Lord and Lady

Where have I been on posting. Doing a damn poor job of it. Good news though, I have been drawing a ton! I get inspired in interesting places..well maybe not interesting, who doesn't seem to like Game of Thrones these days? I love these characters. LOVE THEM. Granted I know that there is quite a bit of nudity on the show and some women or most seem to use their sex appeal to get what they need but that doesn't detract from the intensity to me. I never really felt like I could relate to any of the women in Lord of the Rings, and there certainly were far too few of them for us ladies to choose from. Game of Thrones has a ton. I personally adore Arya. Shes headstrong, a tom boy and despises the idea of being a lady. I also find as usually happens I become drawn to the worst sort of male characters..though in my defense these gentlemen do have good qualities hidden under their more vile behavior. Favorites include: Petyr Baelish, Tywin Lannister and Bronn. If you know the show, they you might know what I mean about good qualities in all these dudes. Anyway..the other day I realized I had not drawn a guy in awhile. I wanted to challenge myself a little so I decided to draw Tywin Lannister in full on armor. I've always been attracted to unconventional men. I mean most would say Charles Dance is not..a looker. Hes got a great profile, strong features, powerful voice and intense eyes. Anyway this is the drawing: he was fun to draw. I also wanted to share a drawing that I did of a lady that was inspired by game of thrones. I really wanted to draw a wolf and a lady with a medieval hair style. This is what I came up with. I'm going to do my best to keep up with posting every week now that life seems to have calmed down a bit. Oh and I'm going to see prometheus tonight. Midnight showing woooooooo. Its going to rule worlds.

Sadness

I know that it has been months since I updated. I am going to be coming back to the blog world I promise, within the next few weeks. Today something happened though that broke my heart a bit. My very favorite artist, Maurice Sendak, passed away. I always wanted to write him a letter and tell him what his art meant to me. I was always too nervous to do so. So I'm going to try and express my joy and admiration of such a wonderful artist. His books are probably the first ones that I remember as a kid. "Where The Wild Things Are", "Outside and Over There", "In The Night Kitchen", and The Little Bear Series. I remember relating to Max in wild things. I too believed that there were monsters in the world, and Maurice took me to a world where that was not a silly thing to think. It was real. In Outside and Over There, I could see myself in the big sister that has to go after her baby brother and save him from creatures in the forest. Little Bear was always so curious and turned ordinary things into unimaginable fun. Looking back on his art now I don't really know if I would be the artist I am without his influence. Would my art still try and take fantasy and the normal world and meld them. I learned from Sendak in a way to look at things differently. To express them in a way that could be interpreted differently by many different people. My mom remembers me as a kid often wanting to look at his books, of which we have quite the collection on the shelves at the house. He took me to another world as a kid, one that I could understand and one that didn't talk down to me just because I was a child. As an adult he has taken me to a place where I want to inspire what he did in me. I want people to be thoughtful about what I do. He was a glorious person and FUNNY(if you haven't seen him on his recent interview on the Colbert Report, he is sharp as a knife in the whole thing)and he inspired so many children who later became artists/illustrators. I really will miss his work. He gave so much wonder to so many. Rest in peace Maurice Sendak. you will always be my inspiration.

Secret Garden

A whole month since a post! Now that is bad. I promise to get into the habit of posting once weekly again, which I fell out of recently due to the holidays I'm guessing.
Exciting things are afoot! I am moving from my current place at the 1st of the month, into a room with a view and hardwood floors on a top floor of a two unit complex(instead of living in a large complex of apartments). I will have 3 other awesome housemates which I met last week. One I already knew from work, who helped me get the place. I'm excited to move back into a traditional San Francisco era apartment. I currently live in something more modern. It is also on the top floor so I won't have to deal with the noise that I have for the last year and 3 months. The guy who lives above me is quite loud and enjoys playing loud rap music..I will be glad to be free of that. I am also going to be getting a bike for the commute across the park to work! I haven't had a bike since I was young so I will have to get back into the swing of it.
I wanted to post the above piece because I can't wait to one day color it in. I was watching the 'Secret Garden' when I drew it. I think that movie is so beautiful. I'm hoping to get back into photography once I move as well as getting to explore a brand new neighborhood. Exciting!
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.

Gatekeeper 2012

My most recent drawing is called "GateKeeper". I like the idea that a woman holds the protection of her own heart. We are all protectors and coming from a woman who has spent most of her life single I'm looking for something special when it comes to a love. We are all gatekeepers to our souls and hearts, best not to let everyone in. I've been guilty of that in the past so for 2012 its time to be a more careful gatekeeper for whatever key master comes along. Sure that can be taken two ways. Sexual and not. I'm looking for a Dracula not a Jonathan Harker. For a Snape not a James Potter.
I've over heard a ton of people say that 2011 was a horrible year. I could look at it that way but I feel like I've learned a lot. I've felt a love for my art that I didn't think would happen and so I am grateful for 2011.

I rang in the year watching gary oldman play a marvelous spy in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" which I enjoyed. I had a chocolate shake and a hamburger at mels and saw a movie. I saw "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" with my mom when she came up on thursday. I didn't expect to like it, but I'm sucker for a bad ass girl. I'd love to draw Lisbeth Salander, she is amazingly tough but inside there is a vulnerability. My art is the opposite, feminine looking girls with a toughness inside. The gatekeeper is that to me. She is all sweetness and softness but shes not going to make it easy to get near that dangling thread, shes in control.
I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe new year.
One of my resolutions is to read more. Another is to get back into pilates 4 times a week. What are yours?

now a picture of me making a silly face. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Carnival Christmas.

I've been sick for the past week or so. Here is a new piece I have had shelved for some time now in my folders. I knew I didn't like the original colors that I did(they were far too intense for my linking) so I toned it down to more of a soft palate. I like it better now. Holidays are coming up quite quickly, it always comes faster now that I'm older. I remember waiting like crazy and doing the advent calendar at my house and thinking it would never come. Now Christmas just sneaks up on you. I sadly won't be getting to spend the holiday with my brother, mom, or dad...I will miss them.

I've been wanting to do a drawing of Jane Eyre. I just have to find the right photo for it. I'm going to go see "A Dangerous Method" tonight which will be interesting. I've heard so much about Carl Jung and learned a bit about him in my time with an Analyst. I hope its good.

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday time!

Everyone will have Tea!

Nearly a month since an update! My, I shouldn't do that again. I wanted to post the finalized version of Tea Time. I adore Elizabeth. Not all the things she did but what she stood for. A woman in a time and world where to rule as a woman was often not done. When I went to London with my mom after I graduated high school, one of my highlights was getting to see her tomb at Westminster. I couldn't get over the fact that I was standing beside the tomb of a woman I looked up to for her strength. I love drawing Elizabethan garb. Its so intricate and those lace fans they wore were stunning, though I'm assuming quite cumbersome to wear they looked like something that just needed to be painted.
I wonder what Bess would think if she knew how many documentaries, movies, plays and costumes had been made to immortalize her reign. I'm assuming she would be quite happy and perhaps want to have some tea to celebrate.

Next thing I want to draw is Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. I'm going to go see "A Dangerous Method" when it comes out this month!

Also in wonderful news. Bunny Dee was featured in a wonderful brand new online magazine!The Unexposed is a wonderful magazine that interviews up and coming artists and seeks to display their work and thoughts. I'm interviewed on page 148. Take a look!

Hope everyone had a good thanksgiving and a good holiday coming up!

Golden Age

I've been on a kick of drawing period costumes lately. It has always been a favorite thing of mine. When I was a kid I loved drawing elizabethan ruffs on all my drawings. Or giving animals ball gowns..I was fascinated with history from a very young age. At times instead of watching cartoons I would beg my parents to put on the national geographic tape we had about the titanic and its sinking. Oh Lady Anne of Cleves. She was rather lucky wasn't she to escape the ax. I've always loved the depiction of her from her portrait that was sent to Henry to see if he would wish to marry her. I really want to do more period costume drawings. They really are my favorite to do. I often wish I could dress like they did back in those days..just for a day.

I also finally got to see Anonymous. Well..I've seen it twice as of today. When the movie Elizabeth came out, I saw that 3 times in theaters. Period costumes make me drool. As does the actor in the black off to the left side. He plays the hunchback Robert Cecil. I usually like the bad guys. I didn't mind his back either, hes a great character and the actor gave life to a person so often reviled in history. He did a brilliant job at the roll. Many of the actors were amazing. David Thewis, Vanessa Redgrave, Rafe Spall..it was beautifully shot, had a wonderful soundtrack and a dramatic plot.
I am going home next week. So excited!
Hope everyone has a good weekend!