End of year Round-up 2018

I closed out this year by participating in a couple of group shows held in two local restaurants. The November group show was held at the Art House Café by Artawa. In it artists were asked to submit pieces depicting their favourite places/memories associated with the Ottawa area.  I had a photo I took four years ago at Watson’s Mill when my father (now deceased) took my and by two children to explore around and about Manotick.  I had never painted metal or any sort of man-made buildings/ landscape so I thought it would be an interesting challenge. I am quite satisfied with the result.  The art show put on by Artawa was quite impressive. I really enjoyed seeing everyone’s work, hopefully they will put on another similar them show in the future.

The second group show I also participated in is the Tones show being held at The Atomic Rooster. For this show we had to produce a work of art inspired by music.  At first this seemed right up my alley, however it proved to be quite difficult to make a decision on what song to use.  I had 2 failed attempts ,  I was not satisfied with the artwork.  I went for a walk one afternoon, I was looking down at the dry leaves scattered on the path and the White Stripes’ song “Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground” started playing in my head, as it often does when fall comes around.  Just like that I had the answer, so I painted it.

Fun merchandise

I thought I just post some pictures of items I'll have available at various craft sales and in my Etsy store. You can send me a message if you're interested in any of them, I can also do custom work.

2014, a Year to Remember or a Year to Forget?

Just like that, another year has come to an end and it’s once again time to evaluate how it went. 

Overall I am pleased with the progress I have made over the past year and I am slowly but steadily heading in the right direction, my confidence is growing all the time. 

For Sale on  Etsy, my artwork on a pencil-case! 

I succeeded in opening my Etsy shop and even managed to make a few sales to which I’m really proud of. In the New Year I plan to increase my inventory and see where it takes me.

This year I participated in my first Comic con, I only had a half table this time but I was very encouraged with the positive feedback I received about my artwork and I have decided to do it again this year with a full table. I also did Pop Expo for the second time and I was super happy with how it went, I even managed to sell one of my character paintings, very exciting! 

Another success for me was doing a couple of commissions which I enjoyed very much.

Commission 1

There is satisfaction in bring a clients vision to life for them. I would like to do more of them this year.

Commission 2

Sold at auction

Social media was also big for me this year. I still have a lot to learn with regards to using it effectively as evidenced by my lack of blog updates; however, I endeavour not to be left behind in this ever changing landscape. Facebook has been where I have made the most progress with a better understanding of how it works and discovering things such as “groups” where you can connect with other artists.This has been the most rewarding experience. It gave me the opportunity to participate in a couple of online auctions and I even managed to sell a piece! 

I have also joined Instagram: cro_me, if you’d like to follow.

I'll miss you Dad.

With all the positives this year there is one event that has negatively impacted the whole year for me, the death of my father. He passed away unexpectedly on Remembrance Day.  It has been less than two months and it still feels somewhat unreal for me.  Things have defiantly changed for me and I am still trying to work out this “new normal”. 

I want to start this year on a positive note.  I am excited to see where this year will take me and I want to move ahead at full-force.

Creepy Cute?

This may be the best way to describe my style of art. It's not my only style however it's the one I enjoy making the most. Now that I have that figured out I can relax and have fun making more of it. Who knew defining one's artistic style mattered? But I guess it does, people feel more comfortable when they know how to categorize something. It gives them an idea of what to expect. So there it is: Welcome to Made By CRO home of Creepy Cute Art.

Here's a step by step I did recently, materials used were watercolors, spray ink, water soluble pastels, and white acrylic paint colored fine-line pens.

Horned Dragon Girl  ©MadebyCRO

Six Months later

It's really hard to believe that half a year has already pasted and I haven't updated this blog! Oh the shame. Lots have happened over the last 6 months so I'll spread the updates over a few posts.  For this post I'm going to share some of the thing's I've been working on  artistically.

Like many artists I've been struggling to figure out "my voice" as well as the correct medium to express it in. One thing that I can safely say is that I really like drawing faces. I still struggle with drawing the full human figure but I that's something I'm working to improve.

One question I've been trying to figure out is what medium to work in? I dream of one day making large scale pictures but I haven't figured out the right material for the job. I have several large canvases just waiting to be painted but a fear of ruining them has kept me experimenting with smaller pieces. I've been dissatisfied with the work I've done on canvas so far. I haven't been able to master acrylics so I've been trying other materials.

This first picture was done on a piece of cardboard that is found at the end of a pad of paper. I just wanted to use a toned surface. Using water soluble pastels I quickly discovered this surface is far too porous and piles too easily to be of any practical use, however the use of a dark background was interesting.

Mixed Media paper gives interesting results. I used distressed inks and stamps in the background, then used water soluble oil pastels mixed with white acrylic to color the girl. These results were more satisfying but won't work on a canvas.

Still using water soluble pastels mixed with white acrylic I painted this on a small wood panel. I didn't prime or seal the wood first so the surface is a bit rough and it took a few layers to make it look less blotchy. This piece could still use a bit more work, I wanted to add more shadows and highlights but I haven't gotten back to it.

I found that using Masonite with the pastels gave the most interesting result. The pastels go on smoothly and hold the color well. It has the added bonus of being a toned background. I think I'll explore this material some more.

 For this one I went back to using a wood panel. This time I used old book paper to collage the background and then sealed it with matt medium and gesso. I then used acrylics to under paint the whole thing in pink before adding the final paint over top. This system may work, I'll probably try it again.

Finally back to mixed media paper watercolors and markers. I think I'm most comfortable using these materials. Unfortunately I find they don't lend themselves to large scale works as markers are too pricey to use in a large way.




















So that's some of the things I've been working on thus far. I think I'm almost ready to try something big!
What materials do you like using for you artwork?

Comic: Kat & Muss gets ready for Con season 2

I'm really excited to be taking part in this year's Ottawa Comiccon. Less than 100 days away!

Comic: Kat & Muss gets ready for Con season:

Ahh yes,  time to start planning for this year's comic con season. Do you have a cosplay plan?