In honour of my first Burlesque class, I coloured up my Burly Girl.  I have named her Cherry Rose after Emyrs provided it as a suggestion when I was harassing the internets for Burly Alter-ego names (more on that later…)

While I love Cherry Rose a lot, I am kinda pissed off with her.  I am still having scanner issues. No matter what I do, every single time I scan my colour work, it looks like balls.   The original is much, much nicer.  But you wouldn’t know it from these images.  The colours are even and much richer. This one looks like a washed out, patchy version. And it makes me cranky because ideally, I’d like to start getting prints made of some of these illustrations.  But I can’t do that if it looks like ass. Grrrr.

I’m starting to think I am completely ineffective when it comes to my scanner. Boo.

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Just a quick sketch from my lunch break.  The star-shaped pasties are cracking me up.  A lot.

It’s interesting the more I do these little illustrative non-drawings of girls, the more I am kinda figuring out what I like from an aestethic perspective.  It has been an interesting journey.  I like Burlesque. I like pin-up. I like circus freaks.  I like curvy, busty girls.  I love Steampunk. I love Geisha. I love ukiyo-e.  The latter three I figured out a loooong time ago. I like propaganda art (especially by those good old Commies), but I suspect I figured that one out from a web-design that I was working on a couple weeks ago. I have no Commie girls – yet!

I also discovered tonight that I might also have a penchant for fetish. The visuals (outfits and what not), not the acts themselves.  Though, I have a few friends who would probably debate that last statement. Ahem.

Any-way, after some discussion at tonight’s Art Meetup coffee event, I realized that there are certain aspects of the fetish “look” that are really appealing.  For example, I would love to do a fetish mask portrait. Now, the masks themselves creep me the fuck out. Especially the ones with the zipper mouths. Gah! But visually? Brilliant!  Love them! Then again, I have always had an affinity for masks – like Noh masks for example. Perhaps this is an extension of that.

I guess it’s just really interesting to figure out the things that are inspiring.  I just need to remember those things. Didn’t I mention something about a freaking inspiration board. I should get on that. Or at least write some of this shit down.  Jeez.

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Title: Untitled
Size: 8½ x 11″
Medium: Prismacolor Marker on Aquabee Manga Artist Paper
Time: 3.0 hours
Status: Work In Progress

I worked on my self-portrait for the show last night. I am extremely pleased with my progress so far.  And I am completely and totally enamoured of using markers for portraits. I think it looks fantastic, but more than that, it makes me fast.  Under normal graphite circumstances, what I did last night would have taken me about five or six hours. Last night? An hour and a half. Woot!

Though, I really need to invest in the rest of the Prismacolor greys methinks. Right now, I am only functioning with (maybe) five different shades of cool greys. It would be nice to have a larger repertoire to choose from.  It would probably allow for less contrast and more subtle shades.

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I didn’t do much in the way of art making this weekend.   Well, that’s not entirely true. I worked on a couple sketches revamping the pinup girls I did for SMc last Xmas.  I have improved a lot since I did them for her – so much so that I actually cringe when I look at them. Eeef.

Not entirely sure how I feel about the revamped versions. They have an obvious Katie Cook style influence to them – especially the new She-Ra.  Mostly because they are more voluptuous than their previous incarnations.  Soft and squishy.  But I won’t lie, I’m a bit worried that there is too much influence in them – if that makes any sense?  Not a flat-out copy, but enough that it makes me take a pause. Do. Not. Like.  While the influence of other artists is a given, I want to discover my own style, not rip someone else’s off (which isn’t to say that I feel I am in Katie Cook’s league – I am nowhere close – she is awesome).  I guess it’s a work in progress – this style finding thing.

Beyond some sketching, this weekend was actually for a project – creating my own lightbox!  I found several sources on the internets that I used for inspiration, but overall, the entire build was of my own creation.

I’m pretty proud of it. Is it perfect? No. Is it fancy? No. But it will work for me. The lights give off approximately 50w each and I think that it should be sufficient. It allowed me to trace through some pretty thick bristol and that is the basic paper I use. So I think it will be sufficient.
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I think I have decided that I am not particularly fond of my new website design. Yes, I am finicky. But since I designed it, I am allowed to be. It just doesn’t feel like.. me. Too grungey maybe? Not sure. So I suspect there will be another redesign in the near future. Oi.

In other news, it’s that time of year. I am starting to look towards 2010. I need to sit down and figure out what my goals for the new year will be. I have a few ideas floating around my head – some new goals and some goals that I didn’t accomplish this year. Mostly, I think I want to use 2010 as a year of renewal and commitment to my art. 2009 was almost am artistic write-off as far as I am concerned and I really do not want to repeat it. I suspect that 2010 will contain much more of the recent introspection that I have been doing. More self-examination and reflection.

One thing I want to start.. an inspiration board. Something similar to this perhaps. Inspiration is often fleeting for me. I have “GREAT IDEAS” one moment, only to have them replaced with something else the next. I figure if I can give physicality to my inspirations, perhaps they will stick around a lot longer. If nothing else, perhaps I will be able to pull out some sort for reoccurring themes or something. We’ll see.

I also have a couple of actual pieces that I should start soon. SMc & JA bought their first place last month (they are so growed up!) and I promised SMc a couple of pieces as a housewarming gift. I gave myself the end of January as a deadline. Eeef! So the clock is ticking. I already have a good idea of how the pieces will come together. Its will be a bit of a departure for me. The original plan was to paint something but I am really not feeling the acrylics right now. Instead, drawings. I probably won’t be posting update images though. I want the big reveal to be a surprise. Sorry, SM, you’ll have to wait until the end of January! Hee. Sorry, dude.

And yesterday, I made my first Etsy purchase! Very exciting. I purchased a few prints from Sam Battersby. I love her girls. They are all so gorgeous! I can’t wait until they arrive at their new home. Exciting!

Title: 001
Size: 11 x 14″
Medium: Graphite on Bristol Smooth
Time: 12 hours
Status: WIP

Ugh. Super busy. Almost have no time to blog.  Really angry that I am so busy.  I will save you from the details and rage.  But I managed to force some work on this. Result?  Nose is pissing me off.

Title: 001
Size: 11 x 14″
Medium: Graphite on Bristol Smooth
Time: 9.5 hours
Status: WIP

Ugh, its been since June 24th since I posted any work or works in progress here. Crazy. I needed to take the summer off, I suppose.  At any rate, I’m back at the self-portrait.  I’ve probably put about three or so hours into it since picking my pencil back up.  I’m pleased with the progress.  And I am still in love with my lead holders.