the cheeky whale: artist

Showing posts with label artist. Show all posts

4/24/15

My interview with City Weekly is live!

http://www.cityweekly.net/TheDailyFeed/archives/2015/04/24/the-cheeky-whale

4/13/15

Personalized Portrait

Currently working on some commissioned portraits for a Mothers Day gift. Would you like one? Please email me soon. I have some space available, but not for long! thecheekywhale@gmail.com

3/12/15

Miniature Ariel Painting For Sale

Miniature Ariel portrait done and for sale! $50 and it comes with a tiny easel for display. This tiny portrait measures a mere 2" x 2". So cute!

1/8/15

Teeny Tiny Wicket Painting

Check out my speed painting video of this tiny Wicket painting! This will be available along with the rest of the series (stay tuned!) at Salt Lake City FanX 2015!!!

Stop by my table and say HAI!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEyy8W_pSUo

12/2/14

Enchanted Forrest

Currently working on a commission. Here are some progress shots!

I update on Instagram, so please follow me! @thecheekywhale

10/18/14

Beauty and the Beast

A custom illustration for the lovely Miss Madeline. For commission inquiries email me at thecheekywhale@gmail.com.

8/28/14

WIP

A commissioned piece I am working on that I'm super excited about! This is a crappy cellphone picture, but you get the general idea.

8/11/14

7/28/14

1/28/14

The Joker

I've been working on my second ever digital painting. I am so excited about finishing it, but I thought would share it thus far:

The Joker is by far my favorite comic book villain! Especially after Heath Ledgers performance. Who is your favorite?

1/15/14

Newbie

I kinda sorta hate the idea of going digital. But these days you need the skills. I hated the idea of going digital with photography but I converted to it 7 years ago.

I downloaded the free version of Paper. It has limited colors, one pen style and an eraser. This is my first creation:

It has been really fun, not to mention a lot more convenient than traditional painting. I only have a regular stylus, so I am thinking about investing in a fine tip stylus and perhaps the full version of Paper.

12/23/13

An unfortunate loss

Recently my husbands Uncle passed away unexpectedly. It hit me pretty hard. I am close to his wife and daughters, and he and I talked quite a bit over the last six months about similar struggles. I will miss him.

I decided to paint a portrait of him and gave two prints to his daughters and the original will go to his mother.

9/29/13

Daily Click - Art Studio at Sunset

i love this lil studio of mine.

9/20/13

Daily Click - Artsy Fartsy

My camera is being so mean to me right now. So todays photo is actually from a few months ago. This was taken one early morning when I was working on Betty and Veronica. It was a great morning, so I took my easel outside. Below are my concept sketches. You can see the done deal here. I still need to do Archie and Jughead....

I've been blogging for years and now I get paid to do it! Interested? Click here.

9/17/13

Crappy Shoes Made Over

We have this discount store by us called Parades Falles. (Don't ask me how to pronounce it). I have found some real gems there! (Yesterday I bought a $120 swimsuit for $5!!!)

I found these heels marked down from $40 to a $1! I loved the color but the fabric was in horrible condition, so I took them home and gave them a makeover. I wanted to make them look like they had just popped off a comic book page.

before

after

The making of:

Subscribe to my YouTube channel

4/10/13

10 Weeks

For the past 10 weeks (I missed a few classes) I have been attending an open studio for figure drawing. I've never before taken a figure drawing class, and although this was not an actual instructional class with a teacher, I feel like I learned a lot just by being there and drawing. I can definitely see a huge improvement throughout. Yay!
Here is my work, first to last:

The entire time we only had female models. On our very last night, I was an hour and a half late, and of course, out of all the nights for me to be late we finally had a male model! It was very strange crosshatching a wiener.

Anyways, it was awesome and I feel like I came a long way over the 10 weeks, and I'm looking for another class, hopefully this time with an instructor.

2/10/13

House "Portrait"

Another custom house "portrait" in the bag:

I don't always have time to get a good scan before I have to hand it over to the client, but that's okay.

1/25/13

Some peeps and a house

Does anyone read blogs anymore?
Anywhoodles, here are some of my illustrations lately:

Portraits:

The house my grandma grew up in.

I am really working hard at getting better and improving my skills. Every time I finish a piece I always see a flaw that I didn't notice before. (Example...notice the portrait of the dude..his eyes are a little wonky). I am learning to not be so hard on myself, realizing that noticing the flaws in my work will only teach me valuable lessons and encourage me to work harder. During the drawing process I've found it's imperative to step away from my work for awhile and take a break, and when I go back to work I can see it with fresh eyes and notice flaws I wouldn't have seen otherwise. Also, looking at it upside down and sideways helps.

I start a life drawing class aka "draw naked people"class on Tuesday. I'm really excited to get out of the house and into a studio. 3 hours of just drawing, no interruptions. WOO!

P.S. If you are interested in a drawing, 8X10's are $60. Email me thecheekywhale@gmail.com

10/18/12

Featured Artist- David Bird

Just got back from a much needed trip to Disneyland and the beach! Speaking of Disneyland, here with me today is a good friend of mine, David Bird, who is a Disney Guest Artist as well as an artist for Sanders Art Studio.
David and I "met" when I was harassing.. er, emailing Disney Guest Artists to ask for advice a few years back. He was one of the few that emailed me back, and he has been a great friend and mentor ever since. He is always willing to answer my many questions and give me feedback on my work. What a gem! :)

Interview with the artist:

Have you always wanted to be an artist?
Always wanted to be an artist...since my dad was one. Just followed in his footsteps.

What is your artistic process?
Sketch first...always. Figure out the look, the feel, and the layout for the piece then either the computer, pencil or canvas.

Inspiration?
Good design, art, other artists, people, and God has given this insane desire to create (or die, LOL)

Favorite artist?
Way too many to choose from...depends on the day. Roy Lichtenstein and other times a disney artist.

Favorite medium?
Glass...go figure. Then oil painting, then acrylic.

How did you become a Disney Guest Artist and what has been your favorite part so far?
I got to meet a VP from Disney Marketing at a Disney Fan Convention and I got to show him some of my work...he was so excited and asked for my info. I thought he was just telling me "don't call us, we'll call you." Well, I got a call a couple of months later and they asked if I knew anything about Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton. LOL, OH YEAH!!! They invited me to be a part of the Haunted Mansion Halloween Celebration and I have been a part of it ever since! Dreams happen, just be ready.

Any advice to aspiring artists?
Please, aspiring artists- draw from real life, people, pets, landscapes, whatever! JUST DRAW! Everything else will follow.

10/3/12

Featured Artist- Joan Walsh

I came across this book at the thrift store and was smitten with the illustrations. As you know, most of my work is done in pen and ink. It's my medium of choice, and I just love the way it looks. Crosshatching makes my eyeballs happy. I've been wanting to add some color, something subtle, to my drawings and just switching the color of the pen crossed my mind more than few times, but I've been a bit nervous to try it out. When I opened this book I got super excited, because that is exactly what she does. And I. LOVE. IT.
I'm actually using this style in my illustration for Illustration Friday this week.We'll see how it turns out.

Anyways, besides the pen technique, the illustrations themselves are so adorable. I am tempted to tear some of the pages out and frame them, but I can't do it. It's a book from 1959! I would be committing book murder. So I will just add it to my collection of vintage children's books and enjoy the pictures as they were intended: inside the book itself.