Create.

Simple as that :~)

Wedding Cake Toppers!

Congrats Heather & Bill in Denver :~)

Here's a recent custom request from Etsy....
I was asked to sculpt wedding cake toppers based off of these US Postal Service 'Love' stamps:


Fun! Here's the king & queen I came up with:




.......details, details.



.....and a photo from the wedding! ©ericbakken.com

Figure Drawing at the Essex

Another figure drawing session tonight. Same gal as last time.
I feel like I'm getting the hang of it!

Figure Drawing Night!

My first time bringing a darker paper & white pencil! I enjoyed that combo.
Her head looks really small now that I am stepping back from this....

I'm Still Here!/Figure Drawing

Hey, people!
I'm sorry it's been quiet on here for soooooo long! I've been swamped with all kinds of NON-creative things, moved back up to Ohio (temporarily, to be with family) and working a *ton* of hours in addition to my freelance. I've been getting so many comments about my blog--as in, when are you going to start posting again??! We're sick of looking at cupcakes! :~o

So, here we go :~)


Tonight I went to a new figure drawing group for the first time! It was so good!
It was at Manifest in Cincinnati. Manifest Gallery
This model had a very interesting, weathered face.

More posts to come soon..... I have Etsy orders I'm finishing up, and new illustrations that I can share very soon!

Garden Cupcakes!

I know this isn't really illustration related...but it was so artsy & creative I had to share with you. My sisters and I put on a Cupcake Decoration Day for the kids...it was a blast!
Here's a million pics....

Freshly baked Devil's Food cupcakes...


Mixing the frosting.


Paper cones of frosting all ready to go!


Starting a piped-frosting flower. Step 1: Put a dot of frosting on your decorating nail.


Step 2: Put a square of parchment on your nail. (secured with that frosting.)


Step 3: Pipe a petal.


Step 4: Pipe more petals.


Step 5: Embellish.


Step 6: Embellish more if you like :~)


Here's a view of some of my roses.


I've got a whole bunch of flowers finished...and some heads of cabbage & carrots, too. Off to the freezer to harden up nicely.


Everyone working away on their cupcakes... Those cupcakes peel right off their paper backing when frozen, and only take a minute or two to thaw out.


They're looking good! (Oreo crumbles for dirt...chocolate-covered sunflower seeds for extra detail.)


Little Max gets help from Daddy. What are you two designing???


A few of our finished gardens... they didn't last too long :~)

We got this idea from this book: Hello, Cupcake! It's full of really unique ideas.... check it out!

Winged Creatures

Here's a close-up look on a new piece I made for Kulture Klash this weekend. I'll post more of my work from the show soon...lots of photos to go through!


My butterflies all framed & ready to go!


Here is the first step: bug bodies on a baking sheet. (Gross thought, eh?)




Waiting for the glue to dry...


I used some handmade copper headpins I purchased on Etsy as antennae. I've been saving them for jewelry, but they fit in so perfectly with my bugs! Those wings were cut out from a vellum print.

Still here!

I'm still here! I'm a bad blogger, though.
I've been busy working on clay pieces for Kulture Klash 4.... I'll show them to you when they're all ready! This little insect will be included :~)

the Little Blue Penguin.

My very first mixed-media shadowbox!

Shop Talk

It's been forever since I've updated my Etsy shop... but I've been restocking tonight.
This creature is listed ;~)

polymerpaws.etsy.com

Addison

Somebody I work with was obviously not acting like himself the past few days... and I found out what was going on. He said his yellow lab mix, Addison, was hit by a car last weekend, and didn't make it. He was soooo upset by this, and told me all about what a good dog she was, and what she meant to him! He showed me pics of her on his phone.... and I sculpted this little angel as soon as I got home. I hope it helps a little :~/
That story touched me so much, I hugged my Terra extra long when I got home from work that night.

What the Folk??!

Whoo hoo! I'm very proud to have had my Conchords piece featured on WhatTheFolk.net! (That's the official fan/info site for the band. Wow, they have a serious cult following!!)

Finished!

Here's the final Flight of the Conchords illustration.

...almost done!

We're getting there! This photo shows an additional 5 hours of work. I packed up all my clay & tools and sat at City Lights Cafe the whole day! I suppose I had coffee for lunch :~)
I'm going to add a few more details I think? Maybe some brighter greens to Bret's merman tail. I'll break out the tripod & photo box for a quality photo of the finished sculpt tomorrow.

Flight of the Conchords

...in progress!

Flight of the Conchords

I'm working on a personal piece now... a portrait of my favorite nerdy folk-singing comedy duo from New Zealand: HBO's Flight of the Conchords! I'd really love to work on more celebrity/editorial illustration like this, so why not give art directors a little sample? This is my beginning sketch. I've combined the guys with two of my favorite songs from Season 1-- 'Mermaids,' and 'Robots.'


So far I have Bret & Jemaine's heads finished!

...so, you've never seen the show? Well, here's a snippet:

...more clay soon!

Crazy Creatures

I'm thinking about making a whole mess of these polymer clay guys for the Kulture Klash show in about a month... time to get sculpting!

Fat Tuesday!

Nothing too serious today! ...just a clay doodle of my favorite subject.
Looks like I'll have a spot at the next Kulture Klash in April!! I'm getting excited thinking about the artsy possibilities....
Check out last November's event: Kulture Klash 3

Aw, man! More sketches??

...that's right, more sketches. I think I have enough ideas down now, that I can start with the clay :~)
More to post soon!

the Sketching Sketcher.

No clay today, but I certainly got my sketch on! I think I had more fun with my random doodling than what I set out to brainstorm on. ...but that's okay with me.
I know caviar and bananas is a very odd combination, but check out THIS place!:
Caviar & Bananas
...amazing!! It was my first time there, but not the last.


Later on in the day I went to City Lights Cafe on Market St.... and would rather sketch all the colorful ceramics I was given instead of my future sculpture.


...finally got to what I set out to do, but it's only a tiny thumbnail. Trying to figure out a fun way to convey "forbidden fruit" and I was thinking it would be great to make the fruit cacao. (although, I know this is not how cacao grows on trees.... the pods are larger, and they grow up the trunks. I'll work on that!)


Also:

I left my favorite ring in the restroom!!! Took it off to wash my hands & left it on the sink :~(
Cross your fingers I get it back tomorrow!!
It's a sea urchin from fellow Etsyian StaroftheEast