The King of Grunge and the Princess of Wales

First up is Princess Diana. She's one of my idols: does wonderful things for people in need and was an honorable human being. She inspires me every day, and learning of her death saddened me so much.

I found a picture of her online, one that was already a sketch, from one of the best sketch artists I've ever seen. Mine simply doesn't compare to this person's work, but she also inspired me to try and live up to her own talents. I love every part of this drawing: it's become one of my favorites before I even finished it.



Next is Kurt Cobain. He is also an inspiration to me. He is a legend in the rock and grunge world, and his lyrics are phenomenal. I also think he was a great-looking man, so I wasn't too afraid to venture out of my comfort zone and try another man. Usually I prefer women because femininity is a lot easier for me to observe, but every so often men just catch my eye. Here is the outcome.

"The Girl From Wedding Crashers"

My boyfriend has been begging me to do a portrait of "the girl from Wedding Crashers" for a few weeks now, so I finally decided to oblige him lol. And I must admit, it came out beautifully. She is one of my favorite actresses and is a very stunning woman, so it just seemed to fit perfectly.

Just last night, I stumbled across an art school in Manhattan called Cooper Union. It's a really prestigious private college where each applicant who is accepted (after a rigorous entrance test) gets absolutely free tuition. The tuition and other funds are paid for in full by trusts and donations from alumni and other rich, important people lol. I've been researching it last night and have yet to find a real catch, so hopefully next fall I will be enrolling and taking classes there.

One main part of getting into the school is one's portfolio. So I've decided today that I am going to broaden my portfolio into other art forms and mediums (such as paint and photography) so that I can make myself look more diverse creatively. So be prepared for a real change when I move forward with my art. Thanks!

Everytime We Touch

A few months ago, I did this portrait of Cascada for a friend of mine for his birthday. I still have it in my possession lol but it was meant for him to keep the original. I usually prefer to keep the original and give copies out, but in this case, this portrait was done especially for him. Otherwise, I wouldn't have done it in the first place.

In the original picture I sketched from, she had her right arm going straight up, and it looked extremely awkward. Google her if you want to see. So I took out the arm, and I think the end product looks pretty damn good. Her hair, with the brown chunks, looks a little cartoonish, but that's how it looks in real life lol. Enjoy!

Two for Tea

Today I have two portraits for you. I've been lazy and haven't updated lately. But all is well because here I am :)

This first one is Cameron Diaz. Really zoomed up on the face, too. I really like doing close-ups of the face. Bigger eyes, more dramatic features, and a lot more room for detail. I personally love doing detail work: it keeps me focused and doesn't bore me. I always dread finishing that last boring bit of a sketch mainly because all the details are complete and all that is left is the boring or challenging stuff. But I always try and chug through them (even though I have a bunch of unfinished drawings still in my sketchbook lol.)

I really liked doing this sketch in particular. I know you all might hate me, but I don't find Cameron Diaz to be that gorgeous. I'll admit; she's prettier than some people I've seen lol. But she has a lot of exaggerated features, like her cheekbones. I would kill to have her cheekbones. They're so structured and they suit who she is perfectly. She also has these pouty lips, not quite like Angelina Jolie, but enough where they're plump and passionate. Overall, a job well done. :)




On to the next portrait. Here is German beauty Diane Kruger. I love her films. Inglorious Basterds is one of the greatest movies I've ever seen, and her part is just as great. She's funny and quirky, as well as sexy and beautiful. Plus the fact that she's German reigned it in for me. European women are beautiful and have a lot more about them than most other women.

I chose this picture to challenge myself. Hair is not something I pride myself in making perfect, but this time around, I even outdid myself. The only thing I wish I could do better was make it a little messier. Hair isn't absolutely perfect: it does have flaws and such. But I feel like with my previous painful experiences with women's hair, this is a great start to perfecting that art.

When I scanned in this sketch, something made it catch a pink tint. It should look normal like the rest, but something caused this one to have a rose-colored tint. I was almost going to rescan it and delete this version, but then I took a good look at it and thought it was a really cool effect. So I kept it!

I'm working on a few more good sketches, some that I have yet to do before. Keep you updated!

This drawing was an inspired one. I was watching a docudrama on the Tate murders by Charles Manson and his "family." Sharon Tate was a beautiful and inspiring actress whose life and the life of her unborn child was cut too short. Manson was hoping to jump-start a war between blacks and whites in America by murdering wealthy residents of Los Angeles who had belittled him in his life.

But Sharon Tate didn't deserve to die, and neither did her baby and the four people in her home that were visiting her. She was a beautiful woman of the 1960s and her style and taste were impeccable. That's what drove me to sketch her. This drawing was especially challenging due to the extremely dark shadows in the portrait. There were also flowers in her hair in the original photo, but I haven't perfected anything other than people, so I just edited them out.

Overall, this has become one of my favorite portraits, especially since her hair looks almos realistic.

Miss Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe was one of the most beautiful women in the world, and that's the reason why I just recently attempted to capture that beauty on paper. Her stunning demeanor and striking beauty really drew me to her, but I wanted to make sure that my sketching was really up to par because I knew I didn't want to mess this one up. And this is the product of that.

It turned out beautifully. I did have a lot of trouble on her hair, but that comes with the territory. Light-colored hair is extremely difficult to portray, and since I'm not as skilled in the hair department as other artists, it is more of a challenge. So I always leave it for last haha.

Overall, I am extremely pleased with how this portrait turned out, and many aspets of it make me incredibly happy I finally attempted her. I hope to do more sketches of her in the future!

Santa Angelina

Sorry it took so long for me to return, but it takes awhile to get a portrait done just right. I just finished this one two nights ago, and it took me about two days to complete it. But I really love love LOVE how it came out. It turned out really beautiful, and I'm very proud to call it my own.

I've done Angelina Jolie before, and I love drawing her beautiful bone structure and facial features. She is a strikingly beautiful woman, and that definitely makes for great art. So far, I consider this my absolute favorite.

Going Underworld

My boyfriend has been begging me to sketch one of his favorite actresses, and out of his list, I chose Kate Beckinsale. Classic beauty, talented actress, she fit in perfectly. So this is for him.

Grammy Winner

Taylor Swift is incredible. She's so young yet talented enough to connect with millions of people through her music. Although I'm not a big fan of country music, I do consider myself to be a huge Taylor Swift fan. She's beautiful, talented, and has a lot going for her. Plus, she's very iconic. That's why I considered her.

Her hair posed a huge challenge for me, and although I didn't perfect it the way I wanted to, it was an extreme milestone for me to create the image that you see here. It may not look perfect, but I'm learning, and that's all that matters to me.

It was also a beginning for accessories. Her earring may not be much along the lines of accessories, but they were also a serious challenge for me. I'm used to only recreating faces and hair, things that are natural, along with their shadows. This added bit of detail also turned out better than I could have hoped, and overall, I believe that the portrait looked stunning.

Dabble of Color

Today I decided to post my first watercolor landscape. I copied this from a photo in a book that I had, and it turned out rather nicely. The scanner wasn't able to capture the entire image as the page I painted it on was bigger than the actual scanner haha. Plus it seems like the paper crumbled from the water a little bit. Unfortunately I didn't paint it on watercolor paper, so it won't stay down very flat, but overall I think I did an awesome job, especially for my first attempt at a watercolor landscape.

For the most part of the painting, I used plain watercolor paint for whatever didn't have a lot of detail, such as the sky and the sand and the dune. But for the detailing, such as the waves and the grass, I used Derwent watercolor pencils to sketch out the details and brushed over it with water to create the watercolor feel to it.

I want to start developing my watercolor skills rather than to just be a sketch artist, because I feel the use of colors takes a lot of real talent, and that is something I want to explore. Thanks!

The King of Pop

This portrait I was originally going to just try and sell on ebay because I sketched it literally a week or so before his death. So I knew that someone would boy something like this. But I decided against it, since it's a great piece to have in my collection.

It came out a little funky on his face on the right side. I sketched it from another sketch since I couldn't find a decent picture of Michael Jackson online, so that's what I used. It's not too bad of a sketch, definitely not my favorite, but a good one all around.

Goddess of Rock

Another day, another sketch! Although this isn't the best technical drawing I've done, it's one of my absolute favorites. Courtney Love is a rock goddess according to me, despite her private and personal life. I find her music to be so inspiring and heart-wrenching, and she's just such an amazing woman. I think this portrait captures the essence of Courtney Love, as well as her likeness.

Next Up

...is Michelle Pfeiffer, the gorgeous actress who is a Hollywood goddess in her own right. She's beautiful and talented, so obviously she found her own place in my sketchbook. This portrait took me awhile to do, since I didn't want to mess up the piece of work. Overall, it resembles her immensely, and it was a really fun piece to do.

These are my favorites styles to do. I love doing a complete straight-on image so that there's no complications with the face. Since I started my art, I've been trying to expand my horizons and maybe choose images I wouldn't normally find myself recreating.

But doing a head-on portrait of Michelle Pfeiffer had to be done. These types always turn out the best for me and something I just like to do them since they're simple and very fun.

Her eyes are my favorite part of this whole piece. When I look at them, I really feel like I'm looking at the real Michelle Pfeiffer as opposed to just a portrait of her. The resemblance is uncanny, which is sometimes really hard to achieve, but this came out very nicely.

Enjoy!

Hunky Channing Tatum

I did this next picture for a friend. She is desperately in love with Channing Tatum and asked me to draw this picture for her. I'm not so much a big fan. I find him to be semi-attractive, but he definitely has very strong features that I had fun recreating. I still can't imagine him doing anything other than digging a trench out in his front yard in nothing but tighty whitey's at night (reference for those of you who saw StopLoss) but he is a talented and good-looking man.

Although this isn't my favorite picture (and that's only because it wasn't someone I am that interested in), the technical details came out amazing. I think I made him look stunning, minus the armpit hair which I've never had to do. He is the most successful drawing of a man that I've ever done, so that must mean I'm growing as an artist!

Hopefully you all are enjoying it as well.

Intro/Khloe Kardashian No H8

Welcome! For my first blog, I'm going to introduce myself and what I do. I am an artist. I mostly sketch and draw with pencil my favorite celebrities, or even someone I find to be of exquisite beauty. It's only a hobby, since I don't have enough money to go to art school as of right now. I also dabble a little bit in watercolors, but I prefer pencil as my medium.

I want to share my artwork the best way I can, and I figured a blog would be the best way to do that. A lot of my friends and family request different pictures they would like me to draw for them, so I do. Art is a great way of expression for me, and blogging my sketches and other artwork will be a great way for you all to experience how I express myself.


My first portrait that I would like to post is one of my absolute favorites. I am a big fan of the No H8 campaign, since I believe firmly in equal marriage rights for all. I saw this No H8 photograph of Khloe Kardashian that I absolutely fell in love with, so I decided to sketch it.

This drawing is one of my favorites not only because of what it stands for or the person who is in it, but I find the technical details that I recreated to be exquisite. I also love how I added in the red 8 on her cheek to just add a bit of color to the black and white drawing so that it stands out. Overall, it's a beautiful picture and am very proud of it.

All drawings that I post on this blog are 100% my own, although they have been recreated from actual pictures. Please do not steal any of them for your own personal gain. Thank you.

Alyssa