When I have the television on I can never just sit there. I have to draw, or paint, or eat. I have a small appetite to drawing it is most times. Day in the life of Brandi. Black & White.
I was just listening to the newest Radiolab episode and my hands could not seem to relax. I even managed to unintentionally organize everything on my desk in height, so after tapping my fingers on the desk to the sound of the radiator I just whipped out some paint and started to “paint doodle” I would call it. It’s a half ass painting/ not paying attention but more I posted the pic cause I wanna prove to my buddy Clint that I am in fact wearing a towel on my head because I am procrastinating going outside in the snow. It is very warm inside, just like it is in a uterus.
A good friend of mine is a pretty big fan of Tim Burton’s ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’. She asked me if I could paint her something for her newly decorated black & white bathroom and I said “why not?’ I immediately thought of that movie and imagined Jack Skellington sitting on a toilet which then converted his name in my mind to Jack Smellington. It made me giggle so I went with it! She purchased a 36″ x 24” canvas, I told her the colors I had in mind for an idea of what she was looking for and then marched to my art corner and had my way with the paint! I had in mind mixing Tim Burton’s style with a Claude Monet type brush style. The painting is about 60% finished, I am thinking of having his legs stick out of the outhouse because he is gigantic! & maybe Sally’s silhouette in there somewhere trying to get as far from the smell as possible. (hard to tell in the pic because it is a cell phone snapshot but Zero has a pin on his nose also). When this is finished (hopefully tonight) I will post a better resolution photo so detail will be visible. Woot!
This is what I have so far…
“I am the shadow on the moon at night / Filling your dreams to the brim with farts. “
Tis the season to be thoughtful. Sometimes when the holidays settle down and my brain has time to jump around through thoughts that have been pushed aside to allow the day-to-day actions to be completed & I always end up sailing deep into memory lane when I was in Uganda, Africa. To not turn this blog post into a large emotional journal entry, I will keep this simple. August-October 2010 I had a lot of money saved up from working. I refuse to use my money for pointless things that I really do not need so I decided to go to Africa. I applied to teach and live in Uganda for a month or so and I was accepted. I purchased my plane ticket and within a few months I was on a plane by myself going to a 3rd-world country where I knew not a soul. When I arrived I was escorted to a small village called Golomolo near Lake Victoria where I lived among 300 orphans in a hut without plumbing or furniture (you get used to it almost immediately). I taught art & science to the children and I fell in love with every single one of them. The emotions I experienced I can not describe in depth enough for people to understand what a beautiful experience it was, I have never cried so much in my life, and leaving was the hardest thing I ever had to accept. I write this today because I woke up today thinking about my time there and I started to tear, I really miss the connection to humanity I felt while I was in Africa.
Honestly, my first few nights in Uganda I cried almost every night. I felt guilty for taking advantage of so many things I had back home and how easy life was for me. I wanted to give every child that same life and so many times I wished to trade places. But the thing was, these children were as happy as could be! Happier than any kid I’ve ever seen in the States and then I thought “why would I want to take that away?” That is the beauty of culture. I admit, when I returned home I tried to work on some paintings I started in Africa but I got too emotional while trying to finish them so I have about 4 canvases that are not done and I wonder sometimes if maybe they are as complete as they will ever get. People ask me if I’d ever go back again and I reply, “If I could I’d be on a plane there right now to stay.”
If you’d like to see more pictures of this life-changing journey I’ve got more on Flickr
I know a collector of these Kidrobot Dunny Toys so for Christmas I decided to paint him a painting of him putting his South Park Dunnies on his shelf instead of actually adding to the collection. I also thought it would be funny to have a much larger Munny Toy standing boldly before the toys because the expressions on the South Park toys is “oh crap!” (a play off of Toy Story and every other movie where the toys come to life) I painted it on wood using Ink and Acrylics/ Wood Varnish.
Oh joy to the holidays and paintings of pets! Can never have enough paintings of pets. Actually, that is a lie. There needs to be a limit between pet portraits and pet photos on fridge magnets. I think I saw more pet photos in tree ornaments this year than I saw of family! Though honestly, I must admit, a border collie with a ball in its mouth is so much cuter to look at than grandma sitting in a recliner reading the newest ‘Readers Digest’ still squinting even though the font size is already 30pts.
Alas, to add to the collection of cheesy pet portraits, meet Willow the amazingly nervous Italian Greyhound:
Hope you all are having a great holiday so far! Keeping it safe and drinking all of the wine you received as a filler gift! I know that is going to be my activity until New Years!
I am not dreaming of a “White Christmas” but the holidays always makes me think of snow. I am ready for that first snowfall, and I know once it comes I will be ready for the last one as well! Due to my over-load of Christmas gifts to make this year I was unable to make the 2011 Hello! Snowman series, but, still I think all snowmen are awesome! Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!
In contrast to the very joyous holidays, I still find Hellboy, as hellish as he is to be part of the Christmas spirit. Hellboy “Red” is a super cheesy comic book character but he’s got a charm about him that keeps me hanging on. Think about it, him and Jesus pretty much do the same thing, he protects our species with his passion and bad ass strength (and also a key to the dark universe that tries to destroy us #his arm). I give to you baby Jesus’s comic book companion “Hellbaby” He is so awesome he doesn’t need no darn shepherd!
This one is simple. It went like this *phone rings* It is someone I know so I answer* “Hey what’s up sweet thang!?, Yeah… I remember you’re doing that…. wait STAR WARS?!? SEX?!?…you need a Star Wars Sex Themed piece of art by when!? A few days? Okay sure, do, let me see what I can create. Yes, hmmm. p.s. I love you”
Pen & Ink over photograph 11″ x 14″
This one followed shortly after just for fun one day. Sexy Android Love:
On rainy days, my favorite thing to do besides pucker up & get kisses from my honey, is to put on some of my favorite tunes and just doodle. I never know what will come out of it when I start, but somehow my brain will focus on a certain verse or line in a song and it will entitle my pen to just make that lyric come to life, and by life I mean become a physical vision. Music is pretty much my lifelong friend, the truth behind all of my honesty & my inspiration for every step I take in life. So before this turns into a shitty Live Journal entry let me stop now and just post what the heck I’m blabbing about! These are from 2009. Pen and Marker over images manipulated in Photoshop.
