Desert Thumbelina

 

I love pastel colors, succulents, and terrariums. This was a fun one!

Christmas 2019

Wishing you a very hairy Christmas. I mean look at those cats, they're going to shed everywhere.

Emily and Herrington gift art

 Various gift artworks from throughout the years featuring my OCs Herrington and Emily together.

Berryzem

Desiree-U

Maruuki

Rinapon

Sireinita

Black cat bonsai

I used my sister's cat as a model. She rocks.

Nature trail

 

Stained glass owl

Stained glass owl. I used this image for a shiny sticker design.

Reading the stars: A nostalgic melody

Title comes from Reading the Stars, one of my all-time favorite songs by Akiko Shikata. It's a very gentle song that always takes me back to a certain summer that I'm overly fond for, and just hearing it the memories come rushing back. I have wanted to make art of this song for a long time. This feels fitting as my last summer hurrah!

Balloon boy

Remake of an old drawing I still like.

Who wants kibble?

Our childhood cats didn't like each other a whole lot but they put their differences aside when food was involved. Food, the great peacemaker.

A tiny forest's song

Grandfather clock in the woods

Still waiting for Netflix to send me royalties.

Sushi

 My sister used to babysit our two younger cousins multiple times a week and I usually came along. Our aunt would give my sister money to get lunch for the kids, and one of our common choices was the local sushi place. None of us were big on seafood but they had plenty of vegetarian options like sweet potato and tempura sushi, which was my favorite. I'm craving some just thinking about it. We would always get it to-go and eat it at their house, on colorful patterned plates.

The older cousin was my age and we were friends.  And with the four of us it always felt like a party! We'd listen to alternative rock on the radio, play Nintendo 64 (and later the Wii), and come up with inside jokes together. It was really fun getting together whether it was summer break or in the middle of the school year. Plus, their pantry always had the best snacks and junk food that we rarely had at home.

Flip flops

Oh jeez, that's me! 

The fire

This still freaks me out: When I was young, I would have recurring dreams about witnessing a fire from my bedroom window. Then one day in early spring it actually happened. Thankfully no one was hurt. I think it was a barn or shed that caught fire. My view was obstructed by the house and trees. Long into the night the lights of the firetrucks were shining into my bedroom.  I still don't know any more details about what happened that day, but I'm sure if there had been a tragedy, the community would have known. When I went into school the next day no one knew what I was talking about.

The altar

 Eleven years ago, my sister introduced me to a new nature trail to hike on. It's in the woods and takes some effort getting to. At the end of the trail is a long path lined with trees and a white altar at the end. Beyond the altar is the remains of a foundation where a house once stood 100 years ago. There was something very eerie about it. As far as I know, the altar is no longer there. The spot is used for weddings, although something about the altar feels a bit sinister.

Rose and peony

 

Emily in a dress

Me 'n' Nikki

I took a painting class at my local college, but didn't audit it (whoops) so I had to actually participate in class assignments. But nothing wrong with that. The teacher was cool and I always had fun in the class.

For this assignment, the prompt was to paint from an old family photo. Naturally, I chose a recently discovered photo of myself with Nikki from 2003.

Then, we would use the Zorn palette to give it an 'aged' look, fitting for the theme of the painting. The Zorn palette consists of: Yellow ochre; Titanium white; Ivory black; and Cadmium Red. The cool thing about this palette is that it creates a full spectrum of colors, including the suggestion of blue and green, despite them not actually being there. Isn't that cool?

Luckily I saved some progress shots. I did the under-drawing in alcohol marker, which I DO NOT recommend - over time, it permeates through the paint. So if you made a mistake, the paint will only cover it up for so long.

Not my best work but I do love how Nikki came out. I also love how child-Mel's shorts appear blue despite there being no blue in my palette. I think this Zorn guy was on to something!