Pet Portraits.

I recently did a couple of mini pet portraits. Dita Von Teese's cat, Aleister, died the other day and I was really upset about it. He was my favorite celebrity animal. It was really cool because Dita Von Teese actually saw it and said that she loved it. It was touching. This other pet is Lily. She is my friend's fiancé's mom's dog that is really old so I did this for her.

Fool of a Took!

Lord of the Rings is one of my favorite THINGS in life. I haven't done half as much Lord of the Rings art as I should have, but I'm correcting that slowly. I recently finished up this painting of Pippin from the movies for a friend of mine as a thank you for her help when I needed it most. I used Casein paint and it took me about 9 hours to do.

The Shire.

I've been practicing a lot on procreate and I came across this photo from the Hobbiton Tours that I wanted to try to paint. I've never really done any landscapes and thought this would be a great time to test out doing just that and digital painting. I used the gouache paint brush and did this first study of it, just blocking the shapes in, which took me 40 minutes. I thought I was happy with it, but something in me wasn't.

The next night, I wanted to try to push it as far as I could and get in there to fine tune the details. I spent 6.5 hours on this painting and I am very happy with it. I learned a lot, though. I went into this thinking landscapes would be easy. I could not have been more wrong: it was so difficult! I also have a tendency to try to get in EVERY SINGLE DETAIL so I had to strike a balance between doing that and getting the general idea of the THING down. My favorite part of the second one is the fence to the left of the stone walkway.

The sunlight is what really makes this piece, though (well, actually both pieces). It's warm and soft; you can almost feel it. I've had the privilege of seeing this Hobbit Hole in real life and I cried when I saw it. Hobbiton in New Zealand is one of the most magical places I have ever been. One day, I'd love to move to New Zealand and work there. One day.

The thing is, art is the one thing you can't rush. You really have to take your time and spend time on anything to see it through. This is also a great example of what money gets you for the amount of time spent. You want the 40 minute sketch or the 6.5 hour piece? You can't expect to pay what you would for the 40 minute piece and get that 6.5 hour piece. If you want the good stuff, you have to be willing to spend the time and the money.

Lord of the Rings will forever hold a special place in my heart. Here's to making many, many more pieces inspired by the world that is Middle Earth. I love each piece I finish, but I haven't felt this proud of something in a long time. It's not like I went into this expecting to love it as much as I do, but I think that because of my pull to it, it took up some extra room in the best way.

From 1910.

There was a photo floating around the internet of two men, circa 1910, holding hands and I wanted to recreate that image while practicing my skills on procreate. This took me an hour and I used the gouache brush. I still wanted it to look like a photo. I don't really know what I'm doing, but I'm trying to learn.

Killer Klowns From Outer Space.

One of my favorite 80's B horror movies is Killer Klowns from Outer Space. I love clowns and this movie is "bad," but it's GREAT. I watched this a lot growing up. I wanted to pay homage to the bright colors and characters with this procreate piece. If anyone wants to purchase a print, let me know!

Betty's Home.

Here's something new to add to the list of things I can (kind of) do. My sister has a friend that she's grown up with and I have had the pleasure of getting to know her family. Well, her grandma wanted me to draw/paint her house she grew up in. It's a house full of memories and life. She gave me a lot of art direction on this and this is the final product. So, if anyone's looking for a house illustration, let me know!

Elton John's Shoe.

I've been messing around with procreate/digital painting more. It's hard, man. It is quite a challenge. I had a picture of Elton John's shoes, but just decided to try to paint/draw one of them. When this is small, it does look like a shoe. I don't know. I used the gouache brush and outlined it using a micron brush. I like the colors, though.

Juanita y Jose.

I have a dear friend named Micaela Ruiz that I have known for 14-15 years. She's one of the most genuine souls I know. She is full of so much light and life and makes people better just by being around them. I know a lot of her family and consider myself very fortunate in that sense. It was her dad's birthday recently and she asked me to paint this piece of her mom and her dad to give to her dad for his birthday. It was the most special piece I have ever created. My dad spoke to me through her dad as he told Mickey, "tell Chelsea I love her." I cried a lot when I read it/she told me that. I painted this over the course of days. We came up with the idea of memories floating in the background and so it's almost like a dream state.

Toby the Toad.

Toby the Toad is my favorite animal. There's an instagram for him and he has the best set ups. This one was posted the other day and as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to draw it. I made a few edits, but man, I love it. This is the life I want to live: selling jam and sweet tea down south in Bell Buckle, Tennessee.