corazón de melón: May 2012

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...