kelley bo belley's blog

WANTED: a Few Good Men (ah ha ha ha!)

2011-06-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

I may have mentioned this before, but I tend to get a bigger kick out of my own work than most people. Isn't he just the cutest cowboy you ever done seen?

This was originally just a pencil sketch I had started in my watercolor moly. I ended up taking it into photoshop and digitally coloring him in and adding real denim, plaid, and leather for his shirt, shoes and boots!

Whattya think?

***I apologize for the small picture, Blogger is pissing me off and I can't seem to re-size him without distorting the image. This isn't my first time with computers, lol, I shouldn't be having this problem. I'll keep you posted if I figure it out. In the mean time, sit real close to your screen and get out your magnifying glass!***

Of course as soon as I posted and uploaded the image for the fifth consecutive time the damn thing worked properly....maybe it is me, LOL!!

As Homer would say: DOH!

2011-06-28T13:57:00.001-07:00

Holy Jeebus, it's been ages since I've updated this blog! I have no excuses for my sorry behavior other than I was busy and then lazy, in that order.

It's not like I wasn't creating art or designing new things, I even took pictures of everything I was working on! So why then is the blog not getting updated? There is absolutely no good excuse for it, I apologize.

*hangs head in shame*

So here's a teenie-weenie preview of the things that have been taking up my time lately. This is in no way complete. But I've got to save some stuff for future updates, right? More news soon to come, I promise :D

So what are you looking at exactly? My Etsy store logo, a new business card design, new promo postcards, a few teensy looks at pages from my children's book that is four years in the making as well as some just for fun sketch book pages. Okay, comment away, let the threats begin for deserting you all for so long.

I'm not dead, I promise....

2010-10-05T09:55:00.000-07:00

I just totally forget to take pictures when a project is completed and then it's two months later and I realize like a total dumbass that I have neglected my blog all over again. So sorry...so here they are...a few of things I've been up to lately.Above is another entry in my Alice book. My original group fell apart, there were only two of "reliables" left so we decided to search for new groups...this one is currently off on another round now.

Below is a present for my Dad. His birthday was in September and let's face it the man loves him his hot rods. So I put him in a pedal car, LOL. My mom was a little peeved he took it to work with him. I think she wanted it to stay at the house.

Below is a new sketchbook I've started, just for myself. Too often I am drawing for others or specifically for a purpose. I don't just sketch for the hell of it anymore, so that's what this one is for.

And this last one is a work in progress for one of my moly x groups. Although her theme was never laid out in stone, Jennifer's book had taken on a Nature theme...so I did my best :) I added some birds and the ocean.

Now this isn't everything...just what I had readily available. Stay tuned for more images shortly!

Frankenstein's Bride...

2010-07-20T10:49:00.000-07:00

I just had to post this. I was working in my sketch buddies' book and this was just too much fun not to share. Frankie's Bride, complete with fancy panties and 3-D skirt, HA HA! Me thinks I'll have to create a few more of these to sell :) Orders, orders? Anyone? Hee hee.

OYE!

2010-06-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

I have been a busy girl...let me rephrase that...I have been a VERY busy girl. Normally I try to update the blog regularly...if you look at the last date of posting you'll see it's been awhile.

*shudders*

I'll spare you the excuses and reasons as to not getting anything new up...but I did have a yard sale, visited a flea market for the first time, attended a birthday party where I was a caricature artist and shit-load of other stuff...so really I wasn't just sitting around doing nothing :)

First off, update: the quilt is done, the quilt is done! If you don't know what the hell I'm talking about, LOL, maybe you'll remember this little piece I posted a while back...well the final outcome can be seen below:

The rest of these images are for some of the work I've been doing on the side lines lately, one of which was for a friend at work, her daughter turned one and they threw a big birthday party for her. I was asked to draw caricatures for the kids. She had a whole Garden Gnome theme going with mushrooms everywhere and all kinds of cool stuff...here's a picture of the birthday girl and a snapshot I snagged of the cute cake she had made....I want one for ME!!

Last but not least, I was commissioned to paint a portrait for a friend. Her mother recently passed away and she had this really tiny image of her, from an old photo booth. While talking, she mentioned it was her favorite picture of her mom but because it was so small she couldn't really do a lot with it. Now, this is something I don't regularly get asked to do but I completely jumped at the chance of creating a sort of concept/portrait. Her style and the ideas we came up with while discussing possible outcomes for this painting made this a really cool piece to work on and I'm so happy with how it came out. The first image is an in-progress shot to make sure I had line and structure in the areas I wanted it...we were keeping a very flat look to everything and making this a very graphic/tattoo styled piece...while the bottom picture is finished piece in the very cool frame she picked out :)

Just a reminder...

2010-03-16T11:16:00.000-07:00

As of April 1, 2010 all my new blog posts will appear over on my website under the "blog" tab. While my website is currently without galleries, all recent images can be found directly in the blog posts. Galleries should be up shortly for your viewing pleasure :)

For future reference I will continue to post handmade items to this blog as well as updates on artwork and my eventual shop opening.

thanks, as always for stopping by!

2010-02-07T22:06:00.001-08:00

As my previous post stated, I had originally planned on posting pictures of what I have been working on these past few months. Well, I guess to show proof I’ve actually been working and not just neglecting this bad boy. But it seems there were a few problems with the pictures I took and I had to wait to get images from the recipients of said gifts. This first image was for my mom. She is all crafty and a quilt-making freak (I say freak in a good way, not like she's some strange species, let's get that straight), so I really wanted to make her something that she could display in her sewing room....only it turns out there isn't a whole lot of wall space left in there...I would show you a picture but then she might turn on me and no more sewing lessons...so any-whoo....
This next image, the one all done up in pink, was for my sister, Stephanie. She loves pink, loves clothes and so I created a little girl’s biggest dilemna, “what to wear?” I hand drew little dresses onto patterned paper and hung them from a clothes line. She loved it.

Also, if you look below, you’ll see the painting I made for my dad. From the time I was in first grade until my youngest sister graduated college he had us playing softball. He got stuck with three daughters, he made sure we were into sports Anyway, the picture I created is his three girls on a softball bench, one spitting sunflower seeds (that would be me), one blowing a bubble (Ashley), and one sipping on some water (Stephanie). These are all the photos I have at the moment, I will have more to follow very shortly…so thanks for checking in.

HUGE blog post soon to come...

2010-02-03T09:36:00.001-08:00

I have been away from my blog for far too long. Although, I promise I have a really good excuse. Well, not that good I suppose, but I have been busy, busy, busy. Making art, art, art.

I will post oodles of pictures later today to show you all the work I've been up to since my last post....in November!!! (hides in shame)

In the mean time, I'll announce that my blog will soon be moving over to my website...which is still under construction :) I've managed to get all my blog postings over to the new site, including pictures and comments. However, my galleries are still not up yet. The most important part of an artist's site is the galleries, right? and yet goofy me, left them till last.

Why am I not surprised :)

I'm still working out a way for my wee bunch of followers to not have to subscribe to a new blog roll, but at the moment I'm not sure if it's actually possible. If need be I may just continue posting in both places until a better solution presents itself.

Have a great day and please, check back later.

Did somebody say Rum?

2009-11-19T14:41:00.000-08:00

A work in progress shot of the current moly book I'm working on, LOL. It's a monster luau...the one laying in his drunken stupor had one too many Mai Tai's. Mmmmmm, Mai Tai...who's bringing the rum?

sniff

2009-11-16T21:37:00.000-08:00

I received some bad news from the Boyfriend last night....all the hard work I put into creating a new design for my portfolio site was in vain. Yes, because I am a ding-bat and didn't pay attention to the specific size needed for a new header image. I just went along on my merry way and kept coloring in this cute little design I've been sitting on. Hmmm, seems I never follow the rules, doesn't it? Must be developing a pattern, LOL. So this is the image I had intended for my header but the specs are all wrong so now it's going to be used somewhere else...maybe the home page...not a total loss but now I'm back to square one to create a new image. Ay yay yay!

Boo!

2009-10-30T08:37:00.001-07:00

My mummy wants to wish you all a Happy Hallo-weekend!

This is an ATC (Artist Trading Card) that I did for a group swap I'm involved in over at Tiny Art. We are VERY exclusive, LOL, you have to be invited in. Ah, well they are great people over there, totally low-key and don't mind when you send things in late. Which is great for me because it seems lately I simply cannot be on time anywhere! What the heck?!?

Just in time for Halloweenie...

2009-10-21T10:42:00.000-07:00

I was raiding my mother's craft-stash this weekend and came across these wooden doll heads. After seeing so many people create such interesting Kokeshi dolls on flickr lately I thought I would improvise with some of her old stow-aways by adding bodies and came up with these guys. Meet Frankie and Drake, two very hip little ghoulies who still need some paint, LOL

I have been working hard on a Card project for a friend as well as my quilt that never-seems-to-end, so they unfortunately have no color to them yet, but VERY SOON!

Someone's having a giveaway!!

2009-10-19T16:40:00.000-07:00

Take a look at these fabrics!! The folks over at Pumpkin Patch Primitives Quilt Shoppe are having a give-away. Just in time for Halloween! Woo hoo. What do you win? A fat quarter bundle by Red Rooster's Pumpkins & Spice Fabrics by Whimsicals. Hello, did you know that's 27 fat quarters?!? there are oodles of cute things, checks, stripes, I see some sunflowers and 'punkins' all kinds of fun stuff. Follow the link above for the rules on how to enter this fun giveaway and tell them you got there through me, I'll get an extra chance to win, just for the referral!

Who wants to play Paying it Forward?

2009-10-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I've never played this before...but I read about it here and here and missed the opportunity so I thought it would be a fun idea to post it and see if I can get enough people to play! The instructions are below, read them carefully!

"Let's play Pay It Forward!! EEK!!

And sooooooo...I am entering into the following contract with the first 5 people who comment on this post and then commit to do the same on their blog. Just read below and if you feel up to the task copy the following into your blog and leave me a comment.

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. Whatcha get is whatcha get.

2. What I create will be just for you, with love.

3. It'll be done this year (2009).

4. I will not give you any clue what it's going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber. It may be weird or beautiful. Or it may be monstrous and annoying. (unlikely!) Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!

5. I reserve the right to do something strange.

6. In return, all you need to do is post this text on your blog and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to your blog post.

7. Send your mailing address - after I contact you. Come on, don't be shy. Even if you don't think you're the creative type, you might end up surprising yourself - and making 5 other people very happy too!

I read about it and I'm doin' it!

The first 5 comments on this post who give me confirmation they want to play and who post these same rules on their own blog will get something from we before 2009 is over! Oh my gosh, that's only 77 more days!!

Wave goodbye to another one...

2009-10-13T16:37:00.001-07:00

This is the last of the molies I have in my possession at the moment. Not for long I'm sure...but a break in mailings it seems.

So much to do, so little time....and yet...

2009-10-12T15:54:00.001-07:00

...and yet, I am constantly starting new projects. For example since I posted about my little embroidery project that is part of my larger quilt project, I have been getting hounded by phone calls and emails from both my mother and my aunt, and now their friends, LOL!! It's all good, it just lets me know that I am in demand and need to get my ass in gear. So now that I am done with all the moly madness, temporarily of course, until the next one comes in, I will be simultaneously working on two projects...one is super secret and I can't tell you about in case someone tries to steal it from me...the other will of course be designing some stiching patterns.

Stay tuned...I might even give the first one away for free, who knows? Depends on my giving spirit.

another moly out the door...

2009-10-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

Phew! finished, finally. And off it goes to another member of the moly squad! This was from the themed group monster molies in case you couldn't already tell.

Just a Little Sumthin Sumthin...

2009-10-08T23:29:00.001-07:00

So this is just a preview of something I started working on earlier this week. Actually it's part of a larger project I've been working on for a few weeks now.

Long story short: The Boyfriend and I cannot agree upon a bedspread/cover that we both like. The ones I like are either too plain or in colors he feels are too girly, example: teal. While his choices tend to be a bit to boyish or with scratchy fabric, example: forest green and burgundy, yuck!

So a few weeks back I decided to make us a quilt. That way I could pick the colors I like and include some sort of a pattern that would please him as he doesn't like the ol' plain stuff that I do. LOL!!

Anyway, being the art-eest girl that I am I started sewing together a bunch of scrap fabric that my Quilting Mama had in her stash. She does share sometimes :) I gathered up the fabrics and separated them into piles by color: creams, reds, browns, greens, and blacks. I then started piecing everything together willy-nilly, because as I've been told by both my mother and crafty younger sister, I can never follow the rules. This is of course followed by the ever present eye roll because apparently in their books being an artist is the same thing as a rule breaker.

LOL!! Whatever!

So in addition to all the scrappy goodness going on, I decided I wanted to make a few special additions to our quilt. Personalize it a bit. So that's where this little guy comes in..he'll be sewn into the blanket surrounded by all those scrappy fabrics.

More pictures to come...followed by a finished quilt! Woot!

Holy Cannoli, Batman...I've neglected my Blog!

2009-09-29T13:08:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, sad but true. So many things to do, so little time to do it in. The neglect can be traced specifically back to late May, early June, when I simultaneously started a new job and moved residences. Can I just throw this out there for all of you? Learn from my mistakes and don't ever EVER, move and start a new job within a months time of each other. EVER!! It sucks, it's hard to get caught up, and I am still trying to juggle catching up on bills, personal projects and sifting through the unwanted items I somehow manage to keep dragging with me every time I move. Part of my disappearance has been the old art supplies were stashed in boxes buried away in the garage, partly just not enough time to play catch up. But I have brainstorming and planning and should have lots of new and exciting stuff to blog about...soon :)

For the time being, I will just share my contribution from Moly x Portrait 3 for you all. Meet Sara, she wants to find BigFoot. See how Kelley is not very nice and has lead Sara down the wrong path? Hee hee. Oh well.

Oh, WOW!

2009-08-15T15:03:00.000-07:00

I've been a very bad blogger, it's been such a crazy time for me lately that I just realized I hadn't posted anything since JUNE!!! Holy MOLY!! How did that happen?

I'll tell you how it happened, I quit a job, got a new job, and moved all in the same month!! I'm surprised I'm still alive to be honest, LOL!! What with packing and then unpacking, all my supplies are still pretty much in a box, somewhere...I'm looking for them :)

Anyway...I am just now finding my bearings again and should have more to post soon. Sheesh, I still can't believe I've let it go this long...bad, bad blogger!!

Here's a little something to keep you entertained...the latest in the on going moly saga...for Ben:

Our Moly 68 Group has a Pin Up theme going overall, but Ben requested that when we draw in his book we follow a sub-theme of Fairy Tales....it's been quite interesting seeing how that's come out so far...okay so I was only the third person to draw in his book..but so far it's coming along wonderfully!!

Another octopus, another moly...

2009-06-07T16:21:00.000-07:00

My monster-moly group over on flickr has been amazing. It was the first group I joined and to date has been the most successful, we are actually just past the halfway mark and I should be getting a completed book back in about, oh, I dunno four or five months, LOL.

This latest entry is for Esek's book, and has come all the way from Greece! It's stopped in Italy, Spain, Mexico and is now on it's way to it's third stop in California. When you really stop to think about it, the journey these books go on is so fascinating.

Anyway, here is my entry...with a similar looking octopus from my last entry, LOL, but you know, different. For instance this one is a different color...and look! he's wearing a sailor hat, LOL!!

Anyway, enjoy! And here are a few blurry pics of the progress this book has made so far:

2009-05-20T22:48:00.000-07:00

Molies, molies, everywhere molies. Monsters and Dames is this books theme...doesn't it seem like a mermaid would count as both in a way?? Oh well, I added a giant octopus for the hell of it. Enjoy :P

My latest entry...

2009-05-15T12:34:00.000-07:00

My latest entry in the International Moleskine Exchange. This one is part of group 68, which has a Pin Up theme. This is Jose's book from Spain, he started his book with a vertical format rather than horizontal and asked that we try to create a sort of apartment or storied look. So his entry which you can see here is on top and then my entry is "downstairs" in the bathroom below, LOL.

So what you are seeing below is the energetic blue brush strokes from Jose, then my line work, which I'm using as a cut-away sort of floor/ceiling. I used some patterned paper for the walls, to give it a more "home" feeling versus just any old bathroom, LOL, and even put a crack in the wall. I love these exchanges, they are so much fun to do...Now if only I could get paid to participate, that would truly be a dream job.

Agh! It's a moly monster!!

2009-05-13T23:35:00.000-07:00

Run, don't walk from....it's....wait, what is that?? Oh never mind, it's nothing but a harmless moly monster. Part of my Moly Exchange, this group is monster themed. This is in Bea's book and her monsters have seemed to be hanging out in space lately so I took a little inspiration from the Joker by the Steve Miller Band....ahhh yeah.

New Work Soon to Come...

2009-05-12T12:34:00.001-07:00

Dear Blog,

I owe you an apology. I know I haven't spent much time with you lately, it's not your fault really. It's just I've been so busy with other projects that I've had no other choice but to leave you neglected. And for that, I am sorry.

I promise to get back to regular visits very soon. The Exhumed game is underway and I have been creating new pieces for the level designer. I won't be able to share those, but I know you understand.

I also have three molies in my possession that I need to work on for the International Moleskine Exchange and those I can share with you in just a matter of days!! Woohoo!! They are for the pinup exchange, the monster group, and an opened theme one. All of that, plus my website is finally getting it's much needed face lift. I will finally be able to show it off in a matter of a week or two, YAY!!

I promise to get back to you soon, please be patient with me. Thank you for your understanding.

The Bad Bo-Belley Blogger

I have an announcement....ahem...ahem...are you listening??

2009-04-21T13:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the super secret Ugly Baby Studios game I've been working on for months...You know the one I hinted at here and here? The same game that has occupied all my free hours doing research, painting, doing more research, coming up with concept art for background work and all that jazz? Well I've finally completed the first finished piece of concept art and entered it into a contest!! Woot!! You heard me right...now I don't know if I'm in yet, so I won't get myself too excited...but I entered and am anxiously waiting until June when I'll hear if the judges have selected my piece or not.

This actually turned out to be a much longer process than I had anticipated...the character went through a few revisions and ultimately came out looking like an awesome zombie pin up girl. I'm rather happy with it :) And the work I'm doing for the Exhumed XBox Community game is REALLY pushing my artistic boundaries, which let's face it - that is ALWAYS a good thing. Please, take a look at the new site...there's not much to it yet, but keep coming back and checking in on updates...more concept art to come, that's for darn sure!!

Happy Birffday, Sister!

2009-04-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

So April 7th is one of my sister's birthday....and sadly this is the first chance I've had to post the painting I made for her. I did a google search and looked up silly and famous quotes about sisters and found this funny one and thought it would work out perfectly. It did, the birthday girl loved it.

"Sister to sister we will always be, a couple of nuts off the family tree"

This Post is Rated M for Mature, LOL

2009-03-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

So...it was inevitable, wasn't it? That I would join another moly exchange? What in the world is wrong with me? I have so much stuff to do...work on other projects is all around me and yet this addiction to the moly exchanges cannot be stopped!

That's okay, fortunately for me these books tend to move very slowly. I'm in six exchanges now and I'm only getting a book about every other month..so it's not like I'm really that bogged down with them. I keep getting this horrible suspicion that I'm going to get four or five all at once, LOL.

Anyway, the latest group is old fashioned pin up girls. I really enjoy the genre...a lot of the old style artist tended to show a scantily clad woman without showing off her "stuff" they left it to the imagination, versus revealing too much. Plus, the models of that time had great expressions and a little meat on their bones...they weren't all angry looking and boney...they actually appeared to have eaten a sandwich in their lifetimes, LOL. Anyway, here is my entry...I went with a sort of galaxy girl.

My Wonderland book - is up to date...

2009-03-16T21:45:00.001-07:00

I've finally put the finishing touches on my Wonderland book and it's heading back to England...here's what the book looks like so far:

I know, I know...

2009-03-08T16:47:00.000-07:00

I've been delinquent in my blog postings as of late, but I've been super busy working on the super secret Ugly Baby Studios game, and trying to keep up with all my molies and updating my portfolio pieces. Sheesh. Anywhoo...here's a look at my latest moly entry...my own book has come back and I'm just about done with this entry before sending back out again for round two! Sorry for the crappy picture taking but it was the easiest way to show you what i've been up to...I'll get these scanned properly soon before they go back to England :) I'd also like to make note that these are still works in progess and not totally finished. There is still a background to be painted and as of right now Alice has no pigment to her skin, AGGGHH!!

and the winner is....

2009-02-20T13:44:00.000-08:00

(Drum roll please)....

Did you forget? I was holding a contest to get help for my banner.

Anyway....and the winner is...dun dun dun!

Miss Mashed!

I will get your prize out to you right away. Thank you to everyone for all your helpful comments and suggestions. I think the consensus is that it needs to be a bit more playful so I'm back to the drawing board...stay tuned.

Happy Birthday to Brenda and mi Mamacita!

2009-02-04T22:05:00.000-08:00

January 28th is an interesting day in our family. Not only was it my Grandma Betty's birthday but it's also my Mom's. I know how weird is it that my Dad married a woman with the same birthday as his mother....crazy. And yet, in junior high I met and befriended this crazy little hispanic girl, Brenda, in gym class whose birthday was also on 1/28. Years later (sixteen to be exact - damn! are we old!), I'm still friends with Brenda and still find it amazing that I am surrounded by this goofy birth date, LOL. Anyway, it's always tough trying to figure out when we're getting together with mom or for me, with Brenda to say Happy Birthday and give them their gifts. This year was no different but it all worked out. Brenda is the big 3-0 this year, so it was kind of a big one....and her lovely sister in law, Chrystal, threw her a surprise party. Being the artsy girl that I am I had to do something special to mark the occasion and since Brenda doesn't have a lot of things on her apartment walls I figured a little bit of framed artsy-goodness would be appropriate. I looked on line for quotes about friendship and finally stumbled across one I thought was perfect. Here was her birthday surprise:

And for my Mom, I made three little cartoon portraits with painted frames. Her whole house is basically country quilts, sewing garb or my Dad's baseball and vintage car knick-knacks. So it's safe to say RED is everywhere. Not to mention it's only like her most favorite color in the whole wide world, LOL. So here they are...me and my two younger sisters...as kids (you know when we were still cute and adorable).

a work in progress...

2009-02-02T18:53:00.001-08:00

May I Get Some Opinions...??

2009-02-02T17:05:00.000-08:00

I must admit, I am at a bit of a stand still with my website redesign. While I like the banner design I've come up with I seem to be getting mixed messages from the people I've shown it to. While I have no problem taking criticism in regards to my art...the response I'm getting seems to be that it's not really my style. I'm thinking, "I drew it, how is it not me," LOL?? But then what do I know I'm just the artist? hee hee hee. The majority of responses has been something along the lines of, "I love it, but it's not really your style," so I'm curious what the blogging world thinks.

I've seen a bunch of blogs do give-aways and hold contests so I thought...hey maybe I can do that too. Get a little feedback and also give away a little thank you at the same time. So I propose this...for the next few weeks I will keep this open and ask for feedback. At the end of that time, I will put all the names of those who have left comments into a bag and draw a name. The winner will get a freebie from me. It may be a Valentine or an an ATC, it might even be an original piece of art...who knows? It will definitely be a surprise. Thank you for your help and here's my banner design:

I'd love comments, feedback, suggestions, whatever you can give me in the way of constructive criticism. Should I keep it, should I redesign it from scratch with something cutesy...hey if you have a completely new suggestion for me I am all ears :) Can't wait to hear your thoughts and thank you in advance.

DOH!! I almost forgot...

2009-01-28T10:42:00.001-08:00

If you've followed my blog for uhm....let's say more than a day, you'll know that I start a ton of new projects on any given day. Do I always finish those projects? Uh, sometimes...but not always. Seems, there is always something new just around the corner. I can't even help it, I just get completely sidetracked and sucked it to new ideas and concepts and they just take over my brain, lol.

Anyway, this year I made the resolution to finish what I start. I had these adorable concept sketches for the new layout of my portfolio site. It was all circus/sideshow cuteness. Well, I got the concept sketches done...even some finished sketches. I went so far as to actually scan them into the computer, woo hoo. And that's where they have been sitting ever since.

So last night, after dinner, after my trip to the store for toilet paper and milk...I came home, sat down on my laptop and started plugging away on the new header for my site. And what do you suppose happened?? I dropped the circus designs I had for a completely new look. But, this one was simpler, more illustrative and I really like it. Pictures soon to come...I promise!

It's Molie Madness...

2009-01-28T10:09:00.000-08:00

I rarely do this...say nothing...but so many pictures are so much more fun :)
All different shapes, all different sizes - each one so much fun!

The Bling Bling Mermaid

2009-01-17T22:56:00.000-08:00

So here is my latest ATC. I made an online trade with Glenda Tkalac of Canada...she sent me a vintage pinup girl, which was great. And in return, she asked me for either a vampire or a mermaid. So I picked a mermaid. Here she is:

Made with ink, watercolor, and acrylic gold paint for the tail. There is also a stickie rhinestone for her necklace. You know...just a little bling bling for the mermaid :)

The latest addition in my moly addiction...

2009-01-16T23:29:00.000-08:00

Well, I've done it again. I joined another exchange...and to top it all of I officially joined an ATC swap on Tiny Art that is unrelated to the molies and have to make three trading cards. Luckily most of these things are on the small scale and don't take me too long, hee hee hee. Otherwise I would be in a world of pain right now.

But back to the issue at hand...here is my latest entry in the moly Portrait Party. This is for Danny...I had fun with it. Put us in some bandit gear and knocked over a few banks, ha ha...I'm a dork, we all know it. Tell me something I don't know ;)

To My Valentine

2009-01-05T11:43:00.001-08:00

Yesterday afternoon I headed over to my mom and dad's to work on some Valentine cards. Why go to their house? Well that's where my Gocco was. I've been wanting to start an Etsy shop for awhile now. However, I tend to start about a billion different things and then get sidetracked and/or busy and put them off until I remember and/or get frustrated with myself.

Case in point...the adventures of my Molies, LOL. I wanted to start the Etsy shop months and MONTHS ago... then discovered the Molies and quickly joined four exchanges. Well, now that I'm in the midst of waiting on Molies to arrive...I figured I'd better take this opportunity to start up that shop while all my side-projects are moving at a snails pace.

Okay so here's a detail of the Gocco Valentine print I've created:

And here is the mess I made in my mom's craft room. The whole point of going over to my Parent's house was that my mom has a craft room and a giant dining room table. Both of which I do not have at my apartment. Sooooo, off I went to use my Gocco and covet her space. Well us, being the brilliant chicks that we are needed a place to store the prints while they were still wet. I'm still new to this so I don't have things like drying racks or ways to hold up my cards...so we used this:Yes, those are the mini blinds...and they worked great! I don't suggest this if you're printing anything that has much weight to it...but for the fifty plus cards I had printed it was just dandy!!

So those are the printed pieces. At work today, I'm gonna cut out everything, on my lunch break of course, and try to assemble a mock up of the finished card...stay tuned! And who knows maybe if he's really nice to me the Boyfriend will get one for free, LOL! Awww, I'm so sweet, LOL.

My First Entry for the Portrait Exchange

2009-01-03T12:09:00.000-08:00

So this is my first entry in someone else's moly for the Portrait Party. The Portrait Party is part of the International Moleskine Exchange. This is Glaucia's book, she's from Dublin, PA and has two adorable little boys. She also has one of those short, funky hair-do's that was way fun to draw :) Anyway...here is my entry in her book.

I looked though a bunch of Glaucia's photos to find something that would make for a cool composition. I finally found one of her painting a canvas up close and it reminded me of me...the way I get really close to the canvas or the paper I'm working on...so even though it was a profile view...I managed to get a reference shot of myself and have the left handed artist and the right handed artist meeting in the center, LOL.

Agh! It's been eleven days since my last post!!

2008-12-28T23:27:00.000-08:00

How can this be? Well, you know Christmas was here and like a good little procrastinator I waited till the last possible moment to do my Christmas shopping and work on my hand made gifts. Okay so only a few people got the handmade stuff, but I've been busy :)

Anyway...just wanted to show my latest ATC (Artist Trading Card) swap. One of my moly exchange buddies and I did a private swap...I asked her to add to my very small Alice in Wonderland collection (you know, my collection of one whole card, LOL) and she asked me for animal card...preferably owls, she asked. It's funny how many people like owls lately...well maybe they've always liked them, how am I to know?

So here it is my Hooty Owl for Elvia.

And the game continues to move forward...

2008-12-17T20:15:00.000-08:00

Hello all! With the Holiday season upon us, I just wanted to show some of the progress on the Ugly Baby Studios game project I've been helping with. If you follow my blog, you may remember me mentioning my work for UBS before, here. Up to this point, most of my contributions have been in the pre-planning or concept stages. Character sketches, mostly. It's definitely one of those projects or assignments that I would consider a challenge. It's not my normal style or process, so the challenge has been a fun one. I thought I would take this time to show you one of the background paintings I've just finished for one of the XNA game's levels. XNA being the programming framework that these guys use to get the job done. That's the limit of my knowledge on that, so no questions, please, hee hee.

This was all done on the computer....ahhh, so nice to paint digitally. No clean up afterwords, lol.

Sketchbooks

2008-12-11T23:56:00.000-08:00

Sketchbooks are supposed to be an artists tool, are they not? For as long as I can remember, I've found sketchbooks so appealing. Especially the process of picking out a new one. The filling up of said sketchbook is another story completely. I've never been good about doing daily sketches or setting aside time for the sole purpose of doodling or drawing. Sad but true. I should be fired as an artist. Wait...don't you have to get hired as an artist first?? Whatever!

Anywhoo...this last year, with J (also sometimes referred to as The Boyfriend on this here blog), I managed to fill one up. Why do I put it like that? In those terms?? Because I truly believe that this man spurs my creativity. In my whole life, all twenty nine years of it, I have never once filled an entire sketchbook. Not even during my semesters at art school. Not once...in fact if I go look through most of them I can guarantee you that none of them made it past the first twenty or so pages. It was a wonderful surprise and complete shock to me the other day, when I came across the fact that my sketchbook is almost completely filled up. How did this happen? Did I really draw that much in this past year? The answer is yes! And that's not including any of the many drawings I've done for the molies or the extra side projects I constantly have going...it's just sketching...so there you have it. One totally boring blog about the fact that I filled up a sketchbook, LOL. I could leave it at that but since I rambled on and on, I figure you deserve a treat...here's a peek at one of those sketchbook pages.

More monsters...

2008-12-11T13:21:00.000-08:00

Monsters, monsters, there are always monsters. I'm not sure what it is about monsters and little kids, but I love to draw them. I think part of what makes drawing monsters so fun for me, is taking something that is supposed to be ugly or scary and giving it a personality or making it endearing to the viewer. Anywoo... these are the monsters I managed to come up with last week. Notice the lavender guy's grill?? Diamond crusted, LOL, I'm sorry I couldn't help myself.

I now consider myself a member of Tiny Art...

2008-12-10T22:58:00.000-08:00

So....a few months back, one of my online exchange buddies introduced me to ATC's (Artist Trading Cards). Not knowing anything about them, I signed up with a small group of very nice artists and was totally flabbergasted by the artwork they put forth on these itty bitty cards. They are literally trading card size, so 2.5 by 3.5 inches and yet some of them are detailed to the point of being ridiculous. With all the molie exchanges I had going on, I didn't feel right getting in on the ATC's because I wasn't sure how long it would take to get the back to the artist, but I did accept an invitation for a private swap. One of the members asked if I'd design a raccoon themed card for her, apparently she's accumulated quite a few and wanted me to add to it. So I did. And here it is...I think he's adorable myself...Hope she finds him as cute as I do...My little raccoon robber....hee hee.

Molie Update, Part One.

2008-12-08T19:23:00.001-08:00

So clearly I am infatuated with the moly exchanges. They've almost become "the other man" at home, I'm kidding, the boyfriend gets a kick out of them too. Plus he feeds my ego every time a new one comes and says, "yours is much better than that," AWWWW.

Anywhoo, my friends and coworkers are all quite familiar with my little projects. They ask about them, love to see them when they arrive, it's great. I must say, however, I'm probably the most impatient of all, wanting to know where my books are, you know like every other day?? As if it can bounce all over the world in a matter of nights. It's not hitching a ride on Santa's sleigh, hell, I know that...but I just want them all back and filled up because it so much fun to see how they're evolving. So I'll do a break down of each one, so you can see the progress...this early in the game, some may only have one or two entries, but at least you'll get a chance to see how they started if you missed my earlier posts.

My first exchange....was Monsters! Since it was my first attempt at the exchanges I was a bit nervous and ended up flubbing up on this...this isn't the final version...if you look closely you can see where I painted over one of the monsters.

and this is Katya's entry following mine...as you can see I have some dark swirlies leaking over on to her pages :) Right now it's on it's way to the east cost for more monsters.

The Wonderland Exchange. This was the exchange that I got to choose the topic...Wonderland has been on my mind a lot lately...and I've alwyas really liked the story....so there you have it.

above are my intro pages....just a little extra wonderland for everyone to see.

and of course my opening pages...looking at them now I should have done more to fill up my book, but I can always add more on later towards the end if there is still space left over. Below is Rose's entry in my book...I just love that little slouch...I couldn't be more pleased.

Rose's Moly

2008-12-05T12:38:00.001-08:00

So Rose's moly is officially on it's way to Oregon and into Amy's capable hands. For those of you just tuning in this is part of the International Moleskine Exchange, which I've been a part of since September of this year. That's four months ago...since I discovered this flickr group I have joined four exchanges and had so much fun drawing in strangers sketchbooks and seeing what they are putting into mine :) Go check them out when you have time...and if you are artistically inclined, join up and start an exchange or pick one from the list...you will find it highly addictive. I did.

Where has Kelley gone off to?

2008-12-02T21:17:00.000-08:00

You may be wondering what I've been up to...or not :) Man, how sad if you didn't even realize I'd been away for awhile, lol. Anyway, with Thanksgiving and work, I've been kind of busy. And unfortunately the blog got a little neglected. I've been busy working on my art too though...so I thought I'd do a smorgasbord for you all and show you all the fun I've been having....

This is a self portrait for another one of my moly exchanges. For this particular swap, they call it a Portrait Party. Basically, we draw two portraits in each book...one of ourselves and one of who-ever's book you have. We all post pictures of ourselves online or put a couple snapshots in our sketchbooks and send them off to strangers so they can draw us :) Kind of weird, but think how cool it is when you get a book back with 15 different versions of yourself along with 15 strangers faces staring back at you, LOL!! So crazy, I'm loving every minute of this.

My Moly is Going to Moscow!!

2008-11-18T21:55:00.000-08:00

Here's the final version of Little Red, she is now on her way to Natalia in Russia, Moscow to be specific...how freaking crazy is that???

Updates on the Molies....

2008-11-14T20:59:00.000-08:00

So I've now completed my second contribution to someone else's moly, still waiting to see what's going on in my other exchanges. It's hard because while I love surprises, I totally hate the waiting for them. Here is my addition to Michael Nightmare's monster moly...again, his work is on the left, my addition is on the right:

In addition to the Monster and Wonderland exchanges I signed up for a portrait exchange and an open exchange. The open exchange basically means all artist involved get to pick their own theme for their own individual book. I picked Fairy Tales, and this is still a work in progress but here's what I have so far....

I was going for a black and white theme and then changed that to shades of gray with just the color red as focal points. I still have to color in Little Red's hair and basket, make some changes to her face, but overall this is pretty much my layout for the fairy tale entry.

I just have to share...

2008-11-12T13:48:00.000-08:00

So remember the moly exchange I mentioned, oh I dunno, a couple a times recently?? Well I got the coolest surprise yesterday. My english pen-pal/sketchbook swapper, whatever you want to call it, Rose Hudson, posted the painting that she created in my book and I absolutely love it!!

She did a really fantastic job and I just wanted to send out a thank you to Rose, because let's face it, when you send your sketchbook out to a stranger, it's really any one's guess how it'll turn out or what they'll come up with. And not even that, but we all have different styles and things that we may not necessarily appreciate in another art style...I actually invited Rose to participate in the Wonderland exchange because I was scrolling through flickr and found a great painting she did and thought the subject might appeal to her...who knew I'd get such a nice surprise. Rose, I think this is so great...I love her little pouty slouch and the expression on her face, so sad - but we know it'll get better. Thank you!!

It's official....I'm Loco for Gocco!!

2008-11-10T10:48:00.000-08:00

For my birthday last year, my parent's bought me a Gocco machine I was just dying to have! I had all these grand plans to start an Etsy business and make and sell my art....well I got the machine and then promptly got swept up in a ton of other things...like moving and work, then moving again. Yikes, it was a nightmare. Anyway, last week my mother sends me an email and says, "Get busy" so I did :)

I got out the Gocco and took it to her house and started printing away. You know...best to make the mess at Mom's place rather than my own (hee hee). So here they are...my Christmas elves. At some point I would love to go the Etsy route and get a little shop set up, but at the moment I'm afraid I have too much on my plate and would need help getting that whole mess started. So for now they live here on the blog and of course some of them will be given to friends and family at the holidays...who knows - maybe I'll discover I have readers besides my regular three and someone will want to purchase one or request a custom Gocco for the holidays...Wow, that would be awesome!!

Starry Skies

2008-11-02T18:41:00.000-08:00

So part two of my contribution to Ugly Baby Studios' production of a Halloween short has just been completed. I've just finished painting a back drop or background of a starry sky for the night scene. Remember the storyboards I did, last month? Well this is all part of the same project.

Awwww, I messed up!

2008-10-21T09:57:00.000-07:00

Okay...so the moly exchange stuff is going awesome...I got into the first exchange that I really wanted, Monsters, woo-hoo, and then I started my own theme, Wonderland. (Did my links work this time? Hope so). Anyway......I got so excited about starting these exchanges that I jumped in too fast, I think, hee hee, and instead of concentrating on one book at a time I started two at once. What I should have done is worked out all the stuff in the Monster book and then moved on to the Wonderland stuff, however that did not happen. I started them both at once, sketching in one then the next one, then inking one and then inking the next one...So my entry in the Wonderland book is done, see the previous entry for picture, however when I got to the color portion of my monster book I had a brain fart and fudged it up! Dammit!! So last night, I spent the evening trying to fix my major blooper....and to be honest it wasn't that bad...where I had used colored pencil with Wonderland, I used ink pens with the monsters and I just plain didn't like it. I wasn't happy with the colors or the technique I was using and I wanted to start over, however there are 10 artists involved in the monster exchange and so my pages are limited, I am not to exceed three pages, so I had to go over what I already had. How in the hell to do that, hmmmm? So I used some india ink and watercolor and painted over the top of my pages. It's definitely a night scene now, hee hee. I re-drew my characters on watercolor paper and will attempt to glue them down over the tops of my flub :) Hopefully that works because at this moment in time I'm not sure how to fix mistakes in the molies.

So here's the moly with the background re-painted. At this point it's still missing one of the monsters and you can't see some of the curly-swirly night wind I've going but this is as good as it gets for now :) More to come later.

I AM ADDICTED!!!

2008-10-19T00:04:00.000-07:00

To what you ask? At least my mother will before she jumps to conclusions, LOL, just kidding. A couple of weeks ago, I managed to stumble across something known as "moly x"

I, of course had no idea what that meant, and immediately went out exploring. Moly X is simply this...a Moleskine Exchange. Moleskine being a specific brand of sketchbook, and the exchange being something started by Mr. Marty Harris (MrtyHrrs1 over at flickr). Any-hoo, I have found myself completely addicted to this group and in the space of two or more weeks signed up for four, let me say that again, four exchanges!!! I have no will-power *sighs* Essentially what this is, is a group of artists from around the world, they set up a topic, a blog, and swap sketchbooks with each other. I draw in theirs, they draw in mine, and by the time it's full, I have art from around 4-10 or so other artists and a sketchbook that's traveled the world. How Effing Cool is that???

So I wanted to share what I've been working on for that, because god-forbid I work on only one project at a time, right? What kind of sense does that make? Keep in mind that these are just my contributions at this point...I'll post more on the moly exchanges as they start picking up here in the future. Just for reference, the black rectangle in the image below is where my name and address are located...I didn't feel all the blogging world needs to know my apartment address.

So these two pages here, are my intro pages...these are for the exchange I started :) which basically means, I posted the topic and asked other artists if they wanted to join. My choice was to do "scenes from Wonderland" that way people could pick to use scenes from Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass, I also wanted to make it as non-specific as possible so people had the freedom to go a little crazy with it. So the above pictures, like I mentioned before, are my intro pages, meaning that they are there to serve as a reminder of who's book you are working on....I also used the next two pages in my book to write down the title of the exchange, and the names of everyone participating. Which brings me to the three pages of my entry... I really wanted to do a scene with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb, of course I had no idea which part in the story they took part in, since it's been so long since I actually read the story....so I looked it up :) And was immediately smitten with the scene in which Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb do battle....so here it is, my interpretation of the twins doing battle...

What about the other three exchanges I'm involved in, you ask? Well as of right now, two of them are still recruiting more members, so there's nothing to post for those except that one will be a portrait group and the other's topic will be different for each member of the group...I'm still trying to decide on the theme for my personal book. Any suggestions, readers???

The last group that I'm in, is actually the first one I joined...and it's theme is Monsters! Woot!! I of course, did cutesy monsters...and while they are getting colored in, you will have to wait a little longer to actually see them.

Thanks for reading :)

I HAVE BECOME ADDICTED!!!

2008-10-18T10:07:00.000-07:00

So I wanted to share what I've been working on for that, because god-forbid I work on only one project at a time. What kind of sense does that make? Keep in mind that these are still works in progress and only have artwork in them by me.... but, oh well, take a look:

Side Projects

2008-10-06T20:47:00.001-07:00

I thought I would designate a post this time around to a little side project I've been working on. It's something I've had a lot of fun doing and hope to do more of. Storyboarding. Let me give a little background about how I got started with this.

My boyfriend happens to be ridiculously good at rhyming. Weird sort of talent, but quite entertaining, none the less. I'm not sure where he got it from, whether it's an acquired skill or just natural talent, but it never ceases to amaze me, the ease with which he can create goofy slogans or funky little songs off the top of his head. Sometimes I look at him and think, this man is truly gifted, I have never known anybody to be able to create things like that on a whim. Other times, he'll drive me crazy with the constant singing of said goofy songs, specifically when he's at his computer perusing the gamer sites and I'm trying to work on my latest and greatest idea, it's in those moments when I'm trying to concentrate that I realize, he really does take advantage of such an "e-ville" gift. But his timing is always impeccable, it's always the moment just before I'm ready to snap and turn into the bratty girlfriend that he whips out another funny one liner, and honestly, how can you do anything else but laugh?

So it's because of this unnatural talent, that I've put him to work on a children's book I've had "in the works" for over a year now. The pictures have all been roughed out, but I am not really a writer and needed loads of help getting a script together. So we made a deal. He would write me a story and in exchange, he put my skills as an ar-teest to good use on a side project of his.

[Side note: In addition to writing short stories (and goofy little ditties) he's really involved in 3D modeling and video games. I don't know how he does it, but he has a way of creating these amazingly detailed stories or situations. The man has so many concepts and ideas floating around in his head, that I constantly find myself envious of his imagination.]

Anyway.....he asked me to help create concept sketches and storyboards for an animated short he wants to create for Halloween. It's a really cute concept, so I jumped at the chance. I won't tell you the full story, let's see if you can figure it out, but take a look at what I've come up with so far:

Concepts for my website...

2008-09-24T22:12:00.000-07:00

The concept of re-designing my website has been on my mind constantly lately. I'm trying to put my best foot forward to get noticed professionally and starting with my website seemed like the most logical place to jump from. As I mentioned in my previous post, I've never been happy with the quality of my current site...it's just too slow and more than one of my pictures appears to be cloudy or the scans didn't come out the way I had anticipated. All in all it was a first attempt. So when it came time to sit down and come up with what I really wanted I made lists and lists. One list of things I liked about the current site, a list of what I wanted for the new one, I had a list in regards to just things I didn't like about the site. Aye yay yay, the lists went on and on. Sorry bad joke. Anyway, when I finally sat down to visualize what I wanted for the new look...well, I had a major brain fart. I just couldn't get my brain around all of the new ideas I had and how I would incorporate them all into one cohesive unit. Not to mention...I didn't want to create something so difficult I was only going to disappoint myself in the long run if I couldn't make it work. Ultimately, my inspiration came from a tutorial I was working on. I was trying to brush up on my Photoshop skills and learning a little more on using textures, when I inadvertantly made my background. Let me explain.... I was trying to figure out ways to make my cutesy little illustrations appear somewhat aged or give them a vintage look. Really it's a total contradiction, because my little character, well to me, seem very modern. Any hoo, I started playing around with filters and wood grains, experimenting with adding fibers and what not when I realized that my simple background had turned into something resembling wooden slats. Then I started playing with colors and before I knew it had these cute cream and red stripes going along the length of my screen. So that was how my sideshow/circus idea came about. After that it's anybody's guess where the ideas came from, all I know for sure is, I was on a roll and cracking myself up along the way, hee hee. So here's a rough sketch or thumbnail of my layout and my main character, the ringmaster. I'll have more details later, but for now this is all your sneak peek allows you. Sorry, you'll just have to deal with it :)

To the left here, you'll see the layout in the upper half of the page. The new site will have links to a gift shop, my gallery, a contact page, an about me section and even a link back here to my blog. The rest of jibber jabber is me working stuff out on paper, playing around with concepts, but I doubt they'll be used at this point....I'm just running out of space, that's all there is to it.

And this is my little ringmaster. She really serves no use other than the fact that she's cute and the greeter for the website. Over the course of experimenting with this concept, her face has changed twice...her hair style at least four times... I think she's gone through three sets of costume changes and this is her second round of hats. LOL, what can I say? I obsess over getting the details right. I want my viewer to look at my pictures and go, "AWWWWWWW." Hope I've accomplished that.

Update...coming soon!

2008-09-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

LOL, as you can see it's been awhile since my last update. And sorry to say, I have no pictures to post at this time because I'm at work and secretly typing away here instead of doing my actual job....hope the boss lady doesn't read this :) Anyway, just wanted to put a note in to say that I've been working on a re-design for my portfolio site, www.kelleyfrisby.com , and as of right now there hasn't been much drawing done except for in terms of the new layout I've been trying to get started. I'll be posting pictures of my progress soon, but in the mean time, didn't want my followers, all two or three of you to worry I'd vanished :) Thanks for reading.

Happy Birthday, Jackie!

2008-09-07T00:37:00.000-07:00

So...yesterday, Friday the 5th, was a friend of mines birthday..... this is what I made for her : Her very own recipe box complete with a kitchen alphabet! I won't go through all the letters but let's just say there were Cupcakes, Aprons, Measuring Spoons and all kinds of fun little things I had to paint. This was one of my first projects with painting on wood....normally I paint on canvas or watercolor paper, so I had some fun experimenting.

This was a fun project, especially when you give something away to someone you know trully appreciates these home-made type gifts.

My very first post, EVER!

2008-09-01T18:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I must admit, I'm a little nervous. This is officially my first post to my blog, ever! My intentions for starting a blog were to keep myself in check and to get my artwork out into the world by doing the whole "self promotion thing." However I'm a little nervous now, because I'm afraid I won't have much to say, LOL. I suppose I'll just have to let my pictures speak for themselves and hope you, my viewers, like what you see. Please feel free to leave me feedback, comments, or requests. I'd love to hear your ideas.

So for my first entry, I thought I'd share with you, a little something I've been working on....I've been helping out a friend as she prepares for her daughter's fourth birthday. After a bunch of brain storming it was decided that theme would be a Mad Hatter's Tea Party, because let's face it there are so many options to go with and we figured we could get away with a lot of cheap buys :) So my job, in this crazy scheme was to try and come up with a vintage-looking invitation, with Emma, my friend's daughter, as Alice. I sketched out Emma with the Mad Hatter and then scanned my drawing. Using Photoshop I was able to create an all over texture and this is what I came up with :

After I added the vintage texture, I started adding color to the invitation and found that I was really excited about how this was coming along. I must admit, I tend to think of myself as more of a traditional illustrator. In the sense that I love to draw and paint and I like to have my materials sitting in front of me, where I can see them and smell all the different mediums. Using the computer for my art, is something I've had to force myself to do, LOL. But this project really got me excited about using digital mediums. Here is the finished piece. Hopefully Miss Emma, likes it :)