Sketches From the Past

After spending the last few weeks working creatively with the youth and viewing the Jim Henson exhibit at The Museum of Moving Image, I decided to go back and look at some of my old sketches from when I was a teenager. I seemed to have always been interested in portraiture as most of my sketches are of family, teachers, classmates or strangers on the train. Below are sketches from my train ride to school, my classmate and my English teacher at LaGuardia Mr. Hoffner.

I also would illustrate what I was learning in class. I remember the Egyptian and Greek eras were my favorite to draw.

Living in Queens I would often go to Flushing Meadow Park to sketch.

And upon graduating, I had my first jury duty experience where I created my own sketch of the jurors.

~Nia Andino~

Mural and Art Workshops with NYC Teens

These past few weeks for me have been about working creatively with teenagers. Starting in December, I assisted fellow artists Rico Tomas, Gia Gutierrez, Marthalicia Matarrita and Steven Huntley in a mural workshop at South Bronx High School. We worked with Lisa Hally Greenbaum’s class helping them to collaboratively sketch out mural ideas that represented them as a class and their personalities. The students learned to build canvas from scratch, work with perspective and spatial planning as a team. These are the final results.

This week I also sat in on an afterschool art program taught by Christian Cortes. The program run by Education Alliance Teen Center and referred to as Edgies Teen Center offers a place in lower Manhattan for teens in the area to explore creative and educational outlets such as art, dance and college prep in a safe environment for free. Here is a pic of me at the drawing table with the teens and my ink drawing by the end of the workshop.

The teens in this class will be having a gallery show of their extraordinary work in the near future and I will keep you posted. Until next time.

~Nia Andino~

Painting Live Tonight at Diva Lounge- 1/31/12

Come join me as I paint for Collage Party at Diva lounge. Live art, live music! You don’t wanna miss the biggest movement in Soho!! If you appreciate good music, and fun people & food, then join us for an early evening of socializing & dancing to afro beats, reggae, headbopping tunes and SALSA!! Tonight at 7PM open bar 8-9PM!

~Nia Andino~

My Monday morning muse as I sip my cup of black cherry berry tea is summed up in this Japanese proverb.

If a man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth and beauty.

~Nia Andino~

MoBrit Social Tapestry Art Panel at Nightingale Lounge

Come out and join me at Nightingale Lounge this Thursday, January 26th as I participate with a panel of artists to discuss our work. Free admission to this event created by MoBrit and hosted by fellow LaGuardia High School alumni Drego Moore! Here is a link to the event last year.

Hope to see you there for  a night filled with music, drinks and art!

~Nia Andino~

Drawing From Life

The past few weeks I have been attending some live drawing sessions. I haven’t had the opportunity to draw from life in years and enjoyed the opportunity to have a live reference rather than static images online. The two sessions I attended were the Big City Dare 2 Draw and the Friday Open Drawing Sessions in the illustration department at Parsons. Here are some of the sketches from the sessions.

There are 2 other drawing sessions that I want to try Dr. Sketchy’s which has drawing events in several cities  and The Art Students League.

~ Nia Andino~

Painting Live Tonight for Capicu at The Evil Olive

Join me as we set off the holiday season tonight November 18th for The Peoples Open Mic featuring Poet, Activist & Cancer Survivor Adele Ramos, and live painting by watercolor and acrylic Visual Artist Nia Andino! Music by DJ Sambarella!

Also, you’ll get a chance to check out the transformation of our home Notice Lounge into The EvilOlive! A full bar with Olive infused martinis including a delicious affordable menu consisting of Mexican/American appetizers with a unique fresh flavor profile!

Featured Poet: Adele Ramos: Adele started writing poetry in grammar school and found something magical about the power of rhythm and words. Her creative nature and passion for poetry has been a driving force ever since. She has performed at numerous venues in and around New York and has been a featured poet at La Mama, Cemi Underground , Nuyorican Poets Cafe, SUNY Oswego, Penn State University & many more.

Featured Artist: Nia Andino Nia Andino is a visual artist and print designer who resides in New Jersey. From a young age, she demonstrated a creative streak and drew upon images of nature and culture in her surroundings as an inspiration for her art. Working primarily in acrylic and watercolor, Nia’s subject matters and compositions are a journey of warmth, color and culture. They seek to show her expression of a universal spirit and beauty in the world around us.

Adonde? Where @? FRIDAY November 18th The EvilOlive (formerly Notice Lounge) 198 Union Avenue between B’way and Montrose Williamsburg Brooklyn NY 11211 Right across from the 90th Precinct

Doors open at 7 PM- Open Mic list closes at 8pm **SHOWTIME at 8:15PM!** $10 Cover

21 & Over

————–By train:

J,M,Z to Lorimer Street (Lorimer/Bway exit, walk straight up B’way, right on Union ave) From Uptown: take 2,3,4,5,A, or C train to Fulton St./ Broadway Nassau station, transfer to J or M train to Lorimer St.

L train to Lorimer Street- transfer to the G train and take 1 stop to Broadway (leaves you on corner)

G train to Broadway

From Jersey: Path to 14th Street and transfer to the Brooklyn bound L train. Transfer to the G train and take 1 stop to Broadway (leaves you on corner)

~Nia Andino~

Guest Appearance on Radio Capicu Tonight!

Join me on Radio Capicu TONIGHT with an amazing broadcast from 10PM-Midnite (EST)!

Latino Artist Appreciation Show

Come join me this Sunday, October 9th as I paint live as part of the Latino Artist Appreciation Show at the The Bean Runner Cafe. This is a family friendly event showing appreciation for Latinos in the arts in honor of Latino History Month.

Cover- $5 (Kids 12 and under free) Time- 4-6 p.m. Get there early to get a seat!

The Bean Runner Cafe
201 South Division Street Peekskill, NY

~Nia Andino~

Ebru: The Traditional Art of Turkey

At the end of August I took a trip along the Mediterranean with one of the destinations being Turkey. Turkey is mostly known for its colorful tile patterns, syrillic calligraphy and architecture when it comes to art. Until present day, the most popular form of painting in the country was predominately landscapes. This is due to the Sharia Law within the Muslim religion that equates depicting the human figure as a sinful act of idolatry.

In the 13th century, the art form of ebru was developed. This art form once adorned royal documents and books with a primarily marbled background and calligraphy or floral subjects in the forefront. The technique of  ebru uses a tray of oily water, while painting on the surface with pigments and horsehair brushes. Once the painting is made, a piece of watercolor paper is placed on the surface and pulled off with a transferred image of the art. Below is a video demonstrating the traditional style of ebru.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe9-F6Osnz4&feature=related

Below is another video of a more modern technique showing a transferring of the image to canvas instead.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXbrgTE8jEY&NR=1

I plan to experiment with this style of art at some point with a subject that isn’t necessarily floral. But until then I have other pieces to finish!

~ Nia Andino~