Blog Moved!!

Attention all! This blog will be no longer updated - as I will be using my blog on my website from here on out :) -
http://www.plantiebee.com/blog
I know it sucks - but thanks for the great year and a half of blogspotting and hope to see you on my website as well!!

Happy holidays guys!!! <3

"Brave" Painting Complete and On It's Way!

"Brave" oil on masonite 20 x 30 cm by Christina Lank

 I am so late again! Here is my completed portrait of Amy Lou entitled "Brave" - made with oils on a small piece of masonite. It is one of my first ever complete oil paintings - which has been exciting for me ^^
It feels like lately like finishing things keeps on being interrupted or delayed! I sent off that half complete collab this month, and I have a 60% complete Grimm painting and 3 small oil paintings just sitting around looking happy on my shelf asking me to finish them :P Blah!

But the experience of painting with oils has been a trying but exciting one ^^ I have gotten alot of great help from artists in my collective - the Red Sirens who have told me a thousand and half good tips coming to one conclusion: experimentation!

certificate of authenticity for "Brave"

But there's good news amidst my inability to sign and complete paintings! Brave has been sold to my beautiful model! Who has waited so patiently for the blacks to dry, for the varnish to go on, and for the bubble wrap to go in place!

the pretty part of the packaging!

I got to try out my gold wax seal today woot! It got sent off tonight in the middle of a artic feeling rain storm in Sweden while I wondered how all my friends and family in Maryland will be fairing with the Frankenstorm on it's way :P

So to all of you on the East Coast - keep safe and dry and batten down those hatches!! And thanks again Amy!

Painting of a Collab - Part 1!

work in progress of my oil and acrylic collab painting

Ah busy days and times. I found out about 2 weeks ago that Amy Minchew and I were chosen to be a part of the fabulous Modern Eden Gallery's collaboration show called "Allied Forces" - in which 2 artists needed to make a piece together.
The scary part has been that the painting needs to be there in San Fran by November 11th - and I needed to paint this and ship to Amy in Georgia in time for her to paint and ship it! Leaving very little room for error :P

progress shot from instagram while I painted the hair upside down :P

 I decided I would do a background of trees and a gradient as fast as I possible could in acrylics, and move onto oils later with massive amounts of Liquin to make sure it was dry and ready to ship in time!!

the final part of my half of the collab - with the certificate of authenticity!

Richard built the box frame for me, and I set out to work, even fighting through a virus to get this done :P The title is "Equinox" and was inspired by a friend of mine who once had a dream 10 years ago that I had a blossoming nipple and has never let me forget it hehehe.

Now shes off to Amy with lots of speed and no damage! We've got our fingers crossed!
Next up....Grimms Fairy Tale show in Las Vegas. And therell be some dark birds involved... ;)
Wish me luck!

Paintings come home and oils take over

my studio upstairs, littered with my oil painting adventures

Hello everyone! It is a rainy Saturday today, and September is coming to a rather quick close. But as it were my oil paintings continue on as I am determined to get these done SOON, at least most of them :P Before I run out of time!

I had many issues with her face, like her eyes, nose and mouth

but I have worked hard to make her look as true to life as possible

I have really enjoyed working on my portrait of Ulrika this week! She, herself, came over last weekend for a bit of a make over and photo shoot for many projects which I hope to work on ^^ I actually met her at the train station in the morning a few weeks back! She's going to art school herself and I was just struck by her beautiful features I had to ask her to let me use her for my paintings ^^
Me sounding ultra creepy aside - I am very happy she did as to me she has a very inspiring face.

As my instagram followers say: The Asian Pocahontas!

I am still working very slowly on Amy's portrait as well. I have actually changed it since I took this photo - more black hair, wider mouth, and fixed that wonky looking eye (I accidently painted over the glare giving her a cross eyed look -_- oops). But that peony has been consuming my time and my patience tbh. Only ever decide to paint a peony if you have vast amounts of energy and the ability to compartmentalize and memorize tiny nonsensical details. *Nods head*.

All my paintings up there, well some of them for a short amount of time

I got my paintings back from Malmö today! Though 4 of them have new owners, I hung up all the ones which either dont, or will be leaving within the next month up to make my walls feel very homey. I have never been able to hang any of these paintings in my house before so its nice to have them up here ^^ If you're interested in purchasing any of the paintings - nows a good time to jump on it! Just email me for details! contact@plantiebee.com

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend ^^

Painting with Oils and Concepting Concepts

Oh how time flies, and I continue to neglect my blog. Well, I can tell you all the going ons right about now. My solo show opened beginning of this month - which was alot of fun and a wonderful experience!

me at the gallery, with Torn in the background!

Shortly after my mom flew over to Sweden to visit me and I celebrated my 25th birthday!! For a wonderful birthday present, my baby bought me a huge set of Schminke oils to try, as a transition away from acrylics ever so slowly...

lots of beautiful oil colors and new brushes to boot!

So, during this brief moment of rest I have been doing smaller pieces to see how they work and compare to my beloved Golden Open colors - which I have been a huge fanboy of ever since I started painting with them....

Painting my dear friend Amy Lou

My new amazing easel, with Amy's wolf companion painting on it!

My first ever oil painting around the half way mark, made from a sketch

I wish I could show you a few newer pictures of the paintings but my phone is misbehaving :P Heres what I think between the two: Golden Open Acrylics vs. Schminke Oils

• Covering Power: The very first noted difference I made was the smooth covering power of the oil paints. I usually have to paint several layers of an acrylic base to make it look that smooth - so it was a happy relief
• Drying Times: You need to be very careful with how much oil additive you use in oils :P I use safflower oil to lessen the yellowing effect on my light tones, and this takes twice as long to dry. It can be very handy to use ofc, using Liquin to speed up the drying can ALSO be very handy but its just about the situation. When using the safflower oil it can take nearly 2 days or more to dry. So have multiple projects ^^
• Ease of blending: I work very hard to blend acrylics to the best of my abilitiy, but it can never be completely stand still perfect. You can blend alot easier after fewer layers with oils - but I would say it is much more brush dependent!! You need just the right size of a very soft brush to make nice blending. I have also found it more difficult to add in the darker tones to skin and such. 
• Color tones: There is a marked difference between the tones of oils and the tones of acrylics. I love earthy tones myself, which in acrylics can be slightly harder to achieve as they are a very vibrant paint on their own. Oils are much more muted, at least from my experience so far (I have 16 colors of oils at the moment). Though I do miss alot of my cool Golden Open colors like Iridescent Pearl or other fun different tonal ranges which add umphf.

art trade envelopes are something I'd like to do more of in the future!

 Alot is coming up though and I have much to prepare for.
I will be in the Red Siren Art Collective's show EleMental at the 423West Gallery in Los Angeles on April 13th 2013! I have my concepts all in the works and models on their tasks - but its all very hush hush I am afraid so little photos...

I just got work I have been accepted to take part in a group show at the Auguste Clown Gallery in Melbourne, Australia!! More details on that soon I hope!

And I am also going to be in the October issue of Catapult Magazine! So keep your eyes peeled for that!! I am super excited!! :D

All in all, I am going to be very busy. So my play time with oils will be coming to an abrupt end very soon, replaced by real work. Tick tock ;)
Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!! :D

A Day in the Life...

Ah, times are busy. Though the stress of painting is gone, and to be honest I think I am going through withdrawal symptoms even though I am very glad to not feel forced to get everything done...now the more practical sides of having a solo show begins.

At the gallery with all of the originals...planning planning

I'd like to continue to make these paintings personal to their prospective owners, so I am making work in progress booklets for each of them. As well as certificates in advance - which I got some new lovely paper for from England!

the certificate for Nectar all ready to go!

To make matters a little more stressful, my archival printer ran out of 5 colors of ink...and replacing each one of them costs an equivalent of $40....so you can imagine with that on top of framing and professional photography I am feeling swamped!!

the crazy mess of changing inks on my epson r3000

But besides the time consuming paperwork we have also been having a bit of fun with packaging and new projects! I have a few things lined up to do, mainly a collaboration with the awesome Laurie McClave who is also a member in our art collective Red Sirens!
I wanted to do the painting a bit differently this time, since I usually paint from realistic models and she does not - I decided to paint from a sketch. And I have been sketching alot in the evenings!

scanned in sketch for Laurie McClave collab!

I went for a few of our favorite things: birds, antlers, and ofc a beautiful lady ^^ I scanned it in and placed it on a canvas the same size as the masonite in real life to help me figure out how big it needed to be in the end. I have begun slow work on the background...but it is really slow :P Taking it easy with painting is the name of the game right now - but sure to change soon.

new packaging for orders off of my shop! :D

Another one of my goals for post-painting time was new packaging for orders off of my Etsy Shop! Which by the way is now having a celebratory 20% off sale (coupon code: CELEBRATION8711), since I am completely done with the collection and have all new prints up on there! Its really nice packing these prints, with the new wax seal on them :D Some good old fashioned-ness right there for you! Who doesnt like receiving a pretty package in the mail after all ^^

my wall of art!

And now with my wall of art complete over top of my studio space I am just about ready to carry on with the show and begin a new chapter of my life! Its been 6 long months of work - but I think alot of fun is on its way too ^^ We will see wont we!
I have alot of new concepts for paintings, and even a few new paints to help me along the way :D So lets see! New season on its way, new paintings, new times.
Wish me luck until then!!

"Omen" - New painting complete

"Omen" 40 x 60 cm acrylic on masonite by Christina Lank

My final and last painting of the Fragile Things collection is complete!!
You have no idea how relieving it is, after 6 months of leading a full on duplicate life, to finally be done with 8 pieces of artwork *phew*

close up of the Omen girl in the forest

Let me tell you a bit about this painting as it is quite personal to me.
I am not often a superstitious person, that side of me comes out during my darkest or most frantic hours. The biggest one I have is my superstition over the bird: Magpie.

When I was living in England I read something somewhere which started "One magpie by sorrow, Two Magpies for joy....." The nursery rhyme went on, in different versions....saying the number of magpies you see is a different omen coming your way.

Magpies fighting at the bottom of the painting

I had forgotten the rest but the paranoia grew in my head, to the point where whenever I saw an odd number of magpies it always meant something bad was coming, even meant something good.
And when I have been particularly lost in life this obsession with counting birds grows and grows. Mostly because it always comes true, and also Sweden is full of Magpies...

Magpies fighting in the air

The painting is created from a dream I had during one of these bad times. I would become so obsessed with the good or bad omens, I would dream of magpies fighting in the streets all muddled up so I couldnt count if it was an odd or even number.
I switched out the streets for a spooky forest, adding in my favorite model, who represents the mindset of the time. Lost, fragile, on a road with no known end or beginning, surrounded by omen birds fighting out fate if you will.

So! That is my last and final painting for you all ^^
I will be posting it as an archival open print on my Etsy shop, so check it out!
Large limited edition prints will be made for the show, so if youre interested in something larger and more exclusive go ahead and contact the gallery owner here: info@martinscolor.com

Have a great weekend everybody :D!