*New Work* and Marketing

Thankfully I didn't have to stay up too late to do this one.


"Summer Dance" Ink and Colored Pencil

I've always loved pinup art, and hated the fact that you rarely see full figured gals being sexy, because *gasp* there are quite a few out there who find us attractive. This is panel two of my "Seasons" series. A stunningly curvy hula chick, full of sass, shakes her stuff in the summer breeze. The model is a friend of mine who was kind enough to give me permission to use her image in this piece. I love the combo of warm and cool colors in this one, and the fact that the image itself went through a ton of modifications. I'm contemplating a full figured pin up series, but that's still in development.

I got quite a few things accomplished yesterday in terms of marketing myself. I registered with several portfolio websites, including Portfolios.com and Deviant Art(links TBA). I'm also designing business cards and letterhead, making basic contracts, and researching several website developing techniques and equipment. One thing I can say is that I honestly didn't realize how much work(and money) it was in order toy build a business. Every minute and every dime you invest has to produce something. It's for this reason why I'm interested in meeting other freelancers and artists, to hear their stories about how they started out. It can be a bit overwhelming. But you know what? Because it's something coming from the heart, I don't mind it. One thing I've been striving for is to be able to make a living doing from what I love to do. Even though it's been a tough road so far, it's been a rewarding one, and I am grateful.

All Images Copyright © Tasha Williams Taylor

*New Work* Thanksgiving Weekend

So I locked myself in my studio during the holiday weekend, and pumped out three new pieces...

"Self Portrait: Bohemia" Ink and colored pencil

I'm developing a series of self portraits and this is the first one. When I was growing up in Westchester, I always wanted to live the "Bohemian" lifestyle. I pictured myself moving to Greenwich Village in a high rise loft, letting my hair grow big and wild, wearing funky jewelry and clothes, and surviving on creativity, passion, and happily painting my life away. Fast forward to now, and the closest I've come is letting my hair grow out, heheh. But that's okay, lately I've been dancing a fine line between conformist and creative spirit, and I'm looking forward to soon being able to combine the two. So here I am, wild-haired spirit welcoming you into her loft. I'm not totally happy with it, so I may redo it later.

"Spring Rain" Ink and Colored Pencil

The first of the "Seasons" series. People have different interpretations of what springtime is. For me, spring has always equaled rain, new beginnings and growth. In fact, the springtimes I've experienced have always been warm but gray. So that's what you see here...a forest sprite crouched under a flower leaf, trying to stay dry in the spring rain.

"Island Lovers" Ink and Colored Pencil

This was inspired by one my many talks with my husband about traveling to the Caribbean, which is where he is from, for a vacation. I've never been to a tropical island, and I've heard nothing but wonderful things about how beautiful and romantic they are. So in thinking about that, this was formed. My husband was kind enough to be my ever obedient model, and the man in the portrait is as handsome as he is.

So I have a review on Wednesday at my day job. I'm seeing this situation as a opportunity to showcase my portfolio, because marketing companies use illustrators on a fairly regular basis. Hopefully if they like my stuff enough, they'll take me off the phones and into the studio. When I graduated from college I thought it was best for me to get some regular job while I pursued illustration independently, because you need money to buy art supplies, right? Now, four years later, I wish I had pursued an art related job to build more relevant experience. But it's all a learning process, and I'm going to keep pursuing illustration until I don't have to work there anymore. I'm so proud of the progress I've made so far; I'm the most productive I've ever been, and although it's tiring, it's been worth it!

All Images Copyright © Tasha Williams Taylor

*New Work*

Saturday was my last day at my part-time job(loong story...well, not really), so I spent Sunday working on some prelims for a narrative and coloring this piece:

"Corpse Bride" Ink and Colored Pencil
I see a few things here and there that I want to correct, but overall I'm proud of the way it turned out. It's not really based on the movie...the closest thing that comes to that is the colors of the bride. So I'm not really sure where it came from...just a spirit wandering her masoleum, reflecting on her living love.

I also wanted to put this one up, mainly because it's kind of the way I felt today...
"Thoughtful" Pencil

My mind is always going a mile a minute, and my mind always floats towards the work I am doing to further my career. I sketched this out while my mind was drifting and this was the result.

Right now I'm working the actual panels to the narrative I'm illustrating...a song by Craig David, one of my favorite singers. Until next time...

Timeless Words

Whew, I almost didn't make it! I've been up for a couple of hours working on a new drawing, and almost forgot to post this. I promised myself I would blog at least once a day...it's taking effort since I spend most of my time at my day job on the computer, so of course I have no desire to be on one when I get home. But obviously this is important work, so I'm here holding my tired eyes open!



Anyways, enough complaining...I mentioned in my last entry that I dug up my old Artist's Statement from my last year of college, early in the semester. I've since written a new one, but this original one suits my creative process and what inspires me a little better, as well as my journey to love art in general. I ended up getting an A on it *smile*. The main objective was to define myself as an artist, and I kid you not when I say it was probably the hardest assignment I'd ever gotten. How does one define oneself when you're not quite sure where you want to be? I have a better focus now than I did then, but reading back on it, I see that I had a pretty good idea of what path I wanted to take, even if I was a bit idealistic about how I was going to do it. I'm wiser now, but most of the statement rings true in my daily endeavors of making my dream a reality.

Artists are complicated people. We go through all sorts of transitional periods. We can jump through all different mediums, all different styles, and all different subject matter before finally settling down on one specific type of artistic movement, that we will forever define ourselves by. I figured I had already done that, without having to go through the trouble of jumping through all those hoops and obstacles. That is, until I went to college, and discovered that there is a lot more out ther than I thought. That interested me to the point of confusion, and my definition of myself as an artist changed again and again, until I was asked to sit down and write an artistic definition of myself. I see now that there are more levels to my art than I even realized, and now I feel I can finally place it into a category.

Primarily, my artistic interest was geared toward cartoons. I grew up fascinated my moving drawings, from early black and white Betty Boop shorts to elaborately animated Disney films. I loved to draw and then color it in with paint or colored pencils. So rather than pay full attention to storylines, I picked apart methods of drawing, movement, color and figure, and began to copy it. This is primarily what animation is about; copying what you see and putting your own spin on someone else's idea. So being a cartoonist was my first level. But then I discovered I could look at a real thing, or a photograph of a real thing, and copy it almost exactly. I loved doing portraits more than anything, so that would make me a portrait artist too. As I got older and discovered the way the world can be if you're Black and Female in America, racial and social issues crept into my work. So I became an artist with meaning and and mission to expose these issues to the world. Various events in my life have affected me in many different ways, so I used art as a form of therapy, to cleanse my mind and soul. My work ventured from realism, to impressionism, to expressionism, and back to realism. So I became an artist in all of these realms. One could definitely say I have jumped through many hoops to get to this point, and I still have many to go.

So who am I as an artist, exactly? I'll say that I am a painter that uses drawing as a foundation, a map to guide me through my ideas. I love the cartoonic style, and utilize it through all sorts of moods and issues, whether they be positive, negative, or none of the above. my style is very precise, although I like to loosen up once and a while, and let my mind go free and my hand flow through my work. I can make you laugh, make you cry, make you think, or simply give you something that is interesting to look at. I can't define myself as an artist, and I don't think any artist can. There are so many levels to being an artist, and no matter how long we have been in the field, there are still parts of ourselves that are waiting to be discovered.

Copyright Tasha Naomi Williams, December 16th, 2002

Intro-Type Thing

So I decided to start up a blogger in lieu of an actual website, just because it is taking so long to build the think from scratch. I'm long regretting my cocky refusal in college to steer away from anything computer related in the world of art, because of my sole mission to bring back "traditional illustration." I discovered after college that traditional illustration has never "gone" anywhere, its just changed with the times. So as of two years ago I'm relearning all of my computer programs. It's taking some time, but I'm getting there.

The best benefit about having a blog to show case my work is the fact that I can connect with other illustrators and freelance artists and trade tips and make friendships. Not to mention that it give the opportunity for constructive criticism. So with that in mind, the blogger that is Purple Mist Art was born.

I'm going to start simple with my most recent painting, "January Moon:"



I got the inspiration for it while driving home from work one chilly January night. I looked out into the horizon and saw this huge gold moon in the sky, that overpowered every star around it, and nearly out did the few streetlights on the old country road I was on. It was amazing. As usual, I got hit with an idea out of nowhere, of a mellow golden goddess indulging herself in the moonlight. I love the smoothness of this painting, and it's since become one of my favorites. 18" x 24" Acrylic on canvas.

I managed to dig up my old Artist's Statement from college, and even though it's kind of old, it sums up my mission pretty darn well. I'm kind of glad I didn't fall too far off of the wagon, the "real" world will do that to you. I'll post it later on, along with some other stuff.