What I’ve Been Up To So Far This Year
One of my resolutions this year was to make more effort with my art. Last year it slipped a little due to some big life stuff… who knew that moving to another country would take such effort?? But now I’m settled in I can devote more time to making some interesting art.
So here’s what I’ve been up to so far this year.
Firstly, Barbie and Ken.
I really liked the movie, and wanted to make something related. The mugshot scene seemed perfect, so I went for it and decided to use a colour palette reflecting their outfits. I love how these pop, and they make for great companion pieces. I originally made the Barbie one last year but ran out of the colours I needed to make Ken, so I was only able to complete the set in January. Luckily my roommate is a collector of Barbie dolls and was kind enough to let me borrow one to show scale :-)
Something else I made before Christmas was this Princess Mononoke artwork:
This was a commission for a birthday gift, so I didn’t share the art until it had been gifted in January.
Something I wasn’t sure whether to make was this big (50x50cm) Spider-Man art from an old Gameboy game.
I was originally concerned it wouldn’t look right in the colour palette I wanted to use (the same I have been using for all my recent Gameboy art), but in the end I just went for it, and I’m glad I did. You can see the original greyscale version above, and I love how the new colour scheme gives it some life. It definitely stands out, even on a busy wall full of frames.
Speaking of Gameboy art, I added another to my collection of 25x25cm scenes: Double Dragon!
It’s already been added to my store, with more games to follow. I have a big list, including Kirby, Donkey Kong, Wario, Robocop, Bubble Bobble and many more… The Gameboy library was prolific!
I was messing around with the palette and came up with another cool design:
I love how stylised and “pop art” this one is. Again, it jumps out from the wall, even if you’re on the other side of the room.
Another piece I made was inspired by one of my favourite movies, Scott Pilgrim Vs The World. The new anime show got me in the mood for it, and I decided to make the iconic Pac-Man scene:
This was as small as I could make this one while also retaining some detail and realism. This one looks good in a 50x70cm frame I think. I have since made more abstract versions of this scene and made them available in T-Shirt form, but I could be tempted to bead them too.
Still on the Gameboy vibe, I couldn’t resist making something out of Chun-Li’s victory screen from Street Fighter II:
I love the font in these colours, and I stand by what I’ve previously said about the artwork in this game being outstanding, considering the limitations of the hardware.
I also messed around and made a Pamela Anderson pic from Barb Wire, because why not? Then I also designed a cool sticker of her, again just because I can.
This has been an epic blog post but I’ve got one more thing to show you. My last blog was bout NBA Jam on the Gameboy… well I went and made one of my designs out of beads. I went for the Chicago Bulls design, in team colours, and I think it turned out pretty decent!
My next goal is to figure out how to get my art on display somewhere!