Pass!!

This morning I got the email from the Groundlings stating "YOUR RESULTS: Pass (Eligible for Basic Level One)"!!! I started jumping up and down at work and Aunty Zarin was worried I was hurting the baby (so was I) so I stopped. I was so happy and then instantly nervous again to find out if Cary passed (even though he did a much better job auditioning than I did, but I wanted him to pass more than I wanted me to pass). So I keep calling and he doesn't pick up. Finally he calls and says he passed -yay!!!! We are so happy!!

Cary sent an email to our 3 friends to see if we were 5 for 5. We were shocked and sad to find out that two of our friends, who did an amazing job (better than me), did not pass. The auditioner doesn't give you feedback, so I have no idea why I made it and they didn't. It's really bittersweet. Ultimately, I really wanted Cary to make it in so he can advance in the writing ranks. It's just frosting on the cake that I made it. But so so bittersweet that the five of us are not moving on together. We plan to keep in touch with everyone anyway, but it would have been nice to be able to see each other on a regular basis during classes. That and I really wanted us all to be celebrating together.

I don't know how actors do it. If I had to audition on a regular basis, I would not last long at all. It is so unnerving. Just knowing that my friends didn't pass is heart wrenching.

For now, we'll just take it a day at a time, a class at a time, and enjoy it. I feel Cary and my little family has grown in the Groundlings together. We signed up for the first class before I knew I was pregnant (I was barely 3 weeks along) and I've been pregnant through out this whole experience. I'm so happy that baby girl has been kicking away through out this experience. She's already a part of our life before we become parents.

Last class, maybe?

Today was our last class for this session of Improv Workshop B. We are still waiting for results from our audition yesterday. If we don't get in, who knows if we will have it in us to audition again in 6 months. Biting my nails isn't helping with the nerves. It's funny how you grow attached to people in your class. It was a really warm and supportive group of people. Even though I'm not best friends with everyone, I'll miss seeing them all once a week.

All in all, this has been a priceless experience. I'm not sure how to explain what practical skills I've learned, but I've definitely learned things about myself that I may not have otherwise. Maybe I've gained a little confidence, maybe I've exercised my creative mental abilities that would have otherwise gone unused. Bottom line is that I had a blast and I got to do it all while I was pregnant. Someday, I hope that little girl will read this and know that I was thrilled to include her in this special and unique part of my life. I'm a little worried that when she leaves my body, I will lose some of what I absorbed during the class. If she gains every ounce of it, I will be thrilled.

After class we walked over to the Groundlings theater and Cary asked if they had any results from the audition. Apparently the lady behind the desk asked if any one of us had submitted a "weird headshot" (we had to submit a headshot and resume when we auditioned). I didn't have a head shot, so I used a picture of Cary and I, and put 5 post-it notes over Cary's head and body because it was a really nice picture and I didn't want to cut the photo in half. Cary used a picture where I was kissing him on the cheek....and he cropped me out of the picture!!! That's much more cruel, if you ask me. I thought for sure that since she remembered my "weird headshot", that she was hesitant to tell us who was in and who was out because the person with the weird headshot was out. I am totally sweating it!!

After class, with some post-audition-dazed feeling, Cary and I drove to Skye Taco on Pico for some lunch. The turkey tacos are the best!! And they have this drink called sorrel that is sooo good! They serve their sorrel and lemonades in a mason jar, which I love.
I couldn't eat my second taco, which was beef. This giant mastiff was tied to the fence post behind Cary and when I was about to bite into my beef taco, I saw the long strings of saliva hanging down from both corners of the dog's mouth and almost vomited. I have a high tolerance for getting grossed out while eating. Still,I had to spit out the first bite I took of the beef taco and I couldn't eat anything after that. Bummer.

First audition ever!

I haven't been writing much about the Groundlings classes we've been taking since I first posted about it in January (here and here). I took a 6 week improv class ("Improv Workshop A") during the first session in January/February with Cary, then I stopped because I was still nauseous from the first trimester nausea. Cary took the next class level ("Improv Workshop B"). in February/March. Then Cary repeated this class and I joined him for the most recent session of "Improv Workshop B" from April-May. Cary also took the sketch writing class, but I did not.

In order to advance to the next level of classes, called "Basic A", you have to audition. So Cary and I (and little girl in my belly) had our very first audition this morning. We went with 3 other of our friends from class, which was comforting. Normally the auditions are held in one of the classrooms and include exercises very similar to the ones you do in class. Since the main theater was not being used, the instructor decided that we would audition on the actual Groundlings stage. Needless to say, it was slightly intimidating...but AWESOME!! I even got to use one of the fake doors on the side of the stage.

Of the 5 of us that auditioned, I messed up the most, I felt. Everyone else got to do at least one scene with someone from our class, except me. I don't know if it would have made a difference in my performance or not, I was really nervous. Cary did awesome, I was so proud of him. Everyone from our class did really well and we were all rooting for each other. All of a sudden, it felt like we were a mini-family. I was really proud of everyone.

Afterwards, Cary and I drove around in a daze looking for somewhere to have lunch. We drove by Lemonade off of Beverly. It's always closed on Sundays after class, so we've never been.

I got the corned beef with Gruyere and a side of shaved fennel and sun choke. Fancy. Cary got the turkey and avocado with a side of sugar snap peas and edamame. I also got a cucumber mint lemonade which was freaking delicious. We ate in silence because our thoughts were deep in our audition. Every once in a while one of us would bring up something we noticed and then go back to eating in silence.

We don't find out till Monday if we passed or failed. If you fail you can't audition for 6 months and you only get 3 chances to audition. I've been anxious all day. The suspense is killing me. I want all 5 of us to make it. Mostly I want Cary to make it so he can continue moving up the ranks for the sake of his writing (and sanity... advertising isn't leaving him with much sanity). Finger crossed!! Or is it break a leg?

Learned my lesson.

After my severe morning sickness during the first Groundlings class, I decided to come prepared for the next one. I packed a peanut butter sandwich cut into 3, an apple cut into pieces and a banana. Its all about finger foods and small quantities with this nausea. I can't eat a lot at once without feeling sick, but I have to get some food down or I'll feel sick. I also had a Sprite and a granola bar not pictured below. I just hope I don't vomit, especially in public, that my biggest fear.

After class we've been going house hunting. Sundays end up being my most active day because of class and house hunting. I'm so tired when I get home. And a little grumpy. Poor Cary.

Improv at the Groundlings.

Cary decided to take an improv class at The Groundlings theater on Melrose. I decided to copy him and take the class too.Here's the main theater. The classes are down a block and across the street, upstairs in this dingy space that looks like it was once a boarding house. Its kind of cool. Our teacher is great and made the class really fun. I wasn't feeling too great and got really low blood sugar before we got our 15 minute break. Next time I'll pack a lunch or two and snacks.

Graduation Day

Today was the last day of our drawing class at LACMA. For our last assignment, our instructor David Schoffman, gave us a commentative tour of the surrealist artwork on the plaza level at LACMA. A couple of us students suggested that he start his own podcast with his opinions of the art in the museum. His opinions, explanations, and descriptions are so eye opening that you really feel "you get it" when he's done explaining the artwork on the wall. I've definitely learned more about art in the last 5 weeks in his class then whatever exposure I've had from museums or art classes up until now.

We were told to pick a Matisse sculpture to draw. There was a row of Jeanette sculptures, I through V:

Here were 4 of the 5 choices from my point of view from where I was sitting:

Cary and I picked Jeanette III below.Here's a shot of my drawing. The pictures aren't great because I didn't want to use flash and disturb everyone. I'm not even sure if I can use flash. Again, sorry for the lousy photograph.Here's a picture of Cary from where I was sitting. He got a number of compliments on his drawing today. A big one from David too. This was tough because we've been drawing sculptures of bodies and faces for 4 weeks, and drawing surrealist images was a big leap. Especially since it was bronze. Your brain sort of tells you to draw the hair a darker color than the face, even though the whole thing is the same bronze color. You have to let go of what your brain is telling your eyes. It's a really great exercise. The 2 1/2 hours always flies by.

We decided to become members of LACMA so we can practice drawing in the museum anytime and we can be part of events that they have. It's only $95 for 2 people for the basic membership. We might upgrade and get the Muse membership.

To find out more go to http://www.lacma.org/ .

I feel like such a grown up.

Drawing at LACMA

Yesterday's drawing class focused on drawing the draping fabric on a body. We've mostly done drawings of naked sculptures, last week we focused on the face of a subject. This was the first time we focused on something inanimate. That's not really accurate to say. We were taught to draw the way the fabric reacts to the body underneath it. So everything we'd learned up till know still applied. Here is my point of view.

When you draw something, no matter how far away you are, you tend to draw a close up. This is what I tried to draw (below).
But this is what I actually saw (below). I took the picture above by zooming in. The one below is without any zoom from where I sat and drew.

David, our instructor, sat next to me and told me a few things to improve on. He told me to try to draw the head larger, I drew the head way too small (the sculptures version of the head is actually kind of big for a real head). Also I was having a lot of trouble with the hands. So he drew the skeleton of a hand and explained the mechanics of each bone interacting with each bone or tendon or muscle and how that effects the way the hand looks and should be drawn to get a more accurate likeness. I tried to take notes and drew a version of the human hand.
I also erased and re-drew the right leg. Can you tell?
If you ever have to opportunity to take a drawing class, or any class that teaches you something you've never done before, then go for it. Every Sunday I get 2 1/2 hours of meditative distraction. Not only does it make me happier, but it also makes me less angry about things I'm frustrated about. I get a shot at Zen every Sunday. It's usually my shot of Zen for the week.

Voltaire

Today was our third drawing class at LACMA. I have to reiterate what I said in my post last week, I really like our teacher David Schoffman. He makes the class so enjoyable.

Today we focused on faces. Cary and I picked a sculpture of Voltaire by Houdin. Here is my attempt, you can see our subject in the background.

Sunday at LACMA

Our drawing class took place in the Rodin section. We were allowed to choose which ever sculpture we wanted to draw.

Here is Cary's pick and his drawing:

Here's my sculpture:

This is my first attempt at drawing the sculpture. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't get it right so our instructor, David Schoffman, explained that I was drawing her as if she was facing me straight on even though I was about 45 degrees to her left. So I gave it another shot.

This looks like my sculpture is taking a shower. The shower head is actually my imaginary source of light. Its really hard to draw shadowing in the museum's artificial light because there are so many sources casting shadows in different directions. When I got stuck, David explained that I was drawing the legs straight down instead of bent and gave me a few tips on how to correct it. He's really good and we both really like the way he teaches.

This is the sculpture (The Lansdowne Athlete by Lysippos) we drew in our first class that I posted about last week:

I didn't even have to use my AK....

I gotta say, it was a good day.

I feel like such a yuppie for opening this post with gangsta lyrics and then telling you what I really did today. Whatever, I got my grub on but didn't pig out.

Cary and I signed up for a drawing class at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Today was our first one and I am so glad Cary thought to do this. We both had such a great experience, mainly because of our wonderful teacher. I will scan or snap a quick photo of our first drawings and post them later today. I'll try to post our sketches from each class on the Sunday that we do them from now on so we can track our (hopeful) improvement.

This one is my sketch. (I will post the name of the marble statue we sketched in my next post about our class) The one below is Cary's sketch. We were sitting on opposite sides of the marble sculpture.
And on the educational tip, I am still trying to learn all the functions and features of my new iPhone. I took my first real picture with the phone's camera and emailed it to myself.

I took this outside of my bedroom window at about 6 in the morning a few days ago. I love this time of year because the position of the earth vs sun makes it just right for a blood-red sunrise every morning for the next couple of months or so. This is a mild pink sunrise. I will post better ones soon.

As far as the iPhone camera, the quality is much better than my old phone. I do have a complaint that the pictures don't have a time stamp as far as I can tell. I really count on that information for organizing the hundreds of pictures I've taken of Sheila (no exaggeration) with my main camera. Plus it would have been nice to know exactly what time in the morning the sun looks like this.

After our drawing class, Cary and I went to the Grove for lunch at the Farmer's Market. Here is another picture taken with my iPhone this time of Cary at the Grove.

The Grove and the Farmer's Market are 2 of my top favorite places on earth and I'm so lucky to be able to walk across the street from my apartment to get there. Did I mention we walked to art class at LACMA too? And after the Grove we went to watch a Groundlings improv comedy show on Melrose up the street.

...even saw the lights on the good year blimp...