Ninja March 28th, 2008
Yippee,
*
just saw on the Theme Magazine blog that my bird nest/geisha hair painting
won me this fabulous, brand new Monument Snowboard designed by Maya Hayuk!
How cool is that?! Thanks to the kind folks at Theme for picking lil’, ole me!! ^__^
* Mantis photo from Mfrost
Related postsNinja March 24th, 2008
Here are the steps for my bird nest/geisha hair portrait.
The eyes are the window to the soul, so I always start there. No real reason why I was using a blue pencil other than I couldn’t find my regular pencils and this one was just on my desk.
I really enjoy drawing/inking hair. Yes, I was inking on top of my laptop. I could have cleared the table, but I was too lazy. I was listening to Radiohead and Death Cab for Cutie on iTunes, too.
I go about blocking in the shadows and midtones. Highlights are created by leaving those areas blank, so the white of the paper shows through. I just started using the Rives BFK paper, and it soaks in the ink wonderfully (plus, it’s thick enough that the moisture doesn’t cause it to warp like crazy). Good stuff.
After layers and layers of ink, the hair is done.
It’s lonely, so I add a little, feathered friend. I think it also gives the portrait a bit of a fairy-tale vibe (and kind of makes the funky hair style excusable).
I deepened the blues in the face and finished inking the bird.
Here, Stefan pointed out that the bird’s tail was too large in proportion to his body. What can I say? The man’s got a critical eye and a keen sense of detail. Danke, Stefan for your help!
With the pen tool, I created a selection of the bird’s tail and moved it to another layer (I feathered that selection by .2 pixels so that there wouldn’t be such a hard edge). Then I scaled and rotated it to the proper proportion. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough image (because it originally bled off the page). With a bit more of the pen tool, cloning stamp, and healing brush, the extra bits of the tail were created.
Happy Drawing,
Ninja ^__^
Ninja March 20th, 2008
Thanks to Ms. Ophelia for the heads up!
You know how I LOVE drawing hair, so this snowboard contest was just calling my name.
The Contest
Monument Snowboards and Theme Magazine are giving away limited edition snowboard from the 2007-2008 Monument Snowboard Artist Series. The And I Will Always Love You snowboard features original design by Maya Hayuk.
How to enter
Send a picture of the rebellious haircut/hairstyle with the year it was taken and accompany it with a picture of you and your hair now. Send your REBEL hair photos to Jason.Lam@ThemeMagazine.com
Deadline for Submission
Monday, March 24, 2008
Favorite pictures + the winner will be on the Theme website on Friday, March 28th!
Good luck!
If you’re curious, here’s my entry.
sumi ink + colored pencil on Rives BFK, 8.5 in x 11 in
Related postsNinja March 5th, 2008
The winners for the hair letterpress prints are:
Ray + Stephanie
I will email you to get your mailing addresses. ^__^
Cheers,
Ninja
Ninja February 20th, 2008
My collaborative letterpress prints with Ophelia just came in! And oh, the colors!
The multi-talented and uber-nice Ms. Ophelia Chong cranked these puppies out with love on her Vandercook press. They are simply gorgeous! THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH, OPHELIA!!!
Spreading the letterpress love
I’m going to give out a letterpress print (one of the larger prints featuring Ophelia’s hair and her signature wooden type) to two NvP readers. Just leave a comment with your name and email address. The drawing ends on March 4. The two winners (chosen at random) will be announced on March 5.
Ninja January 28th, 2008
Alicia Kachmar has a special Valentine’s Day giveaway on her site. Just comment to her post by Feb. 1 and you can win one of these crochet cupcakes seen here (red velvet, or chocolate-frosted).
via Craft Zine
Related link
+ Post a comment and enter to win here
Ninja January 18th, 2008
I recently received emails from 2 NvP readers, B and P (I don’t think they want their real names known), mentioning that someone borrowed some elements from my First Kiss print for a tee shirt contest submission.
There is a noticeable similarity between the two:
P created this overlay image to use as a reference when he contacted the contest moderators:
I guess I am a bit flattered that this contest participant liked my illustration. I took inspiration from baroque patterns for my piece, so I cannot fault this person for drawing inspiration from my illustration. However, inspiration aside, I wish he would have done more than just take my image off the web, slap on head gear, facial hair, and stenciled elements. He did a pretty shoddy silhouetting job, too. Without the negative space created by the position of the girl’s arm, it looks like “Miss Liberty” has a huge hump in her back.
It seems that even his concept idea wasn’t that original (then again, what is). When I saw his tee shirt submission, I was reminded of Asaf Hanuka’s Kissing Liberty illustration for Men’s Health Germany (pictured below).
Anywho, my intention of this post isn’t to make a big stink about it, but rather give some background info as to why I’m publicly thanking B and P. They’ve both been incredibly sweet, and I’m really touched by their concern and all their efforts to contact the tee shirt contest site.
Thanks so much, B and P!
^__^,
Ninja
Ninja January 15th, 2008
Rachael Rabbit is having a fun giveaway contest on her blog. Simply leave a comment on her blog before 12 noon EST on Valentine’s Day and you’re automatically entered to win one of her cute new Green Bunny reusable grocery totes. These sturdy bags fold down to a 4″ x 4″ square so you can easily stash one in your purse and always have one handy.
via Craftzine
Related link
+ Enter to get a bag here
Purchasing link
+ Can’t wait? Get your own bag here for $15.
Ninja December 30th, 2007
It’s no secret that I have a soft spot for geeks. Sexy geeks? Off the top of my head, I’m thinking:
+ Kevin Rose, founder of Digg
+ Jade Raymond, former EA producer + Assassin’s Creed producer
Related link:
+ Vote here or submit your own pick
Ninja December 21st, 2007
The annual DWR Champagne Chair Contest back! Here’s your chance to create an original miniature chair, get noticed, + win a $500 or $1000 DWR gift card.
For more information + rules visit the site here.
Cheers + good luck!
Related link:
+ Last year’s winners + runner ups
Limited edition lithograph prints. Signed + numbered.
