Spring snow showers?!

One of the most disheartening things I can think of is waking up to sleet and snow in March, after a weekend of warm weather fooling me into thinking spring had finally arrived! Unfortunately, that's exactly how the first official days of spring have begun this year in NYC!

What else can you do but make the best of it by using it as an excuse to make a wintery piece of art! I've had this little gal inked and hanging around my studio for quite awhile, so felt inspired to finally give her a little color.

I have lots of exciting things to post soon....just wrapped up a super cool editorial illustration project, have recently had some crazy fun travels, and have my new website in the works and close to launching. So stay posted...this busyness has made for pretty sporadic blogging lately, but I'll be sharing lots soon!

The Fire Eater

 

Just finished a little personal piece, inspired by the sketch I made for this year's Halloween costume: A sideshow/circus fire-eater! 

 AND-it just so happens to fit this week's Illustration Friday theme: BURNING

After having such a blast creating the vintage sideshow-style costumes for Coney Island's Mermaid Parade this past summer, friends and I were inspired to revisit the sideshow theme for Halloween. I decided to make a fire-eater costume....of course with a gory spin on things--I had "real" flaming torches and a disgusting burn on my face!

Before diving into the costume-making, I sketched out my ideas as usual....and couldn't resist revisiting those—now that my Halloween fun is over—to make a nice little illustration. I also realized this makes a nice companion piece to the "Acrobat" image I made for Illustration Friday a few months ago. Looking at these together, I'm also feeling inspired to expand this into more of a series—and potentially apply to notecards, journals, etc. (for sale in my future etsy shop!). I really love this whole vintage-circus theme and feel like I could come up with endless characters.

Here's a glimpse at how my costume looked  :)

Illustration Friday-Spooky

Just re-posting an image I made for a gallery show awhile back, inspired by the Mexican holiday, Día de los Muertos...or Day of the Dead. I felt that it fits this week's Illustration Friday theme: Spooky.

This image can be purchase as a print through Charmingwall Gallery: http://www.charmingwall.com/
 

Illustration Friday--Acrobat

I haven't participated in Illustration Friday for awhile, but I couldn't pass up this week's topic: Acrobat.

Halloween is right around the corner, so of course I've been conjuring up my costume visions for awhile now. Friends and I are making circus-themed costumes, so I've spent the last few weeks referencing endless images for inspiration, and acrobat visuals have definitely been living in my brain....

But even more relative is the flying trapeze class I took a few weeks ago! That's right-I actually got to be an acrobat—flying through the air, just like in the circus! :)  It really was an incredibly exciting, exhilarating experience! (I highly recommend trying it!)

So--how could I possibly pass up an opportunity to create this little acrobat image? I love making art that so directly reflects my life!