New Art!

Just wanted to share some new art that I have recently finished that I am really proud of! I haven't updated my new art here in a while so here it is!
First up: this was a commission by a very nice and patient person I met on etsy.  Aurora and Malificent from Sleeping Beauty! I love the way both of these came out but I especially like the Malificent. I am very happy I was asked to draw these because I probably wouldn't have gotten to it on my own, now i'd like to draw more! I'm offering a special on these over on my etsy, you get 2 for $15 fine art prints instead of the usual price of $10  Click here or click on the art for more info!

 

Next up is a new Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy pin up! My Harley and Ivy art is some of my most popular art so I really wanted to do another one, this time of them taking a selfie, or looking at something on Harley's cell phone! (weird texts from the Joker perhaps?) This one is also available on my etsy. Click here or the image for more info!

Next up is Purgatori from chaos comics! this one was a little different for me, and a bit of a challenge but I am so glad I accepted because I like the way it came out. Didn't list this one on etsy, but if anybody is interested contact me!

Post NYCC and new art!

This is a little late but New York Comic Con has come and gone, and it was really fun and productive for me, but a little bit tiring! I would greatly benefit from better planning next year, like coming prepared with food etc. We had a great corner booth on the main floor which got a decent amount of traffic. I met a lot of great new people which is always fun for me. I also really enjoy preparing and coming up with new things to make and sell and new art to create. I work 9 hours a day plus commute creating artwork for a clothing company as my main job and as much as I enjoy drawing, sometimes I just want to come home and watch TV or hang out with friends instead of going home and doing more artwork, which is why I don't create as often as I would like sometimes. A big reason I like doing conventions is because it gives me a deadline on creating new artwork which I definitely need on those days and weekends when I am tired and don't feel very motivated to do new work.
Here's some pics of that weekend! we did fun outfits all three days which was really fun for me as I don't dress up for conventions or halloween very often.

Saturdays theme was retro GI joe

Formal theme! I was feeling a little under the weather that day.

anyway I went to see the movie the Book of Life for my birthday, and I loved it so much I felt compelled to do a drawing of, of course, Maria

 

Please check out my instagram and facebook for updates on art, as I post there a lot more often, and sometimes post stuff there that I don't get around to posting here :)

Happy June and some new art

Happy June! let's hope its the start of a fabulous summer! I had this idea in my head for a while and finally got it out! Its Janine Melnitz from Ghostbusters 2. fun fact, that is the first movie I saw in the movie theaters when I was really little and is still one of my favorites, especially the scenes where Janine and Louis were babysitting Oscar. Prints are also available in my etsy store!

Ghostbusters, whaddaya want!?

New Painting and a gallery show

Hello all and happy summer!
I am going to be participating in a group show at One Shot gallery, located inside St. Marks comics here in NYC! The show is called "From Spawn to Saga: Image Comics at 22" and celebrates the books published by Image Comics. There will be an opening for the show on June 14th, I will be there! If you are in NYC swing by :)
So for my piece, I chose a comic I really really love, and is something a little different, Age of Bronze by Eric Shanower. I love this comic because its not only beautifully drawn, but the author really did his research and it is about as historically accurate as possible while still being really fun to read. Not to mention the clothing and hairstyles are really in line with art of the time. I suggest checking it out, you won't be disappointed.
The obvious choice for me would have been a pin up of Helen of Troy but I really enjoyed the story of young Achilles on Skyros. When Achilles was young, his mother Thetis had a vision that he was going to die in the Trojan war. To try to prevent this, she requested that King Lycomedes conceal him in his court amongst his twelve daughters. So young Achilles, the great warrior and Trojan war hero lived part of his life as a girl!
On a recent visit to the Metropolitan Museum of art I got inspired to base my work on the colors and motifs of ancient Greek Vases, since the comic seemed to take some inspiration from the vases too. I love the way this came out, and would love to do a little series of Greek Goddesses in this style. Being Greek, I have interested in Greek Mythology since I was a child, I have visited most of the major ancient Greek sites during summer trips to visit family, so doing something Greek felt great. For years and years I have had the idea of Goddesses in my head, even working out details with my classics expert sister, but didn't feel ready to work on it. Doing this painting pushed me to do something slightly different and now I feel ready!

Xena: Warrior Princess

I forgot to share this drawing of Xena I did a couple months back! I used to watch Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess when I was younger, and I really loved both, especially how silly and funny they were. I also liked Xena because she wasn't a damsel in distress, and that kind of character was pretty rare on tv then, and still is! Anyway, here is a little portrait of Xena I did. Its available as a print on Etsy :)

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

so another holiday season and year is about to come to an end. the year flew by pretty fast! it was a pretty big year for me, as I put my apartment for sale early in 2013 and actually sold it for a decent price, moved to a new place in Manhattan, all in under one year! Also did some conventions which went really well, so it was a pretty good year. Art wise I am trying to come up with some new products like maybe jewelry? I haven't done any yet because I am fussy about jewelry and want it to have a certain look and feel. The next thing I am definitely going to be working on is an art book, since my coloring book did pretty well. (only 3 copies left!) I am also thinking about getting a tshirt that I designed made. Of course I'd also love to continue working on new artwork, especially new paintings. With that said, I'd like to wish everybody a wonderful and healthy New Year, and for those who celebrate a very Merry Christmas :)

oh and here's the Christmas card I designed this year!

xoxox

Maria

pin up zania!

Check out this lovely little interview and feature on me and my artwork at the awesome pin up zania blog!

if you were ever interested on how I got into art, conventions and anything in between check it out. also check out and like pin up zanias facebook page!

https://www.facebook.com/Pinupzania

New art and my first book!

I have had a very productive couple of weeks, even though things are kinda hectic for me right now. I decided I will be attending heroes con in Charlotte, North Carolina again this year with Paigey! and Little Asian Sweatshop from June 7-9! I still can't believe almost one year has passed since then. Seems to have flown by, but I am very excited to go again this year. I had a blast last time, and this year we will be in artists alley! This also gives me a real deadline to do all the things I want to do, like new art, and something that has been in my head for more than a year now but I finally finished, a coloring book! I grew up on coloring books and preferred coloring to anything else. So I really wanted to do one of my own. I finally got the proof in the mail and I love it. Here is a sneak peek!

Pardon the crappy quality! I will photograph it a lot better when I receive the final version in the mail.

I also finished a new pin up of Silk Spectre 2 from Watchmen, which is one of my favorites!

and Silk Spectre to refresh your memory:

custom portrait

I recently worked on this custom portrait and I just love the results! This was commissioned as a birthday gift for a girl who likes pin ups, rockabilly, sailor jerry tattoos and all that good stuff. She was very happy with the results, and it made for a really special gift from one sister to another. If you are interested in portraits, email me or contact me through etsy or facebook!

Huntress

Happy almost spring!
I was recently commissioned  to do a pin up of DC comics character Huntress. I have to admit I would probably never have done this if it wasn't for the commission, but I am so glad I did! I decided to take her in a Bettie Page direction with her costume and hair, and I am glad I did! I love the way she turned out. I love working on commissions because its a fun way to get me out of my comfort zone, although this didn't stray too far. If you are interested in a commission contact me through my etsy page!

 

 I will be back soon with another new piece I did for an upcoming show at ZaPow! Gallery

New year, New art!

First off, Happy 2013! Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday! I am back with 2 new pieces. I am finally back in the groove of creating new artwork. Yay! First, I wanted to continue with my superheroine and villains artwork, so I drew Silk Spectre I from my favorite graphic novel Watchmen. I love that the character is already basically a pin up girl, so I just decided to change her outfit around a bit. This is one of my favorites in the group! What do you think? I do plan to work on Silk Spectre II as well. Contemplating what her outfit should look like :)

Next, I felt like designing a Valentine's Day greeting card, and this time I didn't want to wait until the last minute! I am not a big fan of Valentine's day, but I absolutely love vintage Valentine's day greeting cards so much! I especially love all the silly little puns. I also wanted to eventually design a space girl pin up so there you go! I will be selling this as a little 5x7 greeting card at my etsy store if anyone is interested!

 Lastly,  I moved my portfolio over to Behance, and I am really happy with it. You can organize everytihng into categories, it is free and there are tons of respectable artists on there. I also added some of my work from my "day job" on there if anyone is interested. check it out!

Christmas time!

Its almost Christmas and that means new Christmas art! Christmas is my favorite time of the year and I always try to design a card for the occasion. This years is my favorite! I took inspiration from vintage greeting cards which I have a small collection of. They are my absolute favorites! So here is my card and some inspiration:

 

and check out this wonderful flickr for some examples of vintage greeting cards. I love them all so much! here are some of my favorites for Christmas

      

I will be back before Christmas to share some of my baking with everyone. I find baking is something I am enjoying more and more so why not share it! :)

Halloween art

Hello all! Hope everyone had a nice Halloween! Here on the east coast (and elsewhere I am sure) we got hit pretty bad by hurricane Sandy. The area of Brooklyn where I live got hit pretty bad with lots of damage due to flooding. My apartment building was flooded and badly damaged, but I am grateful that that was the worst of it. We are still currently without heat and hot water but I am grateful that I still have a place to call home even if it is freezing cold! I am also grateful that I have had very generous offers to stay with friends and family in case things don't improve here.

Anyway, I had planned to post this on Halloween but Halloween passed me by completely this year so here is a cute little halloween pin up I worked on.

Dia De Los Muertos at ZaPow!

Haven't had much time to do new work and update the blog unfortunately, but check out the Dia de Los Muertos show at ZaPow gallery in Asheville, North Carolina on October 5. The show will run from October 5th to November 18th. In addition to my usual prints, framed art and pocket mirrors, I will have my framed Day of the Dead pin up girl on display for the show. Need a friendly reminder?

I wish I was in Asheville to check out the show, as there will be lots of awesome art on display, as well as an opening reception on October 5 with free beer, sugar skull painting, and palm reading! Being in NYC I can't go, so go check it out for me :p

Commissions and Portraits

I can't believe I let a whole month pass since updating!! Since I got back from Heroescon, I had to really focus on the portrait commissions that were piling up. I have not had the chance to take on many personal projects! Work is also getting busy as we are designing and researching our fall line right now. There is also this little thing called summer I am trying to enjoy before its over and I find myself knee deep in snow and cold again. There is a lot I would like to work on, but I am having a hard time finding time. I want to work on more superhero redesigns, put together a little art book, paint, send work to ZaPow, etc etc.
anyway enough bellyachin! I don't have much personal work to show, but here are some portraits I have finished this last months:

This client really loves coffee and is Italian, so I thought it would be cute to make her portrait look like a vintage coffee label:

This client wanted a vintage bathing suit portrait and to add her cute little Boston Terrier:

 

and here is a fun indulgent project I did because I happen to be a big fan of Ice Loves Coco! Coco is the type of woman who people will automatically judge based on her appearance. After watching the show, she seems like a nice, normal down to earth person to me. I decided to take this modern day pin up and turn her into a classic pin up.