So I was going to do a review on my go’tcha bracelet but I wanted to give it a full week so I can give you guys the full rundown on the pros and the cons of getting this bracelet. In the meantime I haven’t posted any of my art in a while so I’m going to treat you guys to this piece which I sketched in my journal and then ran through my favorite app to filter some of my sketches with, which is Prisma.

One of the things I really love about Prisma is it has a unique ability to transform a basic sketch into something really artistic and fabulous without compromising the integrity of the original sketch. Art nowadays is more than just a pencil, charcoal, colored pencils, watercolor, oil and acrylic paints a lot of Art is done on the computer too. One of my favorite apps to sketch in is called MyBrushes. It’s around $3.00 in the App Store and you only have to download it and pay once. I’ve gotten new phones and never had to pay that again when I re-downloaded the app.

Using both my brushes and Prisma can take your art to the next level as far as creativity but for this piece I went back to basics and took a hand drawn piece and ran it through Prisma. The title for this piece called Marilyn Manson’s diary is roughly based off of the fact that I was sketching this skeleton moth while I was listening to Marilyn Manson’s beautiful people (you could even see surrounding the moth I have the lyrics to that song). I really enjoyed this piece because I’m really horrible at keeping journals I’ve tried and still do though. I even got one of those bullet journals from Michael’s but I always have my attention going in 7 different directions and like all journals I tend to fall off doing them. The fact that I’ve managed to update this blog every week or every two weeks at most is a very big feat for me. Sometimes I just don’t have anything to write about and when my muse takes a personal day I’m usually SOL (sh*t out of luck) so it’s during those times when I don’t have anything to write about I let my sketches speak for me. It might sound kind of tacky but that’s what you get with me sometimes.

I could probably pull some story out of thin air that I made this because I missed spring and everything is dead because it’s winter here where I live but it’s not that deeper meaning type piece. I was simply just listening to Marilyn Manson, letting my mind wander, and this is what I came up with.

While I know I promised a review, I did in fact come through with that to an extent because I suggested two apps for my fellow artists on here and also shared with you a little piece of my personal journal which I also sketch in from time to time. I hope you enjoy!

Love you. Mean it.

Brittany

I think my obsession with owls originated with the 80s cult classic The Labyrinth. Ever since then, everything from the way they looked to the way they hunted at night fascinated me to no end but whenever I see an owl I think of David Bowie’s eccentric, antihero character Jareth, The Goblin King.

I was actually watching the movie the night I created this piece and reminiscing quite literally about when “the world fell down”. It had only been one year and four months since we’d lost the beloved rock and roll icon and I still remember the day that I heard the news. I was in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on my honeymoon eating a burrito when the little television they had on in the quaint beachside Mexican restaurant announced that David Bowie had passed.

First I was shocked, I remember walking back to our hotel that night with the warm Florida breeze caressing my cheek looking up at the moon and thinking ‘how could it be at such a relatively young age, that one of the most beloved rock ‘n’ roll icons has died?’ David Bowie seemed nearly immortal, a myth that seemed valid given his stellar cinema resume. While naturally death is a part of life, as my father used to say ‘Brittany, nobody’s getting out of this world alive‘ , I couldn’t help but wonder was it that his death had affected me so deeply that I begin to think of my own mortality as the cars went rushing by? Could it be as simple as anything could change in the blink of an eye? Or was it deeper than that?

I had seen this meme floating around on the Internet around the time that David Bowie had passed and it made me realize that perhaps it was deeper than just realizing how short life is. I have always been sympathetic to the villains in just about every fairytale I have read, something I probably wouldn’t have done if I hadn’t been empathetically able to sense just how lonely David Bowie’s anti-hero, antagonist of a character Jareth in The Labyrinth. Coming across this meme really made my feelings much more pronounced, I wasn’t just sad we lost a rock ‘n’ roll icon, I was sad that I lost someone who actually made me look at villains in a totally different light from that point in time when I saw that movie forward.

From the time I was 10 years old and first watched The Labyrinth (in my friend Kristen’s bedroom on her tiny little TV that was probably only a little bit bigger than the size of my old iPad but bulky all the same) I was able to feel bad for the bad guy and realize villains are sometimes much more multidimensional (which is a lesson a writer that I treasure). In teaching me at such a young age the meaning of empathy for the antagonist Jareth I learned a very valuable lesson about being a writer that sometimes things aren’t so black and white.

One of my favorite authors of all time, JK Rowling, has built a very successful brand for herself with the Harry Potter series, (I myself am an avid fan and also named my fur baby Draco after one of her antagonistic characters) but admittedly she is also a one dimensional writer. The entire series is told from Harry’s point of view which often leads us to have a very negative views of some of the other Hogwarts houses, namely Slytherin (which I always identified as and Pottermore even sorted me into). The downside of Rowling only writing from Harry’s point of view is that we miss things that are important to the plot, that she reveals later on. One of these such things is Snape and his love for Harry’s mother Lily, which led to him becoming a double agent for Dumbledore. In fact, most of the supporting characters around Harry including the beloved half-giant Hagrid often says “there wasn’t a witch or wizard that went bad that wasn’t in Slytherin” of course, we later learn this is NOT the case as they were plenty other characters from other houses that “went bad”. While I will always love the story of Harry Potter from start to finish I must say as a writer myself J. K. Rowling writes from very limited perspectives. As to whether or not it’s done on purpose or not can be argued both ways, I tend to think that it was on purpose that she does this to kind of reveal things towards the end at her own discretion. That said, I also believe that the one dimensional view is limiting the reader on the ability to see things from both sides of the proverbial coin.

David Bowie’s character Jareth taught me as a writer to write from several characters perspectives. In one of my several projects that I have ongoing within ‘My Documents’ each chapter is written from a different character’s perspective so that way the audience can really look at the situation at hand from many different perspectives and can form their own opinion of it. I personally think that makes the writer more well-rounded both as a writer and and empathizer. As a writer, if you can get your audience to sympathize with the antagonist as well as the protagonist you’re bringing a whole new element to your tale that makes it much more memorable. I am forever grateful to David Bowie for that.

The owl in this piece is both symbolic in Harry Potter and The Labyrinth and I sketched it as a reminder that perspective in terms of creating a meaningful and engaging story is always key in keeping your audience involved in the plot.

What are some of your favorite novels? Have you Ever sympathized with the villain? Leave a comment below I’d love to hear from you!

Love you. Mean it.

Brittany

Xoxo

Nelson Mandela once said it always seems impossible until it is done. I believe that this is true because America was the land which was built on the impossible becoming possible. I feel incredibly lucky to have a grown-up in here, in a country where we are taught that all things are possible. Despite the growing issues with what’s going on with our youth and our nation, I feel blessed that we live in a country where we CAN protest and oppose what goes on. We may not agree with everything that people are marching for nowadays but I can surely appreciate the fact that I live in a country where people can if they choose so.

This piece was inspired by a dream I had a years ago, I had been reading about the French Revolution and one of the things I found so disturbing was the imprisonment of Marie Antoinnette. Not only was Marie martyred, but in the days leading up to her gruesome death she was both psychologically and physically abused. The people who once answered to her as their Queen now killed her friends for sport and placed their decapitated heads in her cell for “company”. While France has certainly come a long way since those days, when I look at events in history around the world I feel lucky to live somewhere where I have a voice and representation.

Throughout history many strong women had to overcome great hurtles to make a difference in their world. They had to battle gender stereotypes and a patriarchal society which valued only the opinions of males. I am glad to live in a country where women have fought for the right for me to vote. This piece was created to remind us all that there are places in this world where you can be killed just for speaking your mind. To those who are unhappy with the state of this nation, to those who are not proud to be American, I challenge you imagine what it would be like to live in a country that didn’t afford you those rights.

Imagine living in a country where the risk of threat and death always looming. On having restrictions with how many kids you should have and what gender they need to be. Imagine living in country where you were persecuted for your race, religion and sexual orientation. A county where you’re told what profession you’ll have, who you’re to marry and what to watch and listen to. Imagine a country where you’re not allowed to say anything negative about the leader of it or risk death. When you think about it in retrospect, you are awarded (by living in this country) a privilege denied to many not just in recent times but over the course of several centuries.

You have opportunities and clean running water; a roof over your head and food on your plate. You have the freedom of speech, religion and press. You could grow up to become whatever you want to be, have as many children as you want and rattle on for hours about how much you hate our president. Just remember you are allowed to do this because you live in the greatest nation of all, America. This piece which I created serves to remind us just how lucky we are to live in a nation where we can celebrate both our similarities and differences and live without fear.

Love you. Mean it.

Brittany

Xoxo

Occasionally there are weeks where I am not quite sure what to write about. I think it’s a common thing for most authors out there to have one million and one ideas and not enough brain power to channel them all at once. sometimes I’m at a complete standstill with absolutely no ideas and others I’m like a hamster on a wheel where I can’t quite keep up with my own ideas.

This is one of these weeks, so I’m going to share with you a piece that I did back in 2014. Now, you may notice that there’s an ‘H’ instead of an ‘S’ next to my name and that’s because I created this gem BEFORE I was married when I was still engaged. I wish I could say something inspired this piece such as the movie ‘Scream’ (which definitely influenced it quite a bit, I mean come on?) but this piece was sincerely created out of boredom. I was sketching on the app my brushes and low and behold this was the end result.

When I look at this piece I think about just how quickly life goes. The things that we worry about each and every day (which take up so much space in our brain) can literally and figuratively kill us with worry and fear. When I look at this piece I am reminded of just how short life can be and how quickly we can blink and not be here. As morbid as it sounds, we are not guaranteed tomorrow and despite what we may say to our coworkers when we leave work each day the truth is we can only hope and pray we’re given another chance to wake up tomorrow.

We spend so much time worrying about having enough that we sometimes forget we are enough. Instead of worrying about deadlines, futures, and money it’s important to stop and take five minutes a day to catch our breath by looking to those who already think we do have it all. Put simply, if you were a character in the movie ‘Scream’ and the main antagonist had you cornered, would you really be worried about all the petty things that you worry about in your day-to-day life or would you be worried about your legacy and the people you love being left behind?

Love you. Mean it.

Brittany

Xoxo

Hello Everyone!

It’s almost my birthday (May 1st!) and with it I decided to do a flashback Friday to some of my favorite sketches! These were truly labors of love as they took me months to complete and are some of my proudest works. Lots of people have asked me why I don’t pursue art as a job because for me it is a sacred thing I can do where I feel one with God and outlet for when life becomes much too demanding and overwhelming. When I bring images to life on paper, I imagine that’s how God felt when he created the Earth, for it says so in Genesis 1:31 “God saw all he had made, and it was very good”. So when I reflect on these sketches I am proud of what my hands made and it was very good. I wanted to share them with you today in hopes that they inspire you to nurture the gifts God gave you that are unique only to you. These sketches were used with pencil, fine tip sharpie and Prisma Colored Pencils in black and white. I love the simplicity of black and white sketches because they are so under valued in the art world, many people think sketches or paintings that lack color lack creativity but I feel like they hold more. They allow the beholder to add whatever colors they wish with their imagination to the sketch and they give it a vintage and classic kind of feel that I feel is lacking from the art world today. Out of all the sketches I do both my hand on paper or on art app I feel these most authentically express me as an artist and for that I hold a special place in my heart for these sketches. The first is my favorite TV show, ‘How I Met Your Mother’; the next was my favorite Broadway play ‘Wicked’; the Third was a favorite movie of my friend’s ‘Twilight’ and the final is probably my most favorite, it’s my niece Elsie at age two. I am so glad I sketched her at two because although she’ll be 9 in November she’s immortalized as 2 in that sketch, my beautiful soul, my Diva, no matter how big she gets. Anyway, I hope you enjoy these sketches from my art vault that I shared with you all. Cheers to 29 years!

Love you. Mean it.

Brittany

Xoxo

If it hasn’t been abundantly clear I’ve been obsessed with my Carolina Panthers since their inaugural season in 1995 I don’t know what else I can do or say to prove it. I sketched this on the app ‘MyBrushes’ after the Panthers victory of the Eagles in 2012. I’ve always been a huge supporter of Cam Newton from the moment we drafted him. The antics which annoy the masses, amuse me, the guy has FUN doing his job and I truly love that about it. Maybe it’s a Taurus thing? (We’re only 9 days apart, both May babies) Basically I support him no matter what.

I’ve sketched A LOT of Cam Newton, some could argue it’s because he’s my favorite Panthers player to sketch, but I can assure you this is not just because he’s one of my favorite Panthers of all time, he’s photogenic! Sketching Cam is like sketching pure joy to see someone having fun as well as success in the NFL is a beautiful sight to behold. Sketching Cam’s joy is contagious, I feel bubbly and happy too when I sketch him. Looking back on this sketch, I can’t help but be hype for this upcoming season.

Have a Wonderful Weekend Everyone! Keep Pounding!

Love you. Mean it.

Brittany

Xoxo

I remember watching Snow White and The Huntsman and being totally drawn in by Charlize Theron’s portrayal of Queen Ravenna. I used the app ‘MyBrushes’ a lot before it was unsupported by the new iPhone 7. There were a lot of brushes to choose from so I sketched it first then added the dimensions of color and contour with an assortment of sizes and textures brushes. I used an image to look at on my iPad as I drew this piece with a stylus on ‘MyBrushes’ for reference and I’m quite proud of how it came out to this day and I sketched this in 2012. For me, sketching has helped me deal with my anxiety and occupy my mind with more relaxing means to help me sleep at night. This piece is no exception.

Fellow artists, have you ever used the app, ‘MyBrushes’? How did you like it? Would you like to see them bring it back?

Love you. Mean it.

Brittany

Xoxo

Snow. I’m tired of hearing about it, I’m tired of seeing it and I’m tired of the weather being cold enough to produce it. After three nor’easters, and two major snowstorms I am dreaming of beaches and flip flops and I really don’t care who knows it. That’s what inspired this artistic creation of mine. I used warm tones orange, black, pink and yellow as well as red and burgundy tones. The palm tree sitting low on the beach overlooking the ocean and sunset represent both warmth and relaxation. I forget what it’s like to not freeze my tushy off every time I stepped outside to start my car. This piece represents for me a hope for, at this point, skip the spring and give me summer!

Happy Easter and Passover to all my friends who celebrate!

Love you. Mean it.

Brittany

Xoxo

About This Piece and Why I Created it: We are all nothing more than drops in the ocean but collectively we are an ocean. If we spread love we will send shockwaves of love throughout the world. This piece was inspired by the need to promote unity, love and acceptance in a very divided country. If you look closely you’ll see all the colors of the American flag included in this painting Red, White and Blue. The Red represents the blood, sweat and tears that went into making America what its become. The White represents the diverse people coming together as one and surrendering to peace and understanding of everyone’s unique individual opinions and needs. The Blue represents people and law enforcement working hand and hand to make our communities safe and compassionate. Together these “drops” make an ocean of pure respect, love and tranquility.

Love you. Mean it.

Brittany

Xoxo