Puppy painting!

I was asked by a friend's friend to make a painting of their parents' dog for Christmas. I used to do pet portraits all the time in high school (random, I know), so it was fun to do one after so long. I understand how important animals are as family members are, I've even painted one of my own kitty Gogo! (see : Gogo Fluff Deity)

His name is Beary! :)


Enjoy!

Bikes Not Bombs Anniversary Party

Recently I finished an invitation design for Bikes Not Bombs, a local nonprofit dealing in the sales/repair of bikes, as well as teaching classes and developing youth programs for kids. They're a fantastic group, and working with them was wonderful. I'm so happy to have been a part of something so important for their company. This was also a nice exercise for drawing hands, too.

This is their 25th birthday/anniversary as a nonprofit, and tickets are available through Bikes Not Bombs, tickets starting at $50.



Working on redoing my entire physical portfolio as well as taking more steps to get my website up. Also moving into the new house this upcoming week. Working towards figuring out a lot of things right now.

Pet Monster show coming up, along with Artist Talk!

Helloooooo!!!

Two nights ago was our Artist Talk at Space 242, featuring Andy Fish, Veronica Hebard, Lindsay Small, and myself. Using the same picture that Lindsay used, this illustrates all of us talking about our art/grievances about the Boston art scene and opinions on digital art VS. physical art. There was a great turnout! And I got to chat it up with my buddy Tak Toyoshima, art director of the Weekly Dig and comic illustrator of Secret Asian Man.


Aside from that, I have this show coming up! It's super RSVP only, so email paintpensinpurses@gmail.com with your full name if you'd like to attend that night. It's only up for one night, so it's gonna be special! Also, I live about a block away from there, so drinks afterwards if you like! ;) (I'll be all birthdayed up by then.)


Aside from that, I'll be doing some work for Bikes Not Bombs, a non-profit over in the Jamaica Plain who fix up bikes, refurbish bikes, sell bikes and parts, and teach inner city kids and others how to ride and maintain bikes. They helped fix up my lovely little pickle Alex Carlson's bike, and the fact that it's all run by bike enthusiasts makes me excited.

I'll also be purchasing a new bike soon - old Behemoth is too heavy for my crappy wrist. So long, my beloved.




Other quick announcements!!!
-Lindsay Small is giving away art for free on her BLOG!
-I've updated my FLICKR!
-Original art works by me still for sale in a past POST!

Pheonix cover!

I won a cover contest in Bob Maloney's Experimental Illustration class a few weeks ago, and my leaflet cover is out now for the Boston Pheonix's Bicycle Bible 2009. Go pick up a free copy today!

I was asked to use mixed media for this assignment, something I'm still trying to wrap my head around (you use more than paint! wtf), so I'm happy that Bob and Kevin Banks, the art director for the Pheonix, thought my piece was developed enough and of a caliber worthy of print. So thanks a lot to both! I appreciate it!


NEXT UPON THE MENU:

I'm a jerk who never posts. That will certainly change now that I'm about to graduate and will have a lot more time to focus on my art and getting other people to see my art. I have the Space 242 show coming up in June, and I'm considering starting a whole new series of pieces/paintings instead of building upon my old one. Maybe all digital. It could be fun. <3 More on that later.

Until I know what I'm officially doing for the rest of my life, this is my plan:

Step 1: Get a better job that pays more that will allow me to live without terror of not being able to afford bills/rent/loans.
Step 2: Do freelance work and find teaching work that will allow for supplimental income.
Step 3: ?
Step 4: Profit. Become famous artist and do all sorts of cool stuff like toy design, apparel design, poster design, and international gallery shows. I want my own art book, too.

I'm just looking for my niche, a style of art I can stay happy with. Hopefully, I'm getting closer to finding out what that is. OK ENOUGH

Done.

I've finished my last assignment at art school. 4 years, and I'm done with homework.

These are finished concepts for a children's video game. The theme was a Test Your Strength booth at a monster carnival. Enjoy.

I've been at school for 15 hours. I'm going to go pass out now.

Pectasaurus Rex: plays bass, chills at the Test Your Strength booth

His collection of sweet basses.

The Booth
A selection of different hammers


DONE.

Another update.

LOOOOOOOOOOONG day tomorrow. I'm presenting my snowboard concepts to the snowboard company FLOW and afterwards presenting my final images for a calendar project from NEAFA, an organization based on helping helper animals and the people who need them. It's been a long procoess with Flow, and it's been a much shorter process with NEAFA, but both have garnished great results. Once I have the okay to submit finishes from FLOW on this blog, I'll do so.

Until then, here's my finish for NEAFA, dedicated to my buddy Mark Reusch with his adorable Boston terriers, Mr. Giles and Frankensteiny. I wanted this to be a fun, cute-ish piece, and I've officially fallen in love with doggies with squishy faces. I want to get a French bulldog one day - done and done.

I hope you enjoy! More work on the way!





On another note, I'm feeling very lonely.

Sing me to sleep,
Sing me to sleep,
I don't want to wake up on my own anymore

There is another world
There is a better world

-The Smiths

What's up, dawn.

I'm awake and it's LATE.

"Too Many Puppies" by Primus just came on, and when you're deliriously tired, it's impossible to handle that song. It's ridiculous.

Recentness:

I finished 3 more pieces for my Experimental Illustration class last night, and then the gods bestowed upon me a snow day to get my work done. Today, I spent 2 hours on a color comp for NEAFA (my doggy picture), and then I spent TEN HOURS working on my last snowboard for Flow. So now both of mine are done (though I despise the bases on both of them), and I can just focus on finishing my puppy picture.

Also, last night, when I should have been doing something constructive, I drew a whole slew of Alice in Wonderland characters all super-cutesy. Sometimes you just need to draw something easy to make yourself like art again.

I have to make new flyers for the All School Show Submissions tomorrow - look out for them! Updated information! Sorry if they were confusing before.

I'm going up to Maine for 4 days this weekend to visit Jared. It'll be a wonderful break from my mess of a life. We sat on the phone tonight and both yelled at our computers together. I get to meet his mum and his stepdad. :)

Okay, really though, time for bed. Night!

Something I'm working on.

Freelance work for NEAFA.
Here's my lighting comp. (WARNING HUGE FILE)

(This is the piece where the human's shadow is facing the wrong direction. I'm also going to change the hand to be dropping a treat in the bucket instead of just an amputated hand shoving a treat at the puppa.)

Either way, problems aside, I thought it was a pretty sophisticated go at a lighting comp. I usually do them in pencil, but it was SO MUCH FASTER in photoshop. I need to do more digital work. And I did a full background! Even though I normally despise them. I'm usually just very character-obsessed, though, so it's good for my to do backgrounds.


I had my first comic book class at Emerson tonight with Andy Fish. It was very good! Lots of in-class working time, which I'm not used to with such loooooong critiques at MassArt. It was good to see some work from people whose lives don't revolve around art the way mine does. It's nice to see things from a different, sometimes simpler perspective every once in a while.

Better update soon, promise.

Degree Project and Something Completely Different

This is a sketch for my fourth Degree Project piece. It's an octoclown. I've been wanting to combine animals with clowns (my theme being clowns), and I feel this was successful. I know drawing octopi are all the rage right now, but I have a reason: I had bought a small glass sculpture of an octopus with only 5 tentacles (a pentapus) and a big red nose. It's adorable, and it inspired this piece.

The theme is being "the octopus in the brine," if you will. It's about being different and not being afraid to shine. The light source will be from directly above as sunlight gleaming through water. The fishes swimming in their school below will be highlighted in the sun. The main colors will be blue, turquoise, red, white, cream, and violet. Possibly yellow tones in the water.


And this, THIS, my friends, is a commission my friend asked me to do. PLEASE FULL VIEW. He wanted me to take this picture and make it badass. And if there's anyone who wants to whine about copying - go for it. I was told to go by a direct reference, and I'm complying to my client's needs. So whatevs on you.

Either way, he wanted St. Michael kicking the shit out of a demon with a sword, and I took this as an opportunity to draw lots of line and lots of movement with the fabric and the feathers. I NEVER draw men either (which you can probably tell) so I tried to make St. Michael look as beefy as possible. His flowing blonde hair doesn't lend well to his rippling muscles.

Isn't it strange to think I did the octoclown 4 hours ago and this new one an hour ago? What the hell happened since then? And I was drawing puppies earlier. Weird night. This is what happens when Jared leaves.

New England Arts for Animals

In my Professional Freelance class, I've been working with a foundation called the New England Arts for Animals. They support animal rescue, therapy, companion and service organizations, as well as wildlife sanctuaries that support these causes.

They've offered spots in their 2010 illustrated calendar to myself and my class, demonstrating the bond between humans and animals. I've found this assignment to be refreshing, with the subject matter being easy to swallow and having such a warm, touching feeling behind it. Jill, the founder, did a great job opening our eyes to the many needs for helper animals - not just as aid animals but also as a form of therapy for sick and disabled people.


I'm incredibly fond of snakes, so I wanted to show that snakes could be lovable as well. One of my friends has a snake named Medusa that will curl up in your pocket and fall asleep if you let her. I also had my picture taken with a 12 foot boa constrictor when I was 7, and I was absolutely fascinated.


For my second sketch, I wanted to make a girlfriend for Mister Roosh's Frankensteiny, since it's his anniversary and all. Her name is Lizzy (after Elizabeth, who became the bride of Frankenstein). And, of course, it would have to be a Halloween scene! He's been an awesome teacher and an awesome friend the past few months, and he bought a few of my paintings a little while back, so I wanted to do something small to thank him. haha. Yay puppies!

Recent things.

So I've been working on a few things.

I've been working with a snowboard company called "FLOW" from San Diego, helping design a board for their 2011 line. That's going well - you can see my most recent submissions a couple of posts down.

I did a bit of freelance work today (FINALLY) for a wonderful company called Medallion Gallery Rugs. They're a high end rug company on the corner of Newbury and Clarendon Streets, and I must say that the people who run the shop are fantastic. They were more than accommodating to my needs, getting me ladders, paper towels, and I even had the general manager help me a little because I was too short. I was on a 20-foot ladder for most of today, and I didn't realize until now that my fear of heights starts at 15 feet. haha. Either way, Amir and the people there were just great, so if you're over by H&M on Newbury, go check them out! I even got a $50 bonus for being awesome, so I bought myself some earrings and a small vinyl toy (the last one on the right):
Along with this, I've been getting my Degree Project finished along with my final portfolio. As of now, I've got my 3 promotional postcard ideas figured out. Now I just have to commit to a new business card, which I'm working on. I'm also trying to decide on text placement for this next piece. Opinions? Which one's your favorite?

Still trying to get my comic going, still trying to get my website up. There aren't enough hours in the day! Seriously! I can't wait until it's spring and the sun is out longer - it'll trick my brain into thinking I have more time to do all the things I want to do.

In other random news!!! I learned how to use packing tape transfers, thanks to Bob Maloney! They're AMAZING. I'm pretty much obsessed with that, at the moment, and I'm going to use them for everythinnggg.

And lastly, I'll be making a portfolio blog to post all of my final images on. I like using this blog to say my silly things in, but I know I need a better gallery for my finishes until my website's up. Along with this, http://www.grin-grin.com will soon be obliterated. I'll be opting for a more big-girl name, www.bamcatart.com. So look out for that! Change is a brewin'!

To conclude, here is a picture of my boyfriend, Jared, being unbearably cute. I've been staring at this picture all night. He's coming to visit Friday night for Valentine's Day! I haven't seen him in 3 weeks! It will be wonderful. <333

Detour! *bing!*

The long-awaited Detour 12 is finally almost here! Featuring my cover!

I'm too exhausted right now to really function, but buy one! Here!


Thanks for all the support from Andy, Lindsay, and Veronica during the Detour contest.

In other news, I'm now doing a freelance job for a Rug company off of Newbury St. I'll be designing/painting a window advertisement for them - not my most favorite thing to do, but I do it well, and quick. Also, it's money, in a time where I have very little. So I'll be doing that Tuesday (when I should be doing my other homework, which I'll finish, somehow).

But yes! Detour! Buy it! It has comics from AMAZING artists such as Andy Fish, Derek Ring, Veronica Hebard, Jamie Buckmaster, Jim Riel, and lots of other super-talented people. I'm really excited!

Going on a trip!

Third weekend in December, I'll be bouncing around Portland, Maine, spending some much-needed time with great friends, including Jared. Jared's always been wonderful to me (except that time he cheated on me and we broke up :P), but he's still one of the few men in my life who are genuinely concerned with my progress and always have something supportive to say. So we'll have some Brandy and watch Hedwig and the Angry Inch and catch up, and it will be a good time to get away after final reviews.

Go check out the movie Jared worked on and won the 2008 Audience Choice Award for here!

Doing some freelance work - not sure what yet, but hopefully something simple that I can complete without schoolwork killing me. Might even be doing some promo stuff for Chaos Before Creation (a local band from the south shore), so we'll see if anything comes of that.

I also did a couple of sketches on the train today. Here they are if you want to check them out.