dreXeL's Blog - Date Archives
Thoughts, Musings, Ramblings, Etc...
I’m on Every Page of BAP
Well this is exciting for me! If you go to Brooklyn Art Project this month you’ll see a slice of my artwork as the header image for the site. I have hereby become one with BAP website! It looks like this, but obviously LARGER if you actually go to the site:
bap header img
But WAIT, there’s more. I just found out I’m also the featured artist on BAP. So if you go to the website it looks like THIS:
featured artwork "Delta Mace"
So yeah, that makes me happy. Just thought I’d let you know.
XOXO,
dreXeL
[tags]art, painting, featured artist, BAP, brooklyn art project, brooklynartproject.com, delta mace, smack is a vampire, billie holiday, mixed media, urban art, nyc, brooklyn, harlem[/tags]
New Commission Done
Well I tried some new methods of transfer in this piece, none of which worked out. So I ended up with old faithful (ie: acrylic polymer medium transfer.) That method has NEVER let me down. I still need to investigate to find out why the acetone method didn’t work. Maybe the photocopies from Kinko’s weren’t laser copies that use toner. Maybe the oil-based varnish I put on the piece just before that prevented the ink from sticking. No clue. But in the end I did manage to get awesome images of 50s ads from vintage magazines I bought onto the boards. And that made me exceedingly happy.
This is a dyptich of two wood cradle boards, each 24″ x 36. They’re mixed media (spray paint, varnish, magazine transfers, paper, ink, acrylics, acrylic medium and stencil). I don’t think this collector reads my blog. So it won’t spoil the surprise. But if you tell her anyway or I’ll have to harm you in unspeakable ways. Thanks.
XO, dreXeL
Back When Things Was Simple
[tags]art, painting, dyptich, mixed media, collage, spray paint, trucks, wheat, vintage magazines, vintage trucks, urban art[/tags]
Watch the Inauguration on my blog!
Thanks to the awesome people at Hulu, I’m able to show the inauguration LIVE right from my blog. So catch it here in 4 days!!! And feel free to look around, post comments, give me feedback etc. I likes feedback. XO, dreXeL
[tags]obama, inauguration, new president, hope, change, democracy, hulu, hulu.com[/tags]
A Bombshell is…
Assignment #2 of The Bombshell Challenge (Created by Bombshell Betty)
“…take the list of attributes and use them to create a description of what a bombshell is to you….”
Here goes. To me, a bombshell is a woman who knows she is a woman 100% of the time. She makes sure she looks like a woman ALL the time. She dresses, does her hair and makeup to enhance the fact that she is a woman. When she gets dressed, and when she’s in public, when she’s BEING a bombshell, she isn’t thinking “I’m the receptionist” or “I’m an activist” or “I’m Mrs. so and so” Not that there is ANYTHING wrong with any of those identities. Each identity you have has its place and time. It’s just that when you’re being “bombshell” the identity of “woman” is the primary one.
A bombshell exudes complete self-confidence in herself and her appearance at all times.
A bombshell doesn’t wonder if anyone notices her or thinks she’s pretty. A bombshell just knows she’s beautiful. So of COURSE she’s noticed.
A bombshell is a beautiful, confident woman ALL. THE. TIME. And when she doesn’t feel that way, she just makes sure she LOOKS that way and fakes it until she DOES feel it again. Reality is created, and that’s the reality that gets created by the bombshell.
[tags]bombshell betty, marilyn monroe, the bombshell challenge[/tags]
The Bombshell Challenge
Every year I write out all my goals, plans, programs and projects….basically everything I intend to accomplish in the new year…on paper and in GREAT detail. I do this on New Years Eve day so that on January 1 I can just launch it all at a dead run.
This year I have a TON of new goals, personal, financial, business, art, health, etc. One of my personal goals has to do with just being less introverted. If you know me as a person with a million internet friends you might not THINK I’m introverted, but in some ways I definitely am. I get shy about my appearance, or feel like I look ugly or whatever…the usual things that happen to a women who’s spent way too many years living in Southern California.
One of the things I’m doing to just force myself to NOT be that way, and NOT think that way, is the “Bombshell Challenge”. It’s a one-year challenge, and I have no idea what’s going to happen since I’m just starting it, but I’m going to post the happenings along the way here on my blog. Just for fun, and for a record that I can go back to. I’ll have all Bombshell posts categorized in “bombshell challenge” category.
Assignment #1
“# Choose 3-5 Bombshells who embody some aspect of Bombshell-hood that you admire and would like to emulate. These can be women or men, dead or alive, actual people or fictional characters. It’s up to you!
# For each of your chosen Bombshells, list 3-5 characteristics or traits that you admire about them and would like to embody….”
Here are my answers:
1. Josephine Baker – Had an exotic look, had amazing fashion sense and combined her clothing with amazing accessories, seemed completely comfortable with her own sexuality.
josephine baker
2. Bettie Page – Seemed very free with her own sexuality, always looked like she was having fun and enjoying herself, whether or not she actually was, seemed like a real person and not just an unhuman icon.
bettie page
3. Marilyn Monroe – Always feminine. Always looked sweet yet sexy. Her skin always looked perfect, pale and smooth, and her hair and makeup were always perfectly glamourous.
marilyn
4. Audrey Hepburn – Had a dark, sultry look. She was glamourous like the others, but in a different…slicker and cooler…way. A bit more daring and adventurous in her approach than the classic bombshells like Marilyn. And a bit more concentration on the cool, hip factor and less on the traditional womanliness factor.
audrey hepburn
5. Amy Winehouse. Yes she’s a junkie. Yes she’s all OVER the tabloids, in and out of rehab, strung out. A mess. But she has a sense of style, swagger and self-confidence that really is on par with other historical bombshells. She KNOWS she’s cool. She KNOWS she has mad style. She KNOWS she’s talented. So I feel she qualifies.
amy winehouse
6. And my absolute bombshell IDOL: Masuimi Max. She is a model of today, she’s trendy and completely hot by right now standards, but still maintains all the classic 50’s burlesque and bombshell sensibilities. She’s sexy and confident, a complete superstar and I don’t think you’d EVER be able to find a bad photo of her. So my list is longer than required, but as far as I’m concerned no bombshell list would be complete without her. So too bad. 😉
masuimi max <3
[tags]bombshell challenge, audrey hepburn, marilyn monroe, bettie page, josephine baker, amy winehouse, bombshell betty, masuimi max[/tags]
I Kinda Wanna Win. You Kinda Wanna Help?
Ok so I entered a competition on Brooklyn Art Project’s website late last night. It’s called “Best of 2008”. So I submitted my favorite painting from this past year. Or at least one that I liked a lot. Wasn’t sure which to pick, so I just picked the one I felt challenged me the most during the year. If I win, I get a bitchin Fuji camera that I NEED. And if I place but don’t win, I get a book made of my artwork, which would be AWESOME.
Anyway, if you’d like to vote for me for Best of 2008, just click below! It will take you straight to my submission. You might need to sign up, so just do that, takes like a minute. Then just click “Add to Favorites” below my painting. Thank you!
XO, dreXeL
[tags]brooklyn art project, brooklynartproject.com, best of 2008, submission, competition, art, painting, mixed media, nyc, chinatown[/tags]
Awesome People Wear My Clothes
THIS is what an awesome person (aka Kris Krug) looks like in a shirt I designed. You know, in case you were thinking “I wonder what an awesome person would look like in one of dreXeL’s tshirts.” The shirt is for the upcoming Dirty South Tour. I’d tell you more but it’s a secret. Soon, though. I PROMISE. Thanks to Tasty Tees for printing them up for me on such short notice. And thanks to Drew Odom and KK, without whose help and inspiration this tour would not happen. I love you guys.
XO, dreX
Oh…wanna see the back?
[tags]delta mace, dirty south tour, tshirt, illustration, tasty tees, tastytees.com, kris krug, kk, drexel, drew odom[/tags]
Tshirts Going Bye Byes
I’ve finally decided to not be selfish about the last few “Smack is a Vampire” tshirts I designed that I had here in my apartment. As long as I have one to wear, I don’t really NEED to have 7 more just in case of some imaginary situation where I’d need to have one for someone. So I’ve made them available on my online store.
Click the above link or the image below to go to the store and go get you one!
And for those of you who aren’t familiar with these tshirts, they’re limited edition prints, signed with print number and a secret quote from me under the neck line in the back. And they’re really soft!
XO, dreX
[tags]tshirt, smack is a vampire, etsy, limited edition, artist tee, harlem, nyc, illustration, billie holiday[/tags]