Every year I am inspired to create during the month of October because that is when Inktober happens! Artists from around the world hashtag their work to practice, engage, and inspire using ink as the main medium.
This year I chose witches as my theme. All sorts of witches. I'm listing my creations this month in my Etsy shop. In celebration of Halloween, I am offering 40% for email subscribers! I hope you enjoy, and have a safe candy eating, horror movie watching, costume dressing day!
I don't really know when the first time I saw Labyrinth was. It released in 1986 and I was 4 years old at the time, but it must've been some years later when our family could afford a VCR that I was able to watch it. For some reason I remember thinking these movies had always existed and that my mom must've grown up on them, because she spoke as if she knew what was happening. I can only assume she pre-screened the movies before showing them to me and MAYBE she saw them in the theater.
All I really know is that since I did see it, it's stayed with me, along with many fantasy movies at the time. They are part of what made me want to be an artist, why I was reluctant but excited to play D&D in college, and why for many years I was in my own bubble of magic and glitter. There are few movies that are cut from this cloth, and I can't imagine them not being burned into my psyche.
Thanks for sticking around and checking out my progress on this project! In case you missed it I have a video playlist you can watch of all the faces I've painted so far. I'll keep adding to this playlist as they're done till I get 31 total!
In the last post I gave you some of the work in progress photos from face #s 12-18 I think. So here are some photos up to #23. This includes the last Studio Ghibli face: Yubaba, and The Dark Crystal faces of Skeksis, Podling, Aughra, and Kira!
Yubaba from Spirited Away in watercolor by Johnny Perez
I asked in the previous post to vote on the last set of 4 faces, or give me something better! I'm leaning toward Lord of the Rings, but Game of Thrones would be a hot topic. So I'll still be taking your suggestions in the comments, so let me know!
I've been making some headway into my 31 Days of Watercolor featuring fantasy faces from mythology to movies. If you're a sucker for seeing the art process, check out this playlist of videos that I've compiled. I initially started this project with a contest in mind, but then I thought the contest had been deleted, I couldn't find it for a while, and then before I knew it, I was behind, and the contest winners were announced. :-/ I mean I got some entries in in the beginning but still, it was disappointing. But I don't want to dwell on that, instead I'm just gonna finish the challenge. SO 31 tiny portraits of fantasy characters are still in the works, I think I'm at 23 now?
WIP drawing of "Howl" by Johnny Perez
So I wanted to get ahead for a moment so I thought I'd just do well-known characters instead of making them up like when I started. That way I didn't have to spend so much time thinking of something. It helped and it hurt. LOL! These characters are some of my favorites so I wanted to do them justice, so while I was just playing and experimenting more with my own characters, I was now spending this "extra" time with details and trying to get a good likeness done. All in all I'd have to say I love doing them though, because I love having this type of fanart added to my repertoire (fancy), and I like knowing that I'm working (even for myself) on a franchise I love!
WIP Harry Potter group set by Johnny Perez
And hey who knows if I get lucky and someone from these franchises sees my work and asks me to work on them for real?! *Mindblown* SO far I've done:
Detail of "Fool" - Watercolor, Ink - by Johnny Perez, 2007
We hear it all our lives as young artists...
Don't be an artist! You'll starve! You'll be poor! You'll never make it, it's too competitive!
I mean its not entirely wrong, but starting out is hard for most people, and giving up too early is a common thing. I was lucky to have an encouraging family, and the fact that I grew up poor most of my life somehow made it ok or rather doable to live with no money. So if I wanted to pursue a career with no money but I was happy, then I was confident I could still live, even if it was on nothing. It really comes down to a matter of perspective for me.
I want to be real for a moment to say that I'm not some crazy successful artist, but neither do I consider myself less of an artist because I'm not "known." I don't pretend to be more than I am, but I do choose to look at the bright side. I do choose to think of myself as capable. And I choose to define success as a never ending goal to better myself. In that regard it is hard to lose. I am faced with the same challenges as most in the world, there is always someone out there better than you, and there is always someone out there more successful than you. So what? Am I just supposed to quit?
Blick Art Materials announced a daily watercolor art challenge for the month of July, and I had to jump on board! I like daily challenges because they force me to keep with art making when life gets in the way. I may lag behind a day or two but I'm quick to catch up and keep playing.
There was no specific theme so I decided I would do fantasy faces. I'm looking into classic fairy tales, and spinning some other familiar concepts. I'm hoping to end up with a wide range color and ideas for future paintings. To make it simple I'm keeping these small. On top of that I have to fight the daylight for attention, since I don't like to use my regular desk lamps, but I will if I have too.
Chalchiutlicue - Watercolor, Ink - 9 in x 6 in - Johnny Perez
What happens when you dive into the rabbit's hole? You discover a massive fountain of potential inspiration perhaps? I've been into mythology since I can remember going to the library, I mean its the closest thing to fantasy in the real world. Ancient cultures sacrificed lives for these beings, and whatever your beliefs, the pantheon of gods in any religion was as real as night and day.
That being said, I had only ever paid attention to the Greek pantheon because that was the only book our small library had. The internet was *gasp* not a thing in my grade school years. But lets face it, I feel robbed. I mean I knew of ancient cultures but where was the WEALTH of stories and information that seemed to be in abundance in the Greek mythos. I was neck-deep in Xena: The Warrior Princess, and even comic books made reference to these gods. That was all fine and well, but here I am thirthy-*ahem* years old and I'm just now learning of my own cultural roots!
Which brings me to my painting of Chalchiutlicue. I've had an affinity for water since forever, and mermaids rank top of the list of favorite things to illustrate. In recent years I've heard many references to African gods, more specificially Orishas. I'm not near as educated in cultures of the world as I'd like, but it seemed odd to me that I'd hear this word so often in everyday conversations and in popular media. Yes I love black culture including music and television, so this could be why. But even when I was listening to Spanish music all day long and trying to practice my Spanish by watching novelas on Univision, I never heard any reference to anything other than Catholicism or namely La Virgen. Of course I come to expect this from the deeply rooted seed of religion in Mexican culture. Maybe its because I didn't grow up in Mexico, but even then, there's a passing knowledge of the pantheon, but there's no reference in popular media or entertainment. I don't know, am I not really paying attention?
I traveled to my hometown to visit my family and do a little celebrating of Memorial Day. I don't celebrate it regularly, but its hard not to when you're with family and surroundings you used to know. Of course I took the beaux out to see the local cemetery. Not surprised to see quite a few confederate flags there in a small row of small graves. I'm from a small town! The cemetery was big and full of 100s of tombstones and these (possibly racists and/or misguided) were only a small part.
Speaking of small, I found out yesterday that where I grew up is considered a ghost town! I thought it was pretty cool. I lived in this small town called Odell for many years off and on. I visited there a couple of years ago to get pictures of the old houses I used to live in, but they were all gone, except for two. I lived in about 7 houses in the area and the 2 that remain are still inhabited, so I didn't wanna look like a weirdo in their front yard. Anyway, a ghost town indeed!
I enjoyed living there as a kid, playing with the neighborhood kids and running the streets with hardly a car in sight all day. Then we would run up to the local grocery store, Cooper Grocery run by Leoda, a little old lady who'd lived out there for years. She looked perpetually grumpy, and the store was always warm, but we loved it. The store has been made into something of a museum since her passing, and next door the old Post Office is now a small recording studio with a stage outside. I heard they do "Odell Days" art and music festival, but I haven't heard if it still continues.
Its funny to think there are parts of Vernon I have never seen, but going to explore it as an adult has proved fun on many occasions. Things are changing here and there and some things never do.
Pens can be something of a guilty pleasure for me. Especially GellyRoll pens because they come in so many colors and versions like metallic and glitter. I paint more than I draw so the necessity of all the pens I have is what makes me feel guilty. This somewhat prompted me to practice my drawing skills and make some art with them.
Recently I made some very colorful small drawings on dark slate grey cardstock that is perfect for the bright colors to be shown off. I sold more than a few of these so I'd say it was a success. Here are a few of them!
This one's a modge podge, a tit for tat, some bric-a-brac, a sampling if you will, of a day in this artist's life. And a bit of my artist boyfriend's life. I'd be content to stay in and play video games all day between art-making, but it I have to say that recording this series gives me some other things to look forward to and share. There's nothing all that glamorous about an artist's life, perhaps not in the beginning, or middle. It's just a lot of work and staying afloat and just trying to live.
Perhaps later there's some glamour, but I'm definitely not there yet! See my previous post about answering questions from an artist. Anyway the main idea here is to give you a slice of life. Yes I like to art it up, but I also like to watch TV, and go to graveyards.. eehh well accompany my man to graveyards (he's one of those gothics) lol. It makes me a bit nervous to be honest, but there's something there besides the spookiness and threat of a Victorian haunting.
And I threw in a bit of Food Network to boot! Check it out. And oh! If you have some good recipes or copies of restaurant recipes let me know! I'm a foodie too. :D
