Celebrating the DVD Release of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”

Art

The magic is back: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them releases on DVD today! The last four months have certainly dragged – but we all know that it was well worth the wait.

Even though I know you’re very busy, out frantically shopping for your copy and consequently watching the film overandoverandover again, I’d like to take a minute and share with you my latest Beasts piece.

We all remember Dougal the Demiguise right? The crazy, kind of scary but also incredibly cute creature that can turn invisible and see the future? If not, here’s a quick memory jogger:

He’s also the first Beast alluded to in the film, as our first look at Newt Scamander shows him speaking to Dougal through his magical case:

This sketch was one of the first I completed upon receiving my Prismacolor pencil set and I was having a lot of fun combining grey and purple tones.

I’m liken to think it has character – very much like the character as a matter of fact!

But that’s enough about me – get the popcorn going, it’s time to re-watch this film!

Celebrating the Magic of Winter and Wishing for a White Christmas

Art

Today marks the first official day of winter, also known as Winter Solstice.

A season that tends to get a bad wrap due to the raised energy bills and driving inconveniences, it’s undeniable that winter also possesses the ability to be the most beautiful time of year. (It also happens to be one of my favorite seasons!)

This year in Central New York, it’s looking like we may actually, finally get a white Christmas! While the Christmases of my childhood were always white, the last few years have left us New Yorkers in a green-spell, dooming us with rain and warm weather on Christmas day.

Sending out some white-Christmas vibes, I’m sharing with you a recent colored pencil drawing of mine, inspired by Disney Frozen protagonist Elsa, the Snow Queen.

Inspiration:

It’s no secret that I love Frozen and have mentioned before my fascination with winter-themed magic.

This drawing was fun to do from the fan art perspective as the imagery was not taken directly from the film. Rather, I modeled the drawing after a real-life image of an arm and added my own Frozen-inspired touches.

Although New York doesn’t have its own personal winter sorceress to ensure we have snow this Christmas, I’m hoping the wishes and prayers of its residents is enough to allow this holiday to live up to its fullest and most magically picturesque potential!

P.S. Only 3 days until Christmas!

Sketches from the Nutcracker

Art, Holiday

For whatever reason, I am fascinated with nutcrackers. They are one of my favorite Christmas themes and I have acquired several in the past year (the beginning of what I hope will one day be a large collection). Naturally, I also love the “Nutcracker Ballet.” It is a story that I loved as a child and continue to adore to this day.

Inspired by this time of year and this play, I recently drew some Nutcracker-themed sketches. So, in light of the holidays, I thought I would share these sketches with you and some insight on their creation.

The first sketch is my own personal rendition of the Mouse King. When I began this drawing I was not intending for it to be this well-known character, I simply wanted to draw a rodent. However, bored with my simple rodent I decided to give him a crown and scepter, making him my own (perhaps friendlier) version of this famous mouse villain.

This drawing was done with an average, every-day pen on glossy sketchbook paper and probably only took about 15 minutes. These things considered, I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

The next drawing is of a nutcracker. After googling different kinds of nutcrackers, I started to piece this one together, drawing imagery from multiple sources and making the nutcracker my own. While he is drawn using ink and a nib pen, he is colored in using colored pencil.

He is definitely very flat and cartoon-y, and posed as a nice break from creating realistic drawings. He is also (obviously) unfinished. But then again, most sketches are “unfinished work.” If I had had the time, I w0uld have loved to have made more of them and turned them into Christmas cards.

Making these two drawings was both fun and nostalgic, two characteristics true to Christmas. Whether you are drawing or partaking in some sort of Christmas event, it is difficult not to reminisce back on the magic you felt as a child. So whether you or not you find Christmas magic with pens and pencils, I just hope you find it.

Pop-Castle

Art, Pop Culture

It has been much too long since I have been in a painting studio. In undergrad, I was extremely fortunate to be an art major who was privy to newly-renovated studios. As a painting specialization, I spent a particularly large amount of time in this studio creating with oil paint.

Currently without a studio, I am confined to acrylics and watercolor, presently afraid to use oils within my house. Although I plan on having a studio in the future, I am currently grateful for any chance that I get to enjoy painting.

As an art student, I was always encouraged to produce conceptual work. However, getting a masters in public relations from the Newhouse school is a stressful experience.Therefore, lately, I have been enjoying painting for the sake of painting.

To start this new, once-forbidden period of my artistic life I have decided to do a series of acrylic on canvas paintings featuring castles from pop-culture. The first castle that I recently completed was Elsa’s ice castle from Frozen.

I decided to start with this castle for a few reasons. The first being my recent inspiration from the movie (mentioned in a previous post) and the second being the limited color palette. I knew this painting would go quickly for me and therefore chose to do it now as I have been especially busy with midterms having just recently passed.

The next castle on my list is the fictional castle that has had the greatest impact on me and my life: Hogwarts. I obviously have a long way to go on this painting, but don’t mind sharing this very early-stage snap shot as I love looking back and seeing how far a piece has come.

So again we are presented with the question “Is it alright to create art based on copyrighted images?” The answer to that questions is yes. So long as you either:

Alter the original image or
Reproduce it in a new medium

The bottom line is that you must make the piece your own, in some way or another. Both of these paintings are legally OK as they are in new media. I have taken an animated castle and reproduced it in paint. I have also added my own designs.

In regards to Hogwarts, which obviously has a long way to go, I will make it my own through color choice and the fact that it is being created with paint.

So as I have mentioned before, don’t be afraid to be inspired by the world of pop-culture. It is popular for a reason! Just be sure to make things your own. We are all creators after all.

Magic with Markers

Art

In life, we often come to associate markers with children. As if once you reach the age of 12 it suddenly becomes socially unacceptable to use markers for artistic ventures. Well, I would like to challenge this belief.

I love markers for several reasons:

They are permanent. You don’t have to worry about smudging your work away (which happens a lot when you are a lefty using a pencil).
They have good flow. Seriously, they are fun to use.
They help you connect with your inner child. Whether its nostalgia or the bright colors, markers have a way of helping you re-connect with your fun side.

That being said, I recently spent an evening sketching with markers. I created these sketches in a small sketch-book, not spending a particularly long amount of time on either of them. They were, however, a lot of fun to make and, in their own way, pleasing to the eye.

I decided to focus of pop culture imagery, realizing that these sort of images pair well with the vibrant aesthetic of markers. The first sketch is that of the Wicked Witch of the East from “The Wizard of Oz”. Perhaps it is Halloween spirit that inspired this sketch, though I’m inclined to believe it was the stripes in the stockings.

Aside from my October-appropriate gal, I also sketched a “Harry Potter” inspired Pygmy puff. Over the summer my father and his wife took Andy and I to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando Florida. As a huge Potter-fan since childhood I had been dying to attend the theme park since its opening.

The four of us at Universal Studios

That being said, I am very happy I went after the newest addition of Diagon Alley. The new park was amazing and I could go on and on about it for ages. But for now, I will tie it back to the pygmy-puff love that could be felt in Weasley’s Wizard Weezes and the Magical Menagerie. Both locations invited park guests were invited to “adopt” pygmy puffs.

Andy and I in Diagon Alley

I chose to draw this imaginary creature because of its vibrant color and also because of the body shape and nature of the fur. Both aspects of the creature’s physical appearance lend itself well to drawing, especially drawing with markers.

Doing these two sketches reminded me that when you are an artist, it does not matter what your medium is. The important aspect lies in the fact that, no matter what, you are creating on a regular basis. And sometimes, using a “child’s” medium can spark fun and get you creating more.

So happy sketches! Perhaps I will revisit crayons in the near future…