Monday Mix: Wizards, Mermaids, Books, and Björk

♥ Voting is still on for the Imagine Better: The Climate Crisis Horcrux Contest, put on by the Harry Potter Alliance & Splashlife. As of today I'm ranked 5th, but there are still 5 days left to vote, and I would be super unspeakably grateful if you were to send some votes my way! Click on the image or link below to see my entry!

http://splashlife.com/imagine-better-art/expecto-patronum-0

^ link to voting page! ^

This contest is very important to me - the Harry Potter Alliance does a lot of good work for important causes like this. And my work could potentially be seen by some truly awesome people, including Evanna Lynch, Harry and the Potters, Jason Alexander, and John and Hank Green...


♥ Last week I received a gorgeous Artist Andrea Little Mermaid Eco Tote in the mail, from a giveaway through Art School Grad, an amazing Etsy team that I belong to. I love mermaids (I used to be really into them and have a small collection), and I've recently started using tote bags for summer rather than a purse, so this giveaway was perfect timing! Andrea does beautiful work; you can see more here at www.artistandrea.com, or at her Etsy shop. Thank you to Andrea for the tote, and to Allie from Art School Grad for putting together the giveaway :)

♥ The What I Wore Today Drawings group is putting out a book! So exciting, I love What I Wore Today and can't wait to get my hands on a copy... I'm thrilled that one of my drawings was selected to be in it: 

What I Wore Today 5/30

♥ And I'm sure this is old news to anyone who is already a Björk fan, but I'm getting all worked up by her newest project, Biophilia. A couple of songs have been released already and I've been listening to Crystalline on repeat. I love the end.

Imagine Better: The Climate Crisis Horcrux - Contest Entry!

I've entered the contest Imagine Better: The Climate Crisis Horcrux put on by the Harry Potter Alliance! Voting has BEGUN, so please, if you like what you see then send some votes my way!! 


Click the image or the link below to go to my entry: 

http://splashlife.com//imagine-better-art/expecto-patronum-0

^ link to voting page! ^

My concept: A representation of our creative ideas as our world's Patronus; pollution will leave the earth essentially soulless, victim of the Dementor's kiss of greed, wastefulness, and apathy. Our own ingenuity is what will protect us from having the life sucked out of our planet. It can act as our Patronus, drawing on our positive outlook on the future, a power much stronger than the powers of greed responsible for our current crisis. 

I would be eternally grateful if you were to vote or share... thank you guys!! 

Portraits: David and Me

For the past little while I've been working on these portraits of my boyfriend and me. Mine came out looking far more glamorous than I am in reality... my hair is more puffy, and my lips not quite as full, but I'm used to drawing fantasy girls so let's just call this artistic license. However, David is just that handsome. 

ACEO: Luna Lovegood

"Don't worry. You're just as sane as I am."

I. Love. Luna Lovegood. 

She's clearly quirky, a unique character, but what I admire most about her is that she is honest, accepting, and totally unafraid to be who she is, no matter what. In her honest oddness I identify with Luna; at certain points in my life I was poked fun at and seen as a little strange, but I value honesty, including being honest to and about yourself. From Evanna Lynch/Luna herself: "...that’s when it occurred to me how bizarre and positively ridiculous it was to apply the word “weird” to describe you, when you represented the most natural and unpretentious state possible to be; you were yourself." 

I was also thrilled when it was hinted that she is something of an artist! (Could you have made me love this girl more Ms. Rowling, I think not.)



So I've been getting steadily more excited with Deathly Hallows part 2 approaching for us! I'm going as Luna again, like I did for part 1, and hope to see lots more people in costume this time... I love a midnight movie audience, truly as fun as the movie itself.

See you all tomorrow night! 

Monday Mix: Dolls and Doodles

Lately I've been in a sort of art slump, and since I haven't had anything to show here in a while, I thought I would share something a little different!

First, here are a few doodles of a silly nature. This is a pretty accurate representation of what kind of things I'm drawing when I'm not working on a serious painting (so... like half my time).

Left to right, top to bottom: Family / Finn and Jake / Apple with Braces / Happy cat / 

In Lovvve / David plays Terraria / New Shoes / Hooray America / snacks

Second, dollsss!

As a self-employed artist who is still just starting out, and with spring and summer approaching full of birthdays, I needed an idea for a thoughtful handmade gift that was something other than a painting. At the time I'd had little hints of ideas floating around in my head concerning sewing and doll making. So I picked up some felt in various colors and borrowed some needles and thread, and tried it!

My first project was for my sister, Heather: Fred and George Weasley dolls!

I sketched out a template on notebook paper, and my boyfriend's mom taught me how to back stitch and blanket stitch, but otherwise I just played it by ear and made adjustments as I went along. Being twins they could be made from the same template (conveniently), so once I had one Weasley done it was just a matter of repeating the process for the other. They took a long time, but I love them... I almost wanted to keep them <3

Next was my good friend Angie's birthday, and for her I decided to challenge myself with three dolls: The 11th Doctor, Amy, and Rory!

Though I am best at girls when drawing, I found that making a girl doll was much more difficult... the real Amy is quite slender and pretty, so it's funny to see a version of her as a squat, pudgy little doll... but I kept the same body shape because anything fat with short arms and legs kills me with cute (see: corgis, dachshunds, puffy pomeranians). I like the Doctor the best.

My last project was for my cousin and geek-bff Sharon: Monty Python finger puppets!

While trying to decide on what to make for Sharon, I kept thinking of groups with large amounts of members, either the Beatles or the Pythons. Since I couldn't see myself making five full-sized dolls in any reasonable amount of time, and since I'd been wanting to try finger puppets too after seeing these unbelievably adorable Harry Potter finger puppets by claraclips on Etsy, I tried my hand at it (no pun intended!) (ok, pun totally intended)

Again, I just kind of went at this without a pattern or anything, so some of them are different sizes, but if you wear them on the proper fingers this problem seems to magically work itself out. See if you can guess all the characters :)

So, I love dollmaking. They're obviously not perfect, but I think they're good for first tries, and I will definitely be making more. The process is a satisfying combination of challenging and relaxing. I'm giving embroidery a try next... we'll see!