Something I Love: Penguin Ink

I recently came across this series of 6 British novels on Penguin Books and immediately fell in love with them. Penguin approached some of the world's most recognized tattoo artists and asked them to redesign the classic covers in their own tradition style. The designs still relate to the story of each book but are adorned with traditional roses, teeth-bearing tigers and handwritten script. This is Penguin's second time collaborating on a tattoo-designed series. They say the tattoo industry will forever be frowned upon and the choice of having a tattoo could be life-changing, but if more companies like Penguin begin to embrace this style of art and showcase them in a positive way, tattoos could one day be admired be everyone and not looked at as a bad choice made by young adults. I, myself, hope that tattoos can one day be looked at as what they really are, works of art!

I plan to purchase "Notes on a Scandal" by Zoe Heller with cover designed by Valerie Vargas (one of my favourite female tattoo artists) soon! To have a look at the rest of the novels, click here.

Many apologies!

I am terribly sorry I have been on what seems like an unannounced hiatus but I assure you it was unplanned but also very necessary. I went through a pretty traumatic experience about 10 days ago and honestly have thought about nothing else since then until a few days ago. I can't really say what happened but everything is okay now! Once again, I am so sorry! I hope to get back into the swing of things very soon.

In the meantime, I am still working on painting three roses on mini canvases for my boyfriend's room. Above is the first one I have "completed"... I say that with quotations because I really don't like how it has turned out. What I thought was going to be a fun, and cute, little project, has turned into an absolute nightmare. I can't tell you how many times I have painted over these canvases. There must be 3 or 4 layers of paint on them by now. It might be because I feel completely uninspired lately or feel rushed to do them since my life has become much busier with my new job, but maybe by the time I finished the other 2, I will have a change of heart.

August Already..

I can't believe it is already August! Time has seriously flown by since I finished school 3 months ago. I am on my way out the door, to pick up my little kitten from the vet (today was neuter day, I hope he still loves me after this!) but I wanted to do a quick update first!

I haven't been as productive as I would have liked to be, and obviously did not make good on the promise I made two days ago... oops! Note to self: no more promises. But I do have a good excuse however! I started my new job yesterday and I have to say, I am feeling pretty good about it. I will talk more about it once I get the hang of a few things. My shift was information overload! And I am still trying to sort through all of the thoughts swirling around in my head. My next shift is tomorrow and I am diving right in.

I finally have a little art update for you too. Below is the start of a three piece rose set I will be completing this week hopefully (Only 2 canvases are shown). Although they are still in their very early stages and not near perfect I can already see the vision in my head coming to life on the canvas. The next steps are completing the backgrounds with leaves, buds, shadows etc. and then to begin the red-orange and yellow roses in a traditional style. Can't wait for it to be complete!