I am currently working on a new series of paintings based on my Inkpad vector drawings. I am using a technique where I use a special transfer paper to adhere the image to a board and then I am painting over the image using acrylic paint. I am using Golden’s acrylic gold in the series to give the paintings the feeling of a Russia icon. I love the surface that I am able to achieve using the acrylic on the board.

This is a portrait of Elizabeth for Julia Kay’s Portrait Party. I decided to keep it simple and just use Inkpad on the iPad. I have been looking at some of Alex Katz‘ portraits recently and was influenced by his very graphic style.

This is a portrait of Illustra for Julia Kay’s Portrait Party. I started with a vector drawing using the Inkpad app. I used the Percolator app to create the circles and Picgrunger to create the texture. Finally I imported all the different versions into Sketchbook Pro to create a digital collage.

Nubby Twiglet (Aka Shauna Haider) is one of my favorite bloggers who I have been following for a couple of years now. I discovered her through Gala Darling’s blog and also saw that she had designed the websites for both Dr. Sketchy’s and Molly Crabapple. I wrote a short blog post about her here back in 2011. Nubby Twiglet is, among other things, a blogger, graphic designer and an artist. I read her blog several times a week because it always touches upon subjects that I am really interested in. I also love seeing her “What I Wore Today” posts and how she puts her outfits together. She has a very graphic way of dressing and when I go out shopping I am always looking for clothes or jewelry inspired by her looks.

Nubby is also one of the Head Mistresses of The Blogcademy, a two day blogging workshop that has been held all over the world. Along with Gala Darling and Kat Williams, Nubby brings her extensive knowledge of blogging and branding to the course. The Blogcademy is coming to NYC this summer and I need to be there! They are awarding one scholarship for each city so I am working on my “Get me to Blogcademy” campaign. Wish me luck!

About a week a go I posted some of the photos from the Dr. Sketchy NJ session featuring the wonderful White Elephant Burlesque Society. These are just a few of the drawings from the session. All of the performers modeled alone or together at some point in the 3 hour session, creating some vibrant narratives that also had a sense of mystery. I am continuing to create digital collages with the photos and would like to eventually print them on canvas to create a series.

This is a portrait of Marga for Julia Kay’s Portrait Party. I used the Inkpad Vector drawing app on my iPad mini. For this portrait I wanted to focus on the drawing and keep it a little bit minimalistic. I wanted to experiment with using the lines at varying thicknesses. The great thing about drawing with Inkpad is that you can easily change the thickness of the line and the transparency. I was thinking of Matisse’s line drawings while I was working on this. I will probably do a color version of this portrait using this drawing as the “skeleton”.

Last weekend I was really fortunate to attend the Kickstarter backer opening for Molly Crabapple’s Shell Game Exhibit in NYC. The exhibit was successfully funded through Kickstarter last year, and as one of the backers I was able to see updates of the artwork as they progressed. It was amazing to see all the completed paintings hanging in the gallery along with the watercolor studies. The paintings were very detailed and had beautifully painted surfaces. You can read more about the exhibit and its origins in this Rolling Stone article.

The opening had a performance by Kim Boekbinder (who has also successfully Kickstarted a concert tour). It also featured Stoya in a bath tub bathing in Molly’s one million dollar bills.

It is really exciting to see how Molly Crabapple is using Kickstarter to change the way artists are interacting with their audience and working outside of the gallery system. I’m really looking forward to seeing what she does next.

Last week I went to Dr. Sketchy NJ’s Super Romantic Drawing Session featuring the White Elephant Burlesque Society. Viktor Devonne, Holly Ween, Regina Stargazer and Esmerelda May took some amazing poses during the three hour session. In addition to drawing I took photos using my Hipstamatic app on my IPad mini. I used the Tinto 1884 lens and C-type plate film to give the pictures an aged, tintype feel. I will be using the photos to create some digital collages.

This is a portrait of Gala Darling for my Awesome April Project. I have been following Gala Darling’s blog since 2010 and have found a lot of inspiration from her writing. This is my third portrait of Gala and you can see the older portraits here and here.

I love Gala’s fashion sense! She was one of the first beauty bloggers that I have followed who I actually could relate to what she wore. She also writes about her travels and she always finds the fun and magical aspects of each city she visits! I have been to New York City many times but Gala always finds different landmarks or restaurants and makes them seem new and exciting.

Gala is also one of the “Head Mistresses” of the Blogcademy. Along with Nubby Twiglet and Kat Williams, these wonderfully creative women have been bringing their knowledge of blogging to different cities around the world. They are coming back to New York in June and I have to be there! For each city they are offering one scholarship for the workshop so in conjunction with my Awesome April Project I am working on a Get Me To the Blogcademy project. I will be making portraits of each of the HeadMistresses and I am contemplating making a video. So wish me luck and check back for more portraits!