and too long on the dark

winter, though I find the 

solace of surprise in tides

of spring. These happenings

oscillate, from cold to warm,

 

drawing an ample fog of

condensation upon the 

windows of our mind, the 

eyes, the mirror neurons. 

What might the wolfman find, 

wiping away so many droplets? 

Good morning everyone! I hope that you all are well and had a relaxing spring break. I am definitely not ready to get back into the swing of classes, but I think at this point the best tactic is just to fake it until I make it. Today I wanted to share a video that really helped me when I started getting more into oil painting.

I have an issue when it comes to creating and working with skin tones. I am easily able to do portraits when the subject is any other color than a simple skin tone. I have done a few blue monochromatic studies, my piece “The Festival of Colors” was done in every color under the sun except for skin tones. Seeing as I am able to capture human likeness in other colors proves that I have a solid understanding of anatomy, light, shadow, and tonality. However, for some reason, whenever it comes to painting natural realistic skin, I have a hard time.

I recently started a piece in which I am doing a portrait of a woman dressed in traditional Indian garb putting on an ankle bracelet. I decided to challenge myself to create a proper portrait to get better at color mixing with oils and understanding skin tones.  The following video really helped me wrap my head around approaching color theory and mixing hues.

 

Florent Farges goes into incredible detail on the color wheel that he himself created, how to use it, and the theory of color mixing. For any of my fellow artists and oil painters out there, check it out and let me know if it helps you as well!

As always if anything that I discussed in this post stands out, or if any questions arise please feel free to comment and share your thoughts!

 

Looking forward to next Monday!

 

~ Riya

Instagram: @riya_aggarwal.art

Personal website: https://theindianartist.weebly.com/