Queen of Hearts finish

I love it when friends commission a piece and say "just do whatever you want". It allows me to experiment and discover new ways of working that I might not otherwise have a chance to explore. This was originally meant to be much smaller and simpler than it turned out, but I ended up having so much fun it sort of kept going. I posted a WIP a few months ago and just realized I never posted the finish, so here it is:



8.5x11 watercolor on Canson 140 lb watercolor paper.

Illuxcon Sketch Dump

So I went to Illuxcon this weekend with some amazing artist friends: Kurt and Zelda and Rob Rey. All you have to do is go check out the guest list to figure out what an amazing time I had. It's a small con, only around 200 attendees, but concentrated with some of the best artists in the industry, fascinating panels and lots of great conversations. In case you haven't heard me talk about this at length already: the people in the sci-fi/fantasy industry boasts of the most generous, supportive, down to earth sorts of folks around. I used nearly 20 pages of sketchbook during the con, so without further ado, here are some highlights:

Spot the art-stars! Sculptors Thomas Kuebler and Jordu are here...


Jordu and Thomas did an amazing collaborative sculpture during the con. Here's a pic swiped from Christopher Burdett's blog:


Here we have art directors Jon Schindehette (D&D) and Jeremy Cranford of (WoW) who both took time out of a very busy schedule to talk to me about my portfolio. You guys rock! Also Kurt Huggins.

Scott Altmann, another favorite.

A couple of Chris Burdett and Rob Rey.

Drawing people sleeping is fun- and creepy. Here's Kurt.

And Zelda sleeping in the car. Then while listening to Florence and the Machine's Rabbit Heart, I started sketching a rabbit and just felt like continuing the theme. Introducing Fungarabbit and Bunthulu:

© 2009 Kristina Carroll.

Some exciting projects on the horizon so expect more soon!

Amanda Palmer Tarot: Seven of Wands

And here is my final piece for the Amanda Palmer Tarot deck: The Seven of Wands. The most challenging part of this project was combining my vision of what the card meant to me with Amanda’s music. I knew that I wanted to use “Astronaut” as my basis but do it from the perspective of the person flying in the face of science, not the one left behind. I went through pages and pages of thumbnails before finding one that felt right and after shooting reference, began a charcoal drawing. I was still finding difficulty in placing imagery from the song in my drawing that would marry the concept with the card, until a random smudge in the charcoal put in my mind the milky way swirling around this larger than universes figure and suddenly everything started working. Another smudge on the rod in her hand made it burst into flame and suddenly echoes of Prometheus tied the whole piece together. From that point the drawing basically finished itself. I started laying down oil paint up to a certain point and finished digitally. Now I look at this piece and see a universal figure overcoming a universe in her way to achieve her goals. To me it is an image of perseverance, courage and inspiration and I can only hope others might look at it and feel the same.

More Amanda Palmer, Queens and faces

Ok, ok. So it's definitely been too long since my last post. I will try to make this one count! I've been doing a lot of work for Shadowrun, none of which I can show you of course. But I can show you some of the side projects I've been working on in between.

First off a couple more tiny portraits. Here are Mark and Valya:

These two were a lovely couple and I really enjoyed working from several pictures of their beautiful family. I tried to capture the most striking emotion that both portrayed in their images. Mark definitely struck me as a thoughtful, far-looking person and Valya had a smile that I knew would be infectious in person.

Next is a little private commission work in progress I've been on for a bit. The Queen of Hearts:



Pencil and watercolor.

And finally, the piece I have been working on for the Amanda Palmer Tarot deck. The Seven of Wands with inspiration drawn from Amanda's song, "Astronaut":



I really do love working in charcoal. The flexibility and texture allow for so many happy accidents. Such as a random accidental brush turning into the milky way wrapping around a figure.

Poetry and Bella

New tiny portrait done for the lovely Bella. I've been writing little bits on the back of these that I find tell a story about the piece. Lately I've been inspired by Baudelaire a great deal so here's the line I chose from Autumnal

"Sister and Mistress! be the fleeting warmth
of a sumptuous autumn or a setting sun."

Speaking of poetry and tiny portraits, you may remember my Medusa Palmer:



Well none other than my favorite author, Neil Gaiman himself, became my first customer and bought it! (Note to self: painting high profile writers' girlfriends as mythical creatures sometimes works. Especially when they're lovely supportive folks like Neil.)

Well I couldn't send something off to Neil without doing something special so, again inspired by Baudelaire, I came up with a little story/poem in response to his Beauty. Yeah, I wrote something. Weird right?

Baudelaire's Beauty

The sister with one human eye
conceives her love as a dream of stone.
But the heart is not a perfect mirror
and what is frozen by a blink,
melts in a gaze.

©2009 Kristina Carroll

Perhaps I'll start reading Byron next.

Don't forget, you can get your own tiny portrait for just $25 plus shipping. And now I'm going international! That's right, don't think that because you're overseas, you can't join in the fun. I'm a global kind of gal!

A Couple More Tiny Portraits

One more of Kurt and Zelda of Teetering Bulb! The one of Kurt was done in person while having wine after an amazing day of art and walking. That's why it's the color of wine! (Right Kurt? )

Get your own Tiny Portrait!

Portraits! Get your Portraits! Tiny, adorable Portraits!

So I've been teasing a few of you the last couple days about my new project that I'm hoping will excite people and maybe evolve into something really fun. SDCC was a great experience, as always and one I wouldn't give up for the world. Alas, it has left my funds dreadfully depleted and so I am trying to be creative instead of , you know, panicking or holding up the local coffee shop. (Guerilla coffee- your time is coming. All you hipster bloggers with teeny laptops should fear)

Here's how it starts:

Some heads inspired by some favorite faces from films:


Getting a little creative with some. First guy based on Rufus Sewell needed some wind. And Amanda Palmer's cool hair made me just want to make it bigger, until she became a sexy gorgon. Perhaps Medusa killed Amanda Palmer?



Then I worked on some of my friends. The top two are the amazingly talented Kurt and Zelda of Teetering Bulb and the bottom two are Gregory Manchess and Michael Kaluta- two amazing and generous artists and friends. I really went for likeness/personality in these and am quite happy with the results!


All of these are 3 inches by 3 inches on Canson watercolor paper.

So here's what is going to happen. I am going to keep making portraits and I am going to offer them at the amazing price of $25 each, plus $2 for shipping anywhere in the US. That is an original work of art for only $27! Holy cow! Not only that, but I will sign and title each and maybe even write something fun on the back just for you as a surprise.

But wait there's more.

Are you looking at these and thinking, well these are nice enough and all- but I don't really know any of these people? Well how about an original made to order? That's right- I am also taking requests. Send me a decent photo of someone. Anyone. And I will paint it up for you. Same price. You can even pick favorite colors if you want. Now there's a birthday present that will make people talk! Order in the next few days, and I will have your painting done and in the mail within a week.

Email me to start your own collection of Carroll originals or with any questions at Kristina (at) KristinaCarrollArt.com