Feathers & Skulls - finished

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

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

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

40" x 40" oil & ink on cherry panel

up close & personal

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

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

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

November 4th - 4707 Telegraph, Oakland, CA 

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

December 2010 - 111 Minna, San Francisco, CA

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

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

January 2010 - Vessel, San Francisco, CA

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

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

xoxxoxoxox

Charms

facebook giveaway + work in progress pic

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

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

xoxo
C

Feathers and skulls - work in progress

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


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

xo,
C

Klimt

I'm not sure how I've managed to live all these years without really knowing Gustav Klimt's work. Like, really? Why was I depriving myself of such mastery and beauty? I had been familiar with his most famous painting The Kiss, but only recently (last night) did I catch a glimpse at his "Judith" that I fell in love.

Here is "Judith". She makes me weak in the knees.

I need to get this tattooed on me STAT.

Judith

I feel like he has been an inspiration to me without me even knowing his work. I love the way he combines illustrative elements with the painting, much like I tend to do.

Danae

He's also a fan of painting beautiful and strange women / femmes fatales. 

Basically, he's my hero.

The Black Feather Hat

Okay, done swooning for the moment.

xo,

C