Thursday 26 July 2012

We all go a little mad sometimes...apparently

Hello hello, nearly the weekend all! Yey! 


Anyhoo, I've just finished my latest art collection today, which I have sooooo enjoyed doing! It's a horror movie collection, which is great coz I'm a huge horror fan. I tried to stick to more mainstream films so people will hopefully have some vague idea what's going on in each piece!


I have enjoyed doing this collection so much I might actually extend on it in the future, but I'll leave it how it is for now I think. Anyway, time to take a look!




An American Werewolf In London (1981)




"I didn't mean to call you a meatloaf, Jack!"

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The Fly (1986)




"Am I becoming a hundred-and-eighty-five-pound fly? No, I'm becoming something that never existed before. I'm becoming... Brundlefly. Don't you think that's worth a Nobel Prize or two?"

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The Exorcist (1973)



"You show me Regan's double, same face, same voice, everything. And I'd know it wasn't Regan. I'd know in my gut. And I'm telling you that 'thing' upstairs isn't my daughter"

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Wolf (1994)



"The worm has turned and is now packing an uzi"

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Maniac (1980)



"This has got to stop. It's silly, and it's not getting us anywhere"

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Don't Look Now (1973)



"This one who's blind. She's the one that can see"




And that's that! As I said I may add some more, there are too many good films out there to ignore, but for now it's on to the next collection!

Sleep tight, don't have nightmares...
Gem xxx

Monday 16 July 2012

He's a maniac....maaaaaniac!

Evening all....


Just finished the fourth piece of my latest collection, my horror movies collection. A collection that I must say I am thoroughly enjoying doing! 


Having already done The Exorcist, An American Werewolf In London and The Fly I thought for my fourth piece I would do something a bit less main stream and do one of my favourites, the classic 80's slasher 'Maniac', starring the ever wonderful Joe Spinell (RIP dude, love you!) as Frank Zito. 


The film has recently been remade starring Elijah Wood (very strange choice! Apparently they wanted John C. Reilly who would have been great, but hey...) but I don't think it will come close to the original , so this is my tribute anyway!







Once my collection is finished I shall put them all up for the world to see, but for now it's on to the next piece!....

Gem xxx

Thursday 12 July 2012

Visit from da fuzz!

....And by da fuzz I mean .... Ki!




Isn't he gorgeous?!




Yes my little dude is coming to stay with us on saturday while my mam and dad are elsewhere, so we'll be chilling together and watching films (can't do art while Ki's about coz he keeps putting his face on the canvas! Plus he loves a good film!). 





Me and my baby :)

Wednesday 11 July 2012

Nothing to declare but my genius! (although my head isn't that big!)

Happy rainy evening all! Thought I'd give the world a step by step demonstration of how I do my art (also on my facebook page) just to show how I roll really! And if anybody else feels like having a go at doing their own work hopefully this will be some help!






1. I always draw out a very basic outline of what I'm doing, that way I know the dimensions of the whole piece is right. Doesn't need to be perfectly neat or anything, just so you know what's going where! (See pic below)






2. Start filling in with basic blocks of colour (I used acrylic for this piece), no shading or texture yet. I also always tend to start with the bit that I think will be the hardest bit to do, there's no point getting a whole painting done then messing up on the hard bit at the end! (See pic below)







3. Carry on adding colour. The black around the guys head will be blended properly later on. (See pic below)







4. Whole canvas is covered with basic solid colour. Don't panic if it looks a bit like a cartoon at this point, that's why you add the detail later on! I left the area around the wolfs eyes as I didn't want to use paint for such fine detail. (See pic below)







5. Using ink i added in the detail around the eyes, nose and mouth and added texture to the fur around the face. (See pic below)







6. Using a mixture of ink and coloured graphite I added texture to the rest of the fur and the paw. )See pic below)







7. Using ink I added the detail to the dude's face and shaded it with a pencil. I added the thin lines of blood by dipping the end of a clay cutting tool into the acrylic and dragging it over the face (far more accurate that using a brush I find). (See pic below)







8. Sorry to dwell on this dude's intestines but they do need to be done! I didn't want them to be too realistic really as...well as it's someones insides hanging out, so using black acrylic I put in very basic outlines. (See pic below)







9. I then went back and added the reflections on the eyes, nose and teeth using my clay cutting tool again and some white acrylic. (See pic below)







10. Sorry, back to the guts again, using the same tool I added the refections, also, using a white pastel, added slightly less defined reflections. (See pic below)







11. Once all the main detail was done I did the background which simply involved blending pastels over the (very important, DRY) paint. (See pic below)







12. Once completely finished I cover the entire canvas with a fixative. This prevents the ink/graphite/pastels from smudging and rubbing off (make sure this is done in a well ventilated area!). (See pic below)




And that's it! All done and on to the next one!....

Until next time...enjoy the rain folks!
Gem xxx






Sunday 8 July 2012

Art and Music....just like an ordinary day!

Well well well, having finished a new art collection aaaaages ago I felt it was about time to share it with the world!


It comprises of six pieces which are directly inspired by certain songs. Some of the pieces are a very literal representation of the song lyrics, some are more the imagery the songs inspire.


The six song I did were:-


In Dreams - Roy Orbison
Don't Fear The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
Blue Velvet - Bobby Vinton
You Never Can Tell - Chuck Berry
Invincible - Muse




In Dreams - Roy Orbison



" A candy-coloured clown they call the sandman
Tiptoes to my room every night
Just to sprinkle stardust and to whisper:
'Go to sleep, everything is alright' "

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Don't Fear The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult


"Then the door was open and the wind appeared
The candles blew and then disappeared
The curtains flew and then he appeared"

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Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John


"Back to the howling old owl in the woods
Hunting the horny back toad
Oh I've finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road"

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Blue Velvet - Bobby Vinton


"She wore blue velvet
Bluer than velvet was the night
Softer than satin was the light
From the stars
She wore blue velvet
Bluer than velvet were her eyes"

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You Never Can Tell - Chuck Berry


"They bought a souped-up jitney,
'Twas a cherry red '53
They drove it down to Orleans 
To celebrate their anniversary"

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Invincible - Muse


"During the struggle
They will pull us down
But please, please
Let's use this chance
To turn things around
And tonight
We can truly say
Together we're invincible"






And that's that! Hope you like them, I enjoyed doing them. Now I've just started my fourth piece from my new collection so watch this space!


Live and enjoy!
Gem xxx