the artistry notebook: March 2015

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

tattoos-turning tragedy into beauty

I love, love, love tattoos. The idea that you can display art on your body is amazing to me.

While I won't deny there are awful tattoos out there, when done right, tattoos can turn something tragic into something beautiful.

Mastectomies are often used as a treatment for breast cancer, and there are many women who get them as a preventative measure. While it can help reduce the risk of cancer, losing a part of your physical self is devastating.

A growing number of women are using tattoos as a way to cope with the scars left behind after the surgery.

Breast cancer affects about 1 in 8 U.S. women in their lifetime. To learn more about breast cancer, please visit http://www.breastcancer.org/

Below are a few of my favorite mastectomy tattoos:

ryot.org

Friday, March 13, 2015

Since my last blog mentioned Pinterest, I felt the need to emphasize on how amazing and in love with Pinterest I am.

I created an account about a year ago, and just recently got back into using it again.

You're welcome to follow my pinterest page which also contains a board about art and illustrations.

Even if you don't follow me, I strongly urge you to search here. There are so many beautiful pieces and Pinterest is one of my favorite ways to search and discover new art and artists.

a reason i love snail mail

Not many people seem to use the postal service much anymore. Everything is instant, and while it is convenient for quick communication, I still love sending and receiving letters.

One of my favorite things about sending letters is decorating the envelope. The envelope is a blank canvas, and it looks all too dull with nothing but the addresses and a stamp on it.

Even if you don't consider yourself the most creative person, give it a try. Send a letter to your parents, sibling(s), or friends and take the time to decorate the envelope. It makes it more festive and would brighten the day of anyone who receives it.

There is a page on pinterest about decorated envelopes. If you're looking for some ideas or would like to just check some out, you should definitely take a look at this website.

collaboration with a 4-year-old

This is a bit of an old story that circulated on the internet about 2 years ago, but I couldn't resist talking about it in my blog.

Mica Angela Hendricks is an amazing artist, and on her blog busy mockingbird she tells the story of how she ended up collaborating with her daughter on a lot of the artwork she did:

“I was going to draw a body on this lady’s face,” I said. “Well, I will do it,” she said very focused, and grabbed the pen."

"Not surprisingly, I LOVED what she drew. I had drawn a woman’s face, and she had turned her into a dinosaur-woman. It was beautiful, it was carefree, and for as much as I don’t like to share, I LOVED what she had created. Flipping through my sketchbook, I found another doodle of a face I had not yet finished. She drew a body on it, too, and I was enthralled. It was such a beautiful combination of my style and hers. And she LOVED being a part of it."

Below are a few examples of the art she has done with her daughter-they're incredibly beautiful and child-like, I can't get enough of these pictures!

Mica Angela Hendricks

astonishing art with a ballpoint pen

Milton Lozada is an artist that I recently discovered. He works as a tattoo artist out of Florida and creates astonishingly beautiful artwork with a ballpoint pen.

This is a link to his instagram and I highly encourage you to check out some of his work:
https://instagram.com/miltonlzd/

Milton Lozada

bucketfeet

Bucketfeet is a brand that supports artists and uses some of the work they submit to create beautifully illustrated shoes that anyone can purchase online.

Check out their website here:
http://www.bucketfeet.com/

If you or someone you know want to submit an art design, you can visit:
http://www.bucketfeet.com/index.php/artistsubmission/register
to register and start submitting artwork!

spring break

Spring Break is almost here, which means I'll have 10 days of free time for sketching, and I am beyond excited! This has been an insanely busy semester for me, so having some time to do what I love will be fantastic.

These are a couple pieces I've completed recently:

Mindy Barks

I've been playing around with different hair styles lately, and it's been pretty fun! I plan to do more sketches that focus on hair styles in the future.