DonnaCaromy

New Paintings

2011-09-27T19:43:00.001-07:00

I seriously can't believe its been over a year since my last post. Things have been so busy at work, and then we adopted Kit, our "little fox" who is the muse for the first painting in this post . The second painting is inspired by some photos I took while we were traveling in Japan last year. I have been working on something else as well....a baby girl due in January 2012! Much of my time has been taken up by the marathon of pregnancy and getting ready for her arrival in a few months time...

Sao Paulo Painting

2010-07-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

Ok so this week I attempted to do a matte painting with Sao Paulo as the subject. I took the original plate from a photo online, and added more buildings and atmosphere to it, painting the lights turned on in some windows and details to the tops of the buildings. The additional buildings were comped in from photos from my trip to Sampa last year, they were taken in bright daylight, so I had to do quite a bit of color correction and perspective alterations and am debating to go back and remove some of the shadows, or move on to the next painting....

Matte Painting 101

2010-07-18T22:10:00.000-07:00

I am having so much fun with matte painting, its early days but I am loving it. It incorporates so many things that I enjoy, painting, photography etc. Here is the before and after of a simple exercise in cleaning a plate and adding some character and framing to it. I seriously have a lot to learn but I'm feeling so inspired by the process, and motivated to learn and work at it.

Two New Paintings

2010-07-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

Its really been a long time since I've posted anything, but I wanted to share two new paintings that Ive been working on. The first is a representation of an idea in Yogic philosophy. The concept is that one of the biggest obstacles to achieving a clear and balanced mind is the incorrect perception of things. This causes us to think and act in ways that are harmful to ourselves and others. It is not easy to recognize our incorrect comprehensions, but we can easily recognize the symptoms, namely fear, attachment, refusal and ego....
The second painting is a still life with flowers, I was inspired to paint it after seeing a giant, magnificent still life with flowers a few weekends ago at the Getty museum. I've included some photos from that weekend, the full set can be seen here.

Self Portrait

2009-11-09T22:28:00.001-08:00

Paint like there's no tomorrow.

Life Drawing Time

2009-09-02T21:34:00.000-07:00

Some sketches from an uninstructed class I'm taking in Santa Monica. Dudes are difficult to draw, dude.

Zap Mama is going to zap you!

2009-08-25T22:07:00.001-07:00

Inspired by the zap mama concert i went to a few weekends ago.

pancakes

2009-08-16T22:08:00.001-07:00

something old, something new....

2009-06-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

An old drawing that Regis found in a sketchbook and some sketches from Friday, when some friends from work and I went drawing during lunchtime. Sitting outside on a beautiful sunny day (it was supposed to rain but that's California for you)...

Works in Progress, Man at work

2009-05-31T21:02:00.000-07:00

A few oil paintings I'm working on, and Regis working on his comic Hockey Love and Guts, check it out!

Alvin Ailey at the Dance Center

2009-03-22T22:09:00.001-07:00

musicCenter004
Originally uploaded by DonnaCaromy

This weekend I was lucky enough to see the Alvin Ailey company twice! Yay for free tickets. They were incredible, strong dancers, beautiful choreography. It was a 50th anniversary, retrospective type of program. Interesting to see the progression through the years, although I would be really interested to see some of the new work that the company is doing. On Saturday I managed to take my camera with and try out the new tripod, with some low light conditions. I had some altercations with security guards that were quite frustrating. Apparently the rule is that you can take photos, but not with a tripod, which made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. But I learned that its impossible to argue with these guys who are just doing their jobs. Quite frustrating, but I managed to get a few good images before I was told to put the tripod away. The full set is on my flickr page.

St. Patty's Day Drawing Session

2009-03-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

Another session down town, this time with a St. Patty's theme. The Dj was playing some gothy tunes and the models were wearing pixie ears and faerie wings, it was fun, although I was reeeaally tired, and struggling with proportions a heck of a lot. It was so inspiring to see some of the other amazing artists at work.

work in progress

2009-03-04T22:01:00.001-08:00

Last weekend, I went to my friend Ashleigh's gorgeous studio in Hollywood, and painted for a few hours. Its been ages since I painted with oils and it felt gooooood.... I'm still working on it. The colors are a bit off balance in this photo, because of the warm lighting in our apartment, but I took the photo RAW, and was amazed at all the detail and texture it captured. Thanks to another friend (and talented photographer) Dan Mejia, for suggesting I start shooting RAW.

Valentine Themed Sketch Party

2009-02-21T20:24:00.000-08:00

On Friday night I went to a sketch party down town. It took us a while to find our way there, but it was totally worth it! Many different models in costume on two model stands, there was booze, chocolate(to go with the valentines theme) and a DJ, and the place was packed! We left around midnight and some folks were still arriving. It was cool to see the different gear and materials people were using. I saw a couple of people with laptop and cintiq setup. I brought along my usual sketching gear and some watercolors. Here are a few of my sketches from that night.

Alegrias on Youtube

2009-02-17T22:25:00.000-08:00

I finally decided to post my thesis film Alegrias on youtube. It was a labour of love to make this film, I enjoyed every minute of it. Inspired by flamenco music and dance which I have been studying since I was about 12 years of age. I finally made a trip to Spain several years ago to really learn the "gitano" or "gypsy" way to dance. Much of the imagery in the film was inspired by that visit.

sketches and a painting

2009-01-18T22:09:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I went to the farmers market in Santa Monica to take photos. I was too shy to photograph the vendors and shoppers, so mostly ended up taking pictures of fruit and flowers, then came home feeling inspired to draw these characters.

Canon Xsi maiden voyage

2009-01-03T22:56:00.001-08:00

Irvine_Lake_12
Originally uploaded by DonnaCaromy

I finally bought myself a beautiful SLR....it was love at first sight....I am now refreshing my knowledge on f stops and shutter speeds and all that cool stuff....

Holiday Card Designs

2008-12-20T22:27:00.001-08:00

Life Drawing

2008-11-17T22:36:00.001-08:00

Some Life Drawing from an uninstructed class Ive been taking on Tuesday evenings. There's nothing like it for practicing the drawing chops.

Summertime and the sketching is...easy?

2008-09-01T14:58:00.000-07:00

Regis was right, I really need to start drawing smaller....hmmmm.

Frederic Back

2008-08-17T20:39:00.000-07:00

We were incredibly lucky last week to attend the opening of an exhibition of drawings and paintings by one of my favourite artists and animators, Frederic Back. His work is beautiful and poignant. The Exhibition features Mr. Back's lifelong contribution as artist, film maker and conservationist. If you are in the L.A area I highly recommend coming out to see the works on display. More information can be found at the academy website.

Dust Bunnies and Other Mythological Household Creatures

2008-08-17T20:25:00.000-07:00

The Studio I work for, Rhythm and Hues, has a drawingboard blog that has been dormant for a while but is making a comeback, its a fun venue for digital artists at the studio to get back to drawing. Every couple of weeks a new topic gets pulled from a suggestion (jar I think). The last theme was the title of this post and here is my contribution. For future posts from the drawingboard check out the Rhythm and Hues Drawing Board.

lean mean stove cleaning machine

2008-07-28T22:18:00.000-07:00

yes I am.

Variation on a theme and more dancing

2008-07-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

A Photoshop rendition of Katee and Joshua and a sketch loosely based on my ballet teacher Kana Miyamoto.

So You Think You Can Dance

2008-07-15T21:01:00.000-07:00

I am so addicted to this show, So You Think You Can Dance. Are the judges comments trite and ridiculous? Usually. Is the competition one big popularity contest? Well Kinda, but nevertheless I am hooked, and the talent is really amazing. My Favorite couple (soon to be paired with different partners!!) is Katee and Joshua. Last week they did a stunning Bollywood routine that made me leap up and grab my watercolors....I know I know... I cant help myself.

Sleep Motif

2008-07-06T22:53:00.000-07:00

Maybe its because Ive been doing my sketching late at night after work, but I seem to have the theme of sleep on the brain... these were just quick and fun watercolor and colored pencil on paper, but I have some (digital?) ideas for them, so stay tuned......

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

2008-06-16T20:50:00.001-07:00

On Sunday we went to see this amazing film at Imaginasian, a theater in downtown L.A that shows Asian Cinema. Very cool. Of course we had to stop at Sunset Thai in Hollywood for some Thai soup after the show. Yum.

freshly cut Reel

2008-04-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

New paint doodle

2008-04-16T10:26:00.000-07:00

Daily doodle

2008-03-07T21:06:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to get back to drawing, it hasn't been easy with the long production hours, but maybe drawing needs to become like second nature, like working out or brushing my teeth, something to do regularly to take care of myself and to feel good.....so I'm trying to make a habit of it, here it is my first daily doodle, I drew this impression in photoshop, after coming back from my walk from 11th st to the Santa Monica Pier and back.

pretty leaves

2007-12-12T15:17:00.000-08:00

This one was inspired by a front yard that I pass when jogging in my neighborhood, still working on it...

doodle time

2007-12-12T15:09:00.000-08:00

Hugh Masekela

2007-08-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

The skirball center has the most incredible line up of free concerts for the summer , a few weeks ago my mom and I went to see the legendary Hugh Masekela live. It was an unforgettable show, people were up and boogying in the ailes, Hue and his top notch jazz band did some awe inspiring covers of Fela Kuti and other classic African and Jazz standards, I got a few blurry snapshots of the man himself...

Atlanta Airport has ants!

2007-05-01T23:12:00.000-07:00

This crazy sculpture at Atlanta Airport was a "get out the camera" moment....

Gargantua at the big top

2007-02-28T23:33:00.000-08:00

well its taken me a while to get used to my new job at Image Metrics .
It feels so good to doodle again. I'm really trying to get some gumption and will power to do some painting at the end of the day after the infamous commute back from Santa Monica to the Valley.
This is just the debut of Gargantua, its still a work in progress!

xmas card

2007-01-11T19:55:00.000-08:00

i really had fun designing this card....

self portrait

2006-12-18T10:23:00.000-08:00

inspired by a djembe class i took at motherland music....

sidewalk painting progression

2006-12-15T14:45:00.000-08:00

speedpaint'n

2006-12-14T10:44:00.000-08:00

speedpainting

2006-12-13T22:53:00.000-08:00

finally got back to painting

tango argentine

2006-10-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

one drunken night in January, some friends and I decided that we wanted to plan a trip to Argentina, well my friends Iva and Heloise DID end up going ( I being broke, unemployed, yada yada at the time couldnt join them). I just heard a story about a woman hoisting her leg over Iva's head in a tango club in Buenos Aires, this ones for you Weezy.

skullgirls interview

2006-10-16T12:05:00.000-07:00

there was a great interview with alex and ryan on siliconera.com about the making of skullgirls. Some of the Background Art Im doing for the game is featured in the interview...

Night Shift

2006-09-23T10:54:00.000-07:00

This is how I feel this morning after my first week of working the night shift at Bix Pix, sleep is for suckers! It’s a very nice stop motion studio and I’m one of the compositors on their direct to DVD holiday special, oh ya and my new favourite discovery is chocolate covered espresso beans...why waste precious minutes brewing the stuff, when you can just munch away on the beans man...It’s brilliant i tell you...

skullgirls

2006-08-10T18:48:00.000-07:00

So Im working with some peeps on this game called skullgirls, led by the amazingly talented and prolific Alex Ahad. The website for the game is www.skullgirls.com , theres also a link to some pages from Alex's comic book Lavapunch, which is pretty damn cool as well....above is one of the BG designs that Im painting for the game, its still very much a work in progress....

little swimmer....aw

2006-08-08T21:22:00.000-07:00

Desconso

2006-08-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

another attempt at watercolour, this time at the desconso gardens, definitely worth a visit...

venice canals

2006-08-08T20:56:00.000-07:00

so im taking a drawing class with the animation union, a couple of weeks ago week we went to the venice canals, my first stab at watercolours in a while....

beach girl

2006-06-08T10:55:00.000-07:00

travel town contour drawings

2006-06-05T13:47:00.000-07:00

some pen and ink sketches from my landscape drawing class at the union

marbles

2006-06-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

2006-05-25T17:19:00.000-07:00

work in progress

2006-05-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

2006-05-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

2006-05-15T17:33:00.000-07:00

2006-05-13T21:36:00.000-07:00

work in progress

2006-05-12T19:20:00.000-07:00

2006-05-12T19:17:00.000-07:00

2006-05-09T19:57:00.000-07:00

yoga woman

2006-05-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

shadow play

2006-04-25T19:01:00.000-07:00

didge player

2006-04-24T23:16:00.000-07:00

2006-04-20T00:19:00.000-07:00

updated....

work in progress

2006-04-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by this character I saw whilst shopping in Green market square in cape town with my friend chrys, its a work in progress....

at long last

2006-03-29T12:07:00.000-08:00

well Ive finally got a blog of my very own. Hopefully this will give me the "umph!" to make and post more of my own work...comments are always most graciously appreciated....