I forgot to post these before...tell me what you think!

Early Morning Inspiration

Saw this on a facebook friend's wall, watched it and stole it. This is truly beautiful and it's exactly what I needed to see today. Mark Ryden is an amazing artist with a unique point of view. To see him work like this is awe inspiring. The inspiration keeps on coming.

A week HIATUS!!! A Piece of My Mind Today...08.23.10

Last week I felt like I had no energy. I think from being drained from the week before. Personal problems have been lifted! Our family is super strong and closer than ever and will stand against anything and anyone who tries to break us apart. That's all I'll have to say about what we've been dealing with, but I have to say it feels really great!

Okay, I've got some projects started. Working on more shrines for Studio 6 as I've had a few sales already! Here's one that is almost finished:


Here are some paintings I had started way back when, and I couldn't look at them for a while because I was completely uninspired. After uncovering them recently while unpacking more boxes, I took a good look at these and felt like they weren't bad, not bad at all! They both have some potential. So new projects for me to finish!


I also got around to putting up my Geisha Muerta pieces. Yep, these are the same ones that were in the Real World Hollywood House...and my son watching Invader Zim as he's waiting for breakfast. :)


Another thing I did last week was take my daughter clothes shopping for back to school. We went to Buffalo Exchange in Ventura and she got all the trendy things she wanted and I got to trade in some of the stuff I wasn't using. Ended up paying about $50 for $100+ worth of stuff! Great Job! (yes Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! is now in my subconscious so I can't help but say Great Job! for everything these days lol) We even got done in record time, so we took a walk down to the Buenaventura Mission and took a tour.





What a gorgeous and peaceful place! My daughter and I both feel, see and hear things that we can't explain at times, and both of us felt very much at peace, but also felt extremely lightheaded and dizzy. The two places we felt the most dizzy was at the picture above, at the Virgin Mary shrine, and also toward the back where the tomb was. Quite an experience.

More to come including a new blog featuring Carlos and his many faces!

A Piece of My Mind 08.09.2010: My work at Studio 6!

Here are some pics from today...

Me and CJ in the long hallway to Studio 6...
Then Alyssa and I...

And both the kids in front of the HUGE suit of arms!


My "Blue Lady" in Studio 6...

My Bio (like the glitter and skulls?) Card

"Tres Corazones" up at Studio 6.

Handmade magnets



And my shrines! The one at the end is already sold!
My big "Calavera Rosa Sirena" shrine next to my magnets...

If you are able to make it out, let me know what you think!

Beenznrice.com Re-Vamp!

What was I doing New Year's Day? Well, I had planned on starting the revamp of our website, but I ended up starting and finishing it, as well as finishing the entire holiday without even realizing it! I am quite happy with the current format of the site, and there are buttons to link to this blog, our Facebook fan page, and our twitter profile! Please check out the site and look around. I've added quite a few pieces, especially in the Paintings section!

New Painting Progress

Started a new painting during the holiday season, but because of the holidays, didn't get to do as much work as I had planned. I will post daily progress. Here is what I have so far...

Art Tour 3: Leo Carillo and Fourth of July work

The following sketches are from the 4th of July...



The following are from Leo Carillo at the Art Tour 3 stop. Here are some quick oil sketches of a tree at the camp site and the beach.

Painting finished: The Blue Lady

I really need to get my camera fixed, this is off of my phone, but I finally finished my painting, the first oil painting I've finished in YEARS. I've named her The Blue Lady.

N

More work on the painting...

I am really happy with how it's turning out! The colors are coming together, and it's building up the same look I had in mind when I created the drawing. More progress later...

N

Artist I remember admiring when I was still in highschool...

I randomly went on artwanted.com during my lunch break to just browse through what people are doing and lo and behold, I ran across a piece by Patrick Pierson. I recognized the artist's work because I had often gone to Downtown Disney when I was in high school and of course, went to the gallery every single time. My favorite pieces were always these very beautiful yet strange portraits of fish people in extravagant, very renaissance fashion and poses. They were amazing to me and the colors were so vibrant you felt as if you were in the fish peoples' spaces! Well here's one of a newer series he's doing based on fairy tales. I can't wait to see more!

2nd Stop on the Art Tour: The Staples Center in Downtown LA

The Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles. We are going to the Margarito vs. Moseley fight on Saturday night. It is going to be a blast! We go to many a fight throughout the year-and meet up with our many friends from maxboxing.com. Hopefully I'll get a good amount of time to sketch people and the arena, as it is our second stop. I'll do what I can and post it here, of course. Who are we going for in the fight? Here's a hint:

Illustration Friday Topic: Pale

I don't know her story, maybe you can come up with a good one. This drawing started off as a version of Snow White, but then I didn't feel like making her hair black or her lips blood red. I think I was channeling my inspiration from some of Jasmine Becket-Griffith's recent color schemes. I really like the soft ethereal effect on this. I think I may use it again.

Also, if you are an Illustrator from Illustration Friday, please view the post before this--we are starting a personal art tour this year, and I really respect all the Illustrators on the site, and would love your input on our idea.

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

N

The Beenznrice Art Tour: First Stop--Camarillo

What is the Beenznrice Art Tour you say? With a fair amount of traveling done last year (well, more than previous years, hopefully it's an ongoing trend), I noticed that we did have much to show for it, art-wise, even photo-wise. I thought, well that's a shame, considering that we are illustrators and that art should be right at the forefront, but truth be told, last year was more about the 9-5 keeping the money flow steady and even, which is fine for a while, but we are ready to reach new heights in our passions and career. We are starting a tour, inspired by music tours, or rock tours, all across the country, where they go and perform, essentially perfecting their craft. I thought, well why can't we have the same mentality? When we travel, honestly, it's usually because there's a boxing match, or a band's playing or we're taking a family trip, etc. I started asking myself, what would happen if we started taking trips (this is not a family trip btw, that is too hectic for what we are trying to do) specifically to create art? The places that we would be traveling to would have been specifically chosen to inspire and have great landscapes, or historical still lifes, etc. An example that's been frustrating me lately is that we take a good amount of trips to Vegas to go see fights (go Pacquiao!) and I've always wanted to visit Calico, the old mining ghostown in Yermo, CA. The bad thing is, whenever we get to that point, we are too tired from partying the weekend before! I want to have sketches of a famed ghost town when we come back and not just a headache from dehydration and sleep deprivation.

So this is what we are proposing, and we will be posting our travels and sketches, paintings, photos from them. We will be touring the state of California this year (and hopefully some other states, Vegas will definitely be one of them), with the goal of art and honing our craft in mind. First stop, and actually any weekend we are unable to go very far, it will be local, this weekend, is Camarillo! Because of course, the best place to start is where you are. I've already done some sketches last year at the Adolfo Camarillo Ranch House, and I kind of stopped because of the cold weather and other factors, but I'm starting up again. Here is a sketch I did behind my day job, just another corporate business park on Flynn Rd. Quite a nice pathway though:

And tomorrow, we are going to the Farmer's Market, where I'll be taking reference photos and getting some sketching done. The Camarillo Farmer's Market is probably one of the best ones I've been to; because the farms are all in Camarillo (and some in nearby places like Somis and Oxnard), the produce is so fresh and fairly inexpensive. You can also find some specialty produce like Blood Oranges and Japanese cucumbers, for cheaper than you'd find at the grocery store, and much tastier. It's a great place to sketch and just to visit if you ever get the time.
The information for the Camarillo Farmer's Market can be found here: www.camarillohospice.org/farmersmarket.html

More posts of sketches and photos from our first stop on the tour!

Naomi

Working on 2 new pieces

Okay, okay, so I haven't quite updated the website as much as I need to, but since I had written last, I did add a lot of newer work, especially Graphic Design, to my page. Carlos and I need to have a little sit down/pow wow/meeting over coffee and decide what to do next and what all to add and to delete. There is soooo much new stuff that it will be a complete overhaul this time around.

In other news, I have a full time job for now, and a couple of freelance gigs and have also recently started tutoring for the No Child Left Behind program, which is very time consuming and draining, but also very fulfilling for me. I've started to write my children's book (that I've put off for 2 years now) and am really starting to flood with ideas. At work, I take little creative breaks in between, because the design work I am hired to do is, well, less than creative. So here are some works in progress. These kinds of pieces are ones that I am forcing myself to do-as exercises, so that my brain doesn't stress over getting them done, but instead switches to making sure I learn from them.

First is a portrait of actor Simon Pegg as Sgt. Nicholas Angel from the movie "Hot Fuzz." If you have not seen this movie, I HIGHLY recommend it!


Second is one that needs even more work of Pinup Rockabilly model Jasper James. She is a doll!