charmaine olivia's blog ▲

Spoke Art group show

2011-09-01T12:28:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the opening of the September Group Show over at Spoke Art. Yaaay!

Also, thanks to Hi Fructose for the interview!

(click image to read it)

Here are my new girls I'd like you to meet tonight..

Obsidian

and Valeria

cursed girls. they're really sweet natured though.

Also Delphine will be there, all fancy framed up.
Hope to see you beauties there!

xxxoxoxox

interview, sketches & skulls

2011-08-04T19:03:00.000-07:00

There's a super sweet little interview with me over at warholian.com. Thanks Mike Cuffe for the beautiful pictures of my studio! (it's usually not so tidy..)

You can kinda get an idea of the layout of the space here. It's so sunny. I love it.

and my arm.

here are a couple concept sketches from the flight home the other night..

A bit odd, of course.

and here's your daily dose of me being a weirdo

and now i have a headache from being around too much black paint. I think.

reworking this piece..

I didn't get to finish it exactly how I envisioned, so I'm giving it another ago. For a show in London in October. More info soon.

xxxxxox

update

2011-08-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

Hi!

What I've been up to lately..

started a tumblr (which i am hopelessly addicted to already)

painting a lot

pretending to be Stevie Nicks on the regs

shooting guns in Ohio

which I'm kind of good at?

oh, and being ridiculous

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enjoying the country flowers

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walking by pretty things

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humbling fan tattoos

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wearing excessive amounts of jewelry

being in love with my new pants

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girl days with my bestie

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geeking out to world of warcraft (at the airport)

enjoying goodiess from proseIV

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entertaining myself on dull mondays (not today)

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and collecting rosaries

Okay, have i overwhelmed you with too many photos again? Good.
I'm still in Ohio and will be back in a couple of days, then its back to paint paint paint paint aiptna pitnpi tnpssdflsd
Oh, and fireflies are amazing. !!!!!
xx

skull girls

2011-07-11T13:53:00.000-07:00

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!
--
My favorite time of day. when the sunbeams come through the windows in my studio.

That's it for now.
<3

skull shoulders

2011-07-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

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!!

new works

2011-06-21T17:51:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of new paintings I've been working on for my solo show at Shooting Gallery in January..

weird witchy lady with bird wings for hips.

and then I started this crazy girly the other night. Think i'm leaving the wood exposed on this one.

no eyebrows, an extra eye & a gap in her teeth. muahahaha.

--

and now a bunch of other pictures just because:

my studio is turning in to a bit of a jungle. I have plants eeeverywhere.

It's so peaceful sitting up in the loft, especially in the evening, feeling the warm breeze coming in. half my day I spend up there, lounging on the couch, sketching, reading, drinking tea, looking down at my easel.. pure heaven.

oh, and i'm becoming more and more of a jewelry addict. HELP.

mmmm days at the lake are my faaaaaave.
--

Also, you may remember me mentioning a while back that I did some designs for Volcom..

They'll be hitting the stores (in US) this December, keep an eye out ;)

I had two photoshoots last week in my studio,

Another fancy lacy shoot with with Natali Truax for Sex + Design Magazine's September print edition.
lil preview...

And then more of a casual shoot with Jerry Buttles

More later :)

C

tattoos, babies & Lady Gaga posters

2011-06-02T10:46:00.000-07:00

Soooo here's a lil update on the past few weeks.

Started on my half sleeve a bit ago. If you follow me on instagram/facebook you've probably seen way too many pictures of it already, but here are way too many more

the stencil before we got started:

My friend Derick Montez at Picture Machine designed it. It's totally me. Tentacles, boats, eyes, tiger lilies, jewels & pearls. All things I love tied together beautifully.

before the ol puff arm / swellbow set in..

The first session was around 5 hours, we have another few to go on the shading + little details.

Here's a lil better picture after it healed up.

Black & gray tattoos are my faaaaave.

Okay, enough about that. I also went home and met my baby nephew Johann, HE'S SO TINY OMG. So so cute.

lil peanut ♥

In other exciting news, me and two other artists were picked by Lady Gaga to design a poster for her album release. They're being sold as a limited edition in Etsy's store, she signed a few copies of them. All proceeds go to VH1's Save the Music Foundation, which is pretty rad.

She liked my Headache painting, so I just went in and added the text on top of it + a few minor tweaks. They're for sale here. (Both signed & unsigned)

aaaand I've been working on a new painting, for my upcoming solo show at Shooting Gallery in January. Get ready for a ton ton ton of new work, mostly feathers & witchy girlz.

Ok enough for now. bye!

art show installation

2011-05-18T13:16:00.000-07:00

I spent the past two days installing my portion of the show at Project One. Hanging with Angela is always good times.

This was the easy section

(Final image of this painting. Will be doing more in-depth posts about my latest works soon.)

This part was a little more complex, an installation of a bunch of my nicknacks & drawings. my life, basically.

Here it is finished

this is pretty much what my studio looks like. just needs more butterflies and weird mirrors.

I had way too much fun playing with wax.. lalala

Then I looked down and noticed I had all these tiny wax droplets all over my feet! I was oddly amused by this. Like little snowflakes.

I also got to paint a silhouette on the wall. Definitely the largest one I've done.

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The other girls' walls look ammmaaaazing, come on by tonight if you're around!! Project One openings are always a party. 21+ up.

xx
c

May Fairs art show + new studio

2011-05-16T00:02:00.000-07:00

Super fun show is opening this week! May Fairs over at Project One Gallery. Including myself and 3 other lovely lovely ladies.

My new foxy & antlered girls will be there, with all their multiple-eyed weirdness.

here's a lil preview of the other two pieces (full images coming soon):

Also, I've been busy moving in to my new art studio. I'm so so so in love with the space. It's super sunny and kind of huge. Ha. I'll post more pictures once everything is all organized, etc.

But here is one wall.

aaaand me basking in the sunlight. lalalala

ALSO I'M NOW OFFICIALLY AN AUNTIE! eeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Just got the news right now. omgsoexcited. Can't wait to meet lil Johann! Looks like I'll be driving down to SoCal this weekend :) :)
ok that's about it. yaaaay erratic blogging!

xxxx
see you wednesday I hope :)
C

new ink + work in prog

2011-04-25T22:50:00.000-07:00

(seems like all I'm posting these days are works in progress and new tattoos)

I mentioned before that Morgan and I were going in for some tattoos, and here they are!

This was taken right after we finished, so they're still real dark and mine is pretty red (morgan on left, me on right). It was well after 4am by the time we finished. Ha. Thanks Derick Montez for the beautiful beautiful design & tattooing! (And thanks for putting up with my moment by moment pain evaluation.) He busted out a sketch for us in like 30 minutes while we went and got Jack in the Box curly fries (a weird tradition of ours). It was perrrrrfect. Took about 2+ hours each. Troopers!
all healed up now.

Morgan and I have been collecting skeleton keys for years, and I'm almost always wearing at least two around my neck. One year for my birthday Morgan gave me a bunch of hers, our 10th birthday maybe? I thought I had lost them in the move to San Francisco, but I found 'em hiding in an old jewlery box in my closet. I think I cried a little bit (oh I'm such a sap sometimes). Well, I don't want to lose them again, so I made one permanent.

Okay. Enough about that.
I've been putting the finishing details on this piece, it's nearly done.

I have another day or two left on the tattoos before it goes off to the New Brow group show over at The Alternative Cafe. Gonna be a fun show!

Also I'm super excited cause I'm getting a new studio space next month. It's super spacious and sunny and perrrrrfeccttt and I can't wait! yay.

okbye
xx

earrings & things

2011-04-14T23:03:00.000-07:00

Started on a new painting last night. I seem to do a variation of my piece Headaches every year or so. It's fun for me to remake the original concept and watch as my style evolves. This time with more eyes, foxes & stormy skies.

(This piece and the other foxy girls are going to be in a group show over at Project One next month + a third piece that I'll be starting soon.)

(Staring contest. Yes, she won.)

Today I started on the background and such, while listening to The Cranberries, like, all day.

Currently obsessing over this song.

On another note, I got two new ear piercings & a gold nose ring over at 454 Tattoo when I was in Encinitas. (And more freckles??)

I got my nose pierced at 454 on my 18th birthday several years ago, I was long overdue for some more!

And then tomorrow night Morgan and I are going for some late-night tattoos for her birthday. caaaaant help myself ;)
goodnight!
xx

encinitas // home

2011-04-12T10:02:00.000-07:00

rainbows, ear piercings, too many rings

heart to hearts, grandma's ashes

coconut soup, old dreams, lying on the floor

new sisters, long skirts, tax forms

baby me, high school me,
dad's eyes, mom's arms

hail, fabric paint, stockings

coastline car rides, wind in my hair.
closed eyes, staring at the sun.

back to work.

work in progress and stupid things.

2011-04-08T11:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spent the day painting in my pjs & eating english muffins. And I have an annoying amount of hair (which needs to be trimmed). But I am having fun with this piece. I've been kind of making it up as I go along which feels different than normal, and have been using some different colors in the skintones, trying to make the colors more complex. It's neat not really knowing how the piece is going to turn out, it's like a little gift waiting for me at the end. I've also been fighting with my paintings a lot. It's like I'm developing tumultuous relationships with them, which I like.
I also spent plenty of time on the couch being a lazyass.
proof:
Though I did finally tackle my inbox whilst couch-dwelling. I've been really bad at emails lately. Seriously. Apologies if I haven't responded, I promise I'm not ignoring you, in-fact, quite the opposite, I've probably been stressing out because I haven't responded to you which oddly takes way more energy than actually writing an email. It's a ridiculous cycle.

Anyway, I'm currently I'm using San Francisco Airport's generous free 45 minutes of wifi to write this and to play on facebook, so really, it's like I'm at home. Also fighting the urge to watch Law & Order. ahahahah OBSESSED. This is basically one of those really pointless blog posts that shouldn't exist BUT IT DOES.

you are really really awesome and i love you.
(also, remind me to get a new nose ring when i'm home. thanks.)
xx,
Charmaine

tattoos, vegas & works in progress

2011-04-05T08:49:00.000-07:00

Wow. okay, so, it's been a minute.

I've been working on a couple of new pieces that are halfway doneish, if you follow me on instagram/facebook/twitter you've probably seen little snippets of them.

a self portrait of sorts. Waiting on the tattoos and other little embelleshments.

Here are a few progress pictures of it..

I've been all about painting on the floor lately. (I wonder if its bad for my knees to be sitting cross-legged all day?)

I decided to add freckles, which I think adds a lot more depth. Something I'll be doing from now on. I'm also really freckly.

Also been challenging myself with incorporating backgrounds in to the mix. It changes the piece for sure. still deciding if I like this route or not.

Then there are these girls

Still soooo much to go. But this girl, Fernanda, has the most fantastic eyebrows I've ever seen. Stoked she was able to model for me recently. I'll probably be doing another piece or two of her down the line.

Besides painting a ton, I went to vegas for a few days for my good friend Laura's birthday. What a strange place. I was totally burnt out after like, a day. Played too much roulette, drank too many gin and tonics, won some money, lost some money, got tattooed and ate at Coco's too many times (twice). If I was a better planner/think-ahead-er I wouldve gone to see the Bodies exhibit at the Luxor WHICH I STILL HAVE NOT SEEN. I've also been dying to see Zumanity. Next time.

Added a little ditty under my anchor. It says "amour" in runes. Runes are pretty much how Lizzy and I survived high school. We'd write full-page notes to eachother in runes, teachers were always baffled when they intercepted them (which wasn't often. we were good at being sneaky. or so we like to think.)

I love how tattoos make me feel. Currently planning out my quarter sleevie. Beyond excited.

Also, we've been having a few freakishly warm days.

Definitely been patio-dwelling a lot. And playing with leaves.

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I'm going home to Encinitas this weekend for my sister-in-law's baby shower. EEEEE YOU GUYS I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNT! Looking forward to some family time.

Hopefully I wont wait a whole month before posting again, but who knows with me.

loveyouguys. thanks for putting up with me and my erratic "blogging" ♥

two art shows this week

2011-03-08T18:24:00.000-08:00

I'm in two fun group shows that open this Thursday night, March 10th.

One is the Warhol Reimagined show put on by Warholian, over at Project One Gallery.

We were each given a panel and different works of Andy Warhol's to choose from to 'reimagine. And some artists recreated his famous soup cans. I went for good ol' Jackie O.

here they are side by side.

and here she is with an instagram filter, which always makes everything look better.

The panel was gesso-ed when I got it and had a trickier relationship with the paint than I'm used to, but I made it work. I like challenges. I also like that we all painted on panels of the same size, it's going to look so neat-o all together. (Yeah I just said neat-o)

And of course I couldn't help myself. Had to give her an extra eye, tattoos and a haircut. Oh and a lil nose ring. Kind of a self portrait? I guess?

The other opening is a collaborative photo exhibit with photographer Kelly Nicolaisen at 111 Minna. Me and a bunch of other artists did individual "light painting" collabs with Kelly, which was an entirely different medium than I'm used it. My shoot was kind of painful as it consisted of me being topless at the beach. At night. In december. In san Francisco. I was only sliiiightly frozen. (Art is pain?) But I was really happy with how our picture came out. Shoots with her are always memorable. ha. I'm super excited to see the picture in person, as well as all the other artists' pieces.

I'll be gallery hopping, la la la! See you there :)

Delphine

2011-02-28T10:03:00.000-08:00

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

Art show!

2011-02-22T13:54:00.000-08:00

My solo show "Inklinations" opens tomorrow (wednesday) night at 9:30pm! It'll also be my 23rd birthday party :)

Hope to see you there :)

first tattoo + a work in progress

2011-02-15T11:13:00.000-08:00

Went and got myself my first tattoo.

Naturally this has been something I've been wanting to do for a while now. Ever since I first started including them as themes in my work. I've been fascinated by them, as means of storytelling and making a portrait into something more than just a portrait. Also, I love drawing.

This little anchor wasn't something I thought about prior, I didn't know what I was getting until an hour or so before I got it. But it's an anchor, with a heart, which pretty successfully illustrations my love for the sea, I think.
This tattoo shop in SF, Picture Machine, does $25 Valentine's Day themed tattoos each year, with a bunch of options to choose from. So on Sunday a bunch of my friends and I all got love-themed little inkings done. My tattoo artist Derick was super friendly and amazing and was actually familiar with some of my work, which of course made me giddy and excited like a 5-year old. But, yes, it did hurt. Luckily my kitty Wesley has inadvertently been preparing me for it, as he is, well, playful. Playful with his claws and teeth..? Ha. Kind of just felt like Wes was scratching me in a very careful and organized fashion. With ink.

Anyway, there's something so intriguing about it. It's now a part of me forever. It's important to me and for my art, I think. To understand it. Yeah yeah, I know, it's super tiny, but it's a step. I'm already planning my next one. There will definitely be boats involved. (duh)

Also, I'm going to be in a super fun Warhol-themed group show that opens March 10th at Project One in SF. Here's a lil teaser image of my piece of Jackie Kennedy that I started the other night. (one of Warhol's pieces re-imagined by me)

kbye!

xxx

Photoshoot

2011-02-11T19:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the lovely Natali Truax came by my studio for a photoshoot. Here are a few. More later.

painting in my undies. teehee ;)

(I did some rearranging in my studio recently, but it's still not quite finished. I am much happier with my new setup. I was kind of in a weird little corner before and it was like an obstacle course to get over there sometimes. Dropping a brush on the floor was like, the worst thing ever. I had to do these weird acrobatic long-arm reaches to get to said fallen object. Plus, I'm surrounded by all my treasures now, like glass bottles, keys, candles & boat bookends! lalala)

We also went out in my patio for a little bit. San Francisco has been strangely warm the past couple of weeks. (luckily for me)

hairweaveeeee. Sadly my hair isn't quite this long.

This one is my personal favorite :)

Have a lovely weekend my dears ❤

hairs cut

2011-01-30T13:03:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to do this for a while now.

Aveline and I are twinsies now (except I don't have silvery light blue hair and four eyes). It was just one of those things. I was going stir crazy with my hair, wanted to cut it but I didn't want bangs again or short hair, it just made sense. Aaaand it's inevitable, I'm starting to look like my painted ladies.
It's a fun cut, you either love it or hate it ;)

Also, if I part my hair down the middle you can't even tell. It's like a little secret

Then later that night I cut Morgan's hair. With big kitchen shears. And I lint-rolled her back when we were done. ahahaha it works like a charm!

It has been a nice and rainy weekend with plenty of tea-drinking and Twin Peaks watching. Audrey Horne is such a baaaabe. Now excuse me while I go back to watching ;)

print giveaway

2011-01-26T20:09:00.000-08:00

I'm doing another giveaway on my facebook page. The winner gets to pick which print they want. Open to everyone :)

[link]

Lady Shipwreck, work in progress

2011-01-24T15:12:00.000-08:00

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 ♥

Pretty Pretty Collective

2011-01-13T16:09:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more images/previews of my new silhouettes for the show on Saturday. We installed the show last night, I'm super excited!

I made 13 total, all of which will be for sale on Pretty Pretty Collective's website, should be up by tomorrow if you wanna snag one up before the opening ;)

Also, I have a painting in a show at C.A.V.E Gallery in LA, opens Friday night (the 14th). Wish I could be there for the opening!

xx

I love these little mirror-y frames. super cutesie. ((I kind of want to keep them for myself. ))

"Anita"

"The Bride"

"Aiyana"

Here's the show flyer.

Here's one from the install last night..

See you Saturday ;)

silhouette sneak peeks

2011-01-07T11:34:00.000-08:00

Next Saturday is the opening of Winter's Shadows over at The Pretty Pretty Collective on January 15th, in San Francisco. It's such a rad space! The black walls will go perfectly with my silhouettes.

Here are a few little preview images of some of the ones I've been working on.

Can't get enough of the antlers ;) (it almost looks like I have antlers on my head in my reflection. yaaaay. actually, no, it would really suck to have actual antlers growing out of my head.)

punky girl. my favorite is her little nose piercing. teehee.

Plus a bunch more that you'll just have to come and see next Saturday!

so, I'm juggling like a gazillion illustration projects right now with deadlines like whoa. Somehow I'll swing it, I usually do. But, I wont be sleeping for a while. aaaand enter insanity.

Someone shoulda told me being a full-time artist was so much work ;)

Aveline

2010-12-28T12:28:00.000-08:00

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)

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)

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.