Paintings & the like.

I'm into art and illustration in a big way, i studied it at school from when i started till when i finished sixth form then went on to do my art foundation year. Unfortunately me and art took a bit of a tumble and i lost my passion for doing it, also time was an issue. A busy working life got in the way and i moved to Leicester and went out. A LOT. Its only in this last year I'm trying really hard to get back into painting and sketching again. So as some self encouragement I'm gonna put some old work I've done and some work I'm progressing on at the minute. I think it's always good to look back on work so to improve or just to remind yourself that you can do it! 

This is Raquel Reed, she's an alternative model for New York Couture. One of my favourite models as you can see, she has the most amazing coloured hair! This painting was fairly recently and i used acrylic paint.

This is a copy of an artist named D*Face, this is his interpretation of a Roy Lichtenstein piece. I just loved how D*Face changed the mans face in the photo and made it skeletal, adding a bit of creepiness to such a famous picture. A lot of his work has a similar feel to this, i guess its like his own trademark.  I originally did this copy as a present to my boyfriend (i was blonde at the time so i thought it suited) Again, I'm a huge fan of acrylics and think you can never go too wrong with something that you're so comfortable with. Pop art was hugely popular in the 60's and it still has a huge influence in a lot of illustrations now. 

This is my own portrait painting of Lana Del Rey, a huge fashion icon to me. I worked from a similar image from a Vogue photo-shoot she did with them last year, i added the flowers round her neck and the little bee. Its not complete yet and I'm always jumping from one project to another. I really need to experiment more with different media but i just trust myself with acrylic paint so much more! I've done pieces (back in school a million years ago) in chalk pastels which was fun but i think there's more freedom in painting (plus chalk gets EVERYWHERE). 

I'm easily inspired by other artists work, or just by listening to Bon Iver on repeat for 10 hours. What really helps me get to work is the biggest mug of coffee and some sunshine. What else more could motivate someone to do anything. 

I love sunshine :3

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So moral of the story here, practice makes perfect. Wait. That doesn't quite cut the mustard here. Practice till you like what you see and just do it for the hell of it. That's better.

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I'm really glad I've finally do a little blog post about my little  paintings and hopefully this will encourage me to actually do some more. Practice genuinely does improve how you see your work, and made it my very belated new years resolution to draw more and experiment. If anybody has any tips or ideas for some fun illustration projects, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks for reading guys, hope you've enjoyed it,

  Love Madison ♥