Saks Fifth Avenue Catalog

Just felt like illustrating some images I saw in the Saks catalog. They have some good stuff. I would really like to build my fashion illustration. 

Just Drawing Ideas Brewing

I love technology. It's really cool. I love these colors. I was editing family portraits to make the boys looks like women and then I started drawing this on the side. Kinda fun. 

Post Work Activities

I drew this last night when  got home from work. It needed watercolor. So, I added watercolor. I like the snake with the bow on its head. 

Kat Macleod: Reely Cool

Please. Look at this. Irina Triotskaya mastered playful and organic. Kat Macleod has mastered cool. omg. I came across this article in NYLON that featured fashion illustrators. Kat does everything from books to high end fashion illustrations. I need to contact this woman. 

Like I Give A Frock 

Seriously? Is she my long lost BFF?

Applique illustration for Yeojin Bae

Illustration for Bloom Skincare

The Age (Melbourne Magazine)

I am so blown away by Kat Macloed that I can hardly handle it. She - is - by - far one of the best free-hand illustrators I have ever seen. This is what I love - her work is playful, but it is also really cool. 

She does freelance illustrations for Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. She has also published mind-blowing books such as Birds and Like I Give A Frock. I know. Hilarious name. 

As you can imagine, I am trying really hard to get my hands on Birds. In Birds, she illustrates the similarities and differences between birds and fashion. AH. So cool. Here's some more just in case you didn't get enough the second time. 

Facts About My Day:

1. Found $150 of fraudulent charges on two different credit cards.
2. Right now I am listening to techno on really good headphones. Thanks, Chloe. 
3. My dog is sleeping next to me while I draw. 
4. I am in my pink fluffy robe. 
5. I bought headbands tonight. One has a big flower on it. 
6. I want to paint my nails and watch Nick at Nite.
7. Scam artists are assholes. Not to exclude: ShopperDiscount.com, CIC*Triple Advantage, Reservation Merrit. 

Putting My Bird Obsession to Good Use

Northern Cardinal

American White Pelican

Golden-Crowned Kinglet

Herring Gull

This is what I have been drawing lately. I have five more birds at this point. But... it's bed time and I shouldn't be scanning at this hour. Anyway, I love them. I friggin' LOVE birds. 

I was sitting with my dog in my backyard yesterday and I was bird watching. I have this really cheap pair of binoculars that don't do anything, but they make me feel like a bird guru. There was the loudest Blue Jay that was tossing seeds everywhere. My dog was chasing them all over the yard. Hilarious. Back to the topic - my entire book will be based on adventures with binoculars. Binoculars(a great word) are an essential tool in enjoying the details of nature. Each page of the book will be a different adventure. Birds, beach birds, shells, bugs, flowers, plants, fruit, veggies, critters, dogs, reptiles, squirrels, bears, etc. Very animal-loving-hippie-fun-adventurous-silly-cool.

As you can tell the "nature" isn't exactly Yellowstone material. It is more the appreciation of nature that tends to be in the backyard. What do you think of the watercolor? My scanner stinks, but I think you get the idea. 

Toodles. 

Kristina.

You want a blog post? I'll give you one.

My friend, Chase, from high school started his own sports clothing company. It's pretty nice. Anyway... ran into him on Saturday and discovered there might be some opportunity here. He's a graphic designer and I'm an illustrator. He wants to start a line for the females. AND I think I can do that. In fact, I know I can do that. 

His company: Armored Stripes

His name: Chase Ortega

His blog: CLICK

Things Are Good

I dropped the blog ball. But... in the past few weeks I:

• got a new job at an ad agency!
  
• got a couple freelance jobs!
• finally decided on the illustration/theme for my children's book!

To say the least, things are good. I will post the pics of my illustrations tomorrow. I am very happy with the work so far. I decided to skip the intense message and go straight for eye candy. My whole life I have loved observing nature. So - the book is about a little girl that travels around with her binoculars. The media?

I am noticing a break in the words and I can't fix it. Sowwy.

Pen & Ink + Watercolor + Illustrator + Ridiculous Color = My Book

80's Trash / Expressionism Gone Wrong

With that said, I kind of like it. Often my drawings are so calculated. Sometimes I have fun and just GO CRAZY! I was shaking that computer mouse like you have never seen. You know - I love to go crazy on Microsoft Painter. HAHA.

The simple pleasures in my day. But seriously... I like it. It's FUNKY!

Tonight I am going to post something about an artist I like because lately I have been posting all this stuff about myself. I need to mix it up. I've been lacking "deep" art material.

My first page...

I have been wanting to illustrate a childrens' book for a long time. Here is a sketch. Double click to enlarge. It's about teaching children how to stay optimistic even when family life or life in general isn't going well. 

My Little Moleskine (Sketchbook)

The first image is a documentation of my weekend trip to Arizona. The second... Well, I have been reading a lot about freelance fashion illustrators. Basically, they are in charge of illustrating a line in their own artistic way to give the collection some depth. It seems the artist has a lot of freedom. I will post what I found in NYLON Magazine. BTW, I love NYLON Magazine.

Spring Ice Cream

OK - I need to go to bed immediately. This is why I am so tired in the morning. 

Jamie

I just realized that I really like the name 'Jamie.' Anyway, today my friend, Jamie, and I signed up for web design class - or should I say web html formatting class. I am really excited. Having web design/building knowledge is going to be frickin' awesome. If I can do studio and websites... then I might be able to work this whole "artist" thing out. It's a balancing act of skills... 

So, tonight I went bargain shopping and got burritos. It really doesn't get any better than that. BTW!! This is a mock-up of the logo I am going to design for Jamie's little one man photography show. We just sketched it together. It looks just like her - simple, crisp, and pretty. Hi Jamie! **The typeface will change** :)

Prince Charming Meets Flowergirl

Fashion week has inspired me. I haven't finished browsing, but I'm always a fan of Chloe. 

This is my brain in on baked potatoes.

It's Friday night. I just ate dinner... debating whether to watch a movie or... watch a movie at a friend's house. I am craving a little ALF right now. That is what I am going to do. Watch ALF until I decide. And you can feast your eyes on my inner psyche. 

indie-mart

So, I am attending the an indie art/drinks/music festival this weekend, http://www.indie-mart.com/. I know it will be a really good opportunity to meet local artists... and crafters. It will also make me envious of other sellers which is my biggest kick for motivation! It should be really interesting. I don't really consider myself "indie," but I have always appreciated the sub-culture. It's weird, experimental, independent(obviously), and creative. I appreciate the fresh and innovative sounds in indie music... especially if it's electronic.

I'm excited! Probably because I just chugged a huge cup of coffee.

Birds of South Africa

Lilac Breasted Roller (my very favorite)

King Fisher

Go Away Bird (because is make a sound like "goway! goway!")

Southern Yellow Billed Hornbill

so, i have noticed that everyone(most i have seen) with influencial blogs does not use any caps. i guess if you use caps it can signify that you are trying to hard? either way, i think i will give it a shot. at work, i am always so careful to have perfect punctuation and caps, so this will be a challenge. hahaha i know, who cares?

anyway, a great family friend recently traveled to africa. they had an amazing camera and took amazing pics... i guess you might get some of those if you go on the same safari as oprah. Ok, that's it, I can't do the no caps thing. That was seriously stressing me out and I need to capitalize things like "Africa."Anyway, I was most blown away by their pics of the birds in Africa (mostly Botswana because the land is reserved for the animals.) My work has taken a few turns lately, but I am starting to create some scientific but experimental drawings of birds. I want to enjoy the art of observation, but I would also like to stylize some things about the birds that I illustrate. I like to exaggerate the things I love in nature because, to me, they are more beautiful in my head... and they can't poop on my head. Take a look at some of these birds. 

Crowded Trains and Claire Oswalt

I'm on the train right now. Apparently, the train company is trying to cut operating costs which means less running trains which means me standing on the train instead of sleeping with my neck pillow! There's so much momentum with all the weight on the train on these mornings that I fall every time it brakes. It's a blast. Yesterday I drew the people on my train. It was pretty entertaining... If I feel snazzy later, I will scan and post. Ok... now for some serious art talk. blown away : 29"x24" : wood, twine, paper, graphite, and acrylic

pack of tightly-knit women : wood, graphite, paper, and acrylic

emma : 24"x20" : graphite, paper, acrylic on wood

I just remembered this artist I saw in LA. Claire Oswalt. She really touches me as a geuine person and artist (You know, I read about her so now I know her personally. Just like I know Britney spears and Brangelina so well.) Visually, her work is pure and clean and skilled, but she manages to give off this perfect eerie vibe. Many of her works comment on the mob mentality or cliquey(or copycat) nature of humans. Her drawn puppets with twine offer this conradictory idea of frozen time and extreme release. I love her. I looked at her work a lot last year. I would like to keep better track of her. Her observations in nature, older and newer work, are just breathtaking. When I'm rich I will buy something of hers. For now, I will blog about it :)

An Illustrated Me

This weekend I got really into my illustration. I don't sketch enough and though it is something that takes a lot of energy - I need to do it. Ideas are not as fun when they are all in your head. At the same time, it can be weird when they do come out of your head. For example, this weekend I couldn't stop drawing these weird little villages.

I got this book, An Illustrated Life: Drawing Inspiration from the Private Sketchbooks of Artists, Illustrators and Designers by Danny Gregory. I will posting about him very soon.

Irina Triotskaya

Bear & Bird by Irina Triotskaya (I just ADORE.)

Illustrations of Russian Celebrities for Popular Finances Magazine by Irina Triotskaya

(full-height illustrations)

I was fortunate enough to come across an amazing artist: Russian illustrator/professor Irina Triotskaya. Check out her site. Her illustrations are one of a kind. She is completely original and in no way attempts to fit in with mainstream illustration. She works in Moscow. Her art ranges from lithography to pen and ink to sculptural pieces. Her life size illustrations for the finance magazine are just priceless. I found her on the Underground Art School blog - another awesome blog. 

The more I dive in to the online/blogger art scene, I feel more overwhelmed and extremely excited. Competition is getting intense with the bad economy, but that is a good thing now and again. Competition keeps it fresh and alive. There's also this great positive support and networking amongst all the artists online. It's really a great feeling and I am looking forward to strengthening connections and relationships with fellow artists and friends. 

The Origin of KrissyKristina

So...   So...   So... 

Drawin' on my tablet tonight. It's fun. I worked on my logo a little. Just starting out. The name "KrissyKristina" sort of came from my Gemini side. I have a twin inside me: Krissy. Not really, of course. It's a fun idea, though. I am a Cancer and I do have a very careful, caring, and intuitive side. That part allows me to create the art. My Gemini side allows me to be loud and meet people and say things without thinking about them. This beautiful combo makes me: KrissyKristina. I would love for my logo to represent some sort of dual or twin image. Either opposite or identical... because either says the same thing to me. 

I drew a quail because I like quails. They are like one of the only birds that can't really fly and it bothers me. They are my favorite bird. Don't kill them! Hunters: I don't care about population control! Anyway, started pasting and dragging and clicking and painting and came up with a fun wallpaper idea. Birds. Who woulda thunk it? That was for the spelling and grammar snobs.