Smoking Mirror

Here's a little digital ditty for you guys
New t-shirt design for Shadows of the Statue.
Its based on Tezcatlipoca, or the "Smoking Mirror", an Aztec diety known for murking people, and generously accepting human sacrifices. Metal, no?
(oh, and sorry for the bleached out color, the jpeg format kind of compressed everything a bit)

They've got some new music up and a couple new shows they're selling tickets for! COME OUT AND SUPPORT!
If you need tickets, feel free to contact me

only 34 days left until I'm in Belgium...
More to post soon!
-Laura

Inky Treats

Here's a few new things,

Designed by Gwen, scribed by Yours Truly

And those Bearded Wonders are at it again, Shadows of the Statue has some new music up,
actively writing songs, pursuing shows, aaand new graphic design! Some new shwag/merch/goodies are coming your way. This will be a design printed on the side of a beer coozie!

Enjoy!
(and remember a helping hand shall never be passed over, I'm trying to go to Belgium people, every little bit helps!)

Antwerpen, Belguim

A huge opportunity has presented itself; As some of you Ringling kids know, last year the Sint Lucas School in Antwerp, Belgium and Ringling College of Art and Design performed the very first exchange program, swapping teachers for 3 weeks, sending my painting teacher Ms. Robin Cody over to Europe and giving us an opportunity to study with a Belgium teacher, Tilda Van Utvin. It was an incredible experience, giving a slight taste of cultural diversity.

WELL... to make a rather long story short, this year Ringling and Sint Lucas have decided to open up the exchange to students, swapping two students from each school for the Spring 2010 semester. Submitting portfolios and going through the interview process, I was fortunate enough to be "the chosen one" from the Illustration Dept, making me one of the first students in Ringling history to travel to Belgium, acting as an Ambassador for the school, as well as the U.S.

Meaning, that this will be my new home for the next 5 months (starting in January). This is a huge opportunity and I am excited beyond all good sense! So expect lots of updates as this semester closes and new horizons appear on the other side of the world, for Yours Truly.

(Now here's the catch... its gonna cost ALOT of money to get over there, and unfortunately, since the program started on such a short notice, there hasn't been any funds allocated to the program, so my tuition to Ringling will cover those of Sint Lucas, however I will have to pay my way there, rent for those 5 months as well as food, supplies and stocking up on warm clothing, apparently its rather chilly, especially for my thin, Floridian blood!)
So with all that being said, I will GLADLY take donations, sell work, take on commissions and tattoo, anything to save up enough to go! Any takers?

I will continually update on my ventures, giving you guys information about the school, city, and the work I'm producing... so STAY TUNEDDD
-Laura

side note: NONE of these photos are mine, just ripped from Google Images, so thanks to whoever for the photos, all the copyrights still belong to you, i was just borrowing them for a second!

studies

Some value/color studies for my next illustration, done digitally! The Finals will be acrylic, however.

Stay tuned, I've got a big big announcement to make!
Until then...
-laura

I should really be more on top of this...

I know, I know, I'm slacking, but its been busy busy times. Big things are happening for this small potato, so stay tuned for some ink-age, new ills, studies and finals... as well as some big announcements!

But now you know, I'm still alive, still kicking, still being the little overachiever that I am...
So in the mean time, feast your eyes on these little ditties, and keep in touch!
-Laura

long time, no posts

Hey hey hey everybody! So, shame on me for not posting more often, but times are rough, and I'm busting butt to get my school work under control, as well as prepping for the annual Illest of Ill show at Ringling (which I'm incredibly excited for, as should you be! come down to SRQ Friday, October 9th and see the best of the best of Ringling's Illustration dept. strutting their stuff).

Anywho, here's a little tasty for your peepers; its Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman on his march through Atlanta. Scatchboard 11" x 17" ish... it was also made into t shirts for the most metal band you've never heard of (until right now...) Shadows of the Statue check them out, they're pretty awesome, and hopefully you think my drawing is too!

Until next time (which I promise will be soon)
-Laura

I inked...

I was all set with my ink cup all filled, #5 Round Liner in place, foot pedal below me, all the disinfectants and sterilized products i could need, and lo-and-behold, I gave myself my first tattoo. 15 minutes later, a few wonky little stars were permanently imbedded in my skin; HOORAY!

Just something small to start out with, get a feel for the real deal... Not to bad eh?
Plenty, plenty more to come...

Metalllll

So I've been all giddy with Graphic Design lately, so here's a little tasty for you all.
The band is Shadows of the Statue, and they are pretty effing metal. Their myspace kind of looks, well, not so much, but hey I know nothing of HTML, I designed a background for it, and know how I want the layout done, I just need someone to do it. (So if you're out there, hit me up! We could use the help, and will compensate for your troubles!)

So that's about it for now, I've been working on some paintings, but nothing I'm ready to release to the world wide web. But nevertheless, stay tuned... I feel an epic post coming up in the near future!

Until next time...

Its been a time or two...

So here is a little post for you guys. Its summertime, so I've been taking it as an opportunity to recuperate a bit from school. Ive done some work here and there, but for the most part just taking it easy.

We've lost a close friend of the family, Billy Mays Jr. As some of you guys may know, the hit Discovery show Pitchmen is filmed right here in Tampa; my sister and cousin, and frankly, most of my family has worked for Sullivan Productions in some way or another.In fact, my artwork has been hanging in the office for this whole season of the show. All this meaning that we have all, at some point, have had a run in with the famed Mr. Mays and the rest of the crew. My thoughts are with his family and close loved-ones. It was so sudden and abrupt, a deeply sad moment for everyone nation-wide. He will always be remembered as a beacon of hope and a smiling face that could brighten anyone's late-night hours. He will be greatly missed.

On a lighter note, I recently got an amazing pro quality tattoo kit, so stay tuned for some mad crazy ink-age!

And here's a piece of graphic design for your optical nerves to salivate over; Enjoy!

Graphic Design Tasties

This is a poster for a hypothetical show at the MOMA, entitled "The Visual Voice - Masters of Poster Design" Its completely designed out of text.

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So, I've been in L.A. for the past 5 days, and its been pretty amazing. Seen some art, and been incredibly inspired; so stay tuned for some sketchbook goodies as well as tons of pictures, from our swanky hotel, to canyons, downtown dirties, and tar pit fossils.

Until next time...

Long Summer Days

Hi all,

Summer is doing wonders to soothe these old bones... but its high time I get my nose to the grindstone and get back to work. Here's some work from my Figure II class this past semester.

Stay tuned for more posts, new work, and exciting new adventures!
Until next time...

-Laura

A healthy heaping portion

Of a little Graphic Design for you guys! School is finally out for summer, but I dont plan on slowing down the pace much. I'm anxious to finally be free of academia and pusuing work of personal interest, as well as hopefully making some money with freelancing jobs. (If you're interested, I'm seeking!)

Here's my final for Intro to Graphic Design. The project was to make or renovate an existing magazine. I'm sure we all know of the terrible graphics on tattoo magazines, always so visually cluttering, articles holding no interest, and most of all people with really terrible work, just lots and lots of it. I wanted to make a magazine that was host to the "Fine Art of Tattooing", as it were. Showcasing professional artist that tattoo, tattoo artists that paint, excellent work in which the artist was given freedom to do what they do best. Articles about tattoo culture. But most of all, to give this slick a clean, almost fashion mag-eqsue feel. So hope you enjoy, never hesitate to leave a comment or some feedback!

CREDIT WHERE CREDITS DUE:
The cover shot of Yours Truly was shot by a dear from William Everett Photography, as was the first Table of Contents Image
The second picture on T.O.C. is my dear dear friend and sibling, Miss Marlee and her lovely little boy Joel Higgins
The third image was taken by me, as is of my sister Carla's back, done by our fabulous tattoo artist, Andrea Buley. The last picture is of my back and was taken in my bathroom by Marlee.
The Artist profile page, and I hope she doesn't mind too much, were all ripped from my friend Sam Mancino, who is an amazing artist and an amazing tattoo artist, and I felt very deserving of being hosted in a tattoo magazine, though hypothetical this one may be....
And lastly, the image for the full page spread is once again Miss Marlee and Joel and photographed by myself.


Until next time...
-laura

Everyone loves a little T & A...

This is a sneak peek of my latest Graphic Design project...

T & A (Trull and Associates) Custom Drums, "Show us your wood".
Run by Dave Trull and his two sons, Chris and Eric, through the mother company,
The Trull Gallery

Each drum is handcrafted and painted with the company logo
This is the Stave Series, featuring 13" x 7" snare, Maple and Oak.

I've still got a few finishing details to add to the drum itself, as well as designing a pair of drumsticks, packaging, and advertising poster, so stay tuned for some more visual goodies...

Addendum

BY THE WAYYY... you see that lovely piece down there of the Grouper with a Pirate ship on its back? Well I was fortunate enough to have it accepted into the Society of Illustrators! Its simply the greatest honor and achievement thus far in my illustration career (next to getting into Best of Ringling.) But my work will be published in the Illustration annual, for all to see.

I want to say a quick thanks to all of my friends and family who have provided me with endless love and support through all my trials and tribulations, I love you all so very much!

Society of Illustrators

Until next time...

just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Trying to keep my head above water a bit. This is a pen and ink piece I did for my Ill Media class last semester. Enjoy!

Its business, oh its business time

Change is in the air, and its high time a start to remodel myself.

My latest assignment in Intro to Graphic Design was to create our Corporate Identity, and so these are my revamped business cards. I made a letterhead and envelope design as well.

So these will be coming soon to yor local coffee shop and gallery, enjoy!

doodlest of the doodle doo

Some epic metal/buddhist crayon art

Scooptastic sketching action

So the other day, Jerry Greenfield came and chilled at St. Armand's Ben and Jerry's! That's right ladies and gents, THE Jerry of the infamous ice cream company came and scooped it up with all us employees! He was a such a cool dude, I had to do a sketch for him. I gave him the original, and got him to autograph one for the shop. A great time was had by all. Enjoi!