Pinup

I wanted to do a plus-size pinup in a confident pose but an outfit no more revealing than a bathing suit and somewhere in the coloring process, it became a self-portrait.
It's challenging for me to post this, especially since I know that members of my family may find this post uncomfortable, but I'm very proud of how this piece came out and I want to explain a bit about it.

 At the risk of getting a little personal here, I want to explain this transition: I've always struggled with my size and my perception of myself, as many girls and women do. It wasn't until summer last year that I realized how much of my personal identity comes from my size and how I am proud of who I am, even if I would like to get to a healthier weight. It has been a struggle for me, coming to terms with that part of myself, but being able to let go of hating part of who I am has made me so much happier overall and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

happy week and a half after new year!

Sorry for the lack of posts this year, new and exciting things have been happening in Halseyland as well as some less than awesome health setbacks (but nothing serious so I'm not complaining). Anyway, after my computer playing possum this morning, I was finally able to get to posting. I don't have too much to show given the bedridden-ness and the other projects that are happening around the house (my room is just about usable as an office and we're finishing the basement for a painting studio!! :D) but I whipped up this pic this morning. More fanart.This is just a sketch of Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender. (c) Nickelodeon. Nuffin' special. I would write more but I have to get ready for my class tonight. I'm taking Storyboarding at RISD (!!!) which will go towards a certificate in Animation. Next step, getting a job. ^.^;;

heart of hearts

This is going to be a slightly more personal post so if you don't want to deal with that, then keep on scrollin'.

I'm the happiest I've been in years. I'm not exactly sure how it happened or when exactly it clicked but I finally got it. I was making my life (and the lives of those around me) so much harder than it needed to be. Life, and by extension: art, is not supposed to be a back-breaking, epically sober ordeal. If the point isn't to have fun and make the best of all of it, then what good is it? I get to spend every day drawing or painting or hanging out with a group of close friends who care about me. (Legit! They even find it entertaining when I'm being a complete pain!) Even physically, I feel good (healthier food and exercise is pretty nifty)! Heck, I'm not even all that scared of 2012 anymore. I'm really happy. This is not to say that I don't still have down days or "no hug" days but when I take a second to stop and analyze why I'm upset, I honestly know that it is just a passing thing and I'll be fine. Life is good.

And on that note, back to pretty pictures:
(it's safe to read again, scrollers)
This is piece number 4 of the Body Modification series. I kinda messed up 3 and stretched out the back but I was kinda bored of it anyway so this might just end up being 3:I left the easel in there to give a sense of the size without having to get out my ruler (it's late, I'm lazy. Shush.) This is based off of a very real bionic heart which is far from miraculous but still pretty amazing. I still have a lot more lineart to do but since this piece is more about the Art Nouveau aspect of the series, I want to put a lot of energy into the frames. I'll have some more work to post later this week since I'm headed downtown tomorrow to get some scans done on the big flatbed and I have a commission from someone on deviantart that I should probably get done.