Lisa Victoria's Live Journal

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:12:15 GMT

Getting started on my new year's resolution early by doing a cleaning and reorganization of my studio.

now on Ebay (auction ends December 20th):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130352164931

http://cgi.ebay.com/ORIGINAL-ACEO-Fish-Tales-Fantasy-Fairy-ART-L-Victoria_W0QQitemZ130352152892QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1e5998013c

Now on Etsy:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36727078

plant rack

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 00:40:39 GMT

I LOVE plants. Like to have them around me when I'm painting, but it was getting a bit crowded:

Thought I could solve it by just adding an extra rack on top (not in the before picture). Unfortunately that ended up making it hard to open the drawers on the plastic storage thing I have. So I was really happy when I found this wire closet storage rack thing. I added some shelves and painted the edges to match my drafting table. Very excited with how it turned out!

facebook fan page

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 02:46:32 GMT

I just created a fan page on facebook, here's a link to view it: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lisa-Victoria/86960201538?ref=nf
If you are a fairy and or fantasy artist with a fan page, please tell me about it so I can join your fan page too :D
And if anyone has any advice on promoting it, etc. I'm all ears! Just struggled my way through setting it up (I can't boast about having fabulous computer skills) and I know I have more to learn.

Happy Easter!

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 04:45:12 GMT

Here's a picture of Toby, it's of when he was younger, but he's looking at the camera and being cute

Romance Blossoms spring contest

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:30:28 GMT

Here's something fun. Take a look, vote for your favorite and have a chance to win a chain mail item :)
http://chainmaillersguild.blogspot.com/
It was hard to choose, they're all so lovely!

orchid

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:25:34 GMT

My orchid bloomed again! I'm very excited, it took over
a year for another blosoming stem to shoot up, but it did and it seems
like it took forever for it to grow, bud, and then for the buds to open.
But last Saturday morning I woke up to the sight of one opening (it took
the whole day for it to open completely and I was away for most of it).
(My apologies to any orchid growing enthusiasts, I am ignorant of the
correct terminology)

Original 8X10 painting on ebay

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:28:14 GMT

I was cleaning out my studio and thought it was time to list this painting
I did a few years back. After a while I start to feel a little guilty about
holding on to images, particularly when I have no where near enough wall space
to properly enjoy them all. So this fairy with her assertive attitude was telling
me that she had had enough of being packed safely in a dark closet. She wanted
out.

So she's on Ebay
right now. Auction ends March 17th , Saint Patrick's day ;)

Cut my Hair!

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 22:33:48 GMT

Finally cut my hair last Saturday!! I'd been growing it out for what felt like
FOREVER so I could donate it to Locks
of Love

It was while I was illustrating Mary
Kyle Douglas' charming story "Clara's Gift from the Heart" that
I became inspired to donate my hair. Unfortunately, it was kind of short at
the time so it took a few years to grow it long enough (donation of at least
10") So I waited, while it grew and grew, and heard lots of wonderful stories
(while selling this book at craft fairs) from other kids and women who have
given their hair to this worthy cause.

Eventually my braided hair got so long that it started dipping itself in
my paint palette, and wrapping itself around my neck while I slept like a
scarf or scarier, reminding me of a noose (!). It was OK for awhile
(I was curious how long I COULD grow my hair) but
suddenly Saturday morning it'd just wrapped itself around my neck 1 time too many!!

Here is a picture of the book, still available at Amazon
(note there isn't a picture, but if you look under the empty box, I loaded a
customer pic up)

Here are the Before and After photos (I kind of forgot to take a before photo
as I was in a hurry to chop it off, so this is obviously from last Halloween)

And the donated hair (I cut off 11" yea!):

Photo Safari!

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 01:20:19 GMT

Went on a Photo Safari today! Walked around the Presidio
taking pictures for my reference image folder. Maybe I'll improve my photo
skills (highly doubt it but I'll try)

Here are a few I liked:

they've built this strange spire thing at Inspiration point, Presidio,
no sign saying why, just appeared one day, wierd.

The Friendly cat that ran up to me while I was taking flower pictures
:) Kept running away when cars passed by, smart kitty, and then would
come back to be petted more. That's something I like about when I go on
a photo hunt, you never know what you'll find.

Back at home: Toby sniffing all the fur I groomed off him, poor bunny,
he's just started another shedding, maybe because the weather's a little
warmer again? Makes him hungrier than normal; it's hard to be so soft
and fuzzy.

Anyway, that's my adventure for the day.

Pencil case directions

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:53:44 GMT

Here you go Jade!
and also for anyone interested in making a pencil
case/ pencil easel thingy:

Here's a picture again of how it turned out. I'm still working on an
idea for an outer zippered case for this all to fit into, but for right
now, I'm very happy with how the pencil holding part came out, it's really
nice to be able to prop up my pencils when I'm working so I can view all
of the colors and pick out what I need. Before I had the pencils in a cup
with cardboard dividers which worked well until the pencils
got really small. So I'd take them out and have groups on my desk while I worked,
only then they'd roll around and drive me crazy!

Here is the diagram/hand written directions, click HERE
to view because the picture is kind of big.

My Bunny Muse

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 02:34:40 GMT

A little fairy bunny to keep me company
while I work, she came to my mind in mid January, so I tore up an old purple
sweater, drew out a pattern of what I wanted her to look like, and got sewing.
It took me back to when I was a kid making up my own designs for stuffed animals
(I couldn't have enough, and my Mom didn't mind me sewing, so I made a ton)
I really like how her feet tend to flop inward pigeon toed, my feet sometimes
do that too despite all the soccer and ballet lessons I took to train my feet
to have a proper "turnout".

I'm also rather happy with how my color
pencil holder turned out. Just finished it last Sunday. Lately, I've been experimenting
mixing in color pencils with my acrylic paint. Not novel or a new idea by any
means, I've heard of it many times before, but I never really have tried it
much, and it's been fun experimenting/seeing how it works.

Here's a little study I did using color
pencils ontop of acrylic washes.

fish passed on

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:45:40 GMT

Found my fish dead this morning. No question about it. My beta had been acting a little funny over the last couple of days so I had my suspicions. He lived a long life, about 3 yrs which is long I'm told for a beta, but I miss him. Wierd, because I never gave him a name, he was just "Fish". But he was a very good fish, greeted me each morning (he lived on my kitchen counter) Here's to Fish.

New Children's Book!!

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:35:44 GMT

10/29/2008
New children's book!

I am very excited to announce the release
of my latest children's book "To Live as Legend" where I had the amazing
opportunity to illustrate a magical poem that I fell in love with by Amy M.
Smith.

The publisher is offering a special deal
of $8.95 (plus shipping and handling $1.75) on this beautiful full color paperback
book.

http://www.dragonfeatherbooks.com/legend-special-offer.html

Dragonfeather Books can only offer this
special offer until October 30, 2008, so get your order in today.

weaving on the weekend

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:58:09 GMT

Spent a lovely afternoon with some friends weaving. Woody had a very cool paper loom from a craft magazine, but the rest of us decided to get the kind of looms we remembered using as kids to make the cheesy potholder projects. The kit I bought came with the nylon band things (they must be cut up pantyhose) and it shrunk, A LOT once removed from the frame. so much that they looked like coasters.
So of course I had to make 4 more :).

And then I STILL had some of those tecnicolor things left over so I mixed it
with some gray yarn. But when it came off the loom, it was a rectangle shape.
Folded in half it made for a cute purse/pouch shape, but you couldn't see the
full rainbow effect. However folded lengthwise it's Perfect for a paint brush
cozy!!

Sad thing is I can totally see myself using this, tacky as it may be :)

Fairy Stories

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 15:10:13 GMT

Sometimes when I'm doing a show, someone will come up to my booth and ask me if I see fairies. Or I will be told stories about their experiences seeing fairies. Of course I LOVE a good story, so I'm always all ears.

A German lady once told me that the easiest time of year to see a fairy is at the summer solstice when the veil is at its thinnest. And she said she'd take her children out on that evening into their garden and have them look for fairies in the flowers at twilight (which is a magical time). Sounded like fun to me :) and maybe an excellent way to get your children to help you garden. Good for the imagination if nothing else.

At the last show I did, a Musical Festival in La Honda (it's south of San Francisco, 8 miles in from the coast, amongst the redwood trees, a very fairy sort of spot) at the end of the show this lady came up to me, was talking to me about how she lived around here and then she said I had a "look" about me and asked me if I knew if I was elfin. Um, I don't know... (what an original answer, I think so well on the spot) and then she said that she was (well, she did look a little bit like an elf, or a pixie... short, small bone structure, dark short hair cut) and then she pulled back the hair from her ears, and I swear they looked like elf ears! My eyes must have bugged out because she just smiled and winked and left.

So just curious, anyone have an interesting tale to share?

Painting for weight loss?

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:39:43 GMT

So the other day when I was painting away on my book project, I noticed that my back was starting to hurt... and then I realized I was painting in a slouched hunched position over my work. Not good. In the past I've either used a table easel (in actuality, a recipe book holder) or I've stacked up books to raise the level of the painting so I'm not bending over so much, but this time I figured I better just stand up and paint. So I did what one of my art instructors in college made us do:
1. Set up your painting on an easel
2. Set your pallette at least 4-5 feet away from your painting

Thus you have to walk back and forth to get more paint to work on your image. Hmm... maybe you'll burn some extra calories from all the pacing back and forth? Well, I guess it's more likely than just sitting on your butt and painting....
My art instructor's theory behind this method is that it forces you to look at your work from a distance "step away from your work"

Anyway, it's working out pretty well :)

still around

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:35:43 GMT

Working on the final paintings of my children's book project. Looks like it's been awhile since I've posted anything, but I'm still around :)
Actually, I better get back to work. I'll see if it's OK with the publishers to post some of the work I've finished so far.

Studio pictures

Fri, 30 May 2008 01:30:23 GMT

Thought I'd post some pictures of my studio. I really enjoy seeing other artists'
work spaces so I figure it was long over due that I post some of my own.

So here's where I work:

my desk, dry eraser board (where I keep track of my painting progress and schedule),
bookcase where I store my obsession for folders (I adore organizing even if
it doesn't look like it), wall of pictures from fellow artist friends and George
of course in
Dragon Dreaming (farthest framed picture to the right), gaurds the studio and keeps
me company.

view from my desk, with a wip

puppy pot! (the suculent is called Key Lime Pie, couldn't resist it) and my
African Violet: my "science experiment" is to see how big it'll get,
currently the diameter is 16"

I'm not kidding! It's the biggest one I've grown ever!

computer area across from my desk. The maps are for fun, to track where I've
shipped my work, good for perspective too

(you can see how small you and your problems are compared to the world).

The closet packed full of supplies, there's a full bathroom up here too (great
for cleaning paint and craft messes) and the hallway door.

To the far left is the stairs that lead down to the bottom floor.

view from the studio window. People love to let their little doggies run on
the lawn, it's entertaining :)

and looking straight down from the window you can see the patio garden.

Hope you enjoyed my studio tour :)

More bunny pictures

Thu, 15 May 2008 22:51:25 GMT

Here are some of the sketches from my journal. I've been reviewing anatomy
by drawing from my books and with the first sketch of the skull, bunny appeared

Here bunny is helping me paint, how I wish this was true in real life! :)

and here bunny is keeping me company as I'm waiting for the other members of
my art group to arrive for a meeting at a cafe. We're both having hot coco with whipped cream

Star Hopper

Thu, 15 May 2008 22:07:01 GMT

So far so good on keeping the trend of getting an ACEO done a week. We'll see how long this lasts. But there are more rabbit pictures to come :) I've been keeping a sketch journal and bunny (who may be my alter ego?) keeps popping up.

"Star Hopper"
acrylic painting on 140 lb. hot pressed water color paper

also on ebay

Fairy Challenge

Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:13 GMT

This week I decided to pick up a challenge from Jeff Jackson: http://sonjebasa.blogspot.com/

and illustrate "Fairies taste like Poprocks' Guessing that there must be a little more to the story about how that phrase came to be. hmm. And I know Joe would have rathered I
had done something for the Sharks hockey subject. But maybe not, he was pretty
bummed when they lost in triple overtime :( Anyway this is what came to mind
for someone always drawing fairies and who has a vicious "sweet tooth."

"Candy Kisses Fairy" ACEO acrylic paint on hotpress watercolor paper

also on ebay
Auction ends May 15th 2008

The Slipper Fairy

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:56:48 GMT

Here's my latest ACEO, just finished this last weekend. I saw this orchid in
person!! Can you tell I'm excited? It was in Muir Woods, my favorite place to
hike. I didn't know the name at the time, but when I looked it up after I got
home the common name for this flower is "Fairy Slipper" how cool is
that? oh, of course I should mention I modified it just a tiny bit to emphasize the slipper- like qualities.
When I was drawing this, I kept imagining what it'd be like for this little fairy to have to wake up and find a new pair of shoes :)

"The Slipper Fairy" ACEO acrylic paint on hotpress watercolor paper

also on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130219065696&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123

Marshmallow Dragon Sculpture now on eBay

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:05:04 GMT

Marshmallow Dragon now on eBay!

"Marshmallow Dragon" about 2" high by 3.75" wide
(holding the marshmallow toasting stick)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130213617096

Please help! ACEOs needing names

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 23:35:44 GMT

I don't know why, but for me naming a painting always seems to be a challenge. On the rare occasion it's not, but this time I'm really
stumped! These two little bunnies need a good title. If anyone has any suggestions, or general ideas I'd be extremely grateful</p>

ACEO acrylic paintings

Marshmallow Dragon Sculpture

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 23:01:21 GMT

I'm excited to present my next dragon sculpture :) It's based on "Marshmallow
Dragon" an ACEO I did a while back inspired by the lovely Fudgeykat.
I found this kit to make a suncatcher that can glow in the dark! I thought
this would be perfect to use to make the flame for toasting the marshmallows.
And how cool that the white-ish part of the flame glows in the dark! Though
I couldn't figure out a good way to photograph that feature. If anyone
has any suggestions, I'm all ears.

"Marshmallow Dragon" about 2" high by 3.75" wide
(holding the marshmallow toasting stick)

Sculpey over wire and alluminum armature, acryllic paint, acrylic sealer,
wire floral tape, baked crystal and glowing baked crystals (for the fire),
apoxy glue.

the marshmallow toasting stick is removable