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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My Very First Muse

One of my very first subjects for portrait sketching was Billy Holiday.  I felt an instant connection with her at a very young age.  I was obsessed with her music, her beauty,  and her tragic story.  I felt like I was her in one of my past lives.  I identified with her story and her pain.  I wrote poems for her...I felt like we were connected through space and time. 

In this first sketch, you can see that I was not so talented in the shading area but what I can I say? I was very young and my sketching powers were not yet quite developed.  However, I can still feel why I was so inclined to draw this photo of Billy.

Billy Holiday (Sketch 1995)

In this second drawing, I was very much intrigued by the level of detail to which I had to pay much attention.  These are the types of portrait sketching that moved me...those with high detail.

Billy Holiday (Sketch 1995)

I really can't remember which sketch came first but I did them both within the same year, at the age of 15 under the tutelage of a great artist, Mrs. Dodys, my junior high school teacher.  She made me see that art was something bigger than me and that what I was doing meant something.  She was one of the many teachers that nurtured and molded me into who I am today.  She encouraged me and made me see that this was not just a hobby. 

I would be no one without art. Pin It Now!

My first stab at painting....

So I have given you a peek into my favorite sketch that I did when I was 16, I also gave you a peek at my first tattoo design when I was about 24.  Now I am going to give you a peek into my first stab at seriously painting. 

I first dabbled in painting when I was about 13, I think....I remembered that I did not like it as much as I thought I would. Ha Ha Ha Ha....I could not figure out why I was not connecting with my paintbrush so I never tried it again unless my art teacher, Mrs Dodys, told me I had to for a grade ;-)

Last year a friend of mine invited me to one of those BYOB painting classes.  There I met another fellow artist, Rebecca Coates. Shout out to Rebecca! ;-)
She promised me that I would love painting and what do you know....I fell in love and now I can't stop.  So this first piece I did is a sunset on a lake with trees....that sort of thing.

Acrylic painting 2012

Not exactly a masterpiece but I really fell for painting at this time and found myself signing up for those classes every chance I got until.....once day I decided, "Can't I just do this on my own in my home???" 
And so now, I do. ;-) Pin It Now!