Tags

  • Published on

    Birthday celebrations @ Valley relics & doodles

    Hey again! ♡

    I missed you ! I got pretty sick last week so I skipped an entry.

    I spent a lot of time just doodling to pass the time when I wasn’t feeling well. 


    I’ve been wanting to build a good habit of drawing even a little every day. Maybe I’ll keep up with it consistently and I can post my daily drawings. I’ll try to keep it up.

    Image description

    I also worked on the chuck e cheese project! I have just a bit more filling-in to do before covering each section with an even top layer.


    After that comes the sanding and then ideally paint. The last paper mache project (cat head) I made had much bigger sections and was meant to be much thicker than this one. The layers of progress for smaller, more refined sections are more tedious than I expected, but I hope the effort will come through in the result. 


    Sooo before I got sick I did get the chance to celebrate my birthday a bit with a day out and cake! I thought it’d be fun to share some fragments from the day :-)


    Also I switched up my usual birthday order of Tres leches for a mango coconut cream cake from Paris Baguette. It was fantastic :’) Would recommend them for all your sweet treat needs <3

    I went to the Valley Relics museum in Van Nuys for the first time and it was so up my alley. They’ve got a fantastic collection of eclectic artifact: huge neon signs, toys, signs, promotional pieces, etc.

    I would definitely go again and recommend to everyone interested in cool, old stuff :D

    ᴺᵉˣᵗ ʷᵉᵉᵏ : ᵗʳᵃᵈⁱᵗⁱᵒⁿᵃˡ ᵖⁱᵉᶜᵉˢ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵐᵃʸᵇᵉ ˢᵗᵃᵐᵖ ˢᵒᵐᵉ ʷᵉᵃʳᵃᵇˡᵉˢ?

    Finishing/ progressing more on those paintings I started a few weeks back

    Updates on those and hopefully more soon. 

    Glad to be back :)


    Thanks for stopping by

    Xoxox


    the birthday Benzie

  • Published on

    new chuck e cheese project , twilight zone inspo & more WIPs

    Happy Monday !!!

    This week I started a new Chuck e Cheese project. It’s a paper mache replica of a logo from their “bowler hat chuck” era. I’ve been using junk mail, glossy mod podge, and glue on cardboard. I love the process of carving out the details in the paper and paste. It almost feels like clay the more layered the piece gets. 

    my plan is to keep building layers until i like it's shape, then to add color with maybe acrylic paint? I considered spray paint, but the control of hand-painting just feels right. 

    As far as painting goes, I started and made progress on some projects.

    Some of these are super rough and were just an exercise in getting the idea on canvas. 

    The first, Niphetos is inspired by a scene in the Twilight Zone episode “The Piano”. The episode is one of my favorites, and the scene alone always breaks my heart. I’ve wanted to make paint something in its memory for a while, and I’m glad I am now. 


    The second, I want to be an homage of sorts to my appreciation for quarter machines. More gum, candy, chewing lips, and toys to be added.

    The third is a half-painted doodle.

    The fourth and fifth are older pieces I keep re visiting but can't seem to full -send into calling them finished. The 4th is untitled still, but the dog in the puffy collar is "Eugene"

    Also, I'm nearly finished with the untitled childhood art piece. I added some little details to the borders and between art in the background. I still need to add a white gradient and touch up some of the doodles. I feel like I should add more detail to the character in the center, but almost like how simple it is. I don't know yet.

    Image description
    Image description


    ᴺᵉˣᵗ ʷᵉᵉᵏ: ᵐᵒʳᵉ ᶜᴱᶜ ᵖʳᵒʲᵉᶜᵗ ᵃⁿᵈ ᶜᵃⁿᵛᵃˢ ᵂᴵᴾˢ.

    I’ve loved working on this new paper mache project so much, I’ll probably continue working on it in my down time. I don’t know if I’ll be able to finish it, but I won’t give it a hard deadline. 

    I’ll spend remaining time on works in progress.

    That’s all for now


    Thanks for stopping by

    X-O-X-O-X-O-X-O

    KENZ

  • Published on

    a little progress and diy costume plans

    Hello again

    I hope the week has taken good care of you <3

    My last week: more progress on a few traditional pieces! 

    For the first (still untitled)- the plan is to build on more color and doodles and eventually add a white gradient off outline.

    

    The plan for the second (also unnamed) is just to keep building. Trying not to get too overwhelmed with the project (⸝⸝๑﹏๑⸝⸝)

    Image description

    Also, thinking i'll refine this page of doodles and maybe scale it up?

    Trying to not start a bunch of projects only to finish none of them, but I'm trying to work with momentum

    ᴺᵉˣᵗ ʷᵉᵉᵏ: ᴴᵃˡˡᵒʷᵉᵉⁿ ᶜᵒˢᵗᵘᵐᵉˢ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵗʳᵃᵈⁱᵗⁱᵒⁿᵃˡ ᵃʳᵗ

    So, Liam and i have a few different ideas for Halloween costumes this year! We plan to DIY and dress up throughout October. A few ensembles are going to require a bit of searching, but hopefully I can put a few together with the time I've got. I'll post updates when parts become more cohesive.


    Other than that, more painting and another look at my goal list and make a plan ( x __ x )


    thanks f0r st0pping by


    X0X0X0X0


    -kenz

  • Published on

    Marianne paper doll & some doodles

    paper doll Marianne doodles

    good evening <3

    I spent most of last week working on a paper doll outline

    This is “Marianne”

    I like how she turned out overall :-) the current outline is in pencil, but I made a copy to cut up and test. I used colored pencil for her clothes. Accessories and apparel are supposed to be secured by the black and white tabs. I found that a few garments were cut a little small, and I’d need to re-draw the stand, but it wasn’t a bad first attempt. I may make her a little bigger for ease in cutting her from the paper.

    I also debated whether to leave her as a bit of line-art or add color to her complete outline. I kind of like the idea of being able to customize her completely.


    I figured if I liked the turnout once she’s done, maybe I’d work on more dolls with different names and outfits. I’m considering putting more work into it this week if I have some time. 

    I also did a little doodling in my down time. Hoping to do a little drawing every night - even if it's not great, even if it's brief <3

    next week: maybe work on paper dolls? also probably some painting

    I'm finally feeling a little motivation to work on some canvas works in progress, so I'll probably do some painting. Maybe re-size and print a new, better copy of Marianne.

    I need to revisit my goal list "(っ- ‸ - ς)ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁


    thanks for stopping by

    X!! O!! X!! O!!

    - kenzi

    p. s. here are some glimpses into my brief trip to Joshua ₊˚⊹☆

    p.p.s there are a few little spooky additions to the stay a while page - check it out, scaredy cats .˚⊹.🎃₊˚𖦹⋆

  • Published on

    some button jewelry & maybe paper dolls

    buttons buttonjewelry

    Hey! The site went through a pretty big migration and posting was finicky so I figured I’d skip a week. I missed you <3

    I recently got these really pretty buttons from the discount store and have been putting them to good use. I added some to hair clips, and made a few into pendants and necklaces. I’ll probably sew some to some bags or shirts of mine too. 

    I also stamped a few personal projects <3

    Next week: paper dolls & maybe more

    I want to work on something that isn’t painting or clothes for a bit so I’m going to pick up another project. It’s likely I’ll also be busy and out of the house a few days next week, so ideally nothing too lengthy. I’ve wanted to make paper fashion dolls for a while now so maybe I’ll make a mock-up for one. I made a loose outline of a model and some outfits so maybe I can put something together by the end of the week. 

    I also might start a new chuck e cheese project if I can find the motivation.

    we'll see


    Additionally, there 's some new stuff on the stay a while page too, check it out if you’d like :-)


    til then

    thanks for stopping by

    XOXOXOXO


    __ benzie

  • Published on

    ​A really slow week – have some old drawings

    Happy Tuesday evening and hello to a short, boring, and belated blog post.
    ​Last week was a long one and I have very little to show for it. I did end up taking a long walk to my mom’s and retrieved just a few new bits of childhood art I might add to my canvas project. 
    Next week: I’ll probably paint some more. I don’t know
    I’m going to take another long walk and probably plan the rest of this week better than I did the last. Maybe I should draw every day again. Maybe I need a new project. Maybe I need to paint outside.
    I don’t know
    ​
    Thanks for stopping by
    xo
    benz