Steamy in Winter

By | Art, Blog | One Comment

We’ve had a couple of good snowfalls here in Ottawa. Even though winter isn’t officially for another 2 weeks, it certainly has made itself known. I’ve been biking through it! I will try to bike every dry day, but I must admit I’m not gutsy enough to bike with sleet and snow in my face. I don’t mind feeling uncomfortable, in fact I find it really fun to push through bad weather. I’m just too worried that the snow will hinder driver visibility, and I like being alive. 🙂

With the cold weather I wanted to treat you to a winter pinup. I don’t think her outfit will keep her very warm, but maybe you can help her out with that. 😉

 

Here’s a bit of the process if you’re curious.

Stay warm!

Bikes, Butts and Burn Out – My Art Show Wrap Up

By | Art, Art Show, Bicycle, Blog, Process | 2 Comments

Stay tuned at the end of this post for a special treat, if you aren’t already subscribed to my newsletter!

My Bicycle Series has come to a close, and I’ve been a bit off the radar. The reason is I burnt myself out. I think we’ve all dealt with burnout at some point in our lives. Preparing for this show I worked like a mad woman. I have a day job, which is very mentally taxing, but I’d come home every night and work on my paintings and drawings until I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I also had to think about prepping for the show, getting the venue ready, sending out invites and all the other logistical stuff.  I enjoyed it all, but pushed myself too hard, then crashed.

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I wanted to take a small break from drawing, and that helped me get caught up on the other parts of my life, but it went on way too long and left me feeling very unsatisfied. The pain of not drawing became greater than the burnout! I’m happy to say that break is over, and I have lots of fun things to share with you.

So what exactly was I doing to make all the art for this show? Here is a little bit about my process.
sketches

Every drawing starts with a sketch. What I love about the sketching part is I can do it while I’m hanging out with friends, since it isn’t require all my focus. It’s actually more fun if I’m distracted, then my lines are more free. I got a lot of my early sketches done during one long evening of board games, doodling away while I waited for my move to come around.

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I used to clean up my sketches before scanning, but I’ve been working digitally for so long I feel pretty comfortable drawing right on top of my blue sketch. The digital drawing is where I can play with my color palette, fix the character’s anatomy and pose, even change her outfit if need be. When I’m done I have a beautiful clean illustration that’s perfect for making prints.

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Normally I stop there, but I was having an Art Show and I didn’t want to just expose prints! By creating acrylic paintings of my digital illustrations I could not only expose my work, but offer a one-of-a-kind piece of art. These paintings have my personal, human touch to them.

When creating a painting I use my digital as the base. Remember, the digital is where I fix all the errors and details. So it should be really easy now right? hahaha…nope.

I project my line art onto a canvas and trace over the projection in pencil. I’ll lose a lot of the details in this process, luckily I’m tracing my own drawings, so its easy for me to fix. 😉

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Before I start painting I take them outside and spray them with a matte varnish. If I forget this step my pencil lines smear into my bright colors when I start painting.

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This is much more pleasant to do is summer.

spray
Then the painting starts! I’ve learned from experience to mix a large batch of all my colors before hand. Since I’m painting large flat areas of color there is no room for mistakes. Acrylic paint is notoriously hard to match! It dries darker than it looks wet, so you can never really get a skin tone back if you have to mix a new batch of paint.

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That doesn’t mean I don’t still sometimes get confused about which jar of paint is which.

First I do all the flats, then shades, then highlights. It’s almost exactly like my digital process, except my dark outline is the last thing to apply.

I actually love the feeling of painting, the way the paint feels being pushed around the canvas, mixing colours, cleaning my brushes and stepping back to observe and fix my work. It’s really special to watch my characters evolve in front of me. I really feel like they are My Girls! I feel very personal about each of them, and I certainly wanted each one to receive the same level of care and detail from me.

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I’ve tried painting the lines on, but I find a big, black sharpie is the best tool for this. It’s clean and covers the paint underneath 100%. Just don’t make a mistake!!

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As a final touch everything gets an acrylic glaze, then varnish.

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And Voila! Art!

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Thanks for reading all about my art show experience. Now that you’ve made it to the end I have a special treat for you!

Did you know there were 3 girls who never made it into the art show?

I’ve finished them up digitally and I’d love to share them with you. Not only that but I’ve written a background story for each girl. 

If you want to see my new girls and get a story about each one, then sign up for my newsletter below and you’ll receive one story a day for the next 8 days! 

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My newsletter will also keep you updated on the latest art I’m making, you’ll get an insiders look at my process.

Why Are Bikes Sexy?

By | Art, Bicycle, Blog | No Comments

I just finished an art series featuring girls on bicycles, so it goes without question that I enjoy the female form on a bike.
But why are girls on bikes so sexy?
bike thong
Well, of course there is the recognizable stretched out pose a bike puts one in. A cruiser allows the rider to sit up, chest up with their butt resting comfortably on a cushioned seat. A street bike bends the rider forward, while they hold tight to the handle bars for speed, their ass sits higher up in the air.

And of course we can’t forget the obvious fact that when riding a bicycle, a woman is straddling a hard, yet cushioned seat that lodges itself deep between her legs.

feet-up biking

For myself, there are a few elements, beyond the obvious physical ones, that I find sensual about biking. A bike is a beautiful work of art. Although I am not a bike fetishist, I’m not turned on by a bike itself, I do find beauty in a bicycle’s form. Porn for me is not always about getting off, sometimes it’s simply about enjoying something beautiful. The beauty of a bicycle, and the beauty of a woman joined together in a painting seems like a perfect fit for a work of Erotic Art.

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There is also one last thing I find sexy about bikes, and bike culture. This machine, which embodies freedom, fitness, an eco-friendly nature and independence is a very empowering tool. A woman on a bike is a woman who is confident and free, and there is something very sexy about that.

rockabilly-bike

 

Space Girl Illustration Process

By | Art, Blog, Process | No Comments

The inspiration for this piece came from the Girls Drawin’ Girls art group that I’m a member of. There are weekly themes to get us all drawing together and staying creative and inspired.  Last week the them was Outer Space. I wanted to create something that worked well with my cute fun style. A retro theme was exactly the direction I wanted to take.

As always I started with a sketch. I usually do a half dozen sketches but I was really happy with the way the first sketch turned out.

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I cleaned up my lines and scanned her into Manga Studio, then inked. (You can see I adjusted the feet after the initial sketch).

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Then the flat colors.

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Shading and highlights.

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I couldn’t figure out what to do with the background. I tried a few things but nothing seemed right. I realized that my backgrounds are always secondary to my characters. But that isn’t what I want. I want the entire illustration to work together to create something that’s really pleasing to viewer on all levels. I like to look up color schemes on Pintrest to get inspired. I search for bright color schemes and saw a lot of fuchsia and purple. I love these colors together, and thought they’d go really well with the blue outfit of my girl.

First I sketched out some planets.

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planets

Then I moved them over to the final drawing, placing them around my girl so that the viewer’s eyes move around the whole piece. I wanted a big bright plant to fill the empty space on the right, and to offset the character.

And there you have it! A finished space girl.

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You can buy a print of her here!

Women Crush Wednesday – Lua Suicide

By | Art, Woman Crush Wednesday | No Comments

If you don’t know who the Suicide Girls are you’ve probably been living under a rock. There are so many girls involved in this brand, some officially and some as hopefuls. We all have our favorites, but I love the girls who aren’t just models but are creating art and experimenting with their photos and style. This week I drew Lua Suicide. She’s a prolific Cosplayer, and is known for her superior Cosplay as much as her erotic modeling. So much talent coming from this girl! Here’s my rendition of her. I just to draw her without any costumes, so we could appreciate her lovely natural form.  Read More