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Process

Why I Draw Cellulite

By | Art, Blog, Body Image, Feminism, Process | One Comment

I draw cellulite.

Why you may be asking? Because cellulite is sexy and I draw porn.

Yes, you read that correctly, cellulite is sexy.

Now the very nature of cartooning means that we simplify a form. We take out the details that we don’t need and emphasize the ones we do. The human form can be simplified down to it’s most basic elements. Take a look at the image below, what do you see?

I couldn’t quite hear you through my computer screen, but I bet most of you said “a face”. It’s pretty cool that we’re able to see a human face in what is essentially two lines and two dots. But remember this, a cartoon isn’t an arbitrary decision.

When we draw cartoons we choose what information
to leave in and what to take out. 

The parts of a woman’s body we choose to erase and those we choose to enhance says a lot about what we think is sexy. It also sends a message about what should be seen as sexy, and what is considered unattractive.

Cellulite is something that affects 90% of women (and 10% of men for that matter). If this so called “affliction” affects the vast majority of women, then is it really a problem at all? Isn’t it just a feature of being a woman?

Is not the soft suppleness of a woman’s skin, which lends itself to reveal delicate ripples on its surface, not an incredibly attractive feature?

Body hair used to be sign that women had reached an age of sexual maturity. It was appreciated as an incredibly sexy feature. A love could become lost in the soft texture and scents held in a woman’s body hair. Until society decided it was gross, and that we should remove our hair any way possible. No matter the pain or cost.

Cellulite can not be easily shaven away like body hair. So instead of taking care of it at the end of each day (fighting razor burn and stubble in the process), we try every cream, pill, diet craze and workout move until we finally give-in to the feeling that we are fundamentally flawed. We feel disgusting, and tell ourselves there are some women who are normal and sexy, while the other 90% must beg to be fucked.

Well no. The only reason we think cellulite is unattractive is because we are told to. So fuck that. Cellulite is sexy. It’s so sexy that I draw it in my porn. I draw close ups on butts that feature the soft puckering flesh of cellulite. I will continue to draw it, and when I get better at drawing stretch marks I’ll draw those too.

Sexiness is a matter of perception. You can choose to feed into the current sociological view of sexiness, or you can choose to believe what is right in front of your face, and under your hands.

Now enjoy some cute cellulity butts.

Working in a Series

By | Art, Blog, Process | No Comments

Many artists work in a series, and I’m no exception. One of my art teachers in University had some interesting thoughts on the topic.

She said:

When Artists work in a series, they are trying to work through something.

The more we draw/paint/sculpt the more we come to understand it

I completely agree. Sometimes we are working through an idea, tearing away at our canvas trying to express our feelings. Other times we are trying to understand a style, working with the same medium over and over until we reach a level of mastery. Finally, our obsession may simply be an place, person or an object that has hypnotized us.

One thing that underlies it all for me, is a feeling of being COMPELLED to create. Something just drives me from within, and I feel compelled to bring a piece of art into existence. Many artists feel the same, not being able to eat or sleep until that painting/sculpture/book/song has been created.

For my latex series I was obsessed with the material. How does latex reflect light? How does it cling to the body? How does someone put it on, or get it off for that matter? I found the fabric itself fascinating.

For my Bicycle Girls series, I was obsessed with bikes! Their construction, shape, size, how we ride them, how our bodies fit on them. I am not the best bike mechanic, but I’ve taken apart my own bike to clean it and put it back together. I find the pieces fascinating. I can spend hours in a bike co-op just scrubbing grease off my chain and drive train. It’s a very meditative experience. When I came up with the idea for my bike girl series, I spent hours just looking at bicycles. They were all I could think about for those few months.

I get really excited by new ideas, and I usually have trouble sticking to one task at a time. But working in a series holds my interest because I can explore many different aspects of a single idea.

There is a real satisfaction from stepping back and seeing a pattern in a series of work. I find that a series helps drive home a story too. There are often similar elements floating through a series that hint at the story underneath.

Do you like art that’s in a series? Do you like to buy art in a series? How about a Tryptic or Diptych? Or do you prefer to have one piece that stands alone? Leave me a comment below, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Galda Louise – Women Crush Wednesday

By | Art, Process, Woman Crush Wednesday | No Comments

Today I’m bringing a drawing of the lovely Galda Louise, or Galda lou if you prefer. She is a Suicide girl and erotic model. If you already follow her on social media you’ll know she’s about the sweetest person around. Give her a follow and enjoy some of her lovely photos.

 

Website: http://www.galdalou.com

Suicide Girls: https://www.suicidegirls.com/girls/galda

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GaldaLou

Tumblr: http://galdalou.tumblr.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/galdalou

Candymatic – Women Crush Wednesday

By | Art, Process, Woman Crush Wednesday | No Comments

Today’s Women Crush Wednesday is the adorable Candymatic!

Candymatic creates erotic media in the form of photography, videos and illustrations, often featuring herself as the cute weed-smoking, trippy, pixie.

Her look completely embodies my art style! Cute, curvy and fun.

You should visit her members page where you can find all her vids and photos, or follow her on social media and get to know her a bit first! All her links can be found below.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/candy_matic

Website: http://candymatic.xxx/

Manyvids: https://www.manyvids.com/Profile/201057/candymatic/

Extra Lunch Money: http://extralunchmoney.com/user/candymatic?ref_user=candymatic

Woman Crush Wednesday – Jezebel Phoenix

By | Art, Process, Woman Crush Wednesday | No Comments

Jezebel Phoenix is a beautiful erotic model, focusing mostly on BDSM themed erotic videos and photography. I love that she switches back and forth in her art from Dom to Sub, depending on who she’s with. She plays both sides of the coin so well. So far I’ve bought two of her videos, each one exploring one of these sides. (They are this one and this one if you’re interested)

Her hairstyle is often changing, long to short, wigs or natural. I decided to draw her sporting her lovely blue dread locks. Because I love the way they look, but also because they are fun to draw. 😉

Although she announced on her instagram that she’ll be retiring from erotic work in April, hopefully she’ll leave her clips4sale shop open for new and old fans to purchase her work. I’ve linked all her social media and clip shop below so you can follow her.

Sometimes the sketch is very different from the final result as you can see here!

Here are her contact links:

instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealjezebel

twitter: https://twitter.com/thejezebelxxx

clips4sale: http://clips4sale.com/98193

 

Miss Scarlett Martini

By | Art, Process, Woman Crush Wednesday | No Comments

Today’s Woman Crush Wednesday comes all the way from Italy. Let me introduce you to Miss Scarlett Martini who is an International Burlesque and Fire Performer!

I just want to say that I LOVED creating this portrait. I fell in love with Burlesque the very first time I went to see a show, and I’ve always wanted to draw some of those gorgeous performers and costumes.  It was really fun to render the sequins on her corset, and to play with the lighting in the background.

Scarlett has a classic and sensual pinup look. Her black bob is perfect and extenuates her ruby red lips. Her costumes are elaborate works of art, and her performances have the kind of coy/kinky humor I love in Burlesque. I have yet to see her live, but I would definitely make the time on my next European adventure!

Not only a talented Dancer, she is also a teacher and business woman. In 2015 Scarlett founded the Rome Burlesque School. Check out her website, social media and of course the website for her Burlesque School!

Twitter: twitter.com/ScarlettBurlesq

Instagram: www.instagram.com/scarlettmartini

Facebook: www.facebook.com/scarlettmartiniburlesque

Website: www.scarlettmartini.com

Burlesque School Website: www.romeburlesqueschool.com

 

Ryan Bread – Women Crush Wednesday

By | Art, Process, Woman Crush Wednesday | No Comments

It’s 2017 and I’m starting the year with the beautiful and talented Ryan Bread. Ryan describes herself on twitter as “a passionate lightworker, erotic tease, and aerialist”. She is a true artist, using all aspects of her self to create and share beautiful imagery.

I love following her on twitter because, along with beautiful images of herself, she posts inspiring spiritual messages. She will definitely be a ray of light in your day if you follow her too. She sells her videos on Many Vids and often has coupon codes for her fans! I’ve linked all her sites below, and there is a ton of great content there, so give her a visit!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanbreadd

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanbreadd

Many Vids: https://www.manyvids.com/Profile/450661/ryanbread/

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.

panels
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.

spray2

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.

process02
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!!

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

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And Voila! Art!

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art-show-01

 

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.

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.

space-girl

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

space-girl-inks

Then the flat colors.

space-girl-flats

Shading and highlights.

space-girl-shades

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.

planets-sketch

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.

space-girl-jaymie-delight

You can buy a print of her here!