... and I'm Feeling Good

I finished this piece on monday night the day before my birthday. I'm officially 23 years old. This piece is my take on a mermaid, I don't usually paint many creatures and I've taken the opportunity to have a little fun with fantasy subject matter. I think I'm just going to start e-framing everything, I'm stealing the idea from Kanye West's blog which is chocked full of artsy goodness. This is original sketch below.

I also got a new old Polaroid camera and a good amount of expired film. It's great! here's some pics I took while chillin' in Rittenhouse with friends on my Birthday. These were taken right before we went to see kick-ass which was a great movie and definitely something I'll be buying on DVD when it's released. Hope everyone is great!

More Progress....

This painting is almost finished. just some minor details to paint and some digital enhancements on the horizon. Going to have a great scan of scan of this by the end of week. :)

And also I've found these awesome interviews that have me even more stoked than usual to paint. if you like comic book art and or illustration check out the sidebar comics, art and more podcast. They have great interviews with Sam Weber, Josh Middleton, Brad Holland, and pleanty other great artist.

Gil Scott-Heron

This man is a living legend. His work has been affecting the african american community in a positive way since the 70's. The part that astounds me is how he has updated his sound and kept the essence and passion that made people want to listen to him in the first place. Gil Scott-Heron you are my hero and I hope my craft can affect people even a fraction of what yours has.
please do your self a favor and check out his new album "I'm new here" here's a song from the album it called "me and the devil"

Gil Scott-Heron - "Me And The Devil" from Adam F. on Vimeo.

some old-school Gil

Princess Bubblegum

I just finished this fanart piece of the new Adventure Time cartoon. This is Princess Bubblegum, I chose her because she is wildly different from most characters I draw so I thought it might be interesting to see such a cutesy character rendered out by my hands, I had a lot of fun doing this piece mostly because I got to use a variety of mediums: watercolor, colored pencils, acrylic, and even digital. Hoping to finish up another painting this week on my off days until then Blogger.

Alexi

This is a character portrait based on my friend Alexi. No meaning behind this one, it's just me practicing in a new medium.

St. Vincent Completed

I finally got the oppurtunity to scan my st. vincent painting. I'm really happy with this piece so much that I e-framed it. I hope you enjoy it and I'm happy to start working on some new paintings.

Memory Lane

I wanted to post the final scan of my St. Vincent painting but the place where it's being shown is only open thurs - saturday. It's kind of limited my pick-up times......so for now here's some pics from 09

This was from a free event held by Broad Street Ministries. They had a piece of canvas and tempera paints and I could not help myself (even though my painting face is quite unattractive and is usually kept behind closed doors)

This was done at an art show Gloria was apart of. They also had live painting which we both indulged in. my tempera doodle is on the bottom and Gloria's is right above mine.

and also I've been blogging a lot too over at giant human boy. Me and a couple of friends of mine share ideas and various other materials that aid in procrastination. check it out if you get a minute.

Tweaking the Website

I just made some small tweaks on my website and needless to say I am much happier with it. I've added details for all the images and put in new images including one I had taken out for reasons unknown to even myself, and also addeda touch of color. So go check it out! click the website link on the side of my blog or if your lazy just click here

Proof!!!

Proof thats it's done! Scan and detail shots coming on monday. :)

Next Week Will Be More Exciting

Feeling weird right now. My laptop is at the apple store getting its logicboard replaced which is definitely slowing down my whole website/blog super update endeavors. I will say that my St. Vincent painting is completed and I'm excited to scan and post it in the coming week. I'm also commiting to posting once a week as a minimum and since I don't really have much to show this week here's a st. vincent video. I hope you enjoy :)

Mini-Update

Hey guys I'm sorry for not blogging but its because I've actually been busy. :) I've got a few shows coming up which I'll keep everyone posted with as they get closer. I need to get better at documenting although I will have plenty of updates in the very near future to make up for it, but I must go now and find good reference of a boat. Here's a hint why...

The Spirit of St. Vincent

Working on a new piece based on the soothing voice of singer/songwriter/musician Annie Clark. I was listening to her first album and was thinking to myself "This stuff could calm a sea faster than Poseidon." and so here we have the sketch. Which is her standing amidst a stormy ocean trying to calm the ocean with song. Below are my first set of color studies, its been awhile since I've done them digitally. This reminded me of how awesome photoshop is for finalizing images.


You can find her tunes here if Interested. I'm excited to start this painting. :)

Vote 4 Me

Hey Guys I have a few pieces up for voting over at infectious.com. Do me a favor and vote for my designs so that they can be used as iphone/cell phone skins and or laptop skins. :)

VOTE 4 "GRACIAS POR LA INVITACION"

VOTE 4 "PURGING STRESS"

VOTE 4 "A TALE OF REGRET"

Many thanks to all who vote.

Still Painting.....

New piece in progress. Hoping to have this one finished by the end of week. session 2 begins on wednesday in oils. More info about the piece will come as I get closer to completion so please stay tuned.

In other news, I gots a twitter now so if your on twitter too lets follow each other. I'm @colliemills you can just click the link on the sidebar to follow me. :) and also in the spirit of twitter my friend henry made these awesome twitter joke icons. you can check out more of his stuff here.

Remembering Stella

Hey I just finished this portrait of Stella, she departed earth in 2005 and I was honored to help carry on her memory through a painting that embodies her likeness. The portrait itself was very fun, and the baroque framework is something i've always wanted to paint and it was really cool to apply it to a sentimental portrait.
.....and I also coded this website for my friend Darvin. He designed it and I was the person who coded it and acted as a design consultant. check it out if you get a chance here

Mind-Blowing

I found these videos online tonight. They have no credits and have come out of nowhere and are extremely intriguing. All I can say is that I'm interested in whatever is going with these vids. I hear they're promos for a band. who? I have no idea either way they're very intense and I can't wait for someone to step forward and claim ownership of these videos so that I may bow to their creative awesomeness.













and I have finished a painting and made some progress on another. A pic and an accompanying tale coming to a computer screen near you very soon my friends.

Visuals for the Uninspired

Recently been entranced by a couple of vids, so I thought I'd share. Video is an artform I have a lot respect for. The thought process to bring these visuals to life must be an arduous one and I commend these directors and animators. These videos make me want to instantly get and go start working on something. Keep up the good work guys I'm looking forward to seeing more work from these guys

Trichrome Blue from Lois van Baarle on Vimeo.

Yeasayer - Ambling Alp from Spy Films on Vimeo.

There is also an equally awesome interactive video type thing on www.amblingalp.com, look only if your brave

fever ray - if i had a heart from Raf Rennie on Vimeo.

These New Puritans - We Want War from Raf Rennie on Vimeo.

DEBORAH ANN WOLL | EN LAS DISTANCIAS CORTAS UN HOMBRE SE LA JUEGA from seres on Vimeo.

This one was directed by Tyler Shields

On to the Next One by Jay-Z from Wasiu Bello on Vimeo.

Preview

These are two pieces I'm starting this coming week. I'll give more info as they approach completion. :)

Best of Film of 2009

So I'm kind of enamored with James Cameron right now. Last Night I experienced the Avatar in 3d and was completely blown away, not just by the character design and great acting but by the way this old story was told in such a new and refreshing way. It is also amazing the lengths that everyone involved in the process of making this movie have gone through, especially the 3d modelers, animators and motion capture folks. This film IS amazing and if you haven't seen it yet then you are doing yourself a disservice. P.S-You'll definitely want to see it in 3d, it enhances the experience and really puts you in the film. check out the trailer and some behinds the scenes stuff in the video playlist underneath.