Leah Lucci's Uploads

I saw a man outside the library wearing a crown nestled into his cowboy hat. He was speaking swiftly, seemingly to himself, possibly freestyle rapping. Probably crazy. Then I drew some saints and stuff around him. I suspect he could use some assistance, perhaps spiritual.

Our local antiques store had a huge treasure trove of vintage Native American themed toys and gifts this weekend. I realized that 1) I'd owned a lot of them and 2) none of my friends had. It never occurred to me that my collection was particularly large or unique. Doesn't every kid have a fixation on this country's indigenous population? Apparently not. I love the visual language of the Navajo and Hopi especially. My Kachina doll collection was the bomb.

Vintage toys have amazingly quirky and often so-joyous-they're-creepy faces.

I went to Florida and kept a chronicle of my adventures! This is part 1 of 3, in which my husband comes down with Lyme disease and I go to Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom. I realize my address is in here, but it's a PO Box, so I'm not worried. Feel free to send me drawings; I'll send you something back if you include a return address.

These are ink applied with a brush/watercolor pen to a fairly sturdy sketchbook. They mostly feature aristocrats and irritated children.

I love how typography, when selectively filled in, becomes a rhythm, a cadence, a song.

My friend wanted nautical creatures for the back of her business cards, so VOILA. These are ink doodles that were scanned and given some color/grunge in Photoshop.

The Molting Man first appeared on my Red Spread (see second image); I refined him for the green spread (first). This bizarre Icarus deserves some kind of short story about him. I'm not sure what the plot would be. It's probably tragic.

These are the first of the collage set. I like the later ones a little better but they're sort of interesting and fun anyway.

"Oh my gawwwwd, I have a friend that you'd be SO CUTE WITH," your friends gush. So you go, but, uh, he's not what you expected -- and you're not what he expected either. (Has this happened to you?)

I collaged "Krampus is Coming For You" together with my own monoprints as well as one of my drawings of Japanese Noh masks that I cut out of an old sketchbook. For the second piece, I had a drawing of Marie Antoinette as an ice cream cone, so I gave her a dress, put a background of my monoprints on her, etc. Then I added more cherries, and the circle reminded me of a clock, so I inked in the arms accordingly.

Professor Unicorn always pontificates at length, even after the bell rings.

I'm sad that Oompa Loompas aren't real -- but if they were, I'd probably be terrified of them.

After my high school boyfriend and I broke up, I went to prom with a group of single friends. While I was in the bathroom, I overheard someone saying, "Leah Budin put in no effort at all." Ouch.

This vampire is afraid of heights! He was done in ink wash, ballpoint, and white gel pen in my sketchbook.

I'm not sure how anatomy works, apparently. Ink & white gel pen in my sketchbook.

Here are 5 #Inktober paintings. I've been painting every single night and loving it. I think that my high school art teacher might have been right when he said doing a daily painting was key to his being an artist.

Here are more Inktober paintings! My sketchbook is getting crinkly when I turn the pages from all this ink. I love that sound. It echoes the sound of crunchy leaves outside. Ah, fall. HALLOWEEN FOREVER.

I'm trying a new subtractive technique to get black tones in my drawing, then watercoloring over top. It's sort of a printmaking approach. Sort of.

Here are some more from the masks series! They were so juicy and interesting to draw.

I'm working on a series of childhood stuffed animals versus child monsters (i.e. the safety of home vs the real world and its bullies). I haven't done the monsters yet, but here are the stuffed animals. I drew them from memory as opposed to referencing what Cheer Bear and Rainbow Brite's dog looked like. I looked after. I didn't get them quite right. That's OK; I think the wonkiness adds to the charm. These are drawn in reverse for a woodcut effect, then scanned and printed and gone over with gouache and watercolor.