That Can't Sarafan Dad

The art blog for a lady known as PartyKain. Or Amber. You can call me Amber. I like designing monsters and cartoons, and doodling all manner of dorkiness.

[basementbeast]

My workspace is a table in the corner of the studio where I have dominated the cork boards in the room and growl at people who get too close. I have also stolen all of the tape and most of the push pins, and I keep going through the large gloves like a beast.

It's only a matter of time before I'm chased away.

[basementbeast]

I'm not entirely sure what I did to this photo, but I like it.

[basementbeast]

It's not done, I don't think. It might be. We'll see.

[basementbeast]

And last but not least, have a thing I'm sketching.

Also, one of my hairs. Look at it.

[basementbeast]

I am making tarot cards with monsters. Here's the detail of the Wheel of Fortune.

[basementbeast]

This is a slightly... better... photo of that thing I did.

[basementbeast]

My first few forays into aquatint. With a little polishing, I kind of made it conform to the weird way I draw, haha. Bottom left is the first one I ever did. Unfortunately, the ground kept chipping when I etched the line, the stuff I used for the aquatint wasn't nearly as resistant to acid as I had hoped (ENAMEL spraypaint, not... the other stuff), and the whole thing wound up being a creepy-looking mess.

Bottom right was the second go, but the contrast wasn't that great. I still like it, though.

Top one was a salvaged drawing and--while the image itself irks me for the most part--the aquatint worked the best. I won that day.

And now I'm doing a whole set of aquatint prints for a show. Ha... ha?

[basementbeast]

I just realized I'm one of those losers who has a wardrobe consisting of shit I snagged at a Goodwill.

[brave-new-digital-world]

Gentle As a Crossbow-Wielding Lamb by *PushiPuli

[brave-new-digital-world]

Welcome to the Parlor… by *PushiPuli

[basementbeast]

It's surreal to see my art posted by strangers. And flattering!

[basementbeast]

Last but not least: This is "Athens."

Athens is a found-object sculpture I made last year, where the whole point was to pump all of my stress, anger, trauma, depression, anxiety, and self-loathing into a box. The result was apparently nightmarish to some of the people in the sculpture studio, but it was cathartic.

Athens is named in honor of "Troy," an installation art piece done by my brother a couple of years ago. While Troy was made of junk and animal bones and communicated a feeling of uselessness and despair, Athens is made of the same materials and was supposed to convey violence, confusion, and sorrow.

It's approximately two and a half feet tall. The box is made of masonite, pine, and plexiglass. The innards are a mixture of metal brickabrack, magazine and book clippings, animal parts (a crawfish, a turtle shell, and a cow skull), VHS tape, mirror, slides, fake flowers, and Christmas lights (which are stuffed into the cow skull; it glows red in the dark).

It looks a lot less intimidating on my window sill, covered in beanie babies.

[basementbeast]

I just figured I'd go ahead and post my not-drawn art, too.

This is Lima Bunny, who was specifically made to look like an old ragdoll or, rather, he was made to look like an old stuffed rabbit that my mother had since she was a kid. So I used the cheapest fabric with the oldest looking print, so he'd fray and look all ragged and worn. His body was green and bean-shaped, and his scarf/ears were chosen because the green matched the body.

He was a pain to work on because I basically invented a pattern on the fly (thanks to my brother for helping me put him together), but I got stupidly attached to him and wound up leaving him at my mom's house for safekeeping.

He sits proudly with his inspiration on a spare bed, ha.

[basementbeast]

The Wendigo linocut I did way back. I still like it a little too much.

[basementbeast]

Bad photo, but in lieu of a scanner this is all I can do for now.

Lots of ballpoint pen. A lot of time. I later turned this into a print, but the aquatint didn't have the same effect and it ended up looking all smudgy and weird anyway.

[basementbeast]

I am so sad that I can't afford a mezzotint rocker. I just keep staring sadly at them and sighing wistfully.

I have chosen the wrong form of art for a poor kid. Goddamn it.

[basementbeast]

"Do you remember how we met?"

"Tomb. Eastmarch. You woke me up walking into a bear trap."

"I've never been so happy to almost lose a leg."

"You passed out on a draugr. I almost ate you."

[basementbeast]

Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to post my art some place where people will actually see it. For now, I can't even imagine it because I'm pretty ashamed of the quality of my work.