Challenge: Matt Benyo.

I've been on a portrait kick. It all started with this one I'll be posting on Wednesday, but for some reason, they keep turning out okay which is strange because portraits have always been a struggle for me. Matt Benyo posted a photo & challenged me to draw it. I said no, but I thought why not? There are a few things off, but BOOM; I DID IT. I've included progress shots which makes me like this a lot. This took me 4 hours and it's smaller than my palm. SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE. The point is that I am getting better and that makes me happy. Click to enlarge!

 

Old Costumes.

My aunt posted this link on my cousin's facebook and I was curious so I took a look. Instant nightmares. There's nothing scarier than vintage costumes. These two particular costumes really freaked me out. Drawings tomorrow!

 

October Country.

The October Country is a collection of october-themed stories by the great Ray Bradbury. It's a good read and I highly recommend it. I like the opening page (which I've included on the left). It gets me excited for Halloween. I sketched all of these little costumed creatures from my head and colored them with this pen I found that has 10 different colors in it. Which is your favorite character?

"What's Your Favorite Scary Movie?"

Scream is an absolute classic. Love it. I go through phases with movies where I'll watch them several times a night for like a week. I just did that with Scream. Every single time I watch it, I notice some subtle thing that I missed. It rules. Anyway, here's an inked drawing using a nib of Casey (Drew Barrymore) and Ghost Face. I took it into photoshop, colored it, used some cut outs. I can dig it. Click to enlarge!

The Lil Vampire.

Before my Grandma passed away in 08, I drew a picture of The Lil Vampire and told her that I thought the idea of a Vampire sitting down at a table and eating blood for breakfast out of a bowl was funny. I came across that drawing and decided to do some sketches (included below). Also included is the final, which I did illustrator. I had a lot of fun making it and I hope you enjoy looking at it. Click to enlarge!

Scary Sunday.

Taking a break from making things and posting this photo I saw Elizabeth Wight post. She has that whole creepy thing on lock. Vintage scary is way scarier than anything these days. So, back to the drawing board tomorrow!

Forget Smarterchild.

This is the Googly Minotaur. You either know him or you don't. He was my favorite.

Creature Comforts.

I was inspired by Blake Bradley for this one. I've never drawn anything like this, but it came to me during a lecture at U of M while pretending to be a student.

Batman & Robin.

A boy I was babysitting yesterday drew people in costumes & I found a photo in my phone of two adorable brothers dressed as Batman & Robin when they were kids (though if Batman had the choice, he would've been Spider-Man). This is for them.

2 Octobre!

OKAY I know this is underwhelming and amateur, but I was excited about October. Things worth noting: lil Nos and last night while playing trivia, Matt Benyo did a blind contour of me in which, I looked like a witch and he said, "Well, I want to be on the blog." So, I've included his witchy drawing. THE MONTH HAS JUST BEGUN.

OCTOBER 1ST!

TIS THE SEASON TO BE SCARY! I am thrilled to begin a 31 day venture into the scary, the spooky, the creepy, and the insane. It is my 2nd favorite time of year (1st being Christmas). There is nothing cooler than October. The crisp autumn chill in the air (though this 78 degree business today is debatable), CIDER MILLS, Haunted Houses, leaves changing, CANDY CORN. I could go on and on, but every day, I will be posting something October related so be sure to check back on the blog everyday! Let's kick it off with this creepy devil creature.

Fawns & Dawgs.

Do you watch Face Off? It's this neat show on SyFy where make up artists compete to create creatures/monsters/make ups. Well, I watch it with Matt Benyo and he came up with this idea to take their challenges and come up with our own characters and draw them. We were going to do this every week, but that didn't really pan out. However, we did do it for the 2nd or 3rd episode (it was a collaboration on the show so we did too). We wanted our unifying element to be the theme so we went with 18th Century France. I chose a faun and Matt chose a pixie. He should probably post his (but he probably won't). Here's mine. I should've made the legs longer, but whatever.

And to finish this post off, here is a drawing of a cute Target-looking dog pooping.

Cracking Skulls.

I taught the kids about Calavera Skulls (sugar skulls) and we made some. Glitter, gems, sequins, glitter glue, and markers = a nightmare. Actually, it wasn't too bad. These were the examples we used. Mine is on the left and Matt's is on the right. If I had spent more than a half hour on it, it could've been a real competitor.

Justin Riopelle just had his birthday last week and we celebrated fashionably late. We went out for weird hot dogs, trivia, Matt Benyo made Red Velvet cupcakes, and we both did paper cut out cards. Now, we both came up with the PBR idea since Justin is a Brew man, but Matt's idea killed mine so I let him go with it and switched mine to Blue Moon. I'm proud of what we both accomplished. These were two pretty tiny cards. Matt's is on top and mine is on the bottom. Happy Birthday again, Juice!

Elena's SmorgasBOARD.

A dear friend of mine (and Matt Benyo's) asked if she could commission me to do a smorgasboard for her. I had Matt Benyo join me in the creation of this gem because his art is great. Over the past few months, we've been working on it. Matt and I had the pleasure of staying with Elena (and Zoe) when we were in England so we put a lot of love into this board. They came over to the states last weekend and we met up with them to deliver the board and Elena loved it! Matt Benyo did all of the Buffy characters and references (minus The Gentlemen in the bottom left hand corner; I did that). We split this board pretty evenly and I love the work we did. Here is a WIP shot. That's Matt's leg; not mine! The final is about 23 x 23 inches including border. Thank you for allowing us to make this, Elena! Click to enlarge for details!

Zabraham Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln. Honest Abe. They made him into a vampire hunter, but what if he was just a zombie? He'd be great. I did all of these zombie additions from my mind. Also, I'm kind of bummed out I did that frame, but I do like the background. Prismacolor(ed) Pencils and sharpies were used in the making of this zombie.

I'm PUMPED to post this commission Matt Benyo and I got paid to do next week that we can't post because we're delivering it to our international friends this weekend!!

And in October, Panic at the Disco will be releasing their new album!

Ann Arbor Art Museum!

It's actually called the UMMA (University of Michigan Museum of Art), but I prefer the title to this post. It's alright as far as museums go, but they falsely advertise a Warhol which is annoying. Matt Benyo is taking spring classes so I'll sometimes accompany him and attend a class because I like being an impostor student/learning and while he goes to the other, I go to the  UMMA and sketch from the paintings. This first one is "Lady Eleanor Dundas" by Sir Henry Raeburn. It was more of a warm up:

The next time I went, yesterday, I worked on "Laurent Cars" by Jean-Baptiste Perronneau and decided to take progress shots. I was really happy with the way this turned out; especially because I used pen. I took some liberties to do my own thing with the hair and cloak, but the face and stance are all from the painting. Drawing from the masters, as we were told in school, is still a good exercise. Click to enlarge!

Feeling 22.

I drew these, but they're not my own. The house is from Ray Bradbury's classic tale, "The Halloween Tree." It's about some kids that are stoked about Halloween and go on this big adventure to save their friend Pip. It looks at various Halloween traditions too. The skull girl was a picture my friend, Rhiannon, found and I had planned on drawing it and showed it to Matt Benyo and dared him to draw it. Well, he did (which you can see by clicking his name). So then I had to do it. It's in pen and white charcoal on Kraft paper. I was just trying to prove to myself that I could still draw.

 

Delta Rae/True Blood!

One of my favorite bands, Delta Rae, just had an art contest because their single, Bottom of the River, was featured in the trailer for True Blood season 6! You had to combine True Blood and Delta Rae. It was on instagram. Matt Benyo told me about it/submitted mine. He submitted two of his own as well. I decided to make the band vampires. My initial sketch/pre-final:

I messed around on Photoshop to color it. It sucked because the contest ended at 9 pm so I didn't get as long to work on it, but in a matter of 2 hours, I accomplished what I mostly set out to do and Matt submitted it. I hope one (or both) of us wins! How neat would that be? Also, please look at Matt Benyo's watercolor because it's pretty rad (especially those lips). Maybe it's that blood looks so good in watercolor. Maybe I should've gone that route. Click to enlarge!

Matt Benyo and I drove to see Delta Rae before we knew they'd come anywhere near us. We drove to Washington DC JUST TO SEE THEM (from Michigan). It was 8 or 10 hours; something ridiculous, and we slept in the car, but it was SO WORTH IT because we managed to meet them and they put on one of the best shows we've ever seen in our lives AND we were in the front row. They're just super passionate and gracious. I can't wait to see them when they come here for Concert of Colors. Maybe we'll even get to meet em again! Our proof:

Eat 'Em Up, Tigers!

Its been awhile since I've made anything and I am proud to say that I made this little 3D Detroit Tigers Paws card for Amy Deverich's birthday (she loves the Tigers). This little monster took me 8 hours. It was hard because of how small it was. Mostly I was just trying to make something that I was going to love and I accomplished that goal. Matt Benyo was the first one to see it and said it looked vintage which is exactly what I was going for. It's always exciting when someone sees your work and they say what you were trying to do. I asked him to take these photos before I gave it to Amy and when I did, she loved it. The keys are for SIZE COMPARISON because he's smart. I'm also including the sketch that I based everything off of and, as you can see, the finish didn't stray too far from it. Click to enlarge!

The Soda Jerk.

I was inspired by Soda Jerks when I created this piece. I've always been fascinated by that pleasantville-esque nostalgia of simpler times. Where's my time machine?

2012.

2012 was the bomb dot com. I didn't remember the beginning of the year until I went on a photographic journey with Matt Benyo. I did some rock climbing. My hair changed a lot this year. I got two tattoos. I celebrated my 25th birthday Golden style in New York City, made a YOLO list, went to SLEEP NO MORE, and met Nick Jonas. I saw One Direction. I met Cher Lloyd. This summer was a blur of fun and adventures with my best friend in the whole wide world. Successfully baked cupcakes for him and surprised him for his birthday. Met Larry Bruner who sent us to Europe to fulfill our dreams. Ate lots of Slow's. Met Jeremy Sumpter. Flew first class and back to Europe. Stayed with Cloe in France and put a lock on the infamous lock bridge. Surprised Kory Kalnasy in Italy. Became an aunt. Started hanging out with people I hadn't seen in awhile. Went to New York again and won tickets in the Wicked lottery which got us in the front row for $30. Voted for the first time in my life and spent the holidays with Matt Benyo and his family. Life rules.

Big Rabbit.

I have an obsession with the children's book Big Rabbit's Bad Mood by Ramona Badescu and illustrated by Delphine Durand. It's about this Big Rabbit that develops a bad mood after he calls his friends and they kind of give him the brush off and he gets paranoid and thinks WELL MAYBE THEY'RE HAVING A PARTY WITHOUT ME. YES. THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE DOING AND THEY ARE PROBABLY EATING COOKIES. Then his Bad Mood follows him and it's this monster thing and it is a great book. My boss calls me Big Rabbit (because Matt Benyo originally called me Big Rabbit anytime I'd get into a mood over something minuscule) and so now it's this ongoing thing at work and it rules.

For Christmas, I got crafty and magicianed a Big Rabbit out of some paper SOMEHOW. Matt Benyo asked me, "How do you know how to do that?" I told him I didn't and I just hoped it would turn out great and it turned out good enough to give. Neil opened it today and LOVEDDDD IT. Mission accomplished. Here is my little Big Rabbit for Neil because he's my favorite boss ever.

By the way, Matt Benyo drew this skull girl. I want to break his knee caps, but he knows I love and support his artistic endeavors endlessly. He inspires me to want to draw again. I'm gonna draw that too.

Marilyn Monroe.

I drew this with Crayola markers using a grid method. I love Andy Warhol. He's my favorite artist. His flat, graphic work has inspired my own. This is an ode to Andy.

The Battle.

The Horse Battle. The Battle Royale. I turned that man riding that bloody horse into a hipster. Subconsciously, I must've related that to Matt Benyo. Who knows. I had planned on drawing this entire scene, but it was far too extravagant and elaborate and I underestimated it. Horses are difficult to draw. My favorite part of this drawing is the leg of the guy on the horse. Click to enlarge and see the details!

Spooktacular!

Tis the season for frights and follies. I love October. I love everything about it. The autumn smell, the crisp air, the crunchy leaves, the apples falling from the trees and the ones that will be turned into cider, the smell of cinnamon in a burning candle, the thrill and anticipation of the fear that builds around the nights, and of course, Halloween. I'm Haunted Housing this weekend and it's been fun so far. Here's a sketch I did; morbidly so. I also painted these Calavera Dia de los Muertos inspired glasses for someone that they in turn gave to someone else for a wedding gift. Painting on glass sucks, but overall I'm happy with the results. Don't mind the terrible quality, but do enlarge for a better view. Happy haunts, boys and ghouls.

Collage Party.

Today, you get 3 for the price of 1. That's an outstanding deal. When I get bored, but don't have any inspiration, I just draw a bunch of these collages. #viciouscycle

EURO-YOLO 2012.

So, I just got back from Europe. EUROPE. I went for 28 days with Matt Benyo (of course) and we went to France (Paris & Nice), Italy (Naples, Rome, Venice, & Florence), & England (LONDON). It was the best adventure I've ever had.

Let's start with how it was even possible to go on this trip.

Matt Benyo and I met a man by the name of Larry Bruner. After talking to Larry about our hopes and dreams and how we wished we could go to Europe, Larry told us to make friends with someone that works for the airlines. Larry left and we thought that was the last we'd see of him, but he came back a little bit later and told us we'd be seeing him again because he was sending us to Paris because HE worked for the airlines! I literally cried. My mom always said if it's too good to be true, it usually is, but Larry pulled through and a week before we took off, we bought our plane tickets to Paris. As a gift to Larry for his kindness, Matt and I worked relentlessly on a Smorgasboard for him which we presented in a frame. As a result of getting this opportunity, we also got to fly FIRST CLASS both to AND from Paris. That's a $6,000 ticket one way. I was literally in shock for the duration of this trip.

This was both of our first times out of the country and a trip that most people spend half a year preparing for, we did in a matter of weeks. Nothing was certain until it happened. I was the lunatic (big shock) and I had a lot of doubts, but somehow, it all came together. Let me tell you, I could not have done this without Matt Benyo. He was the navigator of the trip and navigate us he did. Not to mention I would've been completely useless in Paris if it wasn't for him because his French is phenomenal and he was able to order and all sorts of other things. #lifesaver.

This trip wouldn't have worked without all of the help we received while abroad. Cloe, you made us feel so at ease and made us feel at home. Thank you again. Also thanks to Zoe and Elena for making England truly unforgettable (hi Paul & Amy!) and Kory Kalnasy ('s family) for letting us stay. 

Europe is awesome. If you haven't been, you need to go. France is great. England is incredible (and is the only place that we felt completely robbed on time). Italy is meh. I did eat Pizza everyday in Italy though which ruled AND Venice is absolutely breathtaking, but everywhere else is the pits (especially ROME. Rome sucks).

So, top moments of the trip had to be as follows in no particular order:

- Flying FIRST CLASS.

- River dancing in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

- Successfully surprising Kory Kalnasy in Naples, Italy because you know there's nothing quite like 2 of your friends from where you live back home showing up on your doorstep 5,000 miles away. 

- Laying underneath the Eiffel Tower at night as it sparkled while eating macarons and laying next to 2 incredible people. This was actually THE best moment.

- Finally staying awake for all of The Dark Knight Rises in Nice, France.

- Attending a nude model drawing in Paris, France and sketching.

- Swimming in the Mediterranean Sea with Matt Benyo and throwing messages in bottles into the sea

- The Party House with Matt Benyo & Kory Kalnasy. 

- The mask shops in Venice.

- Drinking Pimm's and Pimmin' in the garden in England with Matt, Zoe, and Elena.

- Frightening all of the pigeons.

- Attending the Harry Potter studio in England.

- Seeing my 1st show on West End (Phantom of the Opera) which left me elated.

- Being on the Metro and listening to a sing along of Bob Marley's Redemption Song with this awesome guitarist, a man that chimed in and joined him in singing, this Andrew Garfield look alike, a nice man and lady, and Matt Benyo.

- Going to Harrod's.

- Matt Benyo's wardrobe from TopMan and seeing him become Louis Tomlinson right before my eyes.

- Running across 5 lanes of traffic (and 12 streets that converge) at the Arc de Triomphe!

- Attaching a lock at the lock bridge.

-Seeing the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Toulouse-Lautrec, & many more!

- Laying on the ground to admire the Sistine Chapel WITHOUT GETTING CAUGHT!

- Hearing our life anthem in a laundromat while being tattered and torn.

- Drinking Tea in England!

There's so much more that I could add. It was truly incredible. I also splashed myself in fountains I came across in Rome, touched all the stray cats, became obsessed with peaches and peach flavored syrup (thanks Cloe) and violet flavored everything, and got a rad outfit. I wish we had gone longer, but next summer we are going above and beyond. I made YOLO lists for each country as well. We spent our last day in Paris. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and that night, sat in the field and watched it sparkle for 2 hours. Here is an in order montage:

I wish I could do it all over again. It was a once in a lifetime experience and we both did it together. Matt said several times how excited he was that we were able to pull this endeavor off on our own without any help and it felt good. One good thing about coming home was that I got to finally meet my Nephew, Dalton Cole. I'm an Aunt!