Back on track, folks! :)
Sorry for being so absent these past months, artistic wise. Some changes happened in my life, I needed to adjust and figure out a lot of things. I'm happy that I'm back and I will be posting more stuff. :)
Today I'm sharing another quick painting (2 hours, +/-). I didn't draw horses for years so it felt good drawing them again! I used to draw horses a lot when I was a little girl; they were my favorite animal until the wolf replaced them. ;) Sincde then I almost forgot how much I love horses... will sure be drawing them more!
I notice my paintings get a lot more saturated than the originals when I submit them to blogger. Can't figure out why? Oh well...
I'm a volunteer at the Transformers Project (Portugal), a social project supported by the Global Changemakers, among others. This project helps teenagers in poor social conditions to make the difference in their community through what they love doing most - their talents, which at the Transformers we call "the superpowers" that can transform the world.
I didn't say it in the video, but the place where I teach is essencially a prison for teenagers, with a rehab program of which the Transformers Project is happily a part of..
Being a part of the Transformers Project is something very special to me. So, a friend of mine asked me and 3 more volunteers to record a presentation video in english saying what it is for us to be a Transformer, so she can share it with people in Italy this week.
I decided to share my video in youtube as well because I feel it's a Universal message.
I used some drawings made by me to illustrate this message as well. ;)
Now, this has definitely made my day!!!! ;) A friend was looking for songs with his friend's names and sent me this. How did I miss this marvel? Ahahah! Beautiful videoclip animation, I love it! :D
Afternoon in the park inspired... danced on trees that day, not caring what people would think. I was alone, it felt joyful and liberating! The leaves were mostly yellow and brown with all kinds of shades. There were lots and lots on the ground, like a thick carpet. It's great to walk on the leaves and even kick them so they fly all over. :)
Concerning the recent events in Paris, my message is: peace for peace. Don't fight; don't indulge in the same actions that you so condemn. Hate generates more hate, violence generates more violence. Nothing can possibly justify killing people, and certainly not revenge. The point is to END that. And it must be done by example. Violence can only be healed with peace, love and understanding. This is a language violence is not used to see, so we must show it.
There has been enough pain and loss. We can rise above this.
Let us stand with our hearts united. Let our souls be peaceful.
Although its wings are stained with blood, the bird will continue to fly no matter what.
This is my tribute to one of the people that most inspired me this year: Paul Whitecotton, from the documentary "People in Motion". I've seen other interviews with the guys and the way Paul talks about parkour makes me think of how it applies to everything in life... For instance, you don't have to do parkour to feel at one with everything around you.
It's easy for me to feel at one with nature in nature but I've always felt very much uncomfortable in cities, my spirit would close itself up. Paul has inspired me to see buildings and all man made things around me in a beautiful way. I learned to feel at one with everything! It's like as if my spirit is parkouring the surroundings all the time and every single corner counts. It's wonderful, it feels free and I do feel very happy in that! :)
Paul, thank you so much. *heart* You're amazing!
This tribute is a digital painting done with a reference shot from "People in Motion".
And the "LOVE" sign with Paul jumping is directly traced out of another screen shot.
I was there! :D And I appear in this video at 4'53" on the right, happily catching up with Sérgio Martins, one of the twins that worked on the recently released animated short "Poets" (from AVA's new album). We can see Sergio in the video too... a little bit of his hair and black shirt! xD The girl with her back to the camera is Carina Morais, another talent that worked on "Poets". I had the pleasure of meeting her for the first time that day. Carina met Carina. In the words of Sergio: "Carinas everywhere!!!"
Comic Con was great! I've never been to one before so I don't have any reference to compare. Sure, some things could be better, but this was the first one in Portugal and it can only get much better from here. It's great that Comic Con has arrived in times where national comics are growing here. About time! :) We also have amazing talents that went international working for big publishers, such as Marvel, DC, etc. Names like Daniel Maia, Daniel Henriques, Jorge Coelho, among many others. Was great to see them there!
One of my favorite things in this Con was the Star Wars imperial march complete with the original song and tons of star troopers around an enormously tall Darth Vader. It was "WOW"! Couldn't stop staring at him each time he passed by!
Another funny thing was that there was a lot of "walkers" from "Walking Dead". They stood in a cage and we could literally "Rent a Walker" and walk him all around with a rope. Even though I didn't watch this series (yet) I felt fascinated with the concept. The guys looked really creepy and really walked like living dead... must have been so tiresome for the poor guys after 3 entire days like that, ahah! One of them, one of the ugliest in matter of fact, startled me and I almost collapsed with a heart attack. :P As I was saying my goodbies to Sérgio and Carina, this walker poked me on the back and as I turned he was right on my face mumbling "aaaa" like zombies do. I'm not usually the hysterical type but I think I let out a little scream and I reacted really funny, my friends laughed. I actually felt scared, it was like a scene from an horror movie and I hate horror movies. :P
I was at Comic Con working with Luis Magalhães, author of the fantasy genre book "A Filha do Gelo" (Ice Daughter) to which I illustrated the cover. It was nice signing the book along with the author and draw a quick, personalized sketch for the person who bought it. :)
Here is some photos of yours truly and the author at our table, a picture of me making a drawing, next is a finished drawing and lastly, a couple of heroines with the books in their hands. ;)
These photos were taken in the last day... hope to be back next year!!! I'm addicted to comic con now! *heart*
This is one of my favorite documentaries of all time. I even get emotional when I watch it, lol! Is this normal?? :P Perhaps it's my passion for movement... These guys are so awesome, so part of everything around them... Makes me feel inspired!
If you enjoy parkour, you're gonna love this too. :)
Today I want to share with you a little teaser of what I've been up to lately. ;) It's a little dance scene with a couple. It's the first time I'm animating a couple dancing and I'm really excited!!! :D No references are being used, only inspiration in dance, movement and youtube lessons by my animation idol Glen Keane. *heart*
Here are some watercolor paintings I did recently. There's something so special and enjoyable about brushes, ink and paper that no digital painting can do. These are two very different ways of painting and I love them both. :)
Hope you enjoy my paintings!
The dance couple one is a commissioned gift (for a dancer, of course!) and the "water flow" one is a gift I made for my friend, I wanted to inspire her to let her emotions flow like water. The fairy one is a personal work simply because I love fairies, they represent joy to me. ;)
True story! :)
I find there's no better guidance in life than my heart's soft loving voice. My brain had to learn to quiet itself in order to really listen to the heart and translate its feelings in wise words of advice. :) The heart knows better for ourselves than the mind; it's when the heart and the mind join in cooperation that we become the true masters of our lives.
"Learn to use your emotions to think. Not think with your emotions."
This is so cool!!
I'm an absolute fan of sound, vibration and electromagnetic energy and also their effects over matter as we know it. It's fascinating! This music video plays with some of these science experiments and it's so cool to watch. :D
If you watch more about cymatic experiments at Youtube you'll see that it's not hard to imagine how deep this can be in terms of creation itself...
Like master Nikola Tesla used to say: "If you want to know the secrets of the Universe think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration."
This painting was made quite quickly comparing to most of my illustrations... took me around 3 hours. I just wanted to let it flow and paint for the joy of it. It's fun and peaceful creating like that, not planning the outcome. :) I was obviously enjoying calm music while making this piece and it was the music that led me to this theme. :D
Enjoy!
This is a
quick sketch illustrating an idea I had yesterday when I was relaxing a bit and
reflect on the reasons why people feel stuck in their lives but so many times choose to
remain "stuck " . This analogy came to me and I've found it funny ...
It's as if
people stayed with their foot stuck in brambles ... The only way to break free
is taking off the boot , but that means losing something important to them ...
and what society would say on them walking barefoot ? And worse, the floor
would wound them their foot, it would hurt and bleed ... who wants to be in
pain? So, in fear of facing what would come if if they took off their boot they
choose to remain stuck, possibly waiting for something or someone that will
improve their situation.
But what if
they were not afraid of losing their boot? Is the boot so important anyway? Would
it not be better to be free, truly free, because they chose so? Not fearing
what society would say or how it would react? Would it not be better to walk
barefoot, even if it hurts and bleeds, but also knowing that feet earn callus,
get stronger and eventually stop hurting? Then there would be the feeling of
complete freedom and that is priceless ... they would see that it is the most
valuable thing possible. Only then it’s possible to truly feel the earth
pulsing beneath their feet and the life flowing up through them ... only then they
really feel their own essence and start being themselves, free from worries on
what others would think or expect from them. Only then they will have the
chance of meeting other people like them, barefoot, knowing what pain is and
also what it is getting stronger from it, cherishing their earned freedom and authenticity
more than anything.
It is the “barefoot”
people who make a difference in this world because they are genuine and true to
themselves; they live as an example and they inspire others to be more
authentic too. It’s something everyone wishes to be, deep inside…
It is not easy to walk barefoot ... there are sacrifices and pain. But the
feeling that this is the best choice for us makes it all worthwhile. And then,
everything becomes so much easier and falls into place! Living our truth is
freeing and it is a powerful and beautiful way of living.
Another inspiration of mine, my animation idol: Mr. Glen Keane! (also the idol of so many people, I wonder why!)
I felt quite flattered because when this movie came out, somewhere in June this year, so many people on Facebook sent me private messages or tagged me on this video, saying they thought of me immediately when they watched it. :) One even said half joking: "was it you who made it, Carina?" Ahah, oh my, I wish! But this movie moved me deeply and I feel inspired... who knows what might come out in the future. ;) I do have plans on doing beautiful things involving dancing. *heart*
Glen Keane, thank you for being you!
(It just hit me how powerful this is, thanking someone for being himself fully. This is someone who's been following his passion all his life... That's what the world needs, the people being truly themselves and following their heart's joy. Everybody's greateness is in those passions. Are you following your heart's joy and truth? :) The world needs you living like that! One day you'll have someone being grateful to you for inspiring them to do the same. God knows in what ways... There are infinite possibilities and you are a part of this infinite equation.)
Really... this film by Ryan Woodward is one of the most inspirational things I've ever seen. I still watch from time to time and never get tired...
Each time it hits me stronger how much it is the story of my life...
