Las Animas at 12x12 Show

Finally done! I almost didn't get three pieces done in time, but I worked my butt off and got the final one done in a matter of days haha (my poor sleep schedule is still off from it)... They can be seen at Betz Gallery's upcoming Annual 12x12 Show beginning November 12. Tons of artists and works of art, all 12"x12". Always a great show!

Las Animas I of III:

"Vaadin"

Las Animas II of III:

"Holo"

Las Animas III of III:

"Solveig"

White Linen Night

Definitely been keeping busy so it's been hard to post. I've got a new job, no longer slinging lattes as I had been before... I'm finally getting to do some design work! Pretty much monthly ads and marketing/promotional print work :D And a little freelance logo design hee hee. So, that's kind of where I've been these last few months... Back in August I sold BOTH paintings I submitted for Betz Gallery's exhibition in the White Linen Night in the Heights! That was pretty exciting.
Mx
Mixed Media
August 2011

Diamond Eyes

Mixed Media

August 2011

You can see more of my work in Betz Gallery in November's 12 by 12 show. More details & pics to come!

New Drawing AND some Updates!!

It's been a long time... I've been uber busy, distracted, uninspired, but mostly busy... Personal life has been a little hectic. Creative life, well, a little crazy too. I've been a little unmotivated with my painting for a while now, so I've turned to drawing. Doing illustrations and the like...

This is NOT a recent drawing, I've just been taking forever uploading things! As you can see, she's living in a dilapidated sketchbook, with a few battle scars...
Lola Illustration

2010

[Clicky click thumbnails below for details]

I've been hoping for a scanner, to get better images. (Still waiting)... Another thing I'm waiting on... a graphic tablet... I have really taken to editing/enhancing my illustrations digitally. Sooo many possibilities, soo little mess, hardly annny cleanup haha. But, if I continue to hold off posting my drawings until I get said items, I will NEVER post anything, so my dearies, you will be getting more of my drawings *in the raw* lol... More sketches, more "works in progress" ..."samples" if you like? Because I still have big plans for them, and I will DEFINITELY share the finished works of art when they are done ^__^

Oh yeah... and I mentioned a certain "update"... Ever heard of The Squirrely Girly?? You will...

Keep Calm, Carry On

"Keep Calm, Carry On"

Mixed Media. 2010

For this, I created an ink and watercolor drawing, then went in and added more digitally. I really like how it turned out. Funny thing is, I hated the original drawing and almost threw it out. Instead, I left her sitting in my sketchbook for a good year or more, all the while adding a little more to her from time to time. One day I decided to break out the watercolors, and the rest is history. It kind of reminds me of Danny Roberts' work?

I am reeeally happy with how it turned out. It's a little different, but I'm having lots of fun working with color and playing with different media. Tons of fun... One of my fave details is in the shot above- The Russian graffiti in the background (check out the paint drips!) and Zac Posen's braided spike headband.

And just another closeup, so you can really see the colors and textures. I love the lace collar! Very pleased with it. Reminds me of Prada's A/W08 collection.

"One Day..." Illustration

"One Day This Will All be an Irrelevant, Bad Dream"

Mixed Media

2010

Lara Jade Photography Illustration

I've been a little behind posting on all my different sites, so some of you may have seen this on flickr, or maybe not. I've been a looong time fan of photographer/model Lara Jade (photo of Jade taken by Jingna Zhang), and am continually drawing inspiration from her.

This piece is my own interpretation of a photo created for an avant garde editorial for Masquerade Magazine.

While this has been met with different reactions, I have to say, it is by far one of my favorite pieces to create. What I loved about the original photo was Jade's ability to capture such energy and raw emotion in a photograph. Plus, the incredible styling.

Headpiece by the fabulous Luke Abby, Rings inspired by Gisele Ganne.


I feel this piece gave me an opportunity to create something different. I was able to experiment with tons of different media and alter my style to create an edgier/editorial illustration.

**For more of Lara Jade's work, you can check out her official site or follow her here on blogger or on flickr.

(bulletproof) illustration

So... the last couple of months I have had no drive whatsoever to finish anything. I get half way through a painting then get super bored with it and let it sit on my easel for a couple months until I feel like messing with it again... sad sad... However, I have been doing a lot of sketching in my War-and-Peace-length leather bound sketchbook... lots of writing/sketching combos. Some just doodles, some complete illustrations. It's so completely freeing, because there are no expectations before me, I can take it anywhere, and it's a small surface, so it doesn't take as long to finish things. Plus, because it's a sketchbook, it gives me freedom to do whatever I feel like, regardless of how it turns out. It's really, really nice. So for the next couple of days/weeks, I'm going to be sharing some illustrations from my book.

(bulletproof)

Had some fun with a Kelly Smith inspired drawing. Pencil and acrylic.

Again, I apologize for the crappy resolution. I have postponed posting these because I have been waiting for a scanner to miraculously appear in my presence, but that has STILL not happened, so, camera photos instead... one day... one day...

Houston Art Walk

So, I was hoping to have loads of awesome pictures etc etc, but as it turns out, as soon as I got to Betz Gallery, I was immediately sent to work. I didn't even get to see what else was in the gallery! Sad but funny... Before the art walk even started, a young couple came in shopping for art. So, I got to ring them up. Oh so professional... The gallery was already pretty full, so I was lucky to still have room for my art. I had a little space for my work. To my dismay, the band had to be brought inside due to the rain, and guess where they set up... right in front of my work! So I thought "Great, no one's gonna even walk over there to check it out!" Weeelll....

To my surprise, I actually had a really nice girl talk to me about my work, and a couple minutes later, I had a buyer! So `a outrance now has a new home, no longer giving me attitude from her perch in my room, but now someone else's! haha

So, thank you! The piece just kind of started as an experimental piece, just for fun, but I've had such a nice response from lots of people about it, that I'd like to do a couple more in the same spirit. But for now, I'm still just going to enjoy my leisure time lol.

(only in) Remission

"(only in) Remission"
2010



Originally I had considered a red heart. Although it worked for my personal meaning behind the piece, and looked beautiful with her red hair, something about it was just not working. Plus, I didn't want it to look too typical or like some kind of religious iconography, so I had a last minute overhaul of the whole concept-- the night before the show!


The idea of a bruised or grayed/decaying sort of heart came to mind. Then I also thought about how coals are black and gray; dingey and dead looking, yet still containing bright burning red embers inside. From the start, I wanted the heart to morph into something organic. The veins and arteries reminded me of roots (which tied into some complex metaphorical statement I wanted to illustrate, that I don't want to go into right now- haha) and so I was thinking of it turning into roots and twigs; like something was growing from it. The thought of rich blacks and grays reminded me of black irises- thus the idea was born.

One of my favorite, overlooked parts of this is the bust (LOL). Using a super-secret technique, I creating this pattern of colors and highlights, coming through the black of the corset. You should click the image above to see it up close.

Below you can see more textural elements I incorporated throughout this piece:

And there you have it- my latest piece.

Post show update (LOL)

`a outrance- sold at the Houston Art & Culture Art Walk
Finally home from Houston, and I am soo happy to be. These last couple of months have been craaazy between school, work, and preparing for the art walk. At long last, I have TIME OFF (a day!! haha!!) so, I will finally take some time to chill out and finish all my little projects that I put on hold months ago.

I just wanted to say "thanks" to all the people who made it to the art walk, and a special thanks to my dear friends who were a HUGE GINORMOUS help, and to my newest art patron ^__^. Thank you all, and I will make sure to post pics ASAP ^__^ I've got a new painting I want to show off, as well as pictures from the event. I'll be posting soon!

Houston Art Walk

As of today, I have signed up for the 2nd annual Houston Art and Culture Art Walk!

My work will be on display at Betz Gallery, and I will also be there working the event.

I know a lot of you readers are not in the area, but if you do find yourself in Houston on May 15th, I'd love to see you there! More info on their site ^__^

Bleep blorp computing error! x_x

Yup, that's the way computers speak to one another... my brain (and my eyeballs) are fried. I've been working on the same stupid painting for about 5hours now... I'm sooo tired of it! haha :P I just need to take a break, go to sleep...

Just wanted to share the progress with you guys. I'm reeeeally excited because I've been having some problems with getting her colors/shading right, and for whatever reason I broke out my prismacolors and went to town... Very happy with the results! Any way, I'm gonna take a break now...

I will leave you with a shot of my messy work area. It's like a squirrel den. Or rat's nest... It can be clean and organized... but not when I'm working. Evvverything gets dragged out and tossed within a 12" radius of me for easy access haha. Those freaking lights too... It is burning up in here with them being on all day! My head hurts... zzzzzzzz

Lanvin Lady

Hello all. I've been busy with school and work, so no time to post. I'm working towards becoming a member at 500x Gallery for next season (starting in August/September). Got my submission turned in, so I should be hearing from them in the next couple of months.

In the meantime, I was playing around with my last illustration, trying to come up with an editorial style illustration. I don't really know what to do with it lol. Click on the image to view up close ^__^

Lanvin Spring 2010 Styling

As usual, the photos suck, but I'm still pretty happy with how this turned out. While I was in Houston, I just spent my idle time doodling away, and this is one of the products. She's based off an editorial featuring Lanvin's Spring 2010 Beauty. (Lots of smokey eyes, whispy updos, and bleached brows)

I really liked the model- as you can see, she had some really sharp, stunning features, and serious attitude. I'm happy with how this turned out, especially with limited art supplies while I was away lol.



I have a couple ideas for finishing this. I like it as a simple black and white illustration, but I think a few subtle colors might be nice, or just a severe black background-- lots of different directions to take it in. That's usually why I choose to color some of my drawings digitally, because I don't want to be tied down to just ONE result.

Chicago Drawing

Meant to post this when I got back from Chicago, but never did. Just a little something from my sketchbook I drew on the plane. I used a photo of Kate Moss as reference; I've never drawn her before, and she's got some unusual features, so mehh?? It's a sketchbook drawing I did on a bumpy plane, take it or leave it haha...


It's actually a blue pencil drawing on cream colored paper, but they always just turn out looking yellow. Then, when I try to edit the colors digitally, it makes the actual drawing very grainy.

Excuses, excuses, I know. Seriously, one day I will get a decent scanner instead of having to photograph everything with a shakey camera haha.

Came on a late flight home, and got bored, so I doodled the bottle of YSL perfume Kate was modeling lol... (still lifes, wooo...)

i-D Magazine Cover

Okay, okay, so it's a mock-up, not the real deal... but I thought it would be fun to play around with!Working on getting a new portfolio together to try my hand at illustration... Thought some editorial mock-ups might be a nice touch, to see what could be done...

Illustrations

I've been a little uninspired with painting lately, so I've gone back to my roots with pencil drawings. This time however, I've taken a different route, and I'm trying to shake things up a bit. I LOVE the work of illustrators Kelly Smith and Bec Winnel. They are both working out of Australia, and their art has been featured in tons of shows, fashion editorials, and magazine covers! I LOVE that they can both succeed in the art world, as well as commercially, in the fashion industry. Very inspiring to me! ^__^


Rose Colored. 2010. Alex Teale

I just felt like drawing and playing with color, so I picked up a cream colored sketch pad and half heartedly started sketching. Then I really got into it, ans started getting all kinds of ideas for a new series. Any way, I don't want to go nuts and change up what I do JUST for other people, JUST to sell art. But, I do want to push myself and try new things, just to see what I can do, or rather, what I like to do. Any way, this was the first one from that endeavor, and I'm kind of pleased with it. I was kind of excited to share it, but of course, the photo quality is terrible lol...

"Amaranth" & Updates

"Amaranth"

January 2010

So, I finally got her done... Not really sure what I think, but either way, it's done, and I'll move on! I got all my submissions dropped off today for the upcoming juried show at 500x Gallery. Super excited to find out if I'll be getting in!! I will know sometime between now and Tuesday... I will let you know! I submitted this one, "Paper Whites," "Fight or Flight," and "`a outrance" (the chick in my blog title picture). Any way, lots of obstacles and money put into this, so I'm hoping it works out haha. C'est la vie... ;)

Teaser Pics

Not too much going on right now, just getting stuff ready for the 500x show coming up this month. Submissions are next week, so I'm just getting last minute stuff done. (Framing, touching up, etc) One of the pieces I'm submitting is something I started back in June that I've just put off to the side. I got the figure part done with, but then just got stuck with what direction I wanted to take it in. I've kind of got an idea now, so I'm working toward the finishing touches and polishing it up a bit.

Limited Edition Prints