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. 

 

post heroes con

Heroes con 2012 has come and gone! and what a weekend it was! I was invited by my good friend Paige to come to heroes con with her and her husband Phil and be part of "Paigey and her amazing friends" The other amazing friends included Fenny from Little Asian Sweatshop fame who was also there (we bonded over Bojangles and white wine), and Christy Sawyer who wasn't present but her awesome wares were. It was my first real convention representing my artwork outside of girls drawin girls and it was a lot of fun! When Paige spoke about heroes being the best convention for artists she wasn't kidding. I got a chance to meet cool people like Stephanie Buscema, (who's work I have loved for a while) Sarah Dyer and her amazing little daughter and amazing designer Vivcore. There were so many others! I have to admit, I did have a "holy crap maria what are you doing here" moment. I kind of felt like a dorky new kid trying to get in with the cool kids! But everyone was SO nice  so that feeling didn't last long. Even attendees were so nice and polite and seemed genuinely interested and excited to be there. I met a lot of great people. It was really refreshing. New Yorkers can be a bit jaded and done it all seen it all bunch :p
Besides the actual convention there was some cool stuff going on. I actually donated a little tiny Batgirl painting to the Heroes con annual auction! I don't have any idea if it sold or for how much, as we missed the beginning of the auction. All the heavy weights of comic art were there so it was pretty darn cool to have been in the same room as them. Stan "the man" Lee was there the whole weekend! He was giving a speech at the end of the auction, and of course bing a rowdy bunch, we got shushed while he was speaking. Probably one of the highlights of the trip :p

 Paige, Fenny and I at our giant booth!

I did a lot better sales wise than I was expecting which was really nice, I even sold out of a few prints! The other awesome thing about being there was that I got to meet the nice people from ZaPow! which was great! I have been emailing back and forth with Lauren from ZaPow for months and it was so nice to finally meet her in person! I am definitely in great company in ZaPow. I got a chance to see art from some of the other artists and the talent level was high.

 Fridays outfit

I am sure I am leaving something out and rambling a bit, but all in all it was a great trip and experience and I am super grateful to Paige for inviting me, because I don't think I'd have ever done this on my own. We had a great time hanging out and it was one of those experiences I'll always remember :)
Now that Heroes con prep is over, I am getting back into my commissions and trying to come back to the real world :p

Last Minute!

I am literally leaving for heroes con in a few hours, and just finished up this drawing of Batgirl. Clearly, I love the idea that she is a librarian. I also cranked out this Supergirl over the weekend, and now I am super tired!
I need to take an "art nap" after heroes is over! I need to recharge so I don't burn out. But I am kind of crazy so who knows! I usually feel so inspired after a con I jump right back in to doing new work!
Oh and Happy Summer!

 

Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, everyone's favorite crime fighting librarian!

Supergirl! I wanted to give her an all american cheerleader from the 50s look :)

Trouble!

With Heroescon quickly approaching, I have been trying to get some new art work done, while in the  middle of working on commissions and working my full time job. I managed to squeeze this in, as it is something that has been in my head for so long. I am so pleased with how it came out, but I am not sure how others will feel about it. My Gotham city pin ups have been my most popular drawings, and favorites of mine, so I really wanted to try drawing Harley and Poison Ivy together, those bad, bad bffs :)

I also have been trying to get into pencil drawings besides simple doodles, and here is a drawing of elektra. I don't know if I will have time to do more in time for Heroescon, but it felt nice to draw again. Ideally I'd have loved to do small paintings to bring with me, but, time ran out.
*pardon the crappy ipod photo!

HeroesCon

Exciting news! I will be at HeroesCon in Charlotte, North Carolina from June 22-24!

 

I will be vending with the fabulous Paigey! and Fenny from Little Asian Sweatshop! I have only ever vended at New York Comic con and that was with Girls Drawin Girls, so I am excited and quite nervous! So many amazing artists will be there, so I am greatly looking forward to that.
I will be selling 8x10 prints, mini print packs, mirrors, original art and more, if I can find time to work on anything. Work has been busy and I have had quite a few requests for portraits which is fantastic and exciting, but portraits can be more time consuming and challenging then my other art.
See you in North Carolina :)

Atomic Cheesecake

Hey I'm not dead! Things got crazy at work for the month of May, so the arts took a bit of a backseat. But I recently got an awesome commission to draw the amazing Action Girl from Baltimore based Atomic Cheesecake Studios. I actually got some photographs taken with some friends a few years ago, and honestly it was one of the most fun experiences I have ever had. It was a great time. So needless to say I am a fan and jumped at the chance of drawing her. We went with a retro appropriate tiki theme :)

I love the way this came out. Drawing that tiki fella was maybe my favorite part! I also liked drawing her tattoos :)
Remember if you are interested in commissioning me, check out the listing on etsy for more information on getting your very own pin up cartoon of yourself.

In crappier news, some of my art was stolen and put up for sale on tshirts on a website called redbubble.com. needless to say I was pissed when I found out. Luckily the thief took the offending tshirts down but redbubble did absolutely nothing but give me a link to their copyright complaint email address. So any young, impressionable people out there--just cause you found it on the internet doens't mean its yours to use to make money. It's literally stealing. To me it was the equivalent of someone breaking into my home and stealing my things and selling them. There is NO difference when you are stealing somebody's art. I have no problem sharing my work online, having people pin it and put it on tumblr etc but please do not ever steal!
Unfortunately I am going to be only sharing work in low resolution and with larger watermarks for my personal work.

Meet the Flintstones!

Back with another post! I have been sick this whole week and fear that my ear infection is coming back, but somehow that has inspired me to do more work because I am back with some new art! I have always loved Hannah Barbera cartoons, specifically the Flintstones. I used to watch it after school every day, along with the Jetsons. I really do enjoy doing fan art, because its nice to put my own spin on characters that have made an impact on me and inspired me. I wanted to do a pin up Wilma and Betty, and I decided to do something a little different with colors and composition. I always like to combine my love for design and typography from the 50s with my pin ups, and I quite like how this turned out! Hope you like it too :)

self portrait

Two posts back to back, wow! So I mentioned yesterday that my beloved cat Smokey passed away, and I got the idea to do a portrait of myself holding him. Unlike most cats this one liked to be held a lot! I have never drawn myself but I have always thought I should. I chose to draw myself in my favorite blue and white polka dot dress :)

Sailor Pin up

Ahoy! It's been a crazy couple of weeks for me, starting with my beloved cat Smokey getting really sick and passing away. It was really hard for me, but he lived a long, happy life. I also keep getting sick which is starting to get on my nerves. I have been sick twice in 2 months! I did manage to find some time to squeeze in a drawing that isn't a commission just for fun! I have been planning to do a sailor pin up to go with my cowgirl pin up (who doesn't love a pin up theme?) and I am proud to say I did it! I think she's pretty cute!

Chronicles of Cashmere

Greetings! I recently redesigned the header for my friends really funny blog, Chronicles of Cashmere. We worked together on a design and we are both really happy with the way it turned out. I love it because it looks and feels a lot like her, and I also like that I got to draw a tiger and that it wasn't "retro" like my usual works (nothing wrong with that, but its fun to change it up sometimes!)
This is my second blog header redesign (the first one can be found at verbal switchblade) and I have a lot of fun with them. If you are interested in a commission or blog header redesign, be sure to contact me!