skull girls

Happy Monday!

Just a heads up, my Etsy store will be closed for a little while. I've got a lot of work to do preparing for two upcoming shows:

September 1st - group @ Spoke Art

January - solo @ Shooting Gallery
(And for you East Coasters, I'll also be having a solo show in New York at at Wooster Street Social Club in March, where they're filming NY Ink.)

So, as always, you can buy my prints through Society6 & Eyes on Walls. Both sell larger versions of what I was selling in my Etsy, as well as t-shirts, canvases, skins, etc etc etc. So really it's better this way! :p

I am also thinking of opening up a Big Cartel shop just for originals. 

Okay.

Here is another in progress picture..

I had originally wanted to leave the wood background exposed on this, but I just wasn't feeling it. Seemed empty. Sometimes I get stuck and start really hating a piece until I do something drastic. In this case, 'drastic' meant giving her a haircut, painting the background flat black & giving her a skull on her shoulder. Sorry girl.

she also looks kinda cool in black and white

Giving her horns next.

during her makeover.
Also the other skull girl is almost done. Astrological symbols are the next step. whee!
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My favorite time of day. when the sunbeams come through the windows in my studio.


That's it for now.
<3

skull shoulders

New piece I've been working on.  Skull shoulder girl.

I've been challenging myself lately with painting hands. I don't like painting them, so I'm painting them. Ha.  

I spent the majority of yesterday glazing and just building up the skin tones. layers layers layers layers layers layers layerlisdjfks jslsdkf

I was also down in Encinitas for a couple of days visiting my family / the beach.

I was a bad girl and got sunburnt. Sorry tattoos :/

and spent some time browsing through an old Sear's catalogue. 

i want all of these hats please.

and my dagger is almost all the way healed. except the sunburn incident didn't help. 

and another lake shot for the hell of it.

back to work!!

Delphine

Delphine // La Femme Naufrage // Lady Shipwreck

30" x 40" (inches) oil & gold leaf on wood panel. 

So. While creating these wild-eyed nautical girls, I've been weaving this sort of vague backstory for them; how they're lives are interwoven, how they're connected, how they abhor and adore each-other. I originally was setting Delphine up to be a motherly figure to Ophelia and Aveline, but while the piece grew and developed, that path started to feel forced. I have several other images brewing in my mind, all tied in with their story line, and I started playing with the idea of all of them being sisters. I'm intrigued by the Greek myth of the constellation Pleiades, or the Seven Sisters, and decided to do a series loosely based around it.
So here we have Delphine, number three in my series The Seven Sisters.

 
The model for Delphine is my best friend Morgan of Whiteflowers. She wrote a beautiful song in collaboration, which I would love to share with you while you're visiting.

   Nautica [Delphine] by Whiteflowers

Here are some bits about my process for this piece.


As some of you know, a large portion of my creative process is the conceptualizing stage. This stage is really where the piece is really created, where I take a mental image and start drawing & combining elements together in Photoshop until I "find" it. Here is my "sketch" for Delphine. Naturally things change along the way, but I generally have the piece 90% planned out before I start painting. Of course I count on mistakes and bumps along the way to further shape the work.
I've become so comfortable working this way that I think it would be difficult to make up a painting on the spot. I know I would produce a completely different body of work if I was more spontaneous about it, which I'd like to explore more in the future. However, I do take my paintings very seriously, as they are a commitment, both time-wise & emotionally, so I suppose I save the spontaneity for my drawings and conceptualizing (for now).

 

So. I haven't played around with gold leaf much, so this was a fun experiment. I just sort of made up the process as I went along. I've recently fallen in love with Klimt and love the way he uses gold in his paintings, so I decided to try my hand at it.
After sketching out the figure, I stained the triangle portion black before applying the gold leaf, so bits of black would show through the cracks.

 I definitely busted out the hairdryer at one point. I'm not really a fan of the "waiting for the paint to dry" game. (I consider myself a patient girl, but sometimes you just want to keep going with a project, especially when feeling inspired and gung-ho. Paint drying times can seriously disrupt my flow!!) Okay. So. Hairdryer. Yes. Then comes the leafing. Which is oddly relaxing. I didn't want the gold to be perfect, which is really hard to achieve anyway.

But seriously guys, gold leaf is so pretty in person!! Photos just don't do it justice. There are these really delicate and lovely cracks in the leaf which look beautiful with the black behind it, which you can't really see in the main picture. Also, she looks super weird at this stage. Before I start painting, I like to erase all the extra pencil marks from sketching the figure, otherwise the graphite can muddy up the paint. So all that's left when I start painting are the outlines of the face, etc.


The rest is just clockwork and takes time - applying layers upon layers of paint, until I'm happy with it.

Early stages of the tattoos.



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Well that's enough for now. Got a Jackie Kennedy painting I've gotta finish for a fun upcoming Warhol-themed show! Pics soon!
Also thanks to those who came out for my show the other night, it was fun times!

And Thank you for all the birthday love. You're the best.
xxx

Lady Shipwreck, work in progress

Here's some previews of the piece I started the other day. My best friend Morgan is the model, as part of a collaboration. She wrote a beautiful song to go along with this, which I will share with you soon. I still have a lot of fine tuning to do on everything, as well as draw the tattoos and shipwrecks in her hair. But let me tell you, gold leaf is SO MUCH FUNNNNN. It's super shiny and pretty and half the time I just end up staring it.

 It's looking very Klimt-y to me, guess gold leaf will do that ;)

and uhhh, here I am hanging out with her. looking tuff.

more soooon. but right now I'm redecorating my apartment and there is stuff EVERYWHEREEEEE. I'm not sure when I started spending more money on housewares than shoes, but it makes me feel really old.

Also, I just listed a bunch of new prints in my shop, including Aveline and some of my new silhouettes. Like these lil darlings:

go take a peek ♥

xx

C

Aveline

Lady Aveline

as tumultuous as the seas to which she is bound

30" x 40" oil on wood panel
(click image to see it larger)

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It felt so different to paint a background this time. It definitely changes the piece. As did adding the stars. Somehow they brought her to life, she was no longer just a figure on a dark background, she became Aveline. I actually started to dream about her and we swam through icy waters together. Her hair doesn't often dry, but I caught it on a rare occurrence and tried to recapture it to the best of my memory.

Her octopi and jellyfish would hardly sit still as they caressed her neck and danced on her arms. Even the sails on the boat seemed to gently ripple in a phantom wind. She once referred to ships "stains on the sea". (I shudder to think of the fate that fall on the ships she meets)

One compass spun wildly, but she never looked down. I could sense her chestnut eye longing to look, as it often betrays her. Ophelia's skull is the only part of her that remained motionless. Somehow frozen over her heart.

"el mar conoce nuestro amor"

the sea knows our love

Tattoos made of squid ink and urchin needles (she couldn't escape the sea if she tried)

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And now for a few progress pictures:

At one point I was using tweezers to pick off cat hair. It was pretty ridiculous. I think I'm done using oil mediums, everything sticks to it. Everything.

drawing her tattoos

ahahaha this was in the early stages of Aveline. The night I drank too much wine and got silly. by myself. on a friday night. (i'm really cool) and texted way too many work in progress pictures to my best friend (sorry morgan)

I didn't use a primer this time as I usually just use it on the exposed portions. There wasn't any exposed wood on this piece, so I opted for no primer. For some reason this particular piece (cherry wood) was being really difficult. The oil wasn't soaking in properly, like the wood was way too smooth and just wouldn't grip the paint. I had to repaint her face like FIFTY TIMES. It was all very irritating. But it was all worth it in the end.

Next up, the sea witch La Femme Naufrage // Lady Shipwreck, mother of Aveline and Ophelia.

But first, got to finish three illustrations for Volcom, two for a canadian magazine, get ready for a show on the 15th and my solo in february! Goodness gracious I need a clone / assistant.

Hope your holidays were lovely!! Etsy shop will be reopened next year.

xx

C

Painting sneak peek + prints

The past few weeks have been really really busy for me, I'm sorry for neglecting you.

I did get to work on an illustration for Nylon Magazine which I had a lot of fun with.. Can't show it to you quite yet, but look for it in the "culture club" section of their Dec/Jan issue. Exciting!

Here are a few teaser images of the painting I've been working on between other projects.
Meet Aveline, sister of Ophelia.

I'll show you the whole thing when she's done. Doing something a bit different here, still painting on wood but am not leaving the wood texture exposed. I wanted something a little darker, something more intense. Oh, and be careful of her red eye.

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I got Ophelia and my feathered girl professionally photographed cause I didn't have time to fuss with it myself. The quality is ammazzzingggggg.
Lookit!

mmm crisp.

I will have updated prints of those two ladies in my shop this weekend.  10" x 10" and 12" x 12".
(I'll also be ordering some larger 20" x 20" size, let me know if you are interested. )
Hope you have a pretty weekend. My parents will be in town for a few days so I'm very happy about that :)

xoxo

Feathers & Skulls - finished

Yeah, yeah, I know. I've been a terrible blogger lately. Not going to make up any excuses here. 

To quote one of my lovely Anonymous readers "Holy hell, update your blog already!" 
So here's to you! ;)

Finished this piece a little bit ago, but to be honest I couldn't really look at it anymore. it took me quite a while, which I'm now learning isn't the best thing for me. My wandering eye distracts me and I start fantasizing about the paintings I want to do next. I then start to lose interest in the one I'm working on and the motivation isn't really there anymore. BUT. I had fun. I tried new things, listened to new tunes, it was a grand ol' time. Here you go. Enjoy.

40" x 40" oil & ink on cherry panel

up close & personal

I had fun experimenting with glazing on this piece. I really loved it. I used a mixture of linseed oil & galkyd for the glazing medium, which worked really well. I first tried using straight galkyd and HATED it. Let me say that again. HATED it. It's super thick and sticky and annoying and doesn't blend properly and and and i'm done whining now. Luckily, you don't start glazing until the other layers are completely dry, so wiping it all off was a cinch. Then I tried linseed and oil and it melted my heart. So buttery and lovely. It really did the trick in smoothing out brush strokes. I ended up mixing it with a bit of the galkyd to give it more of a glossy/glazed finish. Anyway. Did about 3 or so layers of glaze on the face which was a lot of fun. I did some glazing on the body too, but not as much as I would have liked. But, like I said, couldn't look at it anymore ;)

You can see the glossyness of it here. But it's also difficult to get a good photo of it, as gloss LOVES to reflect light in all the wrong places ;)

Also, here is an update on some upcoming shows I'll be partcipating in (most are in the bay area):

November 4th - 4707 Telegraph, Oakland, CA 

December 4th, 2010 - Mezzanine, San Francisco, CA

December 2010 - 111 Minna, San Francisco, CA

Dec 2010, @ 323East Gallery, Royal Oak, MI

January 7th 2010 - C.A.V.E Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

January 2010 - Vessel, San Francisco, CA

Okay dearies, have a LOVELY Halloween! Don't get in to too much trouble. Or do. Whatever. 

Can't wait to show you my next piece I started. Get ready for Ophelia's evil twin pirate mermaid sister ;)

xoxxoxoxox

Charms

facebook giveaway + work in progress pic

Hello my dearies I'm hosting another print giveaway on my facebook fanpage. You know the drill ;)
(leave a comment on this picture and I'll pick a winner on Wednesday)

On another note, I haven't been keeping up with blogging lately, I've been painting like a maniac and traveling a little bit. But now I'm home and ready to finish up this piece. I have like 30249 paintings in my head that I can't wait to do!!!

xoxo
C

Feathers and skulls - work in progress

40" x 40" oil on wood
Aztec-inspired woman. (yes, she's modeled after the beautiful Adriana Lima). Dang, those Brazilians! Sooo gorgeous. But of course she'll be covered in tattoos when I'm done with her ;) I've also been playing with the idea of using some gold leaf on this piece, Klimt has inspired me..
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On another note, I'm putting together an F.A.Q post. I've been getting a lot of the same questions about my wood painting techniques so I figured I'd put all the answers in one place. What other sort of (art-related) questions would you like to see answered?


And prints of Boat Shoulders will be in my shop by Thursday, stay tuned ♡

xo,
C

Ophelia / Boat Shoulders

click to see it larger

40" x 40" oil & ink on birch panel

Ophelia. Name derived from Greek οφελος (ophelos) meaning "help". Her name also belongs to Hamlet's lover who eventually went insane and drowned herself. However, the similarities end there; this Ophelia will not meet the same fate as Hamlet's lover. The sea dare not drown her, she's one who would drown the sea. She posed for me once. Phantom trade winds made her hair dance gently around her eyes, caressing the sails on the boats that rest delicately on her shoulders. The air cooled as it passed over her skin, carrying aromas of salt sweetened by the sea flowers that grow in her wake. Perhaps she would suffocate without these ghostly sea winds, without the salty air to sustain her. 
Then there are her eyes. Those two left eyes. Oh, how they hardly blinked, how one remained locked upon my gaze. Her delicate tattoos serve as a futile warning, if you can read them, you are already too close. 
She grew impatient and I could feel the unease in her, how the earth felt unstable beneath her feet. Some would call her a prisoner to the sea, though a wiser man would know the sea as her prisoner.   

As usual, I first primed the exposed wood with GAC 100, did about three coats this time. I prefer to paint directly on to the wood, as it makes blending colors easier, but having the outside portions primed makes it forgiving should any unwanted paint get on the wood (living with a kitten is sometimes dangerous). Detail was done in various colors of ink.

 Tattoos drawn with black watercolor pencil. 


Translated:

"Ad infinitum"(Latin) 

"to infinity without end"

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"y de que nadie oyera las canciones de navegantes que a veces cantaba bajo las estrellas"

"and that no one should hear the songs that sailors sometimes sang beneath the stars"

From Gabriel García Márquez's short story Un Señor Muy Viejo Cona Alas Enormes (An Old Man With Enourmous Wings) 
(Thanks to my lovely Morgita for her vast knowledge of romantic poetry)


 

above is the framed drawing of the original "Boat Shoulders". The blueprints for this piece. 
 

 

messy tubes of oil paint, little bottles of oil medium and a box of hooks, nails and screws.


Hope you like her, she'll be on exhibit in January for my solo show at Vessel. 
Prints coming soon.


xoxo
C