Brain in knots

Today was challenging, at least from an art standpoint.  I was in mezzotint class most of the day, trying to figure out the method.  Revised my zinc plate several times, trying to get the image just right.  Currently the girl in my engraving looks like Quasimodo.  Hopefully by the end of tomorrow she will have a prettier face!

It was kind of a bummer to be in class today, only because it was Saturday and it was absolutely beautiful out.  Temp had to have been exactly 72 degrees F.  I did walk to and from class, which was really nice.

Marni came over at 6 pm and she, Indra, and I made marzipan!  Actually I ended up making my dinner, and they did most of the work, which was not very much at all.  Basically it was just soaking the almonds until the skin was soft enough to rub off easily, and then blending them with powdered sugar, rose water, and vanilla and almond extract in the blender until it formed a paste.  Once the almonds were soaked it only took about 15 or 20 minutes.  We liked how it came out, except that the blender got really hot and the paste acquired a slightly, um, roasted taste.  Tomorrow we are going to form it into shapes and dip them in chocolate!

Indra, Marni, and I spent a couple of hours drawing in the kitchen.  They were both trying to help me think outside the box with my art, because everything I do is so logical.  I can't think abstract, or even imaginative.  Art classes, especially the illustration class, have been tough for me lately because I've become so dependent on drawing from observation.  So Marni ordered me to use her watercolor pencils to do something that "didn't make sense."  I tried, but Marni and Indra said it was still too logical.  So Marni said, "Okay, now draw a completely different picture over top of the one you just painted."

I was like, "Noooooo!"

Marni said, "Come on, you've got to get out of your comfort zone.  You're afraid to mess up what you already did, and that's exactly why you need to do it."

I tried.  I think I failed miserably.  Right now I have a half-finished drawing over top of a half-finished painting.  And I hate all of it except the colors.  Brain is currently having a war between "enjoy this learning experience of totally wrecking something I really liked" and "be bummed out because you wrecked something you liked."  I also have an assignment from Marni and Indra to write a story from the perspective of a creature that is NOT human, because we were talking about stories and I said my main characters are always people.

Brain. Is. So. Tired.  Who knew being creative could be so mentally exhausting?