Painting: Zombuki Kimi

I was recently commissioned by a client to paint a portrait of her doll Kimi. Kimi is very special because she is a “Zombuki” doll, an original handpainted custom doll by Brigitte. These dolls are not mass-produced, they are one-of-a-kind. The client saw the paintings I did of Zombuki sisters Hanami & Ume, and wanted a portrait painted of her Kimi too. It was fun to revisit the Zombuki again. I don’t get a to paint on flat surfaces often, so it was a nice change. 🙂

[Kimi The Zombuki, acrylic on canvas, 22 x 26cm]

I always start a painting with sketching what I want on paper first. I wanted to stay within a the style of my previous Zombuki paintings, so I brought up a pic of them while I sketched Kimi. Kimi’s ruffled collar was changed 1/2 way through the painting process, as I thought a tight vertical collar would work better than a big swooshy one. And of course there is the real Kimi below (photo by Brigitte)!

Miss Kimi up-close and personal:

I took a moment to snap a pic of Kimi in progress on the left, and her completed on the right.

Urban Vinyl: RAWR 4″ Mini Bub Custom

Today RAWR, my 4 inch KidRobot Mini Bub custom is for sale in my shop at emilybee.bigcartel.com! Rawr was originally made for the group show “Beware Tall Grass” at KidRobot London in November 2011.

“Rawr has quite the temper and turns into a blazing ball of fire when provoked. He upsets easily, so be nice around him unless you want to be cooked to a nice crisp. What a jerk!”

Urban Vinyl: TWO OF SPADES 6″ Mighty Muggs Custom

TWO OF SPADES, my 6 inch Mighty Muggs custom is for sale in my shop at emilybee.bigcartel.com! Two of Spades was originally made for a group show at Labyrinth Books in 2009. He is very special because he was the second custom that I’ve made!

Two of Spades is a Card Soldier who works for the Queen of Spades in Wonderland. If you thought the Queen of Hearts was nasty, you’re in for a surprise! Like the Hearts, the Spade clan is also known for beheading, except they don’t play a game of hedgehog croquet with flamingo mallets to pass the time before killing you, they just simply behead you on the spot. This Two is particularly deadly, and gets called for execution duty quite frequently since he is “good at it” (whatever that means… ask the Queen of Spades, that’s what she said!). When he’s not beheading prisoners, he tends to his small 2 x 2 garden plot that is filled with the most beautiful and fragrant purple roses. Who knew Two had a sensitive side!

Urban Vinyl: I </3 U ALWAYS 4" Mini Munny Custom

Today I </3 U ALWAYS, my 4 inch KidRobot Mini Munny custom is for sale in my shop at emilybee.bigcartel.com! I </3 U Always was originally made for my two-person exhibit "Fantastic Heroes" at The Trace Gallery in December 2011.

The roses on this piece were inspired by traditional Sailor Jerry-esque rose tattoos, as roses symbolize love + tattoos are forever. Roses are beautiful, yet have thorns that hurt. Tattoos are also beautiful, yet hurt to get done. Sometimes beauty + pain go hand in hand.

Urban Vinyl: GOODBYE 4″ Mini Munny Custom

Today I am offering GOODBYE, my 4 inch KidRobot Mini Munny custom for sale in my shop at emilybee.bigcartel.com! Goodbye was originally made for my two-person exhibit “Fantastic Heroes” at The Trace Gallery in December 2011. He was made with his mate ‘Hello’ (who has already sold, but you can see them both here).

We casually say Hello + Goodbye to each other everyday. But what happens when we say it to someone we love? What if we never see them again? I thought about the anguish of that situation, and wanted to express the concept with two separate pieces. Goodbye has been painted in blues and purples to further enhance the sadness that he represents.

And I’m young but it’s hard to believe
That someday I will never see you again

And you might not believe this
But you’ve changed me so much
~ ‘Hello’ by Tegan + Sara

Urban Vinyl: Black Cherry Destroyer custom

This is Black Cherry, my second Destroyer custom. He is made from resin and measures 5 inches high. The Destroyer was designed by O Negative and sculpted by Eric Nocella Diaz of Argonaut Resins. Black Cherry still retains his original blue tinted resin on the torso of his body. He will be available for purchase on Thursday, September 13th at 1pm EST at emilybee.bigcartel.com! (check the timezone converter for your correct timezone.)

[click on the image above to see a larger version]

‘Black Cherry’ was inspired by the Goldfrapp song with the same name.

All my world in one grain of sand
And I’ve blown it
All my world in one grain of sand
And you own it

Black cherry, black cherry, stone
Black cherry, black cherry

Excite me, ignite me
Oh and you know
I miss you, I kiss you
Oh and you know

~Black Cherry by Goldfrapp

Urban Vinyl: Destroyer sneak peek

A little sneak peek at my next resin custom…

Urban Vinyl: SORROW 8″ Qee Custom

For the first time I am offering SORROW, my 8 inch Qee Toy2R custom for sale in my shop at emilybee.bigcartel.com! Sorrow was originally made for my two-person exhibit “Fantastic Heroes” at The Trace Gallery in December 2011. He was made with his mate ‘Sweet’ (who has already sold, but you can see them both here).

Sweet and Sorrow were inspired by William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo + Juliet’. At one point in the play Juliet says goodbye to Romeo with the famous quote: ‘Parting is such sweet sorrow.’ This oxymoron combines contradictory ideas of pleasure + pain. Saying goodbye to Romeo triggers deep sadness in Juliet, but that sadness also reminds her of her love for him, and for this reason it is sweet. These emotions are symbolized by the heart shields on their chest. I wanted to give an impression that they were both wearing armor, and that their feelings of sorrow come from the true identity behind the mask.

Urban Vinyl: FOR SALE: 5 customs in 4 weeks

For the first time I will be offering 5 of my handpainted customs in my online shop that have only been previously available via galleries. All of these customs have been created specifically for gallery shows, so if there is a custom you’ve had your eye on, now is your chance to own it!

These customs will drop: September 4th, 12th, 19th, 25th, and 27th at: emilybee.bigcartel.com. Each time a custom becomes available, I will tweet about it & write a special blog-piece so no one misses out.

Here is a sneak peek at the customs I will be offering.. can you guess who they are?