Me and Mr. Bee

I don’t know what to title this post with pictures of my cat’s haircut

Tina Poe Illustration — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 04:08:17 +0000

Mojito loves laying on dirty clothes right before they get thrown into the washer. Look at his mass amounts of fuzz!

During the remodeling downstairs, dust and dirt got into Mojie’s mass amounts of fuzz and caused his fur to mat up, we couldn’t help him remove of all of them so off to the groomers he went, for the second time in his life. He didn’t like it at first.

Then he started to enjoy it.

David loves this photo because it shows that our house is “actually lived in”. I, on the other hand, wish that I had picked up a bit more before this photo was taken.

Here’s another, and now you know that I don’t always put my shoes away.

I really love this new rug we got for the newly renovated living room. Have you looked at the before pictures?

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Snow? Seriously, Austin?

Tina Poe Illustration — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:46:56 +0000

It has been snowing all day, big fat wet snowflakes that have accumulated at least 2 inches. They say it hasn’t snowed like this in Austin, TX since 1984. I remember an ice storm in 2006, but I haven’t seen snow flakes this fat since I lived in Milwaukee, Bbbrrrrr. Wasn’t it just a couple weeks ago that I was complaining about global warming? On Sunday it was in the 70’s and gorgeous, the kind of day that smells sweet with sunshine and wishes floating in the air about how you don’t ever want it to end. I guess it’s back to dreaming about spring.

thyme lord

Propagating cat hair

Tina Poe Illustration — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 04:49:46 +0000

It would be my dream to have 17 cats living in our house, but alas, the husband won’t let me turn into a full fledged crazy cat lady. Meanwhile, I’ll use the abundant cat hairs that can be found at any given time in any given space of our house to experiment planting and growing new cats in pots. It’ll work one day, it has to!

back to short hair

thyme lord

Tina Poe Illustration — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:23:38 +0000

Just like we had a crazy hot summer in 2009, we had a crazy cold winter too (the neighbor’s water pipe burst). Yay, global warming. I lost a few plants in my garden, the jasminum sambac looks fairly dead but I’ve read that it could come back from the roots in Spring. Some of my herbs are nice and hardy, the rosemary, lavender, and thyme weren’t fazed by the cold temperatures, thankfully. I’ll have to remember that I will have a green garden again soon.

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confined in my own home

Tina Poe Illustration — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:56:23 +0000

We’re having major renovations done to our house and while this is all very exciting, we’ve also had to live in our master bedroom for weeks while it’s been going on. All of our downstairs furniture is in the garage, and all of our dishes and belongings are stuffed in our guest room, bedroom, closets, and any other nook and cranny we could find. I can’t wait till it’s all over, and I’ll try not to go crazy meanwhile.

new year new art goals

Tina Poe Illustration — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 06:54:13 +0000

2009 was a very slow year for this blog. There was so much change in my personal life (new job, tons of freelance work, marriage, house remodeling, husband’s job change to full time freelance) that I needed more time to myself until I got back into a normal rhythm before seriously blogging again. I’m sorry that I lost readers along the way last year, but I am looking forward to building everything back up in 2010.

As well as blogging more in general, I’m going to do more artwork this year (and try to eat out less, etc.)! I’m still working on writing S.M.A.R.T goals for myself, they won’t be easy, but I’m up for the challenge.

S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Realistic
T = Timely

David and I are starting to work on a comic together, not exactly sure yet where it will go, but I’m taking inspiration from the artwork in this page of the Dresden Codak. I also need to finish painting the Mirror Mirror illustration, it’s getting there and I get a lot done whenever I sit down and work on it, I just need to work on it more often.

Pet portrait by Red Tie Studios

Tina Poe Illustration — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 22:29:05 +0000

David and I finished a new portrait for Red Tie Studios and it is our first official pet portrait! A double dose of cute called Bella and Cookie, ready just in time for the holidays.

bowling ball garden bees wings

Tina Poe Illustration — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:00:31 +0000

Creating the wings for the bowling ball bees was the hardest part of the project, but they looked wonderful in the end. Be sure to have your window screen (8.5″) and hardware cloth (9.5″) squares cut and ready to go. Get your 20″ and 22″ lengths of wire and put them in two separate piles. Bend each wire into an oval shape, then bend the ends down 1.5″ to fit into the finger holes.

Your 20″ ovals will get the window screen sewn onto them using the fishing line. Center the copper wire over the screen because it is easier to sew from the underside of the wing. Then trim around the edges making sure not to cut too close to the fishing line.

The 22″ ovals will get the hardware cloth. This was trickier, and I found that the fishing line was not necessary to sow the hardware cloth onto the copper wire. You need to trim the edges of the hardware cloth first, and bend the wire ends over the copper wire to hold it in place. This leaves nice soft edges so that you don’t scrape yourself on the wire ends.

I was so excited to finish the wings and start assembling my bees, they were getting closer to the finish line!

hatching little nightmare

Tina Poe Illustration — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:22:00 +0000

Here is a quick and colorful sketch of an unexpected little hatchling because I’ve been in a H. P. Lovecraft monster mood recently. This was especially true while working on the Mirror Mirror illustration, which is completely inspired by lovecraftian lore.

bowling ball garden bees painting

Tina Poe Illustration — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:09:42 +0000

After the bowling balls were primed and dry, I started painting them yellow. You will need at least two coats. I had them sitting on the plastic and painted the top sides, waited for that to dry, then flipped them over and painted the other side. It would have been easier if I had propped each bowling ball on a small coffee can from the beginning, instead of crawling around the floor to paint them evenly.

While waiting for the paint to dry, I got started on the antenna by bending each of the 8.5″ lengths of wire slightly. I painted the wooden beads black with the exterior paint. After the paint dried, I put adhesive into one side of the bead hole and pushed the wire into it. After the adhesive dried, they needed a little bit of touch up paint.

Once the bowling balls were perfectly yellow and dried, it was time to lay out the pattern of the black bands. The Birds & Blooms article suggested using blue painters tape to lay out the curves, but I found that to be too frustrating. I got some black charcoal and used a freehand drawing method to get the lines on there. I was able to wipe off the charcoal with a damp cloth if I messed up, and redo it until I got nice curves. I also created wider bands and less of them than the Birds & Blooms example.

Once the curves were drawn, it was time to paint using the black exterior paint. This also required a couple of coats. When everything dried, I was able to wipe off the black charcoal residue with a damp cloth.

And the painting portion of this project is done! Next up, the wings.

bowling ball garden bees

Tina Poe Illustration — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:46:13 +0000

This week, I took a break from drawing and painting and started crafting. I never thought I would enjoy crafting, which used to be a word that I would crinkle my nose at, but it’s been very fulfilling (or I’m just getting older). The project I started on is going by a lot faster than most of my paintings, so there is pretty instant gratification too.

Winter in central Texas is a perfect time to work on the garden hardscape and decor, the plants are dormant and it’s not too cold to be outside working. I was browsing garden decor ideas on the web trying to come up with new ways to pretty up my garden and I stumbled upon a Birds & Blooms craft project on how to turn old used bowling balls into adorable garden bumblebees. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to make them RIGHT AWAY!

The next day David and I went to Goodwill and bought 3 old bowling balls for a few dollars each. Then off to Home Depot to buy the rest of the supplies from the Birds & Blooms list multiplied by three.

Silicone caulk (I didn’t buy this because I had Liquid Nail at home that I used instead)
303″ #6 copper wire. Cut at the hardware store at these lengths:
1. Six — 8.5″ lengths for antenna
2. Six — 20″ lengths for top wing
3. Six — 22″ lengths for bottom wing
Window Screen: Six—8.5″ squares
Hardware cloth: Six—9.5″ squares
Six—1″ round wooden beads (from the craft store)
Kilz exterior primer (I had primer already)
Yellow exterior latex paint (I got “Sunflower” by Glidden)
Black exterior latex paint (I had some left over from painting my front door)
26 gauge bare copper wire (approx. 60-70″ for each wing) (I didn’t buy this, I thought that heavy weight fishing line would work just as well and I had some at home leftover from creating a fishing line trellis on the garden fence)
Brush or sponge (have a ton of these, of course)
Wire cutters
Pliers
Sandpaper (this wasn’t on the original list, but I had some and thought it was an important item to add)

I first put down some black plastic (cut open a large trash bag) in front of the tv in the living room, then I wiped down the bowling balls. They were a little dirty from the thrift store. I lightly sanded each ball to give them a little tooth for the primer to stick to. Mojito helped a lot too. I started priming, I painted each ball with primer but had to wait for the primer to dry, then to paint the underside.

I’m documenting each step, so come back for more crafting later!

people like bees

Tina Poe Illustration — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:27:08 +0000

My illustration portfolio TinaPoe.com was featured on CSS Illustrated!

what’s in a name

Tina Poe Illustration — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:25:44 +0000

Now that I am married, I am also changing my name to Tina Poe. I went ahead and redirected my portfolio website TinaVaziri.com to TinaPoe.com. I haven’t moved this blog, and I’m not sure how to go about it without losing readers and all of the links pointing back here. So for now, enjoy the new logo and illustration portfolio at tinapoe.com!

soul mate

Tina Poe Illustration — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:46:52 +0000

I have been on exciting adventures recently. On November 12, 2009 I married my soul mate, David Poe. We had a sweet little ceremony officiated by the Justice of the Peace. It was perfect.

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fast thinker

Tina Poe Illustration — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:15:20 +0000

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Mr. Bee doesn’t like the cold

Tina Poe Illustration — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:35:07 +0000

We don’t get much cold weather here in Austin, TX, and yet Mr. Bee and I always dread the freezing temperatures.

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new illustration, mirror mirror

Tina Poe Illustration — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:01:00 +0000

David and I are working on another illustration together. This one is a little darker in theme with inspirations from Lovecraft, Lumley, and our love for Egyptian lore. David created the concept and drawing with great composition, and I’m painting. Here is the early color and light study, I’m going to finish the painting in the same technique as the Hugging painting. You guys enjoy!

quicky Mojito portrait

Tina Poe Illustration — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 02:40:40 +0000

Sometimes the simplest things make me the happiest, like this 30 second portrait of my baby, Moj.

New illustration, portrait of Rosie

Tina Poe Illustration — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 01:28:50 +0000

Finished a new illustration tonight, I kept this one a bit more loose and simple than the last few illustrations I’ve posted to my illustration portfolio. I took a different turn from the original sketch and color wash, but I like this one much better.

five years together

Tina Poe Illustration — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 04:42:05 +0000

Happy anniversary, David Poe!

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