Since making my art career my full time job, life has become a roller coaster of events. I'm enjoying all the time I have to focus on just my art at CharmingShopLove and just my blog here at CharmingShop Life. For a while I lost the creative imagination that it takes to be an artist. Working out in the world means you don't have that time to be your own person. But I feel things coming back to me and I'm constantly dreaming up new things to do.
So I thought it would be nice to tell you a little about each of my projects that I've put into my shop and how they originated. Today I thought I would start with the unusual and adorable, Balloon Girls.
These girls are pretty special to me. When I first made one it was a rough, horrible doodle in my sketchbook. I was just fooling around actually. And I ended up colouring it in with marker. So their creation was completely by accident. I really liked the way it looked, but I thought it could be way more cute and soft looking. And it should be more of a reflection of me and my personality. So I worked away getting the face just right.
First off, I wanted my girls to have an overall sixites vibe. Like when you look at a 1960s magazine spread or an article, women always had the most beautiful flawless looks to them. They looked serene and the colours used were just dreamy. I wanted my girls to be real bombshells, but be reserved and classy. I really wanted their facial expressions to be soft and light. I liked the idea of having their eyes closed and just focusing on really beautiful lashes and calm lips. Maybe they are deep in thought. I wanted them to have a look of having a lot on their minds but being silent and quiet - like a daydreaming pose. Each one looks like she's thinking something different from the last. For their hair, I keep it pretty simple. I like really adorable bobs and undone looks on my girls. I wanted something effortless and I guess a little Parisian. For colour, I always stay light to go with their overall look. My Balloon Girls always get pretty, rosy cheeks. That's a little piece of me. I love a soft rosy cheek like nothing else.
Now comes colour. When choosing the hair colours, I always look straight at my girl. Who is she? What wold she be like? I make up little personalities and background histories for them, and from there I determine their hair colour. Like if she has shaggy hair with bangs. Maybe she's really sweet, but she has a little bit of a rebellious side. She's kind to everyone she meets and she loves to stay ahead of trends and doesn't want to look like everyone else. Then maybe she will have baby pink hair. Or maybe peachy-cream hair with a dip-dye ombre look with pink on the bottom. My absolute favourite girls to draw are the ones with bobs with the soft cream coloured hair. I feel like they're more of an extensions of my own personality. They have a classic look. They are more proper and shy and reserved. She's creative but she likes to look simple and elegant.
I always put my Balloon Girl illustrations in a hand painted frame. They're always different and unique to the girls they hold. Just like how each of my Balloon Girl drawings are original, I always try to keep my work as personal and unique as possible. I feel that art is special, and when I look at something that's hand done I see it's workmanship and the time it took to make it. You see all the lines and brushstrokes. It just feels good to hold something someone put a lot of work into. Even for myself, if I look at my own work, it's more special to me because I did everything with my own two hands.
I love these girls and their adorable faces. They always make me so happy. I enjoy their personalities and character traits. Maybe that's funny to say, because they are just drawings, but I spend a lot of time with them. So to me, when I create their stories, I fall in love with them. And I hope you love them too!
If you're interested, all my original Balloon Girl drawings are for sale in my etsy shop. These lovely ladies and more. Go check them out!
Marissa xo
CharmingShop
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