Cousins!

Cousins!
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez

Via Flickr:
Snagged this pic from my sister. These are my sisters, cousins' kids. Love seeing pictures like this. Family is important and I have to be reminded sometimes.

Moleskine Down!

Closeup of the character.
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez

Last page of my moleskine. First time finishing one. Before I would get frustrated and not finish a sketch book. Feels good. Tomorrow I start a new one.

More happy trees.

More happy trees.
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez

Sketching and thinking. All gravy.

Watercolor Brandy

Watercolor you win tonight. Tomorrow I go back to monotone. That's more my style.
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez

Watercolor you win tonight. Tomorrow I go back to monotone. That's more my style.

Watercolor Man

Watercolor Man
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez

Via Flickr:
Watercolor is no joke. Tough stuff.

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Bridge Over Troubled Water
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez

Via Flickr:
Think I'm done. So this was a personal project. I am a fan of Simon and Garfunkel. Oddly enough this isn't a favorite song, I just like the way it flows and this is the image that popped into my head. I gave myself a few guidelines to adhere to when starting this project. I wanted to minimize my color palette. Use about 5 colors in various shades and use the tools within the program to manipulate and get more variation. And I wanted to use my own lettering, no fonts. I may tweak the colors but I am overall happy with the final product.

Dug WIP

Dug WIP
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez

This little fella finally got some attention. There is a Roos under there believe it or not.

My Hand Might Fall off

Sanded, one or two trouble spots but not too bad. Tomorrow, color!
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez

Sanded, one or two trouble spots but not too bad. Tomorrow, color!

WIP

WIP
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez

The end is near. Almost done with a very fun but time consuming personal project. trying to push my boundaries and create some text based illustration.

One more WIP

Hopefully I will be done tomorrow because I need to get working on other things.
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez

Hopefully I will be done tomorrow because I need to get working on other things.

Wip Water

Wip Water
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez

Lines are done. Color time.

Thinking Is Overrated

I have been thinking about things a lot lately and a conversation today really brought it into focus. I decided to write this blog and post it so that I can go back and read it and remind myself when I forget. This post is very personal and frank. I do not generally partake in over-sharing so please bear with me.

I gave up drawing years ago and focused on being an adult. This is how I was raised. I would sketch here and there but I got worse as time went and it got to the point where I stopped all together. Then, a few years ago, I decided to refocus on art and that part of myself. From that point on, I have been working on making art part of my life again. It has been a long process and I have had to push myself to share my work good or bad. I work, I take classes, and I stay up late tinkering with ideas, customs, and other interests.

As time has passed I have found it frustrating and somewhat disheartening that some fail to see the value in what I do. When I talk about my work and my art a glazed look is not far off. I have learned that their ideas of success and failure are much different from my own. They do not understand me or my desire to create. And I guess to certain extent I don't understand them either.

Truthfully, I may never be successful, personally or professionally. I may always struggle with meeting new people and I may never have much of a career as a Graphic Designer. (Lord knows I have taken the very long road). But I will continue to work and draw until I wake up and find that I don't want to do it anymore.

I just want to know that I tried. That I worked hard and did all that I could. I think about this everyday. Caution has been so deeply ingrained in me that I find it hard to try new things. With every step I take, I often take two steps back. I, like my artwork, am a work in progress. I'm not afraid of failure. But the idea of never trying scares the crap of me.

Don Draper Sketch

Don Draper Sketch
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez

I am addicted to all thing Mad Men.

Continued Progress

Not sure where I'm going with the hands.
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez

Not sure where I'm going with the hands.

My Inability To Concentrate Continues...

And a little pencil and paper to round off the night.
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez

And a little pencil and paper to round off the night. My mind is all over the place. But this calms me down and is the perfect wind down for the evening.

Sketching

Sketching
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez

More digital sketching. Practice practice practice.

Playing with After Effects

Practicing and trying to learn new stuff.

Meth And Hot Dogs 2 Show

Meth And Hot Dogs 2 Show, a set on Flickr.

Here are my customs for the Meth & Hot Dogs 2 show. Not sure why but I was feeling the whole fighter warrior thing this go 'round. Really wanted to paint them monochromatic but stay away from full on white. Kept it in the gray and black tones. And of course a splash of color.

I chose a Sumo Wrestler and a Boxer because I wanted to make completely different characters that still were similar thematically. The body types, clothing and dress are polar opposites but they both have honor and train hard. Had fun making the muscles and hair, but they were challenge, and maybe not so perfect but fun to do.

Via Flickr:
These are the customs I did for the show.

Lift Designer Toys & Gallery
228 W. 4th Street
Royal Oak, MI

www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=173017556083476

FINISHED

Meth & Hot Dogs 2: A Collection of Even MORE Unscrupulous Characters

Saturday, April 30th | 7-10pm
LiFT Designer Toys & Gallery
228 W. 4th St. Royal Oak, MI

Finished my customs for the Meth & Hot Dogs 2 show at Lift Gallery. Some awesome artists will be participating and I am happy to be one of them. Be sure to check out the other artists. I will have more pictures closer to the show, but I cant help myself have to share a little bit :)

Just Keep Sculpting!

Working on customs for a show I am in. Working on my mini six piece series. Busy time. Here is a work in progress so far. I promise my next update will be more informative and stuff.

Painting. Finally.

Quick peek at my painting. More info coming soon.

New Month, New Stuff

Already March and things are progressing, and yet not. I have not worked on my series yet. My testing phase is becoming too fun apparently. Things got really busy with a client, my classes, and of course work so not much happened with some of the tests. However, I am hoping to finish working on the new "hair" dunny I was working on, start my series and continue casting resin.

What? Did I just say casting resin. Why, yes. Yes I did. I am currently involved in a Hand Made Toy Swap on Show Me Your Vinyl. If you are asking me what that is then we need to talk. Have a seat, make a cocktail, or a stiff cup of coffee. Show me Your Vinyl is a Facebook, Twitter, Rotocasted hybrid thing-a-ma-bob. It is a site where toy people go to chit chat, show off toy collections, customs and the like. It is relatively new and still growing. So I joined this group that was asking us toy customizers to see if they wanted to make a completely original toy out of any media and participate in a toy swap. I decided to do it and here we are. I made a figure. I made a mold. I cast Resin. I also splashed it in my face, which I do not recommend. Here are some progress pics.

Sculpey Figure

Here is a test pull. Kinda rough. Thinking of redoing the mold.




Next blog I will show the first attempts gone wrong. At one point I only poured the head. This is not the easiest thing, don't judge me. Of course I decided to do a Yeti. A Yeti Mini. He stands 2.5" tall approximately. All kinds of cute. So I am thinking of making the Swap one with a super custom paint job, then making a few more with standard paint jobs and selling them in my store. I want the recipient of my swap version to have a unique piece but I can't make just one. HE IS REALLY CUTE. That might just be me that thinks that but it's like being a parent. You love your ugly baby.

Life and Stuff

So I have been trying to keep busy and maintain a balance between all of my interests. Not an easy feat by any means. So the quick rundown. I am taking an Animation workshop. Really helps me focus and hopefully finish a few animations that I have been doing the Pre-production on. Not easy when you have the focus of a gnat. So, the first exercise was working on a cycle. Standard stuff but it is always good to exercise that part of my brain.

Ball Cycle from Vanessa Ramirez on Vimeo.

Next I am trying to beef up my After Effects Muscles by doing tutorials and just trying to do small mini practice videos. I am shooting for weekly. Si se puede!!

After Effects Text Masking from Vanessa Ramirez on Vimeo.

Not exactly groundbreaking but you have to crawl before you steal the fast car. Baby steps people, baby steps.

On the toy front, I am also in a testing phase. I have been trying my hand at different platforms and playing with my sculpting tools. All fun. There is much merriment. Also I am hoping in the next week or two to start my series. Small 5pc first to see if anyone actually wants to buy my stuff. Hey, a girl can dream. So, here is a picture of my latest attempt at a dunny.

Crappy cell phone pictures but hey he has cool hair. Can you guess who he is going to be? Let me know because I have no idea. Well I have an idea, but just the one.

And as for my previous post. My Green Succubus Madl custom is still available and Spankystokes.com was kind enough to write up a post for it here. Check out the link and definitely check out Spankystokes.com it is a good blog all about toys, cool art, and very talented artists.

Hello eCommerce...Lets Do Lunch

So I have been toying with the idea of selling customs online and now I am gonna give a shot. So here are some lovely product photos and here is the link to my store.

vanessaramirez.bigcartel.com

My New Year So Far

So it is two weeks deep and hey the year is pretty sweet. Sold my custom for the Almighty Dunny Show. Finished the catalog I was working on (finally). And I invented a way to make gold... Ok that last one is pure fabrication, but hey two outta three ain't bad. That last one would have been great...hmm. Well no use crying over spilt milk. Anyway, I feel the creative juices flowing and I am developing ideas.

This year I want to try new things so I will be working on a custom series this year. and the blanks have arrived! Still working out the details but I hope to start work on these bad boys in the next week or so. I have only been customizing for a year so I may be biting off a bit more than I can chew, but hey you can't succeed if you don't fail. Any who, for anyone interested, I will be posting progress pics on twitter and flickr. Should be fun :)


The troops have arrived. It's almost go time.

New Year

I was very excited for the new year last year, and I had very positive outlook. Thankfully I can say that it was truly a great year. By no means was it perfect mind you. I had bad days for sure. Hell I even had a few bad weeks. There was stress and unhappiness like any other year. But there was also progress.

This past year saw me participate in my first art show. I had the opportunity to participate in a few custom toy shows as well. I started working and developing my animations. And I continued to work towards my career goals. And very unexpectedly I found myself reaching out for help and getting a lot of helpful feedback and how to's from people in my career path and in my toy universe.

Before New Year's Day I was also given a lot of great advice and I intend to put it to practice as I tear the shrink wrap off of this brand spankin' new year. I am not necessarily making resolutions, but I am setting goals for myself.

My 2011 goals are simple but they are resolute.

I will continue to work harder, and try to work smarter :)
I will continue to work towards participating in more custom shows and embrace more opportunities (here's to hoping they embrace me back)
I will continue to work towards strengthening and pushing my style as I work towards get into a gallery show or two.
I will continue to push myself and my animations and hopefully make more steps in that direction.
I will take better care of myself so I can abuse myself with lack of sleep when I need to.
And I will try new things regularly.

I know no man (or woman in my case) is promised tomorrow but if I get all 365 days the next year I am going to make it better. More animations, more customs, more painting, more drawing, and above all more growth as an artist. So Cheers to another year. May it be prosperous and filled with some truly awesome moments.

Let's do this.

V

Busy Busy

I have been crazy busy working on some animation projects. Here is my latest that will be in the Crossfade Student FIlm Festival

Hope you like it.

Series Of Unfortunate Missteps from Vanessa Ramirez on Vimeo.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love thanksgiving. Strike that. I love the day after Thanksgiving. I love the crazy late night early morning shopping. I love the miserable waiting in line but exciting planning. I enjoy assembling our crackpot strike team for shopping. We have fun, laugh, and ultimately eat a big breakfast. And after everyone gets some sleep, we meet up again and eat my moms turkey tacos. This is my tradition.

This may seem like an odd way to spend the holiday but what I have learned is that life changes very quickly and often without notice. So stop look around and see all you have to be thankful for today, tomorrow do what makes you happy. I know I will be freezing my butt off, standing in long lines, and exhausted. But hot damn I will laugh and life will be good.

Happy Thankgiving!

SWEET + EVIL Art Show Mummy

This custom was made for the SWEET + EVIL Art Show. The blank was a new form called Deego. The show was in honor of the App release for Agimat Inc game E-Ville available in the iTunes App Store. I was one of a few handful of artist that created customs to represent their character but in our own style. I was really trying something different with this custom. Every one I do I try to do something different, and hopefully get better. Hope you like him.

This fella will also be on display at Designer Con.


Pictures are available via my Flickr.

Milk Munny Show to Benefit Breast Cancer

I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in this charity event. All the info and links to photos is below. I really enjoyed making this piece and was for a great cause.


Here is a peek







MILK MUNNY - A CUSTOM VINYL TOY EXHIBIT TO RAISE BREAST CANCER AWARENESS

www.milkmunny.org/

Will be held:

October 1 at 7:00pm - October 3 at 8:00pm

Monorchid Gallery
214 East Roosevelt Street Phoenix
AZ 85004-1951

Insomnia

Been a weird couple of weeks. Not sleeping much and it is screwing with my productivity, tried going to sleep early and i fell asleep and woke up an hour or so later and couldn't go back to sleep. I'm averaging 2-3 hours a night. Not always pleasant.

On the other hand I have been invited to submit a piece for a charity event. This is awesome and for a really great cause. I will post more once the piece is done. This one has been hard to start. I wanted to do a really cool piece but my creativity is a little off right now. Probably lack of sleep.

Also my temporary Squarespace site is up and other than a few frustrating moments, has been pretty cool. It allows you to manage your stats and that is super awesome. if I can find a happy medium I may continue to use it even after I do a rebuild.

In other news, I am working on treatments for story ideas and hope to start some story boarding. I don,t really want to think about character development but it is a necessary evil.

Spanky Stokes Custom Celsius Show

The voting for This custom show is now open. I submitted a custom to this contest and would greatly appreciate all your support. So please head over and vote for my piece. Voting is open until Friday. Vote here.

I've Been Blogged

So the oh so nice Mathias Bax was kind enough to post a blog on the Toy Architects Urban Hamster blog featuring the rat custom I did using their Urban Hamster resin figure. So a big thank you to Mathias. Go get your own Urban Hamsters here they are a great addition to any collection. And you can read the post about yours truly here.

New Custom

Soooo. I decided to enter a contest on SpankyStokes.com I guess voting starts soon. for now here is a quick peek at my entry.





I had some serious issues making this bad boy, but I think it came out pretty good. I will post when voting starts with full images and a link.

Experimental Animation

Experimental Animation
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez

Here is a compilation of videos I put together of various projects I did. Realy enjoyed learning this process. Stop motion definitely helped me to think differently about the way objects and people move. Very cool process.

Teaser

I have finished an 8" custom Munny that will be features in a charity event. It will be taking place on October 1st. Here is a high resolution sneak. I call her Succubus. Snap!

WIP Custom 8" Munny

So I have been working on a custom for a charity event I an lucky enough to be involved in. I am loving the hair but I do think it need some finessing. Here is a crappy iPhone pic for now.

A Little Something

Oh and here is a little something I am working on.

Decisions.

Having a hard time making decisions. What seems clear one day is completely impossible the next. Guess I'm a little nutty. I'm working on it though so at least i'm not too stagnant.

I am trying to finish up this custom I'm working on. Unfortunately, the arrival of my Wacom tablet has me distracted. I will continue tomorrow and it is my plan to finish it in the next few days. At least be finishing up this weekend. I do love how it is turning out but it still needs work. In addition I need to work on my animation too. I have a few ideas and I have been trying to focus and develop the idea. I want to have a sketch reel done by next weekend, so I can start the character development. Not sure how far I will get.

in addition to my other aspirations I am trying to develop my digital illustration skills both in vector and rasterized formats. it has been a struggle to balance everything, but that is how it goes. I have also been trying to paint but that is going to have to take a back burner to everything else I am doing right now. Wish me luck. I need it.... actually wish me the ability to focus.

I find music helps me to get out of my funks and focus so thought I should share what is stuck in my head right now.

Jack Johnson "All At Once"

All at once
The world
Can overwhelm me
Theres almost nothin'
That you could tell me
That could ease my mind

Which way will you run
When it's always
All around you
And the feelin' lost
And found you again
A feelin'
That we have no control
Around a song
Some say
There's gonna be
The new hell
Some say
It's still
Too early to tell
Some say
It really
Ain't no myth at all

I love my Toys

After I bought bossy bear and started posting pictures of him looking at me, I decided to look for some of the other Uglydoll toys. I got a small Wage and Ox and finally got a large Babo, and I love him. Unfortunately his previous owner was a smoker so he smells to all hell. So I have aired him out and he smells less gross. And in turn I have been dressing him and taking pictures. The funny thing is these Uglydoll action figures are so full of life that I can't help it. It was with my cell phone so the pics aren't the greatest, but they crack me up. So here are a few of the pictures I have taken recently and might have to post here occasionally for the whole zero readers I have.



Babo stole the t-shirt off of my coworkers Teddy bear. Oops.

Babo got into my snack drawer at work. Eww. (as aforementioned he smells and he has been wearing that robe for a week)

Babo woke up around 2pm and decided it was coffee time...and helped himself to my coffeemaker.

Sad Day....

Today my cousin Victor Ortega Jr would have been 28 years old. He unfortunately passed away very young at the age of 19. Even after almost nine years he has been gone, it still gets me sometimes and this year was no different. I miss him and I just wanted to acknowledge him. I made a small film for him in 2004, before I really knew what I was doing, but it is a nice nod to him. Love you Vic. Miss you.

Rockers!

Was watching old videos and listening to old Atreyu CDs today so thought I'd do a quick sketch of a rocker.

NEW TOY!

Ok I have gotten a couple of rad toys but this is in reference to my new Wacom tablet. Intuos 4 wireless and sexy as hell. it is so awesome. So I have been trying out the features and trying my hand at digital sketching. I am still working on painting and customizing toys because I am a damn nerd that way. I do have to finish a piece I am doing for a charity show. Great opportunity and great cause. I will post more info once I have it.

So here are the better sketches. Hey I never said I knew what I was doing. I suck at color. I tend to be monochromatic but I figure I should change it up.

And Time Marches on... and so does Mr T

So I decided to submit a custom munny for the Munny Month Contest so if you get a chance please vote for my custom which is a Mr T. More images of Mr T can be found my Flickr Feed. Not too much goin on here. Just got back from a mini vacation in Hawaii, realized I suck at vacationing. And now I am just trying to keep drawing painting and working.

Long live MR T!!!