Watercolor you win tonight. Tomorrow I go back to monotone. That's more my style.
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Watercolor Brandy
Watercolor you win tonight. Tomorrow I go back to monotone. That's more my style.
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Bridge Over Troubled Water
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.
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.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Dug WIP
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
WIP
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.
Monday, August 08, 2011
One more WIP
Hopefully I will be done tomorrow because I need to get working on other things.
Originally uploaded by Vanessa_Ramirez
Saturday, August 06, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
My Inability To Concentrate Continues...
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.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
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
Thursday, April 14, 2011
FINISHED
Meth & Hot Dogs 2: A Collection of Even MORE Unscrupulous Characters
Saturday, April 30th | 7-10pmLiFT 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 :)
Thursday, March 31, 2011
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.
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
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.
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.
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.
Monday, February 21, 2011
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.
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