Indivisible Bliss and Emptiness.

Saw a pic of this statue online and did a little sketch. Thought she looked rad with her bone rosary and headdress!

"Heruka (Sanskrit; Tib.khrag 'thung), is the name of a category of wrathful deities, enlightened beings in Vajrayana Buddhism that adopt a fierce countenance to benefit sentient beings. In China and Japan, it was named as Wisdom King. Herukas represent the embodiment of indivisible bliss and emptiness."

The prettiest girl in the mirror is me.

"The prettiest girl in the mirror is me, but will I still be pretty when there's no one there to see?" -Medusa, Clash Of The Titans

Just posting up some older drawings I did of Medusa. Thinking about making them into shirts since I have a hobby screen printing kit ha!

So we all know that Medusa is a gorgon and you're not supposed to look directly at her or else you'll turn to stone, but how'd she get that way you ask?

Well I quickly looked up the answer on Yahoo and people said it's because she was committing sexual acts in Athena's temple with Poseidon. Greek Gods are known to rape, so whether Medusa was raped or not I guess it doesn't matter. Since Athena is a virgin and a model of self-control she punished Medusa into becoming a gorgon for her offensive misconduct.

There's other variations, so let me know what other stories you've heard about it! :)

Be Quiet and Drive Far Away.

Been listening to Be Quiet and Drive Far Away on repeat by the Deftones. So I decided my next canvas painting would be the Deftones skull and roses! This is just a black and white sketch I did to prepare for the painting :).

Check out the video of the song on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPW92FVMnFI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Enjoy!

Shattered Dreams.

I'm so clumsy with my belongings. This is the third frame I broke, but I like it. I'll appropriately name the piece "Shattered Dreams" ha!

Made this five years ago in a beginning drawing class at Evergreen Valley College in San Jose. The assignment was to make a surrealistic piece of art. I used charcoal on charcoal paper. It is a girl in a wedding dress who is half tree. Lmao don't know exactly where I was going with that concept, but Tim Burton and Disney should make a movie out my half ass idea!

Besitos.

So I was working on this one canvas for so long, about a year. It started off as a dead Marilyn Monroe, then a dead Snow White, then just a day of the dead girl. I had the girl painted, but needed a background and a quote because I had painted a banner at the top. I have no idea why I painted a banner first without knowing what to put in it, maybe I just forgot what I originally was going to write.

So I was thinking about what the quote should be and the background when I had a flashback of Pierce The Veil singing Besitos at Warped.

What really clicked was the lyrics that says "I'll steal you flowers from the cemetery, red roses. Red rose of the dead." My canvas has a painting of a dead girl holding a red rose so it was perfect!

Also found the performance of the song at Warped on YouTube. It's a shaky video, but a true account of how awesome PTV and their crowd/fans are. You can see everyone jumping with their hands in the air! ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KhyxzHhfYM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I'm attaching the lyrics as well. Besitos means kisses in Spanish if you're wondering ha.

"Besitos"

You're my favorite explosion.
(You know the only real way to cure pain is to add a little more,
because everything new distracts the old.)
A violin with no hands plays symphonies with no words.
A drowning boy with no voice prays someone up there's telling me,
You'd better not get back up!
I spit my heart into this red cup.
I'd better pick it back up, it might ruin your night.

And she said,
"Baby, leave the water by the bed for later,
and I woke up without a single drop.

I told myself I'm tired of holding up your backup plans.
Go down your list and be satisfied if all you have is not enough.

(True love comes from more than just the heart)

She said paint a picture on me,
throw your dress up and your heart away.
Yeah, I heard what you said.
A friend of a friend, these strangers at the party never paid.
And if that doesn't turn you on.
I'll keep talking till something does.
As we're covered in sand, you roll over and smile.

I told myself I'm tired of holding up your backup plans.
Go down your list and be satisfied it's all you have.
And until that day,
I'll steal you flowers from the cemetery, red roses.
Red rose of the dead.
How does it feel to breathe oxygen inside her head?

So say it, say I'm in love, cause you called me
crying from your job, said you just got fired.
And you don't have a backup plan,
so don't expect me to understand.

(A diamond bullet and a gun made of gold, she was covered in blood last seen in San Francisco)

Yeah!
We all breakdown.
Sometimes the bedroom walls become my only friends,
but they were there from beginning to end.

I'm tired of holding up your backup plans.
Go down your list and be satisfied it's all you have.
You know I've never held a gun in my life,
but now I carry one around in case I see you tonight.
Bedroom walls.
Oh, these bedroom walls.
Oh, I hate what it tastes like.

Music Makes The World New.

This post is going to be me rambling and reminiscing about my wonderful time at Van's Warped Tour this year in San Francisco! And posting a few pics of PTV!

My day started off at 6:30AM, had to wake up super early to get ready and be at the Caltrain before the train arrived at 8:00AM. Some of my friends met at my house and we made an alcoholic concoction(Bicardi, V8 Splash, and Tropical Kool Aid) to put in water bottles as our refreshments on the Caltrain. We also packed PBR's ;)

Well guess what? We took too long being fake bartenders and arrived at the Caltrain parking lot right at 8 and missed our train! So we had to wait until 9. Didn't arrive until SF until 1045. Didn't get inside Warped until 12:45! The line was ridiculously long! Over 20,000 people, insanity.

So what do you do when you're in line? Oh, you know just try to cut and complain with your friends about how long the line is! We were pretty buzzed, so the wait seemed shorter in our demented minds than actual time in reality.

You also check your favorite bands twitter so you know their set time! So while in line I read that Of Mice & Men were playing at 1:05! I almost soiled my pants in anxiety, but right when I got past security my friend and I ran to their stage and pushed our way towards the front! We made it just in time and the band came out right away, and the mayhem and moshing was immediate. Freaking loved every second of it! I've only seen them play twice so far, but definitely one of my favorite bands and live performers! I also love their crowd and fans, very intense and so much energy.

I think crowds are very influential on your experience at a show, I mean how are you going to have fun if you're in a crowd that just stands around? I'd rather risk getting socked in the face by some sweaty dude just because it's more fun, exciting, and energetic ;).

Fast forward. So of course one of the bands I was most anxious to watch was Pierce The Veil! I had never seen them live. I made a poster(in my previous post titled Los Pierce The Veils), and was hoping to give it to them as a gift at their meet and greet. Well what do you know? You needed a ticket to the meet and greet and they ran out! I still waited next to their tent to see them come out and greet other fans. I hopped on top of a water jug they used to hold down tents and held up my poster and screamed like a psychopath.

Did it get their attention? Maybe; I don't know if they were being polite and giving their full attention to the fans they were meeting or just purposely ignoring me because I looked like a crazy ass. I did get the attention of a person who had a ticket though. She came up to me and offered to sell it for $10. Little girl trying to hustle and make money off of something that's supposed to be free...anyways before I could respond this 5 year old comes and swoops up on my offer! What a jerk! Anyways I wasn't going to fight with a little boy, I hope he enjoyed meeting PTV because I kind of don't enjoy my kindness for letting him steal my ticket offer ha.

So I just had to wait until the meet and greet was over to give them my poster. When it ended, the band started walking away with their security and your crew. My friends told me to run up to them, so I did! I caught up to Vic and someone was escorting him. I got on the other side and shrugged his shoulders a couple of times until he turned back. I said "Can I give this to you?" and handed him the poster. He smiled and said "This is for me?" and I said "Yes, I made it for the band." he said "What is it?" I said "Just look at it!" And started walking away like an idiot! I was so nervous and scared for bothering him because I knew they were in a hurry to get ready for their set. As I walked away, I saw him unrolling the poster and he turned around and said thanks! I wish I would've kept following him until he opened the poster instead of fleeing like a scared idiot! *Sigh the feeling of regret* I wish I could've just got some feedback as to whether he liked it or not. Oh well there will be other opportunities to meet him and the band again. I'm on a PTV high though, I keep reliving the short moment I had with Vic ;).

Fast forward again. Their set was freaking amazing! They played right after Taking Back Sunday(who were awesome too). Right when they came out the energy was insane! Crowd was elbow to elbow, so squished, could barely move! Still attempted to jump and dance and sing as loud and crazy as I could! Bulletproof love was a highlight, the whole crowd was jumping up and down, amazing. I'm definitely planning to go to their next US headlining tour whenever that is.

Just going to end this blog with some highlights of bands I saw:

PTV - Their whole set was amazing and Vic smiled and thanked me! *melting inside*

TBS - last song of their set was Make Damn Sure! Everyone got into it and was singing along. Perfecto!

Of Mice & Men - Right when I got though security clearance and entered the venue, ran to their set and got moshed on and shoved back and forth. I miss that human ocean of swaying bodies.

The Used - Enough said.

Motionless In White - first time seeing them, they sound and look great live. They had a huge crowd, but the people next to me we're just standing around. BORING, probably needed to get closer to the front and center. Nonetheless, I love them and they are still great live.

Saw/heard other bands too like Yellowcard, We The Kings, You Me At Six, everyone sounded great. Can I just relive Warped again, pretty please?

Los Pierce The Veils

So I've been on a Pierce The Veil binge lately because it was my first time watching them perform live at Van's Warped Tour this past Saturday in San Francisco. Tickets sold out from presales, over 20,000 attendees! Super insane! Here's some art that I made that kept me stoked for a few months until Warped finally arrived!

I actually made the Mexican flag poster with their portraits the night before Warped. It was basically a collage(taped their portraits on charcoal paper and painted the background green, white, and red to emulate the Mexican flag and used a sharpie to ink the eagle in the center). I decided to give it to them as a gift. I wanted to make it nicer and frame it or put it on a canvas, but why would I want to hold something big/heavy at Warped? Ha so I put it on flimsy paper so I could roll it up and put it in my small backpack and mosh/headband without worries! Smart move in my opinion. I will talk about Warped, and my experience of giving Vic Fuentes my poster in the next blog :).

The Four Happiest Mexicans Alive.

Posting some portrait sketches I did of Pierce The Veil! My favorite band of Mexicans! They refer to themselves as the four happiest Mexicans alive hence the title. They also are Sexicans(sexy Mexicans) and play Mexicore(Mexican Hardcore). These are inside jokes, don't take it too literal ;).

Screaming Relaxes Me So.

For some reason I've been drawing a lot of dark/horror characters. I guess because it's more fun because there's lots of shades of black and drawing creepy stuff is pretty fun. Also, I just think it's nostalgic to draw some characters from old television shows that I use to watch as a kid. For this post, I'm going to upload some Vampira drawings!