Ressurecting and Repurposing

 I unearthed some old prints from back in my younger college years in printmaking.. I will admit, I pretty much hated that class. The professor was nice enough, but I wasn't up to par as far as being uber clean nor meticulous and consistent enough. Needless to say, I did not develop a love for printmaking.at.all. And I am left with a large collection of painfully crafted, yet poorly mastered prints on some very expensive paper (Which is equally painful to a young college student, let me tell you...this paper is like GOLD). I've also  been experimenting lately with watercolour and have reached a bit of a block. My bright idea is to perhaps breath some fresh life into these old prints while, at the same time, give me a chance to play with my new love, watercolour. So here we have a few shots of a print I repurposed today...I will apologize ahead of time for the poor quality of the images, as it has been cloudy all day, and the only light was a poor, yellowed desk lamp which cast a harsh glare over the wings (which were painted with luminescent, shimmery watercolour paints).

PS. I am mailing out handmade Valentine's cards with a bag of special goodies to all my Valentines' tomorrow morning. Maybe you are one of the special few who gets one? I don't knoooooow!!! ;)

So, This artwork is a special request for my mother. She is concerned for my sanity, as most mother's would agree, when a daughter exhibits an affinity for drawing more bizarre subject matter (read "zombies"). She requested I draw something sweet and bright. Well, I did my best,  here you go Mom. I hope you like your fairy, even if she isn't wearing proper undergarments!

Also, here's another ACEO for sale at my etsy:

Etsy sale, 3 days only!

Art is everywhere and subject to scrutinization...

Just some cell phone pictures I took that I enjoy... :)

Snowy days make for Zombie escapades!

So, here in the great snowy midwest winters, there is a lot of time to sit around and document process as well as finished projects. I have been in a very zombie mood lately, so you get to see a progression of a recent work I did... Lucky you!

I would liiiiiiiiike to blame a recent obsession with reading post-apocalyptic novels with zombies and watching too much science fiction film...but I shouldn't begin this blog with a lie. I have an affinity for zombies. Not in the "OMG I wanna' marry a zombie monster!" way, but more of a  "I think it's important that everyone have a "zombie plan" before it's too late!" way. It's important.

With that being said, I think it's fun to juxtapose the macabre with more socially acceptable forms of media. Thus, the zombie pin-up is born! Using an old 30's pin-up-esque image as reference, I sketched out a smexy woman with a few hygienic issues such as a decaying face and shredded arm and thumb.

 

Here, you can see the progression of adding watercolor and detail to the first image, "fleshing" her out (so to speak). This is probably the 4th time I've ever used watercolor. It's a learning experience. I have learned it is VERY important to have a good set of brushes and high quality paper to get the watercolor to function as it should.

Here, I've added some more detail, inserted and filled in some interesting mod shapes to the background to make her pop off the page (with prismatic watercolor, it's really awesome, it has a gold and bronze gilded feel in certain rings). Almost done with her, just gotta' finish up the background! (yes, that is a kitty ear headband, don't judge me!)

This is the (mostly) finished result. I had to result to taking a photo of it (which kind of throws off the perspective a bit, as the camera is a bit below shooting up her nose). My scanner is awful and old, and this is the best I can do until Santa or the Powers That Be see fit to send me a new one. But anyways, there you have it... my first artistic blog post, and also my first semi-walkthrough of process. Hope you enjoyed!

Welcome to the Art of Rhea Blackthorne

This blog is intended to display my recent work. There will be mostly posts regarding my artistic endeavors, with a variety of inspirations and thoughts regarding art in general. I implore those of you who read this to follow me, comment, and join into the discussion or offer critique as you see fit. Thanks for stopping by my little corner of blogger, and I look forward to hearing from you!