Molly Ringwald Imitation Portrait

"Molly Ringwald Imitation Portrait", Graphic Design

For my Photography I class, we had an assignment to do three imitation portraits. For one of my portraits, I decided to replicate the 1986 Seventeen Magazine cover featuring Molly Ringwald. There is no huge conceptual idea behind this piece; it was created for the assignment. Several months ago, my friend mentioned that I looked like Molly Ringwald, so I decided to embrace our similar features, and use it to my advantage in this assignment. I used Photoshop CS6 for the picture editing and details, and I used Adobe Illustrator CS6 to layout the magazine cover.

Comments, critiques, questions?
Be curious.

Peace,

Ella Bella

Multiple Personalities

"Multiple Personalities Self-Portrait", original photography with photoshop effects

Hey bloggers, fans, critics, and everyone!

I know it has been a while since I have posted some new artwork. However, that's also good news because I have been busy creating some new pieces! Here is one of my newest ones called, "Multiple Personalities Self-Portrait", which features 10 versions of me!

With this piece I wanted to convey the different facets of me through the replication of my body. I dressed differently for each facet of my personality that I wanted to convey. For example, I am sure you can pick out some obvious personality types, such as: "athletic" and "nerdy". There are also some more complex dimensions of my personality revealed in this photograph.

This piece came from an assignment that we had in photography class to demonstrate our skills in photoshop. How do you think I did?

I am so happy to be posting on the blog, again, and so glad you are taking the time our of your day to read this!

Peace,

Ella Bella

New Art!

Hello everyone!

I know it has been quite sometime since I have last posted some art work. The good news is: I have been busy creating artwork! I am so excited to share my new photography and Graphic Design with you. As we all do at some point or another, I have been occupied with a lot scheduling, work, and tasks. 

I also wanted to update you on my etsy shop. Yes, I had previously planned to sell my paintings on my etsy shop. However, I am now realizing that this is the time for me to focus more creating artwork, then selling it. Although I am very upset that I am not in the position to sell my art work right now, I do know that the time will eventually come when I will be able to do so. I will keep you updated on my etsy shop progress when that day comes!

So this blog post is all about just keeping you updated, and letting you know that I will be posting some artwork this week, and thank you for being faithful viewers and fans!

Peace,

Ella

New Logo!

Hello kittens!

Today is an exciting day! Why? Because today is the day that I post my first logo!

I had previously blogged that I would be selling my paintings in a few weeks on etsy.com. I wanted to create my own logo for my etsy shop, and overall, just for business purposes (because I had my first customer as a free-lance photographer this summer!). I drew mayn designs, and I liked many of them. I spend quite a long time trying to decide which drawing to use, and I thought I had hit a dead end, when...bam! This one picture that I drew stared right at me, and I knew that drawing was the one that would become my logo. 

This graphic that I have posted here includes the original drawing combined with information. The picture logo that I spent so much time deciding on was the image in the bottom right of this graphic. The logo has two eyebrows, one lifted up and lips and a mole.

This logo is close to my fascination and love for Marilyn Monroe. I talk about my connection with Marilyn Monroe in an earlier post (in which I created a self-portrait with her eyes, lips, and mole). When I first discovered Marilyn Monroe in middle school, I remember instantly being connected with her image. I never really knew why I felt this connection with the idea of Marilyn Monroe, but the early Hollywood beauty always seemed to stare beyond the internet image and see me. As if, I had known her. As I am reading a biography on her, I am finding out more why I feel connected with her as an icon, star, person, and artist. In a tribute to Marilyn Monroe, I added the mole to the logo. The lips are a cartoon version of my own, and the eye brows are based off of my own , as well (I love curving one eyebrow down and lifting one up...).

I hope you enjoy! Thoughts?

Soon to be selling...

Hello everyone!

I wanted to update you on when I will be selling my paintings.

Because of circumstances, I will start selling paintings throughout the year. I will also continue to post photographs of the paintings that
I plan to sell on here, first. This way, you can have a fresh sneak
peak at what I will be selling!

I have been thinking a lot about selling my artwork, and this is really something that I
have been wanting to do for a long time, now. Ever since I was young, it was my dream to be an artist, and it is so surreal that I will be able to sell my own artwork, soon! In the end, though, the art for me is not about the money.

I believe that the art process is healing for me, and I would imagine that a world without art would be very dull. Art is a beautiful, and worldly experience. I have been surprised to have run into as many people as I have that expect artists to work for free and live a humble life. Although I just stated that creating art isn't about the money, artists are still people who have families, bills, and are involved in other activities that require money. To me, an artist is someone who loves their job, and, in that, the term "artist" becomes a part of you, and not just your occupation.

I believe you should be able to live whatever life you want to live, and, in that statement, I am upholding your own ideals and occupations. It's beautiful that you can live your own life, and you can live to live, live to make money, live to die, and it's your choice, and that choice is powerful. To me, every human life is special, and if you want to work for no money as an artist, more power to you, but it shocked me that I ran into people who believed that a part of being an artist was being "poor", so to speak. All I can say is that, someone hasn't check up on history recently.

Continue being yourself. That is essential, and that is beautiful. {:

Thanks for reading my rant. What do you think?

Peace,

Ella

Custom-designed frame

Custom-designed frame, acrylics

I custom-designed this frame for a family print. Originally, I wanted to create a very textured frame. However, as things always shift and evolve around us, my frame idea evolved into something different.

I decided to use the palette knife, in order to create a thick texture (love using the palette knife!!!!). However, the white paint was more watery than I had anticipated, and did not create thick texture. Instead, it formed around the thick, black paint that had dried the day before the white was applied. 

I loved the ending result much better than my original idea! I went with a black & white scheme for the frame design because I knew that the picture already had a lot of color, and I wanted the frame to compliment the photo, but not dominate it. 

I have never designed a frame before, but I have certainly painted a lot, so this was a new experience that I really enjoyed, and I will definitely be doing more of it in the future!

What do you think about it? 

Peace,

Ella

Happy Anniversary

"Happy Anniversary", original photographs
I was asked by my friend, Becca, to shoot a series of portraits of her and her
sisters as a surprise for her parent's anniversary.

These are the group photographs, plus some sentimental graphics. 

It was a joy, and here is my artist's statement for it (addressed to their parents).

Becca approached me about creating a surprise for your Anniversary. She and her sisters decided that they wanted to pose in a series of photographs, in order to show you how much they love your dedication to each other and to family. After talking to Becca, I decided that I wanted to help collaborate with her and her sisters to create a keep sake that you two and the whole family could have for years to come.

Through the photo shoot, Becca, Laura, Michelle, Jessica and I were hoping to surprise you two. I have known Becca for a few years now, and meeting and working with Laura, Michelle, and Jessica as well was an amazing experience. I decided that I wanted to come as close as I could to capturing the girls’ appreciation, love and dedication to you two through this series of photographs. Originally, we had decided to stage the photo shoot at Dan Daniels Park because of the natural scenery. However, the day we chose to do the photo shoot ended up bringing scattered showers and thunderstorms. We then decided to move the location to downtown because of shelter, in case of more showers. This ended up being a wonderful choice, as downtown has been a long-time symbol of history, loyalty, and appreciation. I realized afterward that downtown was a great parallel for a successful relationship because as you two know, a solid relationship requires a strong history with each other, unwavering loyalty, and appreciation and love. We used several locations for the photo shoot: the train yard, around the Science Museum, and Down Town doors. I wanted to frame the girls to create a simple photograph, so they could show their love and appreciation for you two. It was their idea to keep the photographs in color, and they are all unedited. I kept them unedited because I felt that reflected the genuine quality of the girls and of your family.

Merging Realities

"Merging Realities", India ink, acrylics, mat board
(16 x 20)


The description for this piece is on my blog under the Archives "May" posts.

This is unique from my other paintings because it is 2D and 3D because I created
the hand, so it reaches outside the frame of the canvas.


This is one of my favourite pieces, and I hope it goes to someone special, and
hope to create many more like it.

The price will be posted on etsy.com in a few weeks.
Let me know if you have any interest in this piece!

*All pieces come with a clear finishing coat over the original painting for protection. They also come with the title, and artist's signature on the back.

"Compassion Lost (with beginnings of Cubism)"

 "Compassion Lost (with beginnings of Cubism)", acrylics, water color, pen
(11 x 14)


This piece was created in order to express my feelings towards past relationships. 
 I made a man and a woman the subject of this painting. The man (right) is pictured
 offering a rose and crying to the woman (left). However, the woman is crossing her arms
with an angry expression on her face. I placed the image of the Golden Mean Rectangle
on top to show how this relationship cycles around and around.


This is my reason for creating this specific art piece; however, it is open to interpretation,
and, as always, you are free to take any meaning you want from it!


This piece will be on etsy.com with a price in a few weeks.
Let me know if you are interested in this painting.

 *All pieces come with a clear finishing coat over the original painting for protection. They also come with the title, and artist's signature on the back.

"Spring Time Pond"

"Spring Time Pond", Acrylics
(16 x 20)

I created this piece with a custom-designed stencil of an abstracted bumblebee. 
This piece was originally created to be a figure-ground study (where the subjects and
the background both neither advance nor recede and act as decorative space). However, as this piece evolved it turned more into an abstracted view of a pond.

The price will be posted on etsy.com in a few weeks.
Let me know if you have any interest in this piece!

*All pieces come with a clear finishing coat over the original painting for protection. They also come with the title, and artist's signature on the back.

Esty.com

Hello Everyone!

I wanted to let all of my blog followers and fellow bloggers
that I will be selling some of my art work on etsy.com soon!

Etsy is easy to navigate, and you can search for me on the site
by my e-mail, ella.bella7@gmail.com!

I really do love all of my blog follwers and supporters, so because
of your positive feedback, and interaction on my blog, I will
be posting all of the art work that I will be selling on here, first.

(so you can get a first look, and pick...contact me at my above 
e-mail if you are interested in any of them!)

Peace,

Ella Bella

Layers

"Layers", ink, photographs, digital effects
This is a piece that I created from "Rj's Surprise". I decided to use the original sketch for this piece. Behind the sketch of us is a series of pictures in black & white. I created this because I truly love creating and love to be with Rj.

A Falling Star, Portrait of Rashawn with Lana Del Rey

"A Falling Star, Portrait of Rashawn with Lana Del Rey", india ink, pen, crayon
I decided to draw a portrait of one of my closest friends, Rashawn. Rashawn is such an amazing person and friend, and I really am so thankful for having him in my life. This is a piece of the portrait that I drew him. I did not include the whole portrait because the portrait itself is a letter that I am mailing to him (and he hasn't seen it, yet! So the rest is a surprise!!). I included lyric from several different Lana Del Rey songs because Rashwan was the one who introduced me to her music.  It has been over a year since I have seen Rashawn, and I am proud of him for being himself and accomplishing many things! I plan to see Rashawn, again, soon, and I can't wait until then!

Rj's Surprise

"Rj's Surprise", pen, photoshop

A note on the meanings

Hey everyone!

I wanted to address the reason why I give explanations beneath my art work on this blog. I explain my art work, so you can see my initial reason for creating the art. Also, because most of the art I make is conceptual and can be categorized as "modern" art, I try to provide insight to the symbolic nature of my pieces. I do not write these explanations, in order to force you to see my perspective. I write them, so you can see my reason for making the piece, but I just want my art to evoke feelings. I do not mind if you see my perspective or even care about it. I do hope, though, that my art work can be a point of departure for your thoughts and feelings. If my art work reminds you of anything...I have done my job.

Peace,

Ella

A Jump In Logic

"A Jump in Logic" acrylics, marker, cotton & nylon fabric.

My inspiration for this piece was the long history of the nautical star. The stories of how sailors and navigators relied on the stars for sailing and guidance was the first idea I worked with when planning this piece. I also learned that the nautical star is usually the decoration that is used to hide the metal rod that is installed in the sides of older houses-the nautical star holds the rod in place and keeps the house from falling apart. This stability that nautical stars hold was the idea that ended up becoming my final inspiration. I used complementary colors to make the stars stand out. This was the first time that I mixed fabric into the paint for the background. I tore nylon and cotton t-shirts and mixed them in with the black. I did this because I wanted to create a feeling of disorder and chaos, contrasting from the stars, which I wanted to make bright and stable. Thoughts?

Me and Marilyn.

"Me and Marilyn". Original Photography, digital effects.
After watching the movie, My Week with Marilyn, I was inspired to create a piece dedicated to her influential role in my life. Now, this should be known: I have always been a Marilyn Monroe fan; this movie just made me realize that I should dedicate a piece to her. I first remember seeing Marilyn on a wine bottle label in house growing up. I instantly thought she was beautiful, and felt like there was something behind her beauty that was even more profound. Throughout high school, I collected pictures of Marilyn off the internet, and started reading about her life. I feel like she was an inspirational female actor, whose complexity and simplicity mix to make her very mysterious. I have read about pieces of her life, and I am currently reading a book about her. I feel like I have several connecting points with Marilyn, which explains why I was initially curious about her and interested in her life. Although Marilyn is not on this earth anymore, she is definitely still very alive.

My Four Mothers

"My Four Mothers", Mixed Media

This sculpture represents my four mothers: three extended, one biological. I wanted to create an homage to these women who have encouraged my creativity. Cindy, Teresa, KW, and my mom have all supported my pursuit of art. Not only have they supported me, but they have pushed me to ask, "What if..?" in my art throughout the years. The metaphor I worked with for this art piece was, "These four women have fueled my creativity as air fuels fire." The parts of this piece that holds significant symbolism are the candles and the flames. The candle on the left is taller because it represents my three extended mothers. I used scale to show how many people each candle represents (height); therefore, the candle on the right is smaller because it represents one person: my biological mother. I did not create the scale difference, in order to signify importance. I used scale variety to represent the number of people only. The two candles together represent a passage together, in which my mothers have created for me. This passage opens every time I see one of my mothers, and I am able to refresh my creative perspective through them. The flames are significant because there are hearts that I sculpted inside of the flame. Each heart represents one of my mothers.

I did not have any specific artist for inspiration in mind when I was creating this piece. However, while I was sculpting the flames, I realized that they were very surrealistic. I have always been attracted to the surrealistic movement, and I have always been drawn to Salvador Dalí's work.

Tattoo Design

 "Tattoo Design" Marker, acrylics
Originally, the design I made on the left was a tattoo design that I created in history class one day. However, I decided to incorporate it in one of my pieces. I wanted to create a more simple piece that played with advancing and receding space. I really enjoy doing abstract expressionism because I feel like  the essence of the piece can be captured through unique mark-making. I really enjoyed making this piece, and I hope you guys enjoy it, too. Peace.

Merging Realities

"Merging Realities", Acrylic, India ink, mat board

Hey kittens, sorry it's been a while since I've posted art work...it has been crunch time as far as the spring semester goes. This is one of my last pieces for Design II. And, guess what!? It's 2D & 3D, fun, hmm? I made a woman from simultaneous perspective with abstracted colours. I do not have any certain conceptual purpose behind this piece, but I do think that the overlapping hand came out more creepy than intended (she's going for my face!! ahh!!). Any comments? Peace out.

A Continuation of Katie

This is a continuation of my earlier series of the most fun model, Katie. {:

Pepper Logo

"Pepper Tat", original drawing, colour swatches
I originally drew this character as a food self-portrait (which can be found in the archive!), but my mentor, Mr. Henderson, wanted to create a car decal for his truck (or should we say a tattoo for his car?). I decided to redraw the original self-portrait, and give it more elements of Mr. Henderson, and base loosely off of Pepper Pots from Iron Man (which became the central focus for the piece!). Then, we abstracted the colours, and created a closed colour scheme, which became a better abstract representation of an actual pepper, as well. And! The decal has now been printed (Thank you Mr. Henderson), and I have a few sheets of the sticker...one currently resides on my laptop. Any ideas of where to put the others? 

Colour & Space: A New Series

Colour & Space Series original photography, graphic design
(T-B: Katie (awaiting title, ideas?), self-portrait, "The Innovator with Lana Del Rey"
Hey all you kittens! I know it's been a while since I've posted some art...but, stay assured, I have been busy creating it! The title is to-be-determined as of now because I have just started this series. However, I can tell you my inspiration that sparked this series: this series, like the pieces themselves, are a collection of several different concepts. Upon studying colour theory, my professor had the class watch scenes from Fantasia (still one of my favourite movies to this day). I was really inspired by Walt Disney's colour palette and selection-rewatching scenes from this movie reminded me what a masterpiece the movie was, and how much I have missed viewing it. This series has also been sparked due to the music I have been listening to-specifially Lana Del Rey (thank you Rashawn for introducing her to me!). I feel that her music is very layered-as my art work usually turns out to be. I am also aiming to better my skills of using space and perception in my works (studying this unit in class, now). And for now, that'll do, Pig.

Custom-designed pants

"Feather, Achromatic" spray paint, custom-made stencil, bleach
I custom designed these pants. You like? Look out for me on etsy this summer. {:

19.

"19.", photograph taken by Charles Schwarz, digital effects done by yours truly.
This is a photograph that my brother took on my 19th birthday of my boyfriend (Rj) and me. To me, this photograph captures the essence of the night, and the excitement. I decided that turning the photograph achromatic would specifically pinpoint the candidness and the emotion of the moment. I hope everyone finds consolation and love to the extent that I have found in Rj. <3 And since I am feeling sentimental-I would like to take this time to thank all of the people who have come and gone in my life-I will remember you all. I cherish the ups and downs and all of the memories I have formed with each person in my life...and I the lessons I have learned will be in my mind forever. Thank you all for passing through my life...and a special thanks to the ones who have stayed. {:

Series of Hunter

"Series of Hunter in the Fall of 2011", original photographs (untouched)
This is my roommate, Hunter. I have mentioned her earlier on my blog when I did a portrait of her out of cotton and denim. We went out with two other students to take portraits around the Lynchburg College Campus. Anyone who hasn't visited-should. Especially if you're into nature and outdoorsy activities. 

For you, Olivia {:

"The Lesser Hand" (top), "Releasing" (bottom), acrylics on canvas board.
I posted these two pieces for you, Olivia! My dear friend, Olivia (with such a classy fashion sense and a natural knack for photography), is working on an abstract expressionist piece, so I am posting these two pieces in honor of you! Whether these help with your assignment, or just help you procrastinate...hopefully you find them of some use. {:  I created these two pieces a while ago in my free time. These two pieces are evidence that art is my way of expressing emotions, concepts, words, and many more things. I created the bottom one in a fit of anger, and, I can honestly say that I felt relieved after I created it. Sometimes, all you need to do is throw a canvas board on the ground, fling some paint, and scratch the board a little bit, and....voila! Okay, so it's not always that easy, obviously, but I can say that Art is there for you whenever you need it. (By the way, check out Olivia's art blog at http://oliviaephotography.tumblr.com/) #supportyoungartists

Lost, partner art

"Lost" Partner art; original photographs, digital effects.
I've heard that young artists often spend their early years in art creating self-portraits. I can say that I definitely have done quite a few (as I'm sure you have noticed...:P). I have just generally found that using myself as a subject for my art is convenient, for starters-because you already have consent. But, on a deeper level, self-portraits are so much more than convenient-they are a way of figuring out who I am and expressively documenting who I am at that moment in time...which seems is always changing...