The five part illustration series Don't Lose Yourself. You can lose yourself in many ways; Consumerism, Heartbreak, American Culture, Loneliness, Giving In, Giving Up, Settling. The five part illustration series, “Don’t Lose Yourself” highlights the chaos we don’t notice around or within ourselves when we’re disconnected away from reality. Sinking so deep, we forget our own values or who we are. The collection reminds us to stay within ourselves by showcasing the dangers of what happens when we don’t.
Inspired by the Neo-Classical period, I pushed myself as an artist to portray subjects in an idealistic fashion combining drama and artificial lighting. The subject is my sister who modelled as a reference, enabling me to control the shadowy effect over her face. The dim lighting and dark background resonated with the period style, focusing on the facial parts that are visible. The end result looks like she is emerging from the darkness. A somber atmosphere is illustrated through visual expression.
Adding the fast drying oil on the brushes improved the blending of the colours on the canvas which was especially useful when it came to applying strokes on the face smoothly. Visit https://www.martiaposts.com for more
Observations from an expedition to the Houston Museum of Natural Science, which features an incredible paleontology hall. I brought with me a pad of sticky notes, a couple Micron plastic nib pens, a set of Copic Markers, my fanny pack, and some headphones. Prehistoric life has been an infatuation of mine since childhood, and there is something very humbling about drawing in the shadows of these fallen giants.
PSA to not be a dick to retail workers this holiday season (and all seasons!). Working retail during the holidays was some of my shittiest experiences. People become coupon-waving, red-faced monsters that deserve nothing but a trip into Krampus’ sack.
Here are a few things to remember:
1: They have literally no authority. Honestly, the cashier would love nothing more than to accept a stack of expired coupons to get some cranky-ass customer indignantly insisting that “at this point YOU owe ME money!” through the line. But they can’t. And no amount of screaming will change that. Oh, and the manager is bunkered safely in the back refusing to come out and will only troubleshoot through walkie.
2: If you’re nice (like basic human decency) they are more inclined to help you as much as they are able. Being kind and patient costs nothing and might actually pay off. You might even be able to coax out a skiddish manager that *sometimes* has the magic touch to get things accomplished.
3: Corporate overlords. Managers can do a lot but in the end, the retail world is run from corporate overlords through the machine sentries AKA registers. Welcome to Black Mirror, people. If the machine rejects your request then back to the matrix with you.
I got my first client for logo design and they asked for a custom watercolor illustration of Iris flower. So I researched about iris flower and did a rough sketch. From there, I started rendering color using a special brush from GrutBrushes.
Since Killer whales is about to be exterminated, I gave a whale some wings. Now he can fly away to a better place without pollution and plastic from human beings. Well, sad but true. Its on us. At least I can give it some attention here. The whale is now on my Society6 page.
Another doodle, this time using mostly shapes and lines instead of characters and faces. Also, this was done traditionally with ink instead of digitally, which I hadn't done in a while and was a lot of fun!
Colorful Goldfish - Another watercolor sketch from my newest sketchbook. I'm using Strathmore Mixed Media 300 Series (5.5 in x 8.5 in). It has 40 sheets of 90 lb. vellum surface paper. They cost under $10 and can be used for most anything including wet media (light washes) without the paper falling apart or warping badly. One of the best all purpose sketchbooks I've found and the size makes it easy to toss in a backpack and carry daily. Anyway, just wanted to share my good experience with the group. What's your favorite sketchbook brand/format?
My sketchbook spread. This is actually a moleskin watercolor album which I'm mostly using to draw from life. This is sharp and spiky versus soft and fluffy. The models were the two of my house plants, and aim was a texture and light study.
