A Summer of Paper

Realized I haven't posted in a while ... Oops!  Wanted to post the completed cut paper pieces before I get waist deep in more paper trimmings...

I had to resist just covering this one in sparkles ... 28 years old and I still can't resist sparkly things!

Lagoon Love - 10x20

 

 Sweets Shoppe -8x10

Summer Birds - 11x17

And here's a little sneak peek of my next post ... COMING SOON!

 

Silly Old Bear . . .

So a friend of mine is having a baby and I wanted to make their future little boy something special.  The theme for their nursery is Winnie The Pooh so it was only natural that Pooh's butt makes an appearance.  So I recreated one of my favorite scenes from Disney's 1966 film Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree and attempted to mimic the film's artistic style, but in layers of hand cut and painted watercolor paper.

It was a great excuse to watch the movie again, but frankly I never need an excuse to watch Disney movies!  Hopefully their future baby boy loves this movie as much as I do someday!

Paper Fiend

Just wanted to post a lil update on what I've been working on this past month.  What started out as wedding and baby shower cards has now become a full blown production!

I'll be participating in an alumni art show for Academy of Art University in SF this upcoming fall (I'll include details in a later post) and decided that I wanted to take my cards to the next level... FRAMES! Shocking, I know.

No matter how much my fingers hurt I am addicted to this method!  My over enthusiastic self wanted to enter 5 pieces in this style but seeing that the entry deadline is July 23rd I may have to limit myself to just 3, but I don't think my stubborn side will let me surrender like that.  We'll have to see!

Here are some snap shots of my process.  I'll have another post when they're all shinny and finished :)

Of course there has to be a mermaid :)

Love Birds

'Tis the season for weddings!  My cousin got married last weekend and I thought I would make them a fun little piece instead of a typical card.  Love is in the air!

And a close up!

Thought I would share that I'm going to be part of an upcoming alumni Art Auction in October for AAU and I decided I'm going to do some more intricate pieces in this style.  Let the explosion of paper begin!

Paparazzi Princess- Rapunzel

Ever have one of those days where you want to lop all your hair off?  Well that was me this past week, and who better to understand this annoyance then Rapunzel!

She may be a princess with all the finer luxuries in life (like a personal hair dresser), but even she can have a bad hair day.  Here is Rapunzel picking up a quick cup of coffee on her hair dresser's day off... she doesn't seem to be coping too well-

Sometimes a girl has to surrender to the hair gods, and sometimes the hair gods are very angry!  

Thrift'n

Just a quick lil post! Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' video for Thrift Shop came on tv the other day for the millionth time, but this time I saw the opening sequence and thought "OoO!  That would be fun to illustrate!"  So I did!

Now back to the 10 other pieces I have randomly started before I was distracted by shinny things!

Adventures in Bristol!

I happened upon an enjoyably interesting article on the Huffington Post today that talked about things that creative people do differently.  Here is a link to the article if you want to have a peek!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/04/creativity-habits_n_4859769.html

One of the bullet points was PEOPLE WATCHING and it dawned on me, "I haven't done that in months!  I need to people watch/draw today!"  So down to Barnes and Noble I went armed with watercolors and a Bristol pad.  After a couple hours of daydreaming and people stalking I left with these little beauties!

The two Baristas working the Starbucks Coffee counter, they were definitely the most entertaining of the people I saw today.  Michael was cracking me up with the random things he was saying to customers.
 

The old man sitting next to me patiently waiting for his wife to finish looking at the magazines

And a fellow daydreamer admiring the people outside.

I've been so wrapped up in learning new things on photoshop that I've almost forgotten how much fun it is to go out in public and really observe the people around me.  I will definitely try to make this a more frequent exercise!

Now back to Paparazzi Princess illustrations!

Paparazzi Princess- Belle

It's time for our next princess!  This week for Paparazzi Princesses- Disney Princesses Without Makeup I give you

Belle!

Disney's Beauty and the Beast was released in 1991, a time of rad patterns and fresh beats!  So of course Belle, being the beauty that she is, would promote and model Walt Disney's Casual Wear line of clothing.  Both hip and comfortable to wear around the Beast's castle for a girl that loves to dance!

And nothing says fun like rockin a Bartman comfy tied off tee!

Belle is definitely now a girl on the go with her new found fame and wedding in her new castle to plan.  A beauty like this needs some sugar and her favorite books on cassette so that she doesn't miss a beat!

Tune in next week for Jasmine!

Paparazzi Princesses- Cinderella

Next installment of Paparazzi Princesses- Disney Princesses Without Makeup!

Cinderella!

There's no denying that Cinderella was the ultimate "housewife".  This is fitting considering that Disney's Cinderella was released in early 1950, she was clearly a victim of her time.  So I decided to stay with the 50's theme for her installment.  I found a bunch of ads that reflected the gender roles of the time (inappropriate according today's standards), but couldn't pass up this one as inspiration

This could easily be offensive, that is probably why it caught my eye.  So lets take this as lighthearted as possible.

Being a celebrity, it's only natural that Cinderella would pose for household cleaning products ads... In this case for Bab-O Cleanser with Bleach!

Just because you're a Disney Princess doesn't mean everything is photo shoots and parties.  Cinderella's allergies are really hitting her hard this year.

10 + years of dusting your evil stepmother's mansion can take it's toll on your sinuses ...

Tune in next week for Belle!

Paparazzi Princesses- Ariel

Over the weekend during the football game I got suckered into coloring Disney Princesses with a 6 year old.  I'm not going to lie, I loved it.  A friend of mine started joking while she colored Belle, "You should draw up these princesses without makeup!"

Thank you for the awesome idea Ashlee! She creates the most beautiful natural light photography, please take a minute to have a look at her work! Her website - Sincere Snapshots - click to link



Ok back to the Princesses!  I had 4 hours to stall today so I decided to get started.
I decided to call this series Paparazzi Princesses- Disney Princesses Without Makeup. 

I absolutely LOVE Disney, and I figured I would start off with my favorite Princess Ariel!

Each Princess' "glamor" photo will be as we are used to seeing them, flowing hair, perfect makeup, and a smile of glowing royalty. 

Their "paparazzi" snagged photo will be of them being caught in the act of being normal women doing normal things.  Like in Ariel's case ... getting coffee.

I can imagine these photos being in "PEOPLE of the Happiest Place on Earth" magazine.
"Ariel was seen coming out of Starfish Coffee on her way to film a scene in her new movie Love's Undercurrent, coming summer 2014.

I'm going to try and be productive and do one princess a week.  Tune in next week for Cinderella!

Let It Snow

Just a lil quick post of a quick doodle I did after visiting the snow this past weekend!  Happy winter!

An Audrey Autumn

Well it's been a busy month again!

I've been working non-stop on both a Gatsby Gala flyer/postcard for Berkeley City Club's upcoming Gatsby Gala this February and putting the finishing touches on Arlene Taylor's Tyler Loves Tape children's book illustrations...
I'm so happy to be so busy!  But I needed to take a break and draw something completely random and unrelated to anything I had been working on.  It has been pouring rain the past couple days and I couldn't resist.  So I introduce to you an Autumn Audrey

And here is the Berkeley City Club's Gatsby Gala Flyer!  Dates are subject to change

Ok!  Now back to work!

Disney Cards & More!

It's time to get the ball rolling on this blog!  I've been busy making cards, some with 3-D aspects, some just good 'ol fashioned digital painting (haha).  Figured it was time to share them!

This first card was for a baby shower/garden tea party.  All she asked for was for it to be filled with different shades of pink!  So I thought I would give it an "Alice in Wonderland" kind of feel yet keep it doused in pink.  So it became a Happy Unbirthday for their soon to be expected baby girl, equipped with all the tea pots and tea time amenities you'll ever need!

Here is the actual card minus their personal info!

Next up ... another baby shower card!  For this baby boy's card I wanted to give his family a piece of my favorite scene in Disney's "Dumbo". 

 

This image is actually 3 separate layers, the back circle, dumbo/tub, and bubbles.  He also has clear reflective water droplets on his cheeks but they aren't showing up in these photos.

And a lil closer ...

I absolutely love this card . . . I think I might make it again just so I can have one!

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And yet ANOTHER baby shower card!  This time for a baby girl in October, so I decided to give her family a blustery day with Disney's "Winnie the Pooh".  The leaves on this card are separately attached to give it some dimension.

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And now for a card that ISN'T for a baby shower, but a WEDDING!  I wanted to give them a lil romantic card so I put them on a swing, perched like two little love birds

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And last but not least... a Birthday card!  I always want Birthday cards to be light and whimsical, so why not a sea horse blowing out the candle on his bubble cake!

Now to get to work on some new stuff...  I'm thinking about a couple little paintings of my Adventures in Domestic Life!  Cause so far it has been hilarious to say the least ...

Til next post... Happy Thanksgiving!

A Surreal Day In September

Wow it's been so long since I've posted anything!  I'd like to think I have an excuse... so lets see if this counts.  Joe and I got married this past September, and being the overachiever that I am bit off more then I could chew and decided to hand make a lot of the details of our wedding...

For starters here are the invitations I made!

Since our venue was outdoors under a tree canopy we wanted the invitations to posses the same Neverland/Mumford&Sons vibe our wedding had about it.  I've been obsessing about mid century design for a good year now and Joe has always been a fan of the aesthetics of the 50's, so wanted our invitations to have some of those retro qualities while still illustrating the ethereal undertones that our venue Wildwood Acres Resort is best known for. 

Aside from the invitations for our 150 guests (so much for the small wedding we wanted!) I couldn't find flowers that had the look I was going for . . . lets just say I'm a lil particular.  But can you blame me!  Plus on top of that I found out 3 weeks before the wedding that Joe's Best Man has severe allergies.  Even though he said that he was going to double up on his medicine I wasn't ok with the thought of sticking a flower boutonniere right under his nose!

So I decided to MAKE all the bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres out of paper!  Everyone kept commenting on how nice it is that my bouquet was nice and light weight... no bulging muscles while I walked down the isle that day PLUS a sneezing free Best Man!

Now that I am slowly getting settled in my new life I can finally get going on all the art ideas I had swimming around in my head for months!  This is proving to be a good year!