Some of this stuff is on my portfolio site, too... others haven't seen the light of day since 2004. I'd rather they go to a good home than sit in storage. I'm planning to sell these either through ebay or etsy (haven't decided yet) and will be offering a free sketch of the buyer's choice with each purchase. :)

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE LISTING

 Trying to sell some of my original pieces. If you or anyone you know might be interested, please take a look at my ebay listing? Thanks so much! (If you'd rather just look at the posted picture, that's fine too.)

Details: Watercolor on Arches Cold Press paper; Created 2007

One of my biggest artistic challenges is that I have so many ideas and start a lot of projects... to the point that half of the projects get put on hold for new ideas. One of my New Years Resolutions is to finish projects before starting a new one. Anyway, this painting is based on a photo taken at Maymont Park in Richmond, VA last summer. I know I wish it was summer right now! (Too bad we don't all live in somewhere like Australia at the moment, hmm?)

Preliminary sketchwork for a 5x7 watercolor piece. I haven't quite decided on her clothing yet and her "crown" needs some work. (Please ignore the strange hand- once the shading is in it will look correct, I promise.) I'm pretty excited to be working on this, actually, because I've got a fair idea of how exactly I'm going to work this one. :)

Work in progress. Originally an embossing with touches of watercolor, I'm reworking it in gouache. It's maybe 50% done at the moment. I'll post a full set of progress pictures when it's finished.

Please excuse the fuzzy photo. Bad quality.

A Short Introduction:

Another decade-old album, but this time by a band that's continued to be a personal favorite for quite a few years.

The Art of CDs 3:

Artist: Muse

Album: Showbiz

Released: 1999

Acquired: 2004

Reason for buying: I stumbled upon "Time is Running Out" on the internet (back in the days before youtube, mind you) and found a bunch of tracks from their Absolution album. After a couple listens I decided it was worth purchasing. Much to my dismay, I couldn't find the album anywhere. No one had heard of it or the band. Then I found Showbiz entirely by accident shoved in the back of a shelf at a Sam Goody. I had no clue they had more than one album and I quite liked the cover art, so I picked it up.

Top 5 Tracks (in no particular order): Showbiz (#7), Escape (#10), Sunburn (#1), Cave (#6), Muscle Museum (#2)

Packaging:
Aside from the slight fuzziness of the cover art and the lack of lyrics in the booklet, this is honestly one of my favorite cd package designs ever. I just love the way the motif is carried throughout the book and case. And okay, yes, I like the sci-fi gimmick... it's fun...

Click "read more" to see images, etc...

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Had work today so not much time to draw, but I did manage to whip up this quick sketch inspired by the Minoan Snake Goddess statue from Crete....

Medium: Ink
Time: maybe 10 minutes... hence the extreme sketchiness ^^;

Medium: Pencil on Computer Paper
Type: Sketch
Time: approx. 45 minutes

A Short Introduction:

Well, it's not the album I mentioned wanting to talk about last time, but this will do for now. I discovered this one while organizing and, while I'm not sure I'd call the design amazing... I still think the idea is fun and a bit retro styled.

The Art of CDs 2:

Artist: Saves the Day

Album: Through Being Cool

Released: 1999

Acquired: late 2002? maybe early 2003?

Reason for buying: A friend of mine highly recommended them and emailed me a few songs to listen to.

Top 5 Tracks (in no particular order): Third Engine (#6), Vast Spoils of America (#8), Banned from the Back Porch (#12), Last Lie I Told (#9), Rocks Tonic Juice Magic (#4)

Packaging:
Like I said, I'm not sure I'd call it a favorite, but the gimmick itself is fun and I still like the idea and retro feel of it. The way the text is laid out with the colored boxes makes me think of something from the 50s. I do love the way the photography tells a whole story, though. (Sorry I couldn't get shots of each page!)

Images:

^The Cover.

^Back Cover and Track Listing.

^The full package. CD art relates to the "story" inside the booklet.

^Inside the booklet. First and last spread.

Overall Opinion: I adored this cd when I bought it. These days? Well, I still like a lot of the songs for nostalgic value, but for the most part... well... let's just say that after a while Chris Conley's voice starts to get on one's nerves. I do wonder if Saves the Day even exists anymore, though... Hmm...

What's Next in Part 3? It'll be coming soon now that I organized my cd collection...

For the past 5 years or so, I've (not-so-diligently) written down some of my dreams. Either for the simple fact that they were interesting, or really bizarre, or really vivid, or whatever. I was going through a journal of these and thought that, maybe, these very visual dreams could be turned into artwork.

So, for one of these, I'm looking for reference pictures of carnations. (It was a fairly important "plot point" of sorts.) These pretty pictures were found via Flickr.

Received this as a belated Christmas (New Years?) gift today. A little solid perfume from Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Lovers line. Now, I'm not much of a perfume person (certain perfumes have a tendency to trigger sneezing and/or headaches), but I actually really love the scent on this ("Baby") since it's very light. But the scent isn't what got me... it was the packaging. I'm such a sucker for cute or interesting packaging, it's not even funny.

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I had thought to bring in the New Year with a nice, new, customized template. Alas, the blogger coding has gotten the better of me.

I should have a new layout up by tomorrow or Saturday. Until then, please excuse the generic blogger layout. :\