TeacupBee Creations - creative works by Melissa Pagluica

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-29T21:08:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a merry merry Christmas!
Ahhh, the holidays. Lots of festivities, family, friends, and COOKIES! I did some pretty crazy amount of baking this year. The year of cookie experimenting with new recipes. Nothing better then watching the people you care for eating the cookies you bake.

Had to take a picture, they were so pretty. And yummy. You can find the recipes I used here:
Gingerbread Cookies
Russian Tea Cookies
Peppermint Chocolate Chip
Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Best part was having to sample all the cookies. My cookie quota this year has been filled. Good thing the new year is right around the corner.

One of the best parts about being an artist is the ability to make really personal handmade gifts.

One fun idea to add to gifts are hand painted ornaments :) Paint images that make you think of the person and then top them by hooking the ornament to the wrapping.

My favorite handmade gift was for my little brother. We grew up playing Zelda so I decided to hand paint a wooden box with Zelda illustrations. Many days, many hours, were spent after work on this gift and I loved how it turned out (so did he, Yay!). Painted using acrylic and colored pencils.

Can't believe Christmas is over already. So much energy and time preparing for one day... I say it should at least be a three day event. Can't wait for the new year, I predict lots more art and more fun changes coming this way.

~Cheers~

Sac Con Report

2011-12-12T19:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays! Sac con was Amazing. So much art love and creative people all rolled up in a one day event in Sacramento. I wasn't sure what to expect but there was a great turn out and I had the opportunity to talk with so many art enthusiast and anime lovers. Even met a guy who use to work for Pixar and he bought one of my art pieces!! And he can quote from the Hogfather (EXTRA exclamation points inserted here!)

A really big thank you to everyone who stopped by my table to say hello. It was great to see familiar faces and chat with friends.

I was even busting out some sketch commissions that day. My new trend is drawing a new fanart piece after each convention (all the fandom and cheer gets to me that I just need to revisit some nostalgic anime and show it some love).

This convention it was Utena, which means I will probably do an Utena marathon while working on the piece.

I am pretty messy sketcher, but it helps the creative flowing by not worrying about perfect lines. Here is a preview of the updated linework:

Working title for it is "Breaking Castles", because sometimes you have to let things break before you can let change in. My plan is to add in a crumbling castle and some merry-go-round horses.

-cheers!-

***EDIT: December 20th

The final of this piece can be found here:

Breaking Castle by *DarkSunRose on deviantART

Gobble, gobble, gobble...

2011-11-30T00:42:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I certainly ate WAY to much this year, so worth it. Wanted to do a quick update of a few art pieces in the works. Plus, testing out drawing a few of my Dresidian characters, Navar and Raza.

In case people wonder why Navar doesn't get with the hot cambion minion, turns out he doesn't wear the right tie....

Work in progress piece. Raza is a fun strong female character. Knows what she wants, doesn't try to hide it or excuse it. "I am what I am. Took awhile to accept it myself but once I did, no turning back." Has a thing for men of the cloth and playing up human perception of demons (for laughs).

I swear I'll finish my Swan piece....

Gwen Turner

2011-11-14T00:44:00.000-08:00

Gwen Turner by *DarkSunRose on deviantART

Gwen Turner is obsessed with books. She lives in mountains of books, she works with books, and you can't convince her that there is anything more exciting then books.

Gwen is the main character in my Dresidian project. I wanted a prudish, non adventuring type character to get mixed into a world of danger and demons. And you can ask "how is it a librarian could get mixed in with demons?", WELL! Not by choice Gwen will tell you. Framed for theft, cornered, and snared into by a demon motivated by revenge.

Sometimes, knowing the wrong people can get you into a lot of trouble. Wait till she gets her hands on Uncle Dresidian...

Maeve

2011-11-11T01:41:00.000-08:00

Maeve by *DarkSunRose on deviantART

Character from my Dresidian project.

Let me introduce lady Maeve, a villain of sorts but mostly just a driven woman on a mission. Her goal unknown but it is clear to everyone who meets her she will do whatever it takes accomplish it.

A charmer, a deceiver yet oddly enough holds her own sense of honor. It is rumored she is in the service of demons, or is it the other way around?

I.F. - "SCARY"

2011-10-30T23:57:00.000-07:00

Click to see larger version

Illustration Friday's theme for SCARY...
First thing that came to mind are some of the ladies I see on Halloween.They can be scary! I tend to be in the overdressed crowd.

Have a Happy Haloween!

-Cheers!-

FUEL

2011-10-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

and in the LAND of TEA, there was an addict
Who drank TEA all day long
And even wore TEA

Because there shall be non other then the greatness of TEA
And so, there were TEA birds and TEA clouds
And it was a good day

Did I mention I love Tea? Have you drank this stuff? It's amazing!
Quick 2 hour illustration created for Illustration Friday.

Theme: FUEL,

The Horrid Queen

2011-10-24T14:35:00.000-07:00

The Horrid Queen poster by *DarkSunRose on deviantART

One day, as I was suppose to be doing work I had this sudden need to start writing. So I opened a text document and let it flow.

It took me two days and many edits but I finished the tale. I am still working on my Dresidian project, but I felt it was important to start with a smaller goal to work myself up towards bigger dreams. And hopefully I can improve my illustration towards story telling.

Here is the first, a poster of sorts, to get the ball rolling after completing the text work.

Look for "The Horrid Queen," because it is coming soon!

The Swan Dance

2011-10-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

Thought my next piece fit nicely for Illustration Friday "Scattered".

As her wings touched the reflection upon the water,
it was as though a hundred swans scattered upon the surface.
until they fluttered away below the lake's surface

And the wizard looked upon his prize. And plotted.

Flipped

2011-10-05T10:09:00.000-07:00

PLAN B - Flipped by *DarkSunRose on deviantART

Recently completed a commission for the comic Plan B. This was a great piece to work on as I had fun with two of their characters and their facial expression. One of great worry and the other of ..well, the character always looks like he is amused by his own private joke. In the comic, they are actually one in the same person, or that is...one is in the other mind, hence the title "Flipped". I added layers of textures to give it an old vibe.

Next project to color is my Outer Sailor Senshi piece:

PLAN B - Sketch

2011-09-26T16:25:00.000-07:00

Working on a commission for the comic Plan B, check out the work! You'll go mad with science.
Sketch, sketch, sketch, in your face. With or without speech bubble?

-AND-

Madusa's lady

2011-09-20T15:41:00.000-07:00

Turned to stone, Madusa's lady stands in stone. The birds her only witness.

Outer Sailor Senshi sketch

2011-09-14T19:31:00.000-07:00

Thought it would be fun to do a follow up fanart of the outer Sailor Senshi.

-cheers!-

Fun with illustrator

2011-09-02T12:39:00.000-07:00

Been awhile since I last updated and I wanted to share some of my work done in Illustrator. Starting to really enjoy the process of creating shapes and understanding the process of using this software.

Art update

2011-07-27T14:42:00.000-07:00

Starting on a new piece for Record of Lodoss -dance-

The live stream can be viewed here. You can see how slow I work at times

...and make mistakes. Haha!

Mean while, my Ursula piece is complete!

Ursula by *DarkSunRose on deviant ART

The Grand St. Express Album

2011-07-25T11:13:00.000-07:00

Gordon was kind to give me a few copies of the album! I'm holding it as we speak and I have to say their music is A-Maz-ing. And it's pretty neat that my artwork is on iTunes (whooo!). Here are a few shots of the album "The Grand St. Express" by The Grand St. Stompers:

Inside Panel artwork (only)

Sketch Dump

2011-07-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

"Now I got her boys!"

Ursula sketch I might take further.

Happened upon the Camelot series on Netflix. Merlin is pretty hot.

DA Featured Daily Deviantion

2011-07-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

Celebration! My Vampire Hunter D piece was featured as a Daily Deviation on Deviantart. I feel all inspired to make MORE ART. For those who find it fun to see what the piece looked like before it was completed, I created another W.I.P. that shows the process of my Vampire Hunter D piece. Art work created using Photoshop CS4 and Painter X.

Illustration Friday - "Launch"

2011-06-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to participate with I.F. this week! The theme is "Launch" and I realized my Father's Day gift to my Dad was perfect for this topic.

Dad & I launching Zelda II

It depicts my most fondest memory of watching my father play Zelda. For hours, we would sit together as we battled to save the princess, it was how we bonded.

That bonding moment launched my path into loving video games, which in turn launched the direction for wanting to become an artist.

Love you Dad!

Lots of Updates

2011-06-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

June has been a crazy month of lots of art (woohoo!). The album art I created for The Grand St. Stompers is now available here. Take a moment and listen to the crazy talented Orleans-style swinging hot jazz band. My friend Brandon (who is also a talented musician AND multi-media artist) and I have been working on creating limited edition prints to be sent out very soon.

Working on my second fanart piece: The Dampiel and the Three Sisters while also figuring out livestreaming. Not much to see yet, but my livestreaming channel can be found at livestream.com/darksunrose. The first go around, I had a random movie playing and ridiculous Pandora music (with ads - gaah!) in the background (sorry about that!).

The first completed Fanart: Dark Side of the Moon (tribute piece to the Sailor Moon series), is up on my Deviantart account (along with a WIP that shows the progress of how it was created). THAT was pure pleasure in creating - rare time in which everything went smoothly.

And lastly (and what I am exited about) is a sketch showing my next art doll sculpture! Many years back I did a commission of a priestess. Her design stayed with me and now I'd like to revisit her and update the idea through sculpture:

~cheers~

Sac Etsy Craft Party 2011

2011-06-10T22:32:00.000-07:00

I didn't see the <3 when I filled in
the blank. How? No idea.

Today was the perfect warm summer day to attended my first Sac Etsy craft party (which I hear there have been two so far). Etsy puts on a global craft party where people from all over the globe organize a craft part in their local area on this day. You can read more about the global Etsy Craft party on their page here.

It was great to see so many creative people in one spot interested in many different areas. There were people who loved working with books, photographers starting up their own business, and crafters of all sorts.

For the local meetup I attended, it was organized as a fun gathering with food (most of which was delicious sugar) pot luck style, a photobooth accompanied with handmade props, mixed in with a time to trade supplies crafters didn't need or wanted to exchange.

Everyone was very friendly, and for this shy butterfly I found myself easily talking with everyone around. If your a crafter, etsy shop owner, or etsy supporter, this is a great time to socialize and meet new creative people in your area.

Oh! And I wanted to share one shop I learned about while I was there (thought it was really neat): Spoonflower

VHD and SM fanart

2011-06-05T00:39:00.000-07:00

Two fanarts in the works. I'm more into doing original work but after Fanime I was inspired to revisit two old anime series I was into. The first is from Vampire Hunter D, the scene with the three sisters. Oh yeah! And the last is from Sailor Moon, only I wanted her to look like she had more attitude. And yes, Venus has a whip. You know all those hearts they keep showing her with in the series? A cover up for her whip like tendencies.

Fanime 2011 ~end~

2011-06-01T22:39:00.000-07:00

At my table ready to go.

Big thank you to everyone who stopped by and said hello. It was a whirlwind weekend of little sleep, no breakfast, and having a crazy amount of fun talking with people who love art and anime.

There were a lot of great costumes that passed by my table. Took as many Avatar cosplay pics as I could!

I meet and talked with the great Gorgonist while I was there. A super sweet person who was kind to talk to me about her latest children's book and give great advice. Check out her beautiful illustrations on her blog.

Talked with a friend from the past, Megamoth, an artist AND an instructor in the ways of comics, manga, and anime!

Even got to chat with awesome con goers that remembered me from past cons. One was sporting the King from my Queen and King button set!

My favorite moment came from a girl who spotted a warning sign placed within my portfolio. It indicated that the next pictures contained nudity. She liked it so much she purchased it!

Drew on a few people. Woohoo!

Such as trollface on a Vampire Hunter D cosplayer's hand.

Bob and Tsukasa

Want to do a shout out to Bob and Tsukasa who are a part of Cafe Verfuhren. These two were the kindest people I talked with during my time at Fanime. I wanted to take the time to SPAM their kindness and their Japanese “Butler” and “Dansou” cafe that pampers their guest to treats and cuteness.

A big hug to my table neighbors, who were kind to give me food and provided laughter when we had to sit for hours on end. Thank you Emily and Danny! Learned a lot this year and I look forward to attending more conventions in the future.

Vampire Hunter D fanart

~End~

Getting ready for Fanime

2011-05-25T18:04:00.000-07:00

As I am frantically getting everything ready for Fanime (picture scissors thrown about, excess paper trimmings, plastic, pretzels...) I thought I'd take the time to share my newbie experience.

Having an artist table and prepping for one is definitely something you never feel completely ready for (unless your pretty awesome in delegating your time). You reach a point where you go "I've done all I can so it's now or never!" And I hope you all opt for now. I was lucky and had pretty awesome friends that took the leap with me when I first tried (keep in mind, I have only had 2 artist tables so far. n.e.w.b.i.e...). Or better to say I had an awesome brave friend who is always the first to go out and conquer (Allie, I'm looking at you!).

We both ventured into the unknown of elite crowd of professional artist savvy table holders. Oh yeaaaah! Or at least back then, in my mind it was that mysterious and cool. When you hop in you realize that it's a bunch of creative artist who are just trying to figure out everything too. Which is great because it means it's your chance to learn what they know, chat, and make new friends.

Now I'm slapping myself in the face for not attending more often, but I am correcting that by taking a positive direction now. Around the end of 2010, I had a goal: "I'm going to attend Fanime 2011!" At the time, covered in a mountain of work to get done, I had no idea how I was going to accomplish it only the resolve of "it's going to happen. I'll make it happen."

I'm realizing it's the key ingredient to everything you want to happen. Will power and positive thinking.

Now, there were times I thought I was way over my head (part of me still does) and I keep having those pesky fears: Not enough new work, wont have enough items in general, how am I going to balance getting my work work done (with deadlines looming), not good enough, etc., etc...

BUT, I had to smack those fears aside. Counter it with blazing awesome rationale. Why am I going? To meet new artist, to have fun, to learn, and to talk to people who love art.

None of my fears meshed with the objective. Not enough new work? BAh-hum-bug, this event is to propel me to start making new artwork, not just for the event. Not enough stuff? Who cares! Have fun talking with everyone and learn. Work Work? I want it, so I'll have to make time.

I read an article that gave really good advice about resistance, they said to stop feeding the monster. Look, there will be a hundred reasons why you can't make it happen and there will be the one reason why you can. Passion/love/call it what you want but it's the one reason you should be feeding instead of all the No's.

So, fast forward to three days before the big event. I am still no where near ready, but the journey has been fun. Doing a lot of last minute packaging and printing but I've already decided it will all work out. Even the stuff that hasn't been figured out, it will all come together.

Woke up at 7 this morning to hit up a downtown print shop and made some new friends (puppy above). He was just sprawled out in the front ready to give affection to all the customers. Also, a shout out to TC Graphics, the woman who helped me was so kind with helping me make all the illustrations look wonderful printed.

When you sign up to be an artist at artist alley, you'll find that getting ready for it will be as fun as attending the event.

There were times I said "Your not ready!? Why did you sign up?" only to realize that by doing so it pushed me to get more things done creatively.

The artist behind TeacupBee Creations. I have a face!
And yes there is a naked doll behind me.

I'll be seeing you at Fanime 2011 Artist Alley!

-cheers-

Once upon a time...

2011-05-18T21:20:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time,

in a land far away....

Fanime 2011 & Etsy Shop

2011-05-15T12:47:00.000-07:00

I will be attending Fanime 2011 (May 27th-30th) in San Jose! Find me at Artist Alley, I'll will be selling my artwork and talking with artist. (Psssst....If you ask for a quick sketch I will be happy to oblige).

For those unable to attend, I will be selling a few of my items on Etsy. I worked hard yesterday on the packaging design and photos and loved every minute of it. Feeling the inspiration bug and the need to keep creating!

TeacupBee Creations Etsy Shop

ART DOLL Quarterly - Tulah

2011-04-27T15:46:00.000-07:00

Some time after creating Tulah, I decided to be brave and send off photos to the magazine ART DOLL Quarterly.

It has always been one of those magazines I loved to look through while in the bookstore, wanting to see all the inspirational artwork and stories from artist I admired. "These are the people who are doing what I want to do" I always thought.

For once, as I held a copy of the magazine, I looked for their submission policies and got to work with putting together what was needed. I had to be quick because it was literally the last week to send in work for consideration. I rush to the post office and realized I needed to do a rush delivery, having to spend $20+. I hesitated for a moment when I was standing to pay for it - but my mind kept going "But what if it does get in?" Don't stop!

Many months went by and I started to believe that it may not have been received in time. "At least I went for it!" I decided. So I pushed it in the back of my mind.

Today, as I was working from home, I heard the mail drop in and went to go see what came in. My heart stopped because it was a copy of ART DOLL with a note attached that said I was published.

I held that magazine and I did one serious Happy Dance.

It went from being the one who only browsed the artist magazines to finally being a part of it. It makes me want to shout to all artist that you shouldn't just keep "looking", decide and then go for it!

Look for Tulah in ART DOLL Quarterly
in the May/June/July issue!

New project!

2011-04-20T22:23:00.000-07:00

In my spare time, in between work and illustrating, I've been working on a fun project which requires me to create characters!

Looking into pixel art and animating sprites. Taken an animation class which is a nice step but I am looking forward to trying it out on subjects that interest me more. Like princesses, dragons, and burly old cantankerous Scottish men who drink tea.

Here are a few of the concept pieces:

Grand St. Stompers, part 2

2011-04-11T15:40:00.000-07:00

Continuation of the album cover, working with color! I have times where I need to scrap color I've been working from and just start from the beginning. Hard to do but necessary.

I am including this piece in Illustration Friday as the coloring has definitely been a "journey" as well as all grand adventures should include a train ride -cheers-

Newsletter graphics

2011-04-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

One of the fun parts of working at my day job is helping to create the newsletter images each month. Which means I get to practice with Illustrator! I have started to feel a lot more comfortable with designing with this tool. I am use to hand drawing everything (working with lines) so my brain had to make a switch to drawing with "shapes" and then molding into the desired form.

Here are some of the images, you can see where I was still awkward with shapes in the earlier ones. Starting with my most recent:

A header and a closure image.

A mix from two different newsletters.

For some reason Font is really intimidating for me. I think it's because I am working with someones hard work (the font) and wanting to use it appropriately. I am pretty sure font experts will laugh at my attempts but here they are. I have fun, like the growth image, where I can illustrate off it.

And my earlier ones. Learning, learning, learning. So much more to improve on. I think I kill myself at times with all the different software knowledge I have in my head. I want to do it all! Hopefully I can do more like my April Bunny.

I wish everyone a happy April and bunny month!

Frenchmen St. Parade

2011-03-30T22:46:00.000-07:00

At last! I have received my copy the album I helped do the layout work for. -dance-

Check out the artwork done by Tim Trapolin, isn't it beautiful? Makes you want to dance with all the vibrant colors he used. And here is the page I love most (there is my name, yeah-ha!):

Feels pretty great to be part of a project where everything comes together and you get to see the final result of everyone's hardwork. And the MUSIC! If you haven't heard of the New Orleans Moonshiners yet you can check out their facebook page here. You'll love 'em!

What was fun with this project was working with Tim's artwork and finding ways use it around different parts of the CD layout. To do so, I selected a few of the musicians and edited them into different positions to keep the consistency of the style flowing. Added a splash of color to match the original and presto! It's amazing what you can do with one art piece and how you can recreate it to make fun layouts. Take a look inside:

~yay~

Grand St. Stompers

2011-03-26T15:09:00.000-07:00

The end of March already? Time sure does fly. And I'll tell you I've been a busy bee. Much to share, many plans in the works, and it's all a matter of kicking my butt and posting it now.

I'm in the middle of working on another album, this time for The Grand St. Stompers. Working with layout is an interesting back and forth process between working with a band's vision and melding it with your own artistic input. I try very hard to bring what they have in mind to light. Sometimes this means having to get over my own stubburness of direction, sometimes this means finding ways to work with my limitations of what I can draw - And boy, album works gets you to draw things and expand on content I never thought I'd draw. Happy that I have! Pushes me a lot and I need that.

Trains are pretty awesome, but it was certainly something I've never drawn before. Thankfully they provided reference pictures for me to work from - an epic looking toy train. Not only did they want a train, but they showed me posters of Mucha and I KNEW I was going to have fun. Panel time with whimsical lines.

Here is the evolution of where I started and where I am at now:

Layout version 1

Layout version 2

Layout version 3

Pleabein Photoshoot

2010-12-13T19:12:00.000-08:00

A friend asked how I went about setting up the pictures to be taken for my sculpture. It is magical and complicated procedure requiring the aid of many squirrels and the blessing of a mermaid pajama elf.

Okay, maybe not that complicated.

Here is how I did a quick, easy, plebeian setup to take pictures of Tulah.
I worked with two ideas:

1. A white background
2. Natural light. Regular house lights tend to cast a yellowed or blue light.

Now, this is where I cheat: I own a pretty sweet Nikon camera.

And this is where I ask you to not laugh to hard at my setup :

Paper near a window!

I know I will look back one day and laugh as well. But until then (using my serious face) I am exploring the wonders of simplicity and the usefulness of mundane objects transformed into new and insightful tools.

-Cheers & Smiles-

Tulah

2010-12-02T21:18:00.000-08:00

Have you heard about the Elf daughter and the Fae prince? They meet one night by chance, playing in a flower field.

Graceful and charming was he,
Clumsy and fair was Tulah.

You see, Tulah was always in
constant disagreement with her feet.

They seemed to prefer tripping over each other while she would rather be able to just walk forward. Even worse while in the presence of a Prince. Much to his amusement.

“I know, you are friends with me only to laugh at me.”

“Yes!” he agreed and laughed some more. “Meet me again tomorrow.”
Begrudgingly she showed up that tomorrow, and the evening afterwards.
For a full Summer. She started to realize she rather liked him too.

One night he appeared later then usual.
“My prince, I must go. It is late and my sisters will worry--”

“I have a present for you.”

She smiled and forgave him immediately. Never had she received presents like her three fair younger sisters who had such agreeable feet. “Oh?”

“This gift I give to you only if you attend the Fae Fall dance tomorrow night.”

Her heart stopped, “An Elf among the Fae? I'll be laughed out! Please, ask something else of me.” She glanced at her feet. If only I could dance...

Prince smiled, “Tomorrow, I shall see you tomorrow and the gift will be yours.”

That very evening, Tulah confessed to her sisters. Surely they will stop this foolish elf. To her surprise they cheered and danced. Her youngest sister hugged her, “You must go, we insist!”

“Yes, yes! Wear this dress” said another and they swarmed her like bees to a flower.

When she was done up from head to toe they ushered her out the door with a farewell and a wave. She was half tempted to turn back but she thought of Prince and sighed “I suppose I should at least tell him myself, that I am unable to go.”

In the flower field Tulah found him there, waiting in in his formal ware. She could not meet his eyes and so she said to his perfect toes, “I'm sorry prince, my feet, they seem unable to cooperate. How can I attend?”

He smiled down at her, “but my lady, your feet and I are in agreeance.”

She looked up at last, confused.

Prince then pulled out the most loveliest pair of feathers shaped similar to fairy wings.

“Feathers from a dove who heard my plight of an earthbound Elf with two left feet. If you are not meant to walk, surely you are meant to fly. And if you are not able to fly then I suppose you will just have to keep hold of my hand.”

For once, Tulah and her feet agreed.

~End~

It's been quite the journey with this little elf. She came to life right before me! When I sat down to write her story,
it came upon me like a rush
(the pen could hardly keep up).

I hope you enjoyed her progress and her super cheesy romantic story.

-Cheers-

I.F. - "Sneaky"

2010-11-20T22:38:00.000-08:00

For Illustration Friday, this week's theme is "Sneaky". The first thing that came to mind was my kid brother and I. Yes, I totally stole quarters from him. Mwuahahaha.

Album Cover - sketches

2010-10-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

LOVE this time of the year in California. The air is crisp, the leaves are changing colors, AND you get to wear scarves! It's a feeling of change.

Been working on an album cover, creating many many sketches. These were the initial ideas for the font and back cover (not sure they will be used):

SketchBomb - First meet up

2010-10-18T14:52:00.000-07:00

Sketchbomb held it's first meeting in Sacramento this October
at Tupelo Coffee House and it was pretty awesome. While drinking some delicious coffee, I was able to talk and sketch along with some amazing artist (here are just a few):

Mike Henry
DJ Welch
Hainanu Saulque
Juniorbruce

Look! It's me sketching.

I think what made this event even more special are the moms that brought their kids, makes me teary to think how supportive they are. One kid blew me away with his talent, can't wait to see what amazing stuff he will create in the future. Anyhoo, here are the sketches I made that night:

October meetup sketches by *DarkSunRose on deviant ART

Found out about another group called Drink and Draw that I plan on attending this Thursday.

Elf Sculpture - part 4

2010-10-12T12:36:00.000-07:00

I like to get excited over really little things, such as how cute pattern pieces are when they fit in the palm of your hand (big smile)... Look! The collar can fit around my finger.

Sometimes I do more work then necessary, such as line the inside of the pieces but little details like that seem important. At one point, I believed I remade a pattern piece 5 TIMES just because it didn't look right, or there was a slight blemish, or because I am clearly nuts like that.

Feeling slightly sad that in the end, no one will see the inside of the collar. Except for here in this photograph. The lining pleasure will come from her sleeves, a nice playful detail of strips peeping through if anyone was curious to lift one.

The creation of the jacket felt important because with the light color pallet used in her costume so far, a dark contrast is needed to balance the outfit to the eye.

I am still toying with adding flower or pearl details to her jacket but my next area of focus will be her wings. Depending on how the wings come out, simplicity may be better so as to not overwhelm (or clutter) the overall feel of the sculpture.

Or maybe no wings? Hmmm...

I've been contemplating the use of the term Doll Sculpture. After reading an interview with Marina Bychkova (who I adore artistically!), she made a valid point about if it doesn't move it isn't a doll. Sort of makes me feel silly. Even misplaced a bit about labeling this art piece. However, when I was a little girl I played with dolls to do the following: Dress them up or make outfits, style their hair, and the most fun part of all - give them stories and names.

Then it hit me: Yes, my doll sculpture cannot move. But in every other sense, she is my doll frozen in time forever in exactly the way I played with her. Dressing her, playing with her hair, and finding her story to share with you.

And so, this is where she is at now. On hold for now as I am working on an album cover for the talented RedSkunk Jipzee Swing Band. Totally in love with their song Premonitions.

Doll To Do List:

• Fairy Wings

• Detail on jacket (?)

• Bloomers

• feet details

• Make ze base beautiful

G-Ma's Birthday card

2010-10-11T08:47:00.000-07:00

Last month was my Grandma's birthday. Usually it is Grandma who is busy making delicious cakes, cooking up yummy recipes, or cleaning up. However her perfect day involved her doing absolutely nothing while her kids take charge. Love you Grandma!

Just wanted to share the simple little card I made for her:

Elf Sculpture - Part 3

2010-10-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

Now that I have gotten sufficient sleep and my roommates are no longer able to distract me, it's time to continue!

Still learning a lot about placing hair on a sculpture. I've looked through many tutorials and I've seen a few different ways artist go about it. The process I've enjoyed so far has been by Natasha Red October. Another artist who shares her process is Patricia Rose.

Material for "MISSION: HAIR!"

Mohair - Has a nice soft texture and my experience with it so far has been positive. (found good deals on ebay!).

FabricTac - An adhesive found in any local craft store.

Here is the sculpture with the hair placed on. I've made a few choice parts in how it will lay on her forehead and in this picture, I am playing with how I would like her hair to be styled. Eee! This is my favorite part!

All that I have visualized so far is having it as an up hairdo. In the second picture it is shown in a bun, but when I started on actually forming the style my first step was to place her hair in a secure ponytail (in a position slightly above center of where I'd like the bun to be)

From the ponytail I made several braids that would wrap around a small bun created. The two front bang pieces were braided and then wrapped in gold wire.

-This is where I do a
victory dance-

Alas! More to do. After dancing in victory I realized that she needed a head piece of some sort.

Picture to the left is a table set up to get more stuff done!

I find it helpful to have an assortment of items laid out that could have the possibility of being used. Helps in pairing items together or seeing if things work well together.

Wish I had taken better pictures of her hair at the time, but later progress pictures will show more of her hair piece. Also, I added curls to her style afterward to help give it a more full feeling.

Curls were created by wrapping mohair around brass tubing (just like a curling iron!). It is then placed under water to dampen the hair before being placed into an oven of about 150-200 degrees for about 10-15 minutes.

This is where I must end for now. Next blog will contain the progress pics of her over jacket.

Elf Sculpture - Part 2

2010-10-05T00:32:00.000-07:00

Working on my sculpture slowly and I've finally kicked myself in the petunia to update my blog. She has come a long way since the last update and I am excited to share her progress. If you follow me on twitter, I post my pictures instantly as I am creating (It's just so quick and convenient!).

For some reason I keep seeing her as a Flora, one of the three fairy sisters that looked after the sleeping princess. She carries a worried look, like a decision needs to be made.

Starting with a few sketches, I try to get an over all idea of the direction I want to go in with her outfit (It helps me understand how I want to piece it all together). Sometimes this process can take a whole day. For one part of the outfit (AHHHhhh!). Since the outfit isn't going to be slipped into like traditional clothes (her limbs are not going to move!), I have to work around this limitation.

(1) Her skirt was the first piece to be created. Did a fun bunching technique to give it a nice poof. (2) Using a strong wielding glue, I attach her sleeve to her form. Working with tiny pattern pieces can be frustrating. My fingers are SO BIG in comparison, or the material is so sensitive you have to check to see if the material easily frays and if it's the right amount of frustration you want to work with. This soft pink material was not friendly, but it didn't stop me (mwuahaha!).

At this point I wasn't sure about the direction of where I wanted to go. I added ribbon to act as the straps and moved on to what I WAS sure about: (3) An underskirt. Keeping with the pink pallet, I found a nice sheer, darker pink.

Helpfulness: As I work I like to make sure to look at the doll from all angles (Simple "duh!" concept, I know). But it really helps me keep in perspective how the cloth will lay on her and how she will be viewed by people not looking at her from straight on. I always keep reminding myself that this is important.

I must end here for now. A bit late and my sleepiness is winning.

Next post will be on her NOT being bald! Whooohoo!

Elf Sculpture - part 1

2010-05-30T22:25:00.000-07:00

Sad news. My first sculpture is being put on hold. One morning it fell over and she was decapitated and de-legged. On the day of my friend's wedding it didn't leave me much time. I just placed it on the table and looked at it for a good two minutes and I said to myself, "I have no time". So she sits now in the corner of my craft desk, repaired and lonely. I'll return to her but a good break from the heartache is needed.

Good news is that I have started a second sculpture!

This lady elf is 9 inches so far and is made of a mix of Prosculpt and Fimo Puppen. Learning much from my first project, I find that baking in parts helps to make a more detailed and smooth sculpture (more control which means more tedious time involved).

And lookie!! She has a base:

Hair at last!

2010-04-16T23:15:00.000-07:00

Ta-dah!

She is no longer a baldy - yay-

Starting to wonder if I am posting to many progress pictures. With all the work I have going on she literally the only major art that I have been devoting time to. Sometimes, I'll be working and my eye will wonder over to what I wish I could spend all my time doing. One day I will! News: I am working part-time for an amazing music artist Dane Drewis. I feel happy that part of my week is spent helping talented and amazing people.

It was about 10:30 p.m. when I took the photos so the colors may be off. Her hair has been clipped back for now as I've been working on her dress. Sketching has really helped in planning out how her outfit will be placed together - like puzzle pieces - and I am working on the idea of layers to achieve a particular look. The top layer of the dress is just pinned in how I hope it will turn out (helpful in visualizing the next step).

A while back I found this pleather jacket at a thrift store and I have evil plans to (er, glorious plans), to create a top jacket as well as a cute hat.

More details.

In other news, it was Charlie Chaplin's birthday! He wrote one of my most favorite songs that always cheers me up. "You’ll find that life is still worthwhile... If you’ll just... Smile"

Etsy Shop & Doll clothes

2010-03-30T22:17:00.000-07:00

Sewing and sketching away this March. There are new ideas I want to tackle and projects still in the works. I recently added a new item to my Etsy shop called "Spring's Contessa", a fabric book cover for all the ladies who await spring. Love combining sewing and illustrations!

Realizing my projects involve monstrous amounts of detail and time (makes life interesting...but complicated. Ha!). The past week I've been sewing undergarments for my doll. It consisted of googling, laying about in yards of fabric thrown all over the place, and staring/willing the cut pieces to magically form together.

Here are a few resources that helped me get started in thinking about how I wanted to construct her clothes:

• Bloomers tutorial
• Chemise
• Hemming sheer fabric?

Bloomers. Can't get enough of this word. Made bloomers for the first time! It was very exciting for me...well, it lost its momentum when the first pair didn't fit over her bum. By the time I made a fresh cup of tea I was ready to try once more. Gave it a good glare for measure before starting (making sure to scare it into submission). Above, are the pair I made along with my *bee bustle*. Naming it so because of its appearance (fitting, eh?)

The background of this picture shows only a faction of the mess found in the path of my creative tornado. The next layer is the first skirt layer. Made ruffles that will probably not even be shown when she is fully dressed. But I'll know it's there! Mwuahaha.

Hopefully in the next photos she will no longer be a baldy! My mohair has arrived.

-Cheers-

Doll - Dress Sketch

2010-03-10T14:21:00.000-08:00

Happy Wednesday everyone @-->>----

I want to share an article that has helped me accomplish more in a day. The idea has been rehashed many times by different people, but things never sink in until you put it to good use. LISTS. I'm starting to write them (not type), every morning before turning on the computer or checking email. I make lists of things I want to accomplish, and then rewrite them into a schedule. It helps!! -- link --

Genesis paints are fantastic! They go on light, or I am not being bold enough to go heavy at first, but I find layering on the paint in between bakes create a nice effect.

She is still a baldy. The next step of adding hair make me nervous. If anyone has tips they wouldn't mind sharing let me know.

Started to make a cute ruffle. Details, here I come - this is my favorite part. YAY!

Sketchy, sketch, sketch.

Spent all night sketching out ideas of how I am going to put her dress together (while factoring in the limitations of placing them on her frame). I need to channel into my talented friend Vani's sewing skills.

Doll Project - Arg!

2010-02-24T19:18:00.000-08:00

Last week was full of a lot of joy and also many speed bumps. First with the joy! I was surprised last week to find an email from Deviantart telling me that someone has purchased a 3 month premium membership for my account.

What floored me was it was by an artist I had admired from afar for many years. The great Hector Sevilla (aka Elsevilla)! So a shout out for Hector, your whimsical linework I drool over, your character designs I adore, Elsevilla Esvilla so kind you are. Thank you -hug-

Bump bump bump...

I baked my first sculpture! Ahh, to wait was hard. Back tracking, if you notice I added 10mm glass eyes. Looking at the sculpture for about 10 minutes, I ripped out the work done previously and smacked them on (took forever to get them just right). After baking, it allowed me to build on top of the face.

The boots were sculpted as well (the most fun part of all, haha). Ahhhh, now I can't wait to get to the stage of sewing her outfit. So where were the speed bumps? Speed bump #1: Didn't secure her head very well so it kept drooping. Fixing it so many times I finally had the courage to rip it completely off and work on the under-structure to fix the source of the problem. Speed bump #2: Cracks after baking. Nooooooo! Thankfully I had Magic Smooth on hand to repair. That is where I am at currently, adding a second layer of Prosculpt over the repaired areas. Now to look into Genesis Paint and maybe eyelashes.

Phew! So much to learn from. In other news, new website discovery. This place gives a lot of food for thought about art and business: www.thestudiosource.com

Doll Project - Faces oh my!

2010-02-09T16:48:00.000-08:00

Progress photos are fun, not just from artist that I admire, but taking them too! So here is my adventure so far:

Started with Magic Sculpt (it's the darker of the two sections) this weekend, MS is pretty neat! The draw back is that you have to have to wait about 12 hours for it cure completely. Worked out a skeletal form in the beginning (had to go back twice! Oi...the wait was cruel). Once I started with Prosculpt (using the Beige - Caucasian), time fleeeeew. Bulking out the form in the 2nd pic. Hope this sculpture turns out well when I bake...

To my left is the face of fail, ha. After the 4th attempt of starting a face I decided to let my frustration out by making myself laugh with an alien face.

I remember someone asking me how I went about creating a ceramic bust. The guy sounded really frustrated so my advice was this: Don't be angry!! Keep calm and make sure that you are enjoying what you are doing. Walk away, drink something delicious, treat yourself to a cookie. Check out a few artist and find out techniques that they use. Youtube is fun! So many artist like to share their love (artsy-lets-create-more-fun stuff love).

So, finally getting the groove on. Working with clay, I went about making faces using different ways (depending on my mood). Here is one way:

Need to ask someone how the whole premade eye thing goes about. Seen them inserted just not sure about how to pick one. Well, here is where I am at currently. Just ordered some more prosculpt, now to wait anxiously to continue another day.

Oh, and her boobs looked smooshed. I plan on placing a corset on her so I am trying to achieve the boob/cleavage/corset shape. woooo!!!

First Doll Project - Step 1

2010-02-03T15:13:00.000-08:00

No kiln! What to do!? Researching over the internet I came across many wonderful doll sculpture artist (many of which are favored by this blog) that inspire my imagination. From a blog created by Natasha Red October (Morezmore), I learned of a product called Magic Sculpt and Pro Sculpt. My mind reeled with the possibilities (bouncing with excitement here). My fingers literally ITCH to sculpt that I am afraid of starting a tic in my fingers (ha!).

Funny thing is, about a year ago I randomly picked up a magazine I'd usually pass over. In it they featured Virginie Ropars, a beautiful doll sculpture artist that instantly caught my attention. She mentioned that she enjoyed doing so many creative things - sculpt, fashion, sewing, etc - and that this helped bring them all together. I thought, "Wish I could do something like that! I wouldn't even know where to begin" and thus an example of me getting in the way of..well, me. Ha.

And so, a year later I am attempting something I once thought impossible. Poppy King was right when she said that doubting takes up time that is better spent learning.

My art desk is a bit messy now because of my enthusiasm of starting. Borrowed my Dad's power drill to start creating a base to work off of. Probably going to make tons of mistakes but I guess that is part of taking on something new (and exciting - eeeee). Got as far as making a skeleton structure as I await for my magical Magic Sculpt.

Here is my doll idea:
Includes lots of keys and a cage like dress (I can do it! >.<)

Inspiration: "I realized that I was the construct of my own cage"

Mooshiners - I'm Comin' Home

2010-01-24T23:23:00.000-08:00

Let me start by saying that this band is talented and full of such wonderful people! If you haven't heard of the The New Orleans Moonshiners you should check their page on myspace. When they asked me to do their 2nd album of course said YES! haha.

I had such a wonderful time doing their first: Check it!

So here is the process of the 2nd album piece. I started sketching in my sketchbook while listening to their Pre-Released version.

My process changes for each piece that I start. For this one, I started outlining the sketch in Photoshop.

The coloring was brought into Painter X. Laying out the colors. "oil pastel" tool used plus custom brush was created for this.

Ze end! After painting the piece in Painter X, I took it back to Photoshop to edit the layout and text. Photoshop is recomended for editing the "Levels" and colors found within.

Tuesday Tea

2010-01-19T14:16:00.000-08:00

"Tuesday Tea" is something I enjoy being silly about with my friends. Every Tuesday, I had decided, was a holiday to celebrate how wonderful tea is. It felt appropriate to blog about it as it happens to be today!

To partake in this glorious affair a few tea essentials are necessary:

• Tea kettle (microwaves devalue the whole tea experience)
• A cute tea cup (a feeling of specialness is important)
• Loose leaf tea (NO Tea bags, "full capacity specialness" isn't reached)
• (optional) Tea enhancing items (No need to be a "purist" )

Vs.

Just being silly when I said "no tea bags". It really is just a matter of personal choice (very useful when your are in a rush out the door!). There are even little disposable pouches for your loose leaf enjoyment. That being said, a choice in your tea strainer is very important. I found that the tea ball infusers, circular or heart shaped (seen in the Right photo), tend to not hold very well. At least the one's that I had purchased in the past have never lasted too long and were not fun to clean out.

For comfort, an open strainer has had great tea enjoyment success. Easy to clean, never have to worry about loose tea leaf falling out, and it sits on your cup in a very cute way (+bonus styling points). Make sure to check if it is stainless steel (longevity saves you).

Today, I enjoyed a lovely tea by Hina's called White Pearl of Fujian. It's fun to support your local shops and this is a wonderful place to stop in (Thank you Susan for finding it!). They have an entire wall just lined with assortment of loose leaf teas for you to choose from. You can smell all the different teas that they have found and are packaged well.

The advantage to loose leaf tea is that you can control how much you use allowing you to choose how strong your tea will be and (+bonus) controlling how long your tea last.

I have a few different selections from Hina's and it has lasted me more then 6 months making tea an afforadable and money effecient investment.

Today's mixture:
White Pearl of Fujian + Spoonful of raw honey + Milk
= Hmmm Yummy!

2nd Cup of Tea...

2010-01-14T22:38:00.000-08:00

I am very excited to finally have my website completed. Well, enough so to put it up. Perfectionist me keeps saying "there is still much to do and improve upon!" but that is quickly hushed up by excitement.

First of all, happy 2010! A new year to make good on new beginnings and seeing new possibilities. It's true, when you set up smaller goals and you can achieve them it does much for your moral. With so much going on, it's easy to get caught up with a list that keeps growing.

Someone close to me said "Just give yourself an hour to focus on one thing you really want to do. And do that everyday." Simple, eh?

Here is my new growing list:
• Sketch everyday
• Go play with Prosculpt
• Continue my Magdalen story

Fresh cup of tea...

2010-01-12T20:21:00.001-08:00

Make everything something special, something great. Even the little things and you may be amazed at how you feel about the world around you and yourself. I am lucky to have a wonderful father who always showed me the up side to a rainy day, spilled milk, and anything that inspires the "meh".

For 2010, my first steps have been to create a new blog and a new website. I am very close to completing the latter but for now I will enjoy what has finally been completed. Ze blog! Admire the banner, it took me 2 days to figure out what should go up there. Simplistic as it is, may I offend you with overly cute things in the future.

I am a freelance artist and this place will be my little corner to share artwork, inspiration, mistakes and hopefully how you can avoid them! Also, being a bit obsessed with tea there may be many a post dedicated to the subject matter.