Ode to MJB

As a teenager, Mary J Blige's music really inspired me and helped me to get through some really tough times. I cannot count how many times I played the  "What's the 411?" and "My Life" albums. Of course she is among my roster of musician sketches!

Whatever I feel and sometimes what I want to feel comes out in my art. Mary's music really spoke to me so when I saw this photo of her...I felt it would be perfect to capture this image in a sketch. Her expression and use of light and darkness really personified how I felt at the time. Pin It Now!

Backstreet Artwork

So yes, I am not afraid nor ashamed to admit that back in high school and the first few years in the university I was a huge Backstreet Boys fan.  As a matter of fact I always liked Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson's features.  I liked his features so much so that I decided to immortalize them.

That time was not an easy time for me, my late high school years and freshman year of college and pop music really took me to a happier place and facilitated some of my best artwork.

Art saved my life...and maybe a Backstreet Boys album or two.
I love Kevin's sharp features still! Pin It Now!

The Painting That Made Me Think I Was On To Something....

As I explained before, I had tried painting as a teenager once before and did not really like it  I just felt it was not my medium.  However, all that changed when I was invited to my first BYOB Painting class.  I soon began to sign up for many of these classes to paint.  The more I got into it, I was choosing paintings that spoke to me OR paintings that would challenge me.  This painting simply spoke to me...

I knew exactly where I wanted to hang it before I even painted it.  As soon as I was done with this one, I posted it to my Facebook page and immediately I got positive responses.  People even insisted on me selling this painting to them.  Many of my friends were even texting me! Hmmmm...maybe I was on to something.  I decided that maybe I could sell my paintings along with my drawings and other works of art.  

I now paint mostly on my own rather than going to the BYOB classes.  This painting did give me the idea of painting a series of female musicians.  I am currently working on the second piece in this series.  Already when people come over and see it on my easel quickly sketched out...they join in my enthusiasm! Pin It Now!

Sade Drawing

I am always inspired by musicians.  Sade is one of my favorite singers and I just love her voice as well as her simple beauty!  Someone is always commenting on this particular drawing when they enter my home office.  I have the original drawing framed and on the wall near my desk.

I like to pick photos to draw that will allow me to focus in on details. I also like to play with light and shadowing.  I am not perfect in my shadow techniques but I find that I love to try perfecting my technique. Pin It Now!

King Of The Nile

I have this strange obsession with all things creepy, supernatural and yes, I am heavily into Sci-Fi.  So after seeing various images in my head of which I was going to draw, I decided to create a collection of artwork devoted to this obsession.  I think I am going to call this collection "Fantasy and Mythical Creatures".  The first piece I did was actually my very first painting I did unassisted and straight from my head. 

King of the Nile (Acrylic Painting 2013)

I intended to only draw these images but this piece seemed more fitting as a painting.  I saw paint colors in gold and this inspired me to do this painting.  When I went to the store to purchase the gold paint I also saw bronze paint as well and decided to add that in.  I really thought no one would get this unless they were as weird as I am but...surprisingly most people say that they love this piece the most out of my other paintings.  This is awesome considering this was my first original piece! Pin It Now!

Random Sketches

Sometimes I get in these moods where an image comes to my mind and there is no reason to it.  But I think you get a feel for where my mind is when the drawing comes out on paper. 

When I was a freshman in college, it was the worst year of my life.  Any and everything you could think of happened to me during that year.  Everything that was supposed to go left for me went right...and I lost it.  I lost EVERYTHING that year but I also gained EVERYTHING.  I met some beautiful people that I believe I would not have made it out alive.  It was that serious.  One individual who lived next to me took the time out to hear a bit of my dreams and aspirations which was all about art, of course....  For my birthday, she bought me this huge sketch pad.  It was the best gift I received that year.  It meant so much to me...she didn't even know me that well.  But she did.  So in one my random drawing moments....I was inspired by another friend down the hall and I drew the following work in that huge sketchpad:


Girl with Rabbit (pencil and color pencils)



I think my mind was in a serene place even though my life and heart was not.  In my mind I wanted this girl to look like my friend and I would remember her telling me about a pet rabbit.  So she was my inspiration for this random drawing.



Untitled (pencil sketch)

I believe I was in high school when I did this piece...I remember thinking that I want to draw a random woman's face and in my mind I knew which features I wanted the face to have.  I kept thinking she must have Joan Crawford's lips.  I always thought they were the most unique lips.  So I wanted everything about this woman's face to be severe and intense.  On top of that I added a sharp bob cut for hair.  Fierce.  That was where my mind was in this random activity.





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My first customized tattoo artwork

I only recently decided to find another outlet to market my artwork to others.  The idea is to sell some of my artwork as tattoo designs.  So I was asked to create something for a friend of mine.  She and her husband wanted to having matching tattoos to symbolize their son coming into their lives.  Her husband designed a tattoo for them.  Her request to me was for me to add to the original design to make it more feminine for her. 


Without posting the original design (I do not have permission to do so), I can describe the changes I made in order to make this a more feminine piece for my friend.



Tattoo Design (pen & ink 2013)



 

The original design has angel wings rather than the butterfly wings I have added.  I kept the same concept intact along with the lettering.  However, I re-designed the omega sign and made it a little more sleek and thinner since this was for a female and it goes better with the butterfly wings.




Tattoo Design (photo)
 

I have to say this turned out pretty well.  I liked it even better on skin! There is nothing more gratifying than seeing your work appreciated by others.   ;-)
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