La Melancolía

During my summer, I had my ups and downs. In the midst of my emotional rollercoaster, my hands were able to muster up this drawing. Inspired by Federico Aubele's video, "La Esquina," this woman was born. To keep a long, complicated story short, I found myself in a dark place when this drawing was born. It helped me express myself, and find some very sought after inner-peace. I call it La Melancolía. 



Camera Fun

On Thursday, I had the pleasure to spend a wonderful afternoon with one of my best friends, Liz. When you're at home and bored as long as I am, nights out with your friends are just the bomb diggity! I have found myself in quite a funk, lately. My creative juices aren't flowing, and things are at an all-time bore on the right hemisphere of the cerebral cortex of my brain. Luckily, I had the chance to hang out with Liz! After this get-together, I am just gleaming with new ideas! Alas, the creative juices have begun to flow, once more! :)
 Liz is my partner in crime when it comes to all things artsy. She has a great eye for photography, and I *always* enjoy our collaborations! The fact of the matter is, she is amazing. We both currently own a Nikon D3000 and always take advantage of opportunities such as these! We planted one of the cameras on a tripod, stuck on a fisheye lens (courtesy of Liz), and went wild. We attempted long exposure shots, as well as took a crack at Stop Motion videos. This video is a result of that night of fun... Enjoy! :)

Como la Flor

I am actually quite smitten with this picture. I am a complete lover of roses and the color yellow! It's amazing to find such beauty unraveling itself on a long, thorny stem....

Self Reflection Time! *Yes, I am going there* I guess it's all of these sudden changes that are bringing on all of these thoughts. My adolescence was a long, torturous period of pain and awkwardness in some hell-hole that is normally referred to as Central Junior High. I was very ashamed of something that should have been valued more. I never took myself seriously, much less did anyone else.The mere thought of those days bring on a large variety of emotions that make me want to rip something to shreds and burn the pieces. But I digress. I made it a goal to love and nurture myself. I always take the time to look back and pat myself on the back for all of my hard work and progress. It has been a journey. I find myself in a constant state of flux. I am slowly *unraveling* myself to the world, and myself, amazingly. Life is an interesting journey. I am not perfect, and it takes a lot for me to admit a lot of my flaws. Again, I fail to take myself seriously. In achieving respect for myself, I can conquer that of others'. I am a work in progress. I have a lot to work on, but I am happy where I find myself, today. Things have changed so much! I like the change, however, and welcome it con mucho gusto!!

La Malinche

She is "many things to many people: a symbol of betrayal; an opportunistic sexual siren; a feminist icon; an Aztec goddess in disguise; the mother of the first mestizo, and thus, of the Mexican nation; the ultimate rape victim of the Conquest”

-Mathew Restall (86)

The Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest

This woman had a greater impact on me than I had initially imagined. Through the course of the semester, I did extensive research on this woman and her world. I learned about her upbringing, set-backs, achievements, and pains. I may sound like a broken record, but she opened my eyes into a whole new world. After writing 22 extensive pages on her, I feel it suitable to end my little Malinche rant here. For the cover page of my essay, I drew her as a Day of the Dead Calavera.

La Trompeta!

Back in February, one of my friends turned 21. As broke as I was (and still am...damn) I tried to make a lovely and meaningful card. Since he plays the trumpet, I drew him as a day of the dead calavera tocando su trompeta. Since I took pictures through the process, I decided to post them here :)

La Sirena

During school, I heard a lot of talk about tattoos. One of my friends loves mermaids and had mentioned that she wanted a mermaid tattoo. She was very specific about what she wanted. I had suggested a spin-off of "La Sirena" from la Lotería. I had never actually drawn something of this style, but I had always wanted to try it. Having the vision clear in my head, and the urge to try it out, I went for it :D Thus, this was born! :) She is a representation of what I envision as true natural beauty. She is mythically sexy. I am quite pleased with the result :D I based my drawing off of this photo that I found via google images.

**I just want to note that my phone takes some of the ugliest pictures. That explains the poor picture quality.

Frida Kahlo

I am deeply inspired by the legendary Frida Kahlo. To me, she is not just a painter, but also iconic to the Mexican culture. She was a powerful woman in a very machista society. She was very strong, suffering far more than I can ever. She represents a lot of things, to me. I find her to be my greatest inspiration.

Por suerte, me encontre esta blusa en etsy! (La compre aqui) Support the arts!

Anywho, this bag has been one of my greatest accomplishments. It came out much better than I imagined! :) So, this is how I made my bag. I was deeply inspired by this frida quote that I came across. She was quoted saying this in her diary:

"Pies, para que los quiero si tengo alas para volar"

To make my super rad Frida bag, I used:

- Blank canvas bag (I got mine at Michael's for $5, I think)

- Acrylic paint and brushes

- Mod Podge (This was an initial test to try this out. I honestly love Mod Podge, but it failed to do the job, here. Instead of the Mod Podge, I suggest a fabric medium. You live, and you learn! :) )

Based off of This self-portrait, I sketched her face on the bag. Then, with the paint, I painted her face in the style that I wanted. After drying, I blotched on layers of Mod Podge in the hopes of sealing my artwork! Over time, however, it begins to crackle off and the paint goes with it. The sealant also gets a little sticky when wet, and can easily be washed off in the washing machine. I highly suggest using a fabric medium! I know this, now ;)

(This is when I put the Mod Podge)

The project initially began as a test for the Mod Podge picture transfer. It was a total flop, for me. I tested the butterfly inside, but the whole thing just came off. In the end, I painted over the sticky mess with paint and redid the butterfly :)

This last picture was taken by my lovely, talented, and totally rad friend, Liz :)

Calavera

I am undeniably obsessed with sugar skulls! I like to sprinkle them around in just about everything I put together! In expressing my love, I put together this little design. The skull itself is inspired by Little is Drawing and Mis Nopales Art. Both of these artists have quickly made it to my favorites!
My materials include:
- A blank, white, oversized shirt (I got mine for about $5)
- Acrylic paints and brushes
- Fabric medium (I used GAC900)
- Paper bag
I covered the area with old plastic bags just to protect my surface :) I cut the side of the paper bag and traced a large circle on it. Using the circle, I was able to create my ideal skull shape. After drawing my skull shape, I cut the skull out and made sure it was as big as I wanted it to be, placing it on the shirt and trimming where needed. I used the paper with the cut out skull as my stencil to guide my painting. I also made stencils of the border of the eyes and the eyes, themselves. I used a stencil for this part because I wanted them to be identical ;) I put a whole paper bag inside the shirt to protect the otherside of the shirt. By taping the stencils on the shirt, I painted accordingly, and this is what I came up with!

So, as a lover of roses, I decided to add a rose to the skull. I basically peeled off the stencil and free-handed the rose :) After that dried, I put the stencil back on and continued with the painting.

The last two pictures are taken by my lovely and talented friend, Liz :)

Style File

Back in 2010, I was really into scrapbooking and discovering my "artistic style." I didn't really begin to take this art stuff seriously until 2009. Since then, I've been on this quest to discover the "artistic Lupita". I was also discovering my real fashion muses, as well. I made this in the process. I basically clipped a lot of pictures from Latina magazines :) I was deeply inspired by the style of Elsie Larson on abeautifulmess.typepad.com. I began with that as my crutch, and have grown significantly since :) It's always nice to take a walk down memory lane, though...

(The butterfly spread reads: "Mariposa de mi Corazón")