One of the courses I am currently undertaking at the art school in Cusco is an Anatomy course. The class itself is quite fun and I am learning a ton. It is an advanced anatomy class in which we are exploring the bone, musculature and skin structures of different animals. So far our research has been in directly working with animal bones and sculls, and in examining life and pictures. Soon we will be creating anatomical bone structures, using an animal of our choice - that we can get our hands on. This part bothers me a little as morally I would feel wrong killing an animal to do this particular project - and so I do think I will cop out and use a market fish for this activity - as no killing necessary, and I can also eat the fish before using its bones. 

Tahira Nusrat Karim
Tauska

Experimentations with techniques and styles - recently I've been playing with different styles and colour combinations in my painting. I've also been painting nudes which has been quite the experience in observations of skin tones and shadows - next post :) 

Tahira Nusrat Karim
​Tauska

So I've been doing a lot of painting recently, and just going to share a few pieces here. Anyhow, here's to more and more paintings!! 

Tahira Nusrat Karim
​Tauska

This is my new AWESOME work place!! It's the Escuela Superior Autónoma de Bellas Artes del Cusco - in Cusco, Peru. Currently I am working here as a visiting professor - teaching animation to students in their final year of painting, and also graphic design to students of design. I'm also taking some courses - such as advanced anatomy and art history to further my levels of Spanish, and advanced painting, and murals to gain more expertise in these areas - So far everything is wonderful - and chasing dreams is most definitely worth it! 

Tahira Nusrat Karim
​Tauska

So I've just found a wonderful mentor and evening "free time" art classes in Cusco at their school of fine arts. I started the classes a couple weeks ago, and so far between holidays and work strikes I've not been able to attend many of the classes, even though they are in the evening.

That said I am learning a lot just by being in classes with other students and observing classical styles of art and painting. When asked by my new teacher what I wanted to learn - I've stated that I would like to experiment with many painting and art movement styles and also to start working larger. 

So far, so good - in a period of 3 classes - I've managed to gain a good head start and am working on a oil painting of 1 x 2/3 of a meter in the style of Cezanne in which I am really looking to use tone and color to build up a sense of 3D. Instead of using apples, I am using typical produce from Peru - onions, granadillas, limes, and choclo (maize).  

Tahira Nusrat Karim
​Tauska

Tahira Nusrat Karim 
​Tauska