Red Creature

New product - Red Creature
digital painting

Hey! This illustration is available at my Society6 store

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Woman Inside

New Illustration - Woman Inside
digital painting

Visiting my dark lift my spirits! What can I say...

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Doodlers Anonymous Coloring Book Vol. II

Collaboration with Doodlers Anonymous  - Coloring Book Vol II
Coloring page


Hello!
Got some news, I'm participating in Vol II of the Coloring Book put out by the fellows of Doodlers Anonymous. Get your order in. It's a super fun and "different" coloring book for kids or adults. So get there and pre-order your copy now! 

visit www.littlemissmachete.ca to see my work

Cover for Underneath the Juniper Tree

Final Art

Underneath The Juniper Tree - The September Issue (cover)
digital painting

A few weeks back the always lovely people over at Underneath The Juniper Tree Magazine contacted me to work on their cover for The September Issue. Something creepy and fun. Honestly, how could've resisted?

To show how my creative process (usually) works, I've included in this post the final art (above), that you can see on the magazine HERE, and also the sketch and a colour study (below.)

I was giving the following to work with:"(...) something moving from summer to Autumn. Something creepy, but fun." Based on that, I submitted four different ideas, four very rough small sketches. It is important to me, from the very beginning, to name the rough sketches in a way that represent the idea behind them. This one in particular I named: Madam W. arrives and things start to fall. It works not only as a constant reminder of the idea itself, but also as a source of inspiration that constantly feeds my creativity and my interaction with the piece.

Sketch

Once one of the four sketches was selected, I did four different colour studies from were I chose the one I thought best represented the mood for the piece. When doing the colour studies, I keep it loose, so I can try different schemes without getting too attached. At the end, what's important here is capturing the mood through colours, not how finely applied the colours are. That could also result in some dreadful combinations, but deciding what colours I'm definitely not using is part of this stage as well!

Colour Studies

Chosen colour scheme

As you can see, the final piece is a bit different from the initial sketch, but the overall idea still the same. I included some leaves falling and decided to get rid off the sun melting. I tweaked some elements to give it a better composition and I gave Madam M a beautiful and creepy smile. From start to finish, it is a creative dialogue with the illustration, a continuous flow that evolves and moves almost organically. Trying not to get too attached, and letting it be. It is all part of the process!

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The Toronto Walk Project

details of photos by photographers of The Toronto Walk Project: 
Valentino Visentini - Daniel Ablan - Patrick T. Lo - Melanie Hillock - Yasmin Benhan 

The Toronto Walk Project  
design of promotional materials


I am so proud to be part (a little part, tho) of this amazing art project presented by a fantastic team lead by my dear and talented friend Bruce Baklarian. The Toronto Art Project is a visual and audio documentation of a one-day walk around some of Toronto's most interesting neighbourhoods.

Bruce, the project director, explains his motivation: "The idea behind the making of this project is simply to celebrate the beautiful city we live in, the Toronto Walk Project is the platform where one can view and/or hear some of the city’s streets, colours, citizens, stories, sounds, and all the small nuances that make it so unique. Come along, walk your city!"

One day, five areas, one city, five teams. Hundreds of photographs and many hours of recording material. Over a year of hard work. The result is an extraordinary journey through the photos and recordings of ten amazing photographers and sound recordist/reporters. This amazing and inspiring project celebrates the great city of Toronto. A city I'm in love with and that I love to walk!

You can take a look (and take a listen) now by visiting: http://www.torontowalkproject.com.
Or, if you are lucky enough to be in town, I do invite you to go to Gallery1313 today, August 23rd, starting at 7 pm. to the opening reception and on Saturday, August 25th to the artist talk. If you cannot make it, no worries! The exhibition will be on until September 2nd.

As for my participation, well, you can credit me for that big red sun embracing Toronto landscape!

visit www.littlemissmachete.ca to see my work

profile of a girl

sketch - profile of a girl
digital painting

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Girl (back)

sketch - girl (back)
digital painting

It's good to do things that you don't usually do. What for? To wake up your brain, to keep it active, a jump start in case some of your neurons are lazily asleep.
The back of a girl, here for you. Enjoy!

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Can you tell I still haven't calibrated my monitor?

All I Got
sketch + digital painting

New one with the sketch for you to enjoy!

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Payaso without Calibration

sketch - Payaso (clown) without Calibration
digital painting

I got a new monitor (that I'm loving!) but I've been procrastinating when it comes to colour calibration. So I should warn you, I'm happy with the look of this sketch on my not-yet-calibrated monitor but only you'll know how decent it looks on yours. Don't be shy, and let me know ;o)
In any case, hope you enjoy my payaso!

visit www.littlemissmachete.ca to see my work

Flashing Mountie

Editorial - Flashing Mountie
digital painting

This is an illustration regarding an Edmonton RCMP officer being transferred to BC after being disciplined for inappropriate sexual behaviour.
For more info you can read this article.

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Let me Say Hello

Personal - Let me Say Hello
digital painting

New piece!

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It's always good to practice

Good2Practise - 01
digital painting

One can never stop learning, I tell you that. Here is a drawing I made in Photoshop just for the sake of practicing. No reference, just decided to draw a face, black and white. That's all! If you want to comment, or give me your opinion, don't be shy. Cheers!

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Two more iPhone cases out in the world!

photo courtesy of Andrea Torres.

photo courtesy of Austin Gilkeson.

Products - Walking to School (Mab Ipswich)

iPhone case

It makes me extremely happy to receive photos of new iPhone cases in use. Thanks so much for buying and also for sending pictures my way. It makes my day!
If you want to see other models available, please visit: http://society6.com/littlemissmachete/cases Don't be shy, and if you buy one, send me a picture, I'll post it here for the world to see ;o)

visit www.littlemissmachete.ca to see my work

The March Issue is out!

Under the Juniper Tree - Mab Ipswich vs. Principal Goblinson
digital painting

And my favourite witch, Miss Mab Ipswich, comes back to the March issue of Under The Juniper Tree  and I have the fortune of contributing with three illustrations. I invite you to check out "Mab Ipswich vs. Principal Goblinson" another great story by Austin Gilkeson. Enjoy!

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iPhone case in use!

Products - Take a Risk! - Piranhas
iPhone case

I'm so happy to see one of my illustrations in action! Here is a photo I received of this (awesome) iPhone case ;o) courtesy of Paula. Thanks! If you like it, you can go RIGHT HERE to order yours! The are more designs so visit my shop now and do some buying!

visit www.littlemissmachete.ca to see my work

I'm in the February Issue of Under The Juniper Tree!

Under the Juniper Tree - The Monster and Mab Ipswich
digital painting

And we are starting February on the right (or left, your choice) foot! I had the fortune of having the opportunity to participate in the super bloody and lovely online magazine Under The Juniper Tree. It was incredibly fun because I had to illustrate an amazing story "The Monster and Mab Ipswich" by Austin Gilkeson. This is one of the illustrations I did. Now go read and see!

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Take a Risk! - Piranhas

Promo - Take a Risk! - Piranhas
digital painting

I've created this piece as a promotional postcard and had it printed by the glorious people at MOO. If you haven't heard of MOO, you are missing some! They print, and print good! Their quality is nothing short of excellent, their service is fast and reliable, they offer a variety of neat products plus they are super friendly. Rad! Go, check them out, I'm sure you will love them!
And now, to mail the postcards. Wish me luck!

visit www.littlemissmachete.ca to see my work

#drawhellboy

Draw Hellboy - Hellboy
digital painting

My dear twitter friend @themooks (a.k.a. James Howard) is having a Hellboy feast over on his tumblr and I just couldn't miss it. Here is my #drawhellboy for you to enjoy!  

visit www.littlemissmachete.ca to see my work

ProSite - my review, just saying

ProSite - product/service review
just saying

Today, I would like to share with you my experience with one of Behance products, ProSite. Please note that these comments are solemnly based on my own experience and my own opinion.

IN SHORT
I love it and completely recommend it. It is an easy, stress-free way to have a professional looking portfolio without worrying about coding. All for $11/month, and if you ask me, that's money well spent! 

IN LONG
I started thinking about using a portfolio-based service for having my website to make my life easier. In the past, I had coded my own website and it'd always been a lengthy process (and some times frustrating, I must add.) Especially since I am not web designer and every time I wanted to redo my website I had to re-acquaintance myself with HTML, CSS and the like. My website was in serious need of an update and time wasn't on my side. After looking to different options I chose the somehow new Behance product: Prosite.

If you are not familiar with Behance, it is an online platform for creative professionals that I highly recommend you join. It is a nice and progressive creative community that could be of advantage for your career. Within their range of products and services you will find ProSite, "a revolutionary new way to build, host, and manage your personal portfolio website." (taken from Behance.com) And indeed it is revolutionary since it offers an easy way not only to create your website, but to manage it and keep it  up to date with your latest work. It synchronizes with your Behance Network account, which means every time you create a new project, you can make it part of your portfolio right away. And that guaranties having a portfolio as current as it could be. With the possibility of having your own domain and a user-friendly interface, you can customized your website to look professional without loosing your personal style. It will be a reflection of who you are and the type of work you produce.

THE BUTS
Like most things in life, there have to be the "buts". In this case, I found two.
1. At the time I joined, they did not offer the possibility of having a personalized email account matching your domain. That made me stay with my old and good hosting provider, ehosting.ca and a package that gives me my beloved @littlemissmachete.ca email accounts. Then, I just linked my domain with my ProSite and voilà! 
2. Although they have the great advantage of Google Analytics, I wanted to add the counter service, Statcounter, I have been using for years. Unfortunately, that's not possible yet. However, I have to say that I contacted ProSite regarding this issue and they promptly responded. Thumbs up for customer service!

TO MAKE IT EASIER
If you are thinking of revamping your portfolio website I recommend you think ProSite. I did it, and I am very pleased with the results, judge for yourself: littlemissmachete.ca 


______

Websites mentioned:
Behance Network: www.Behance.com
Prosite: Prosite.com
ehosting: ehosting.ca
StatCounter: Statcounter.com
 

visit www.littlemissmachete.ca to see my work

New website is up!

News - Up and updated!
website

Long overdue but it's finally here! My new website is up and running. I've decided to try Behance new Prosite and I really like it. I'll be posting about it in my next post, but meanwhile, go, check out my new site! Don't be shy and leave me your comments here about it.

visit www.littlemissmachete.ca to see my work