inspiration

part of the reason i left this blog over a year ago was because i felt disconnected from my art & i couldn't appreciate anything that i made. it discouraged me, so i stopped creating. i kept telling myself i was going through an "artist's block" and that it would pass...

over the summer, my sweet boy, brian, brought me a fresh bouquet of wild flowers from the farmer's market. besides the fact that there was no special occasion, it really resonated with me in a different way. i can't explain the feeling, but i suddenly felt so inspired by these flowers that i felt the need to do something about it. i needed to capture their colors & life. so i painted.

i spent the whole afternoon & evening infront of the still life i set up; sketching, painting, and studying the colors, patterns, & designs. finally, i was happy with the end result... and that was the encouragement i needed to keep going!

so thank you, brian, for that first bouquet of flowers that helped me out of my creative rut... & thanks, pierre, for being the cutest photo prop :)

now let me ask you, where do you find inspiration? what gets you out of an artist's block?

xo, g

seeing double

happy friday! i'm excited it's the end of the week, as always.

this week started off pretty sour... monday night i fainted and bumped {slammed} my face into a doorway so i've been recuperating with lots of ice and advil. thankfully i'm feeling much better, but it was really scary, so i'm trying to take it easy now.

this week i've also been working on drawing more realistic faces, which always turns into self portraits. no matter how hard i try i can only draw myself. so here are 2 self portraits from my sketchbook.

i should also note that these were scanned with my brand new all-in-one printer! i'm extremely happy with the scanner part, which is mainly the reason i splurged on such a nice one. so look out for more original works! i think having a scanner is definitely going to encourage me to draw more and rework things i've already done! :)

have a lovely weekend!

gabrielle

doodles & a friday mix

happy friday!

i can't wait for this weekend, although i don't really have plans. i'm excited to hang out at home and start sketching for ideas that i have for new drawings.

since i've been home, i've been hanging out in my bed from the time i get home from work to the time i fall asleep. lazy, yes... i love sketching in bed with the company of my cat carli while watching shark week documentaries or listening to music. it's the perfect way to relax after a long and stressful day at work :)

here's a little doodle i did last night of just that!

i also wanted to share an awesome mix by the guys of washed out. i've been trying to get my hands on their new album, but haven't had any luck (wanna help a girl out?)

in the meantime, check out this mix! my favorite song from it is "a horse with no shame" by america.

Washed Out - Rough Trade Mix by Abeano on Mixcloud

anyways, have a great weekend!

gabrielle

illustrated cameras

Hey there! I finally have enough energy to blog now that the busy weekend is over and I'm finally in air conditioning! Woohoo

I had a great weekend going back home. It was especially nice spending time with my family, doing yoga in the park (while my bro played bongos!) and going to my old childhood friend's wedding! Really exciting. Pictures to come (crossing my fingers the film pics turn out well!)

Anyways... as you may know, Matthew and I have started our own blog called Smooth Sailing. We like posting photos we take together and we're even starting some new & exciting projects!

Here's an illustration that I drew of both our cameras! It was fun to compare the differences between them. New + old love... camera friends forever!

Hope you like it! I hope to do more illustrations like these soon :)

Stay cool! xoxo

-gabrielle

hats for kate illustration

Hey there! Happy Friday & especially happy Canada day (that exists?)

In honor of Will & Kate visiting Canada, I volunteered to illustrate one of the hats from HatsforKate.ca for Amelia's Magazine, which features high-fashion Canadian themed hats for Kate to hypothetically wear on her trip to Canada.

The one I chose was "Tar & Feathers." I had a lot of fun creating this piece. I chose to use my drawing tablet so this is a pretty new style for me. I think I like it :)

Check it out here on Amelia's Magazine!

I hope everyone has a great weekend and a safe 4th of July!!! <3

g.

what i wore: first day of summer

As you may or may not know, Gemma Corell's "What I Wore Today" blog/Flickr group is now becoming a book!

She asked all doodlers to contribute their best "what I wore" drawing and she will select some to have published in her book.

Of course, typical me waits til the last day of the contest to enter... I spent a lot of time on this drawing but unfortunately all the little details I love are lost in the image. I also used the crappy work scanner, so this is definitely not the best represenation, but I do like the simplicity and semi-realism I have going on.

What do you think? Did anyone else participate in the contest?

What I Wore: First Day of Summer:
H&M sunnies
Rosebud salve
Gold tree necklace from Nyack
Orange silky tank
NY&CO flowy watercolor skirt
Dunkin iced coffee
Essie nailpolish
Tan satchel
Target platform sandals

Also, if you can see it, I have a sketchbook in my drawing that has this drawing in it. It's like a drawing within a drawing...

Have a good weekend & happy summer!

-gabrielle.

H-E- triple hockey sticks

In honor of Father's Day, my co-worker Marcie asked if I could illustrate her three boys in a portrait!

She has older twins and a little boy. It was my first time drawing children (& twins!) but I think I captured their individuality really nicely.

Marcie and her husband are from Montreal, so naturally they are a big hockey family :)

I'm really pleased with the way it came out. I feel a lot more comfortable drawing from pictures now and I even see improvement from when I first started!

If you like what you see, you can check out my Etsy store and order your own personalized portrait!

-gabrielle.

emmy the great illustration

Hey hey! I'm super excited today because this week I responded to a Twitter callout via Amelia Gregory, who runs the fabulous illustration blog Amelia's Magazine.

This week she needed a few illustrations for some upcoming articles, and I jumped on the opportunity. She needed an illustration for an article about the singer Emmy the Great. I listened to her while drawing the portrait and I absolutely loved her! She's very folk-y and has a beautiful voice.

This is the illustration I created, using Micron pens & watercolors. I somehow completed it in one night! That's definitely the fastest thing I've ever done haha...

Check out the article here!

This week I'm also working on a custom portrait of my co-worker's 3 sons for father's day. I will be posting that soon!

Stay tuned! Have a great day :)

-gabrielle.

alex & angelo

Hey everyone! Long time no... blogging.

I hope you all had a fantastic long weekend/Memorial day! I was happy to have an extra day off so I could play in the sun all weekend! It was great.

Today I'm showing you another portrait of my friend Alex and her boyfriend Angelo. She was actually my first sale on Etsy since I added them to the shop!

She asked if I could include her little goldfish too, which I thought was so cute! They look like a happy little family, haha.

I also wanted to show you the framed version of Katie and Gary's portrait! It looks really nice and I can't wait to see where they put it!

Don't forget that Father's Day is just around the corner! 

Be sure to place your custom portrait orders soon! 

www.gabriellebrittney.etsy.com

-gabrielle.

katie & gary's portrait

Good afternoon! Did you enjoy your weekend? I definitely did... it was spent with my best friends from college (Maggie, Leah & Grace) for a surprise birthday party for my friend Katie!

Gary (Katie's boyfriend) successfully organized the whole night. First, we had drinks and dinner at Double O, and then ended the night at Shadow's for more drinks. It was a lot of fun, and best of all Katie was so surprised!

I drew Katie a portrait of her and Gary as her birthday present. They're a super cute couple and I'm so glad that they liked it! I gave it to her in a black frame with a white mat and it looked really awesome :)

Happy birthday Katie! I had so much fun with you (& our mums!) this weekend!

-gabrielle.

happy mother's day

Hello! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend and a special Mother's Day (if you celebrate!)

I had a great weekend (which will have to be it's own post.) However, on Sunday I came home and hung out with my mum while she planted flowers...I just watched :)

Little did she know I was actually painting an illustration for her! And here it is!

She really loved it which made me super happy.

Here you go, Mommy! I love you so much <3 I hope you had a great Mother's Day :)

-gabrielle.

photodump

Hey hey lovelies!

I'm sticking to my goal of drawing and painting more, and I've actually been drawing a lot lately!!! It's such a great feeling. I've been in a rut for a while and I think I'm finally coming out of it.

I have a lot of new things to share, but you will just have to wait a little longer!

In the meantime, here is my weekend in pictures :)

painting and drawing on a Friday night... it's what the cool kids do.

Lunch at Lulu's on Sunday... so cute!

Treated myself to a delicious red velvet cupcake :)

Ritu is the birthday girl! I hope she doesn't see this before her present arrives!

Hope you like them!

-gabrielle.

art night

Hey there, happy Friday! Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to do a "Pretty Things Friday," but who knows, Friday isn't over yet!

Anyways, I just received (actually, found) these photos taken from Art Night at work. Once a year the Art Club at work (I work at a medical college!) funds an art show and anyone can submit their work. I submitted a painting that I did when I was studying in Florence... although, Donna (right) and I were basically the only ones who submitted paintings!

Donna and I with our paintings

Don't mind me being awkward!

Closeup of painting

Hope you like!

-gabrielle

a little drawing

Something from my sketchbook that I scanned... I'm in the mood to draw girls lately.

Have a happy weekend!

-gabrielle

ps. What do you think of the new banner, ey? I felt the need for change.

sketches

I did these two sketches in the car while driving up to Lake George last weekend. The first one is an attempted self portrait...not sure how closely it resembles me though. The second is just a face with some Kate Nash lyrics :) Don't ask me about what I was thinking when I put that hand in there... I know it's weird looking!



-g.

works in progress drawings

So I finally gathered the energy to take pictures, plug in my camera, upload the pictures and even edit them! (Because the paper color was gray)

Here they are, in the order that I drew them. I'm still thinking about whether or not I should add some elements of color or more design... if you have any suggestions please let me know what you think!













-g.