meet Lil Red Wolf design - Mary...she HAD a little lamb...

Inspiration, Repetition, Meditation and Illustration

Thank you to everyone who supported the launch and debut of the Little Red Wolf line this past week...all you fans will be getting much more info and I know many are anticipating the internet reveal which I am preparing as I write this post for the new 2012 year! Both my hand illustrated pillows sold to wonderful homes :)

Earlier this week while working in a frenzy on my new artistically altered clothing line one of my students shared this amazing video (below) by Miguel Endara with me. As an artist the documentation, content and stipple technique is worth the watch alone, but as an educator - the artist's answering of questions and sharing of information is as much gold as the video - so I have included them here as well all the questions and answers after the video are his.
Over all this stuff is inspirational, revealing of the time and energy that could be invested into creating a single portrait and...its a pretty good inadvertent ad campaign for micron pens as well...lol!

So while I'm on my self-love retreat this week and getting ready to debut my Little Red Wolf Artistically Altered clothing line to the world wide web for the new year... enjoy this post!

OH AND BTW!!! I have been receiving wonderful suggestions for my soul-gutted doll's name. I will be making a decision by the end of this week and giving the person whose name for the doll that I choose, a signed picture of the doll!! So someone will receive a holiday gift and YOU STILL have time to submit name ideas (just click on post a comment on the name that doll.

Hero from Miguel Endara on Vimeo.

The making of "Hero," a drawing of my dad composed entirely out of 3.2 million ink dots.

Music by Bonobo - Noctuary
Created, Filmed, Produced and Edited by Miguel Endara
www.miguelendara.com

Update:
I am so overwhelmed! I can't begin to thank you enough for the wonderful comments you all have given me in the past 4 days. I truly did not anticipate such a tremendous volume of traffic, but I am pleased to see that there is a new and rapidly growing interest in the art technique known as stippling. There are many other stippling artists out there who deserve just as much recognition as I do, if not more, so please please continue to investigate this unique form of pen and ink art.

FAQ:
How did you count all the dots?
The number of dots is an approximation, not an exact number. But it's a very very close approximation. I filmed myself in just about every section of my drawing and got an average of 4.25 dots per second. That translated into 3,213,000 dots if you multiplied that by 210 hours, which is what I logged in for the entire drawing. Because I know it can't be exactly accurate, and because I think I might be off just a few thousand dots or so, I rounded it off to an even 3.2 million.

How long did this take?
I logged in exactly 210 hours of just stippling, but it took nearly one full year to complete from start to finish.

How many pens did you use?
Just one! I had many pens as backup, but I never had to use any of them. Go Sakura!

So, is this a Sakura Pigma Micron advertisement?
Absolutely not. They were not a part of the production of this video in any way.

What camera and software did you use?
All shots were done using the Canon EOS Rebel T1i (18-55 mm standard lens), and edited/rendered in After Effects CS4.

What equipment did you use for those panning shots and time-lapses?
I built all of my camera sliders and tracks using pvc pipes and rubber wheels that can be found in any local home improvement store. If you'd like to see how I built them, send me a message and I can send over some pictures of what they look like.

Is this piece for sale?
The original for "Hero" is currently not for sale, but the limited edition prints will be very soon. You can find out more information on this link: http://miguelendara.com/prints

Do you have more artwork?
Yes. But not too many. Because stippling is an extremely time-expensive process, I do not have a large collection of art pieces. More can be seen on my site at www.miguelendara.com.

Thank you all for the continued support!

Working with Decals

So since I've become part of the Bliss Women's Co-operative I'be been exploring ways to make my artwork more accessible. The latest technique I've tried are decals and I rather enjoyed the process which was simple and direct enough. I'll be making some for my Etsy shop soon as I revamp all my inventory. Here are some the results:

two large decal plates with my illustrations All the plates I applied decals of my work onto....

Bliss Women's Co-op Grand Opening Celebration today from 5-7pm

Due to the inclement weather and new reports of impending rain and scary 10inch snow storms the Bliss Women's Co-op was forced to postpone the cocktail hour GRAND OPENING celebration from yesterday FRIDAY to today SATURDAY so lucky for you if you were hoping to go and couldn't- MAYBE now you still can?!

There will be artisan pieces on showcase from a great many talented women and some are Etsy sellers too!

detail of the completed Mi Tigre painting available for view and purchase now at Bliss Women's Co-op in Sugar Loaf New York

Come to Bliss! This Friday!

So I have had to say farewell for now to my beloved Puerto Rico and I am back on home turf getting ready to participate in the new Womens Co-op venue in Sugar Loaf New York BLISS! Regardless of coming home with a wicked flu, I'll have some new pieces in the Bliss shop along with some other phenomenal women artisans. SO COME ON OVER to Sugar Loaf New York the cutest of all arts & crafts communities on FRIDAY from 5-7pm to celebrate the GRAND OPENING of BLISS!

1371 Kings Highway Romers Alley #4b Sugar Loaf, NY 10981

So here is another sneak peek of a new piece in process for the Bliss gallery/boutique that I was working on in PUERTO RICO!

Mi Tigre in process- Ink on distressed paper - by marisol diaz

New Venue & New Ink Illustrations 2

I'm excited to report that I have joined a new venue, Bliss Co-op in Sugar Loaf, New York.

About Bliss Co-op:

Bliss Co-op is a little boutique in Sugar Loaf NY that features the creative works of local & regional women artisans. It gives an opportunity for those artists who need a little exposure in an artisan village without the risk of opening their own shop. More importantly, the co-op is a network of supportive women with varying talents & business acumen to help each member flourish both as an artist & as an individual.

My work along with that of some extraordinary women/crafters/artisans/makers/designers will be featured in this alternative boutique/gallery starting April 1st AND You're Invited!

GRAND OPENING!!!! APRIL 1st
WHOOO HOOO!!!
Come visit one of the best things happening in Sugar Loaf NY this year, if you don’t mind me saying. Celebrate the women who are living their dream, fulfilling their passion & following their bliss.
Bring your friends & family..heck, grab a stranger. Get in on the excitement.
Open for business 12:00pm -5:00pm Followed by a cocktail party from 5:00pm – 7:00pm

Here is a sneak peek of another one of the new illustrations that I have been working on the Bliss space and the stages of its development.

My Consumption 2 start up PROCESS by m.diaz My Consumption 2 PROCESS2 by m.diaz My Consumption2 Final Draft2 by m. diaz My Consumption 2 detail by m.diaz

New Ink Illustrations

I have a new space I'll be putting some work up in Sugar Loaf, New York soon - I'll be writing all about it here and letting you know the wheres and whens, but for now I thought I'd share the results of some new illustrations with you. Stay tuned since there are more this pieces Ill be posting this week..hope you like them...

new work in progress by m.diaz My Consumtion 2 kremer ink illustration WORK IN PROGRESS by m.diaz fox detail by m.diaz fox girl 2 detail by m.diaz

My Little RED Valentines Day- For the Love of the Beast Within Me and His Long Unruly Fur...

Figure 10. Kiki Smith. Rapture Bronze ©Kiki Smith, Photo By: Richard-Max Tremblay/Courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York

For this year's valentine's day post, I want to share a passion that I have that has been ensconced within my work (see my illustrations) and thoughts for quite a while...our animal human divide, my animal instincts or how some academics prefer to call it our primitive brains.

my pendant by Poodlebreath

"You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves."- Mary Oliver

Actually for close to a decade now; I have seen the relinquishing of reason and justification in order to appease my deepest desires as a manifestation of my animal self. My ability or lack there of to reign in my instinctual desires to me is a reflection of seeing the beast (my true self) within me and allowing it to surface as a reflection of who I truly am. I also see our animal selves as the intercessor between the sacred nature of the environment and our regard for it.

My Wolf ring by Raven Designs

"...animals and humans respond physiologically to traumatic experiences and how our ‘animal body’ naturally responds to a threatening situation regardless of what our rational mind may think.
The nervous system’s response to danger is ‘hardwired’ in the reptilian (instinctual) and mammalian limbic (emotional) parts of our brain that we share with other animals. A threatened human or animal must discharge the adrenaline mobilized to negotiate danger, for example by shaking or trembling, or it will succumb to trauma as the residual energy persists in the body creating a variety of unpleasant symptoms.
While animals instinctively discharge this energy, humans are less adept at this and when confronted with a life threatening situation, our rational brains may become confused and override our instinctive impulses.

Levine(From Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine)... explaining that while our highly evolved neo-cortex (rational brain) cannot override the fight, flight or freeze response to danger, it allows an overcontrol which interferes with the instinctual responses generated by our older (evolutionarily) reptilian brain that are necessary for return to normal functioning..."

- Reclaiming our Animal Body Author: Tania Dolley

The Grimm fairytale that opens the window into this duality for me is Little Red Riding hood...

However, I see this tale as a preamble/ an introduction to a more interesting question, story and character, the girl who emerges saved from the belly of the wolf...that is who I am interested in.

In her 2002 study Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked, Catherine Orenstein claims that the tale “embodies complex and fundamental human concerns”

"[Red Riding Hood’s] tale speaks to enduring themes of family, morality, growing up, growing old, of lighting out into the world, and of the relationships between the sexes.
It brings together archetypal opposites, through which it explores the boundaries of culture, class, and especially, what it means to be a man or a woman.
The girl and the wolf inhabit a place, call it the forest or call it the human psyche, where the spectrum of human sagas converges and where their social and cultural meanings play out."

- From UNCLOAKED a Little Red Ridinghood study by Catherine Orenstein

recent lil red work by me, m.diaz detail of lil red by m.diaz ink on wood

As far as I am concerned at the very end of this fairytale is just when I think it starts. The end of the tale is where my wonderment and fondness begins. With my overactive imagination, to me there is no better topic for a Valentines day post than the misnomer of traditional Little Red Ridinghood interpretations and seeing perhaps the 'all-consuming' love between a hunter and his prey the wolf and the girl/ girl and a beast/ and the transformative power of that love since she emerges not unscathed from the belly of the wolf, but surely a force to be reckoned with as she is reborn in a sense from this consumption...

Little Red Ridinghood Brothers Grimm Illustrated by Daniel Egneùs

I bought the book above (- beautifully illustrated) and the t-shirt below and now so can you! BUY IT! But let's just agree to not wear it on the same day in the same place :))

Score this design: "RED," to help it get printed on Threadless!

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new ink work

'wanting' ink illustration on heavyweight watercolor paper by m.diaz 'hungry' ink illustration on heavyweight watercolor paper by m. diaz

Altered Book Pages

This weekend I get to start my holiday vacation with a blast- the continuum of my Creatively Conscious Ladies Art Class! During our last August Retreat day we started Altered Books, which can be very much like a sketchbook or more highly resolved pieces of art. I just realized there are many pages of which I never shared here- so I thought it seemed to be a fine time to do so.

My altered book cover by m.diaz Altered Pagealtered page by m.diaz matador altered pages by m.diaz Barren Queen altered page 1 by m.diazBarren Queen altered page2 by m.diaz altered page by m.diaz Ausencia altered page by m.diazRue de Reves altered page by m.diaz

Would have been nice if I would have shown you what the book looked like before I messed with it! Well hope you enjoy!

Ciao- Amarettogirl