New Postcards coming in a few days!

Contact me with your mailing address if you'd like a postcard sent to you!

Naomi

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!

A Piece of My Mind 08.05.2010: Soccer, headaches and happiness

As stated in my previous entry, the past couple of weeks have been stressful. Not worrisome, just annoying and having to deal with things that we really shouldn't be. But aside from that, we are definitely turning the negative into a positive and becoming a closer family because of it.

CJ had soccer today and he loved it! I sat back, watched the practice, and realized how much I truly love being a mom and being able to stay home at this time in my motherhood to fully experience it. It motivated me so much that I decided I really need to get my work day done early in the morning (and I mean when it's still dark out) so that I can spend more time like this with the kids, and connect with them.

So it's on. Tonight I go to the gym to get my work out in, and tomorrow morning, I will be up bright and early at 5AM to start writing articles and working on artwork. No more excuses. No more snacks (except healthy ones), and many naps when both myself and the kids are pooped out.

Going to go rest my head and get rid of the rest of this stupid and pointless stress headache, then will feel much happier. I want to use every minute of my time to build upon my life and what I want for it and for my family.

A Piece of My Mind Each Day 07.23.10 Annual checkup and more sneak peaks

Had my annual checkup today. Not too many surprises there. A little disappointed, as I thought I had made headway by riding my bike nearly every week at least 3 days out of the week, to and from work. I've been eating pretty well, but I still need to kick it up a notch. So I will! Also, they are going to be doing another test on my heart, as I guess it sounds like there may be something irregular. We'll see. I will keep you all updated with how that goes. At least I haven't gained any weight in 2 years, and I feel much better, and I visually look much healthier. But I have my work cut out for me, as I can't be satisfied with that.

Carlos is the picture of health and lost weight to boot. Not surprised. He is Mr. Fitness. hehehe

An another note, here is another sneak preview at more candles I am working on. The Blue Ringo Starr candle is not for sale, as it's a gift for an awesome friend, and fellow Taurus. Enjoy!

Naomi

Sand Animation Brings Audience to Tears

Wow this really brought tears to my eyes. From the Ukraine's Got Talent, a story of the Nazi takeover during WWII.

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!

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

Art Tour Stop 3: Leo Carillo and Explosions in the Sky

So some work from Leo Carillo will be coming soon, they are quick oil sketches, so I have to wait until they are dry enough to scan (don't want to ruin my scanner). Here are a couple of shots from Explosions in the Sky. Very low quality shots from my phone, but there was something about the abstract effect of the lighting along with the music that was very cool to me. So I thought I'd share.

N

15 Things a Designer Should Never Say on Artbistro

"ArtBistro asked several career designers: what should a designer never say?" They give some truly great advice. Many of the things a Designer should never say, we have already been guilty of. So I'm posting this article, which can save a lot of our fellow designers, especially if you're just starting out, some heartache (and headache)!

Illustration Friday Topic: Worn

Another oldie but goodie. This was from a submit to do a graphic novel, which we didn't get, but the pieces Carlos did for it were great. Here's our Illustration Friday submission for the topic: Worn.

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!

The Little Chimp Society

LCSV4 The Illustration News Portal

What a great site for illustrators and people interested in illustration! There are interviews, great tips for illustrators from emerging to established, a huge links section for your perusal, etc. etc. etc. It did not take me long to sign up for both the newsletter and to be a member of the site. Being a member allows you to both comment on articles, as well as submit news. This should help us stay current with other illustrators and illustration dates, shows, events and other sites. Let us know if you joined, too!

Illustration Friday Topic: Climbing

I almost illustrated Rapunzel irritated and in pain because of all the hair pulling, but I just didn't have the energy today. Maybe next time. Here is a nice traditional drawing for you all.

ART TOUR CAMARILLO! 01.18.09

OK-like I said earlier about our first stop, good gage for where we are right now, and where we need to go. Here's what we came up with. We'll start with Carlos. He was definitely looking for quality and not quantity. He worked on a tree in Dizdar Park, in Camarillo.


Below is the actual texture of the tree, which we'll use for reference at some point. It was very hard and rough-not something I'd like to fall into!Now onto my sketches. These were done very quickly, in between buying fruits and veggies at the Farmer's Market.

The singer, who was very good btw. He was singing a lot of Johnny Cash, and well, and I liked him a lot.
Some weird onion squash type vegetables that I thought looked interesting...These buckets were next too some delicious apples that we bought. I wish I had these at home. they were very iconic of the market to me.

We took my son to get a haircut at Hank's Barber Shop. He loves getting his hair cut, so he sat still like a perfect angel, falling asleep.
More haircut sketches. Carlos got his haircut at the same time, though I made him look a little weird. It's been a while since I did any drawings of him so cut me some slack!


Next ones are my sketches from Dizdar Park. Below is a sketch I did of St. Mary Magdalene's. This chapel belonged to the original Camarillo Family who used to own this land. This is my favorite sketch from Saturday. This was my view from the picnic table at Dizdar Park.


And I had to draw that same tree that Carlos was drawing, from a distance, and he's the little red smudge at the bottom left.

Some photos:


This just looked very Americana to me, with the mountains, the flag, and the vintage worn Liquor sign. This was across the street from Dizdar Park.

That's it for the first stop! Please stay tuned for next week! We'll be in Downtown LA for the Margarito vs Moseley Fight. Not sure how much time we'll actually have to sketch, but I am bringing my sketch book, and we will probably hit a bar before the fight. And there are always interesting things to draw in Downtown Los Angeles.

N

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

Inspiration

I want to start bringing my sketchbook everywhere I go again and actually drawing something from everywhere I am---like I used to. Boredom was my glory time, and it still should be. I just randomly looked up good places to draw and I got this blog, artist Nick Abadzis, which was exactly what I needed to both see and read. Enjoy!

www.firstsecondbooks.com/authors/nickAbadzisBlog01.html