sailor moon

These are my interpretations of Sailor Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Mercury and Venus!

Basically, I wanted to style each gal as if they were teenagers right now, in the present.  I looked at a lot of Japanese street style, and I used boatloads of my own style preferences too, of course.

For Miss Moon herself, I wanted her to be really fun looking, like a young teenager just starting to play with styling herself.  And she's got on her high top flatforms, of course, because all flatforms are pretty ubiquitous with Japanese fashion, and also with me!  I love converse high tops! (In case you haden't noticed.)  I also switched out her buns for hair bows, because...I just liked that better.  I know the buns are part of her iconic look, but if I'm going to give a character a completely illogical hairdo, I like for it to be a bit more fanciful!  

Mars is more sleek and grown-up looking.  She seems like she'd be really into classic pieces that make her look more sophisticated.  And yes, I gave her a demure little mars symbol tattoo. 

Jupiter!  I like Jupiter.  She's somehow the most tomboyish AND the most feminine of all the scouts, so she was a lot of fun to style.  She's got a motorcycle jacket, but it's pink!  She's got boots with buckles, but she wears them with thigh high stockings!  She accents her strong eyebrows with emerald baby bangs.  I could probably figure out one million outfits for her.  She was super fun.

Mercury.  Poor Mercury, she so often gets the short end of the stick when it comes to fan tributes.  Nobody can really figure out her hair...is it...a bob?  or a pixie?  I think it's supposed to be kinda Winona-Ryder-in-the-90's-esque.  I think.  She's often portrayed as being sorta mousy, and with BOOKS.  I think that comes from her being a Virgo, which is among the most buttoned up symbols of the zodiac.  But you can cover everything up and STILL look sassy, in a demure kinda way.  I love her with glasses, too.  

And lastly, Venus!  I had the hardest time with Venus because...I don't really remember what her deal is.  I read all the Sailor Moon comics as a teen (all that had been translated, at the time, at least!) and watched most of the anime, but I just coudln't remember what she was like!  BUT, she's a libra, which means she's friendly, and flirty, so that's how I styled her: as a cute, friendlly, flower-crowned flirt.  She's the girliest of the group, too!

I had a lot of fun with Artemis.

My friend Ed told me: You made Sailor Moon so hipster! 

 And yes, that's exactly what I did!  And it was soooooo fun!  I wanted to do ALL the scouts, but alas...not enough time.  I already had ideas for Saturn (goth, big eyebrows!), and Pluto (I was gonna make her black!  I always thought she was, but some careful googling reveals that...nobody really knows for sure what the deal is with her race), and Chibi Moon (total Japanese street style overload...barettes in the bangs, giant headphones!).  Maybe one of these days, when I have time!

Come see these babies in person this Saturday April 5 at Q Pop Gallery in Los Angeles!  I'll be there!  Me and all the other girls who spent their young lives with Sailor Moon.

crystal clear hi-fi

acrylic on board, 30"x14"

This is my piece for an upcoming show at Gallery Nucleus, Yesterday's Tomorrows.  I love the look of vintage stereo equipment.  I don't know what anything does, but it doesn't matter...it's so boxy and cool and complex!  I enjoy the idea that there was a point where advancing technology meant more complicated stuff.  More buttons and switches and little blinky lights.  Infinite options and settings and modes for a really simple thing...like just listening to music.

ozma of oz

This is my piece for an upcoming show at Gallery Nucleus, Not in Kansas Anymore: A Tribute to the Wizard of Oz.  

I chose a character from the books, ALL of which I have read.  It was a while ago (like twenty years give or take a few), so I don't super duper remember all the details, but I DO remember being really impressed with Ozma of Oz, the immortal girl ruler of the Land of Oz.  Here's my own version of her:

When I posted this on tumblr someone commented about how Ozma always has dark hair in the books.  Two things crossed my mind: do people on tumblr realize that _I_ posted this, and it's my own work, and that I can see their comments??  Helloooooo.  And also, this is MY version of Ozma, and in my version she is blonde and wears pink high tops with mismatched socks, so there.  

This is the post-it note that I sketched this painting on.  It is post-it note sized!

Here's a few instagram shots of sketches from my sketchbook:  to the left is my version of Dorothy...

Another little Ozma...


By the by, I'm missbrigette on instagram if you wanna be kept up to date on my dog pictures, cat pictures, shoe pictures, CalArts pictures, and occasional sketch pictures.

And a couple more Ozma sketches.  I really like this composition on the right, but I wanted to show more of her than just her head.  Think I'll put this idea in my pocket and use it another time.

in the pomegranate forest

Hello out there in blogger land!  I have a painting for you!

This is for the "I believe in unicorns, too!" show at the WWA Gallery in Culver City.    They specifically told us that we didn't necessarily have to do a unicorn themed painting, but I couldn't get this image out of my brain once it was in there, so out it came!

For this painting I wanted to try breaking away from my usual palette, and I kinda succeeded.  Specifically, I noticed that when I open my website (http://brigetteb.com) there is a LOT of pink.  Pink and purple.  And I'm not surprised, cuz I love pink and purple!  But I AM surprised that I keep going back to pink over and over....and over.  And over.  Pink is my safety color.  So I tried some browns, and greens, and blues!  The pinks still snuck in there (although a kind of electric peach or coral), but I did end up using a color scheme from outside my comfort zone, so I call it a success.

As you can probably tell, I really love pomegranates.  I think their shape is so beautiful!  I didn't originally intend on putting so MANY in this painting, but as I was sketching I added them in and I'm glad I did.  Even though they are intricate suckers to paint.

See you at the gallery opening, maybe?  I love openings at the WWA Gallery, cuz it's right down the street from one of my favorite veggie restaurants, Native Foods!  I go eat a bowl of veggies and drink a gallon of watermelon agua fresca and then show up at the opening bloated from a fresca overdose.  I recommend it!

I remember you

This is my piece for a group show at Susanita's Little Gallery.  The theme is the Ramones!  It opens early next month.  Each artist got to choose a song to illustrate, and I chose "I Remember You", cuz I like that song.

Acrylic on board.  And fun.

the royal tenenbaums

This is my piece for the Spoke Art Gallery's Bad Dads show, opening this weekend in San Francisco!  Wish I could be there.  I wish it would get cold in Los Angeles already, too.  I bet it's fall in San Francisco right now, and I bet it's super nice.

The hardest part was getting likenesses for all the characters.  I do not consider myself very hand with caricature, so there were LOTS of super ugly, generic looking versions of everybody before I got to anything useful.  I think my favorite in the end is Royal.  Or Dudley.  Dudley was the only one I had no trouble drawing at all, strangely!

It's 20"x26",  acrylic on board.

I should accompany this painting with this fact: when I first saw this movie, I did not like it.  Nope.  I exited the theater thinking "What one EARTH was it that I just saw??"  I didn't understand the dryness of the tone, or what the story was supposed to mean, or anything about it really.  I understood that it looked really cool.

Post art school I gave it another try.  It IS one of my husbands favorite movies, and I usually trust his opinion when it comes to films (with the exception of his insatiable desire to watch old and obscure horror movies, which are usually indescribably, irredeemably  terrible).  

The second time around, it was like a lightbulb had been turned on in my brain.  After watching butt loads of movies and films in college, I finally had some context for the type of storytelling that Wes Anderson is going for.  Basically, I get it now!  But I also get why some people are still like "I don't like his movies".  They're the kind of movies that deserve investigation: you can watch them over and over and every time you do, you notice new things and make new connections.  They're very rich with content but they definitely don't give it up for free.  You have to spend time with them.  You probably have a buddy or two like that...at first, to a stranger, they seem unapproachable, and you find yourself saying "he's super cool once you get to know him."

(pssst I already put it on tumblr for you)

marceline vampire queen

This is my contribution to the Adventure Time Tribute at Gallery Nucleus this month!

What'd I do here?  I pretty much took Marceline (because I like her. I like female characters that are unapologetically bitchy) and made her Brigette-y.  I gave her a cute dress and a strawberry base!  And fancy red toenails and a garden of sharp pokey plants!  Why doesn't she already have one?  She loves red things. 

I had to put Tree Trunks in it too, because Tree Trunks is my favorite Adventure Time episode!  Not just because my husband and my friend boarded it together, but that doesn't hurt.  

It should be a good show.  And by a good show what I mean is, it should be a gigantic cluster f%&# of Adventure Time fandom.   The previous Adventure Time themed show at Nucleus was NUTBURGERS.  I'd never seen it so packed before!

Speaking of Nucleus, if you were hankering for a print of my Beatles piece, you can have one!!

CLICK THIS FOR BEATLES PRINT!

Meanwhile:

I'm working on illustrating a book,

teaching two classes at CalArts next year,

and my birthday is this month!

Good stuff!

fab four

This is my piece for the Gallery Nucleus All Together Now: A Tribute to the Beatles!!

When I was in high school the local radio station played "Bedtime Beatles" every weeknight.  It was a pretty fantastic mash up of every and any Beatles song, including music from their solo careers.  I would tune in and when something really good came on I'd tape it (how analogue of me) right off the radio.  I kept those tapes for a long long time.  

When I was researching (e.i.: googling Beatles pictures) for this piece I came across a LOT of blogs curated by teenage girls who are STILL totally, head over heals, in love with the Beatles.  It warmed my little black heart.   I would have been all over tumblr if it had existed when I was a teen, tumblin' photos with captions "omg i love him" and "my heart just stopped" and "why wasn't I born 40 years earlier".  

Aesthetically, the early Beatles are my favorite.  Their matching suits!  Soooooooo cooooooool!  And Beatle boots!  If I was in a band I'd want us all to wear matchy matchy outfits to perform.  

flavia sabina de luce

This is my piece for the Book Show!

It's based on the Flavia de Luce novels, specifically The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.  I like the part when she melts down her sister's lipstick and infuses it with poison ivy.   Oh Flav, you vengeful little creature.

For those of you who haven't read the book (or books...there are 4 total with another one on the way and I've read em all wooooo!)  Flavia is a really interesting gal, not just because she's an 11 year old chemistry whiz/girl detective/British aristocrat/lives in the 50's, but because there are so many contradictions in her character.  Her mother died when she was a baby, so she doesn't remember her, yet she is obsessed with her.  She wonders why her sister's don't like her yet she goes out of her way to terrorize them constantly.  She's scary smart and sneaky and yet monumentally naive.  She's kinda bitchy and manipulative but supes vulnerable at the same time.  I love her and hate her alternately when I read the books...she's all complex!

She lives in a big old rotting English country house, where she has taken the Victorian-era chemistry lab as her own.  I wanted to show her in her natural habitat, among the chemicals and books.  The story takes place in the 50's, but the lab is totally old school and kinda mad-scientist-y.  At least that's how I picture it.

She talks about chemistry a lot in the book(s). I tried to take chemistry, but bounced out of the class when I realized that I had no idea what the &$%# was happening and had no hope of catching up (it was a city college class, so you could kinda do that).  Flavia certainly makes it interesting, compelling even, but I was so completely lost in that class.  Much like John Cusack in this particular movie clip!

wonderground gallery show

I was asked to be a part of the very first show at the Disney Wonderground Gallery in Downtown Disney (right next to Disneyland, CA!).  I was asked to do a Mickey themed piece and a Pixar theme piece, and I got to choose which Pixar film to do.  I finished these waaaaaay back in February and  I can finally show them to you!

The grand opening of the gallery will be on June 9, in Downtown Disney.

I'll be there!!! 

From 11am-1pm I'll be there to sign my custom painted Vinylmation 95 (which is top secret until then), and say hello!

I love classic cartoony Mickey, especially the rubber hose era, where things were allowed to get super weird and surreal.  They're so fun to watch.  I didn't want to stray too far from that.  But also, pink.  Lots of pink.

I wanted to focus on Sid for my Toy Story piece.  Did you ever know a kid like him??  I didn't, but I DID go to people's houses were it was obvious they hadn't redecorated in about 30 years.  That gross avocado green from Sid's house really stuck with me...and the shag carpet...and the crazy wallpaper...yipes.  I always liked the mutant toys lots, too.  They're fun and sad at the same time.  

Both these pieces are acrylic on board, and framed, and ready to go!  

I'm not exactly sure just yet, but there may be t-shirts and prints of these paintings available at the gallery, amongst other things!

Should be a pretty good day.  Hope some of you can make it out!

peter pan

This is my piece for the Peter Pan themed show at Susanita's Little Gallery.  The gallery is completely online, so you only need a computer and internets to snap this one up when it goes live.  

Another cool thing about Susanita's: they donate 20% of their profit from each sale to a children's charity.  You can support me AND an adorable child in need AND you get a pretty cool painting of an androgynous elfish boy to treasure forever.

I had fun with this!  I wanted to get away from the Disney version of Peter Pan (even though I like that version...those green tights are very strange, if you think about it).   I have read the books and Peter is described as having a tunic of skeleton leaves or something, so lots fancy leaves were in order.

Composition sketches before I thought of doing it in an oval.  I like the oval format.  Sean thinks it's stupid, but I like it!

I looked at a lot of leaves.  

OH yeah and Tinkerbell!  I love that she is unapologetically bitchy. I wanted her to be topless.  Tiny little fairy boobies are funny, don't you think?  In the actual painting she's so small that you can barely see her face, so I just skipped the boobies and hiked up her dress a bit more.  I'm tempted to do a second piece with her in it, but I've got other stuffs to work on!

rose red + snow white + 2

Yeah!  Finally!  This took me forever to finish.

I couldn't decide which idea I liked better: the girls meeting the bear, or the girls riding on his back.  So I did both.  I didn't want them to have the same color scheme though, mostly cuz I think I'd get bored painting (basically) the same thing twice.  I loved this color pallet, even though it's nonsensical.  Who cares!  It feels right, that's what matters.

This painting will be on display this July at the Wonderful World of Animation, in a fairy tale themed show.  Yay!  I love fairy tales, I can't wait to see the rest of the work.  (Their website is...well, just look at it for yourself, huh?)

I think I'm going to give both paintings a glossy finish, which I usually don't do but it seems kinda appropriate for these.  Plus I understand that it enhances the color to a degree...cool!  Make those reds really pop.  

insta-life

Hey guys, I have a new painting to show you REAL SOON!  

In the mean time, did you know I'm on Instagram, making stylish photos appear in my iphone that I could never manage to produce with an actual camera and film?  My username is missbrigette, if you are of the Insta-persuasion yourself. 

Most pertinent to this blog, I often Instagram my works-in-progress, like so!

That one is almost done!  Just about a bazillion flowers left to paint, is all.

Ooooh yeah, there's a Beatles thing on its way, too.

 There's a lot of kitty-doggy pictures...

I can't help it.  I hang out with these two ding dongs all day and they are stinking cute.  

She was chasing a rainbow, you guys.

It's kind of handy, actually, because having all those neat filters reminds you to take pictures of places you go and things you see, with the incentive that you can make whatever it is appear up to 900% cooler than it actually was.  

But also I kind of think I go to a lot of cool places, too.  The Hollywood sign almost always looks fantastic.

Even freeways look cool through a vintage filter!!

Sometimes I just take pictures of stuff around my dusty old apartment.

Just kidding.  I take pictures of this apartment because I love this apartment. 

Also...I love my dog.  

My cat is not too bad, either.  

And sometimes I take pictures of my own fashionable choices, so I can remember them foreverrrrrr!

That horseshoe necklace broke!  Sad! 

See, it's working.  I'm remembering stuff.

It's hard to take a picture of the top of your own head.

An occasional picture of food.  Not too big on food pictures.  If food pictures is what you want, you've come to the wrong place.

Next time more art!

rose red + snow white

I'm working on a bunch of paintings at once these days.  This is the first one that got finished!  It's for a show in July, and it will have a sister piece to go with it... a diptych, if you're fancy.  

Click to see it bigger!

The show is fairy tale themed.  You know I love a good, obscure fairy tale.  You know what else I love?  Flowers, and vintage clothes, and patterns.  So all those things got wrapped up into this painting.  

It's acrylic on board, by the way, and 16"x16" square.  Haven't had it framed yet but I'm thinking something wood and vintage looking.  Usually framing is my least favorite part (who knows who will end up buying it, and what they'll like), but I can't wait to see this one all ready-to-hang.

As usual, I did a butt load of sketching before leaping into the painting.  Can you believe I really haven't done much bear drawing?  I just wanted him to be really BIG with a cute face.  And a crown.  Because if you know this fairy tale, then you know he is a prince, after all.  

I like post-its for compositions.  If you hate your drawing then you can just peel them off and throw them away.  

Yeah, flowers.  I had a moment where I thought I might do teenage versions of the sisters, and make them more contemporary, but the littler versions won.  As soon as I had the idea to put them in little mod dresses it was over with.  I might, however, still put those heart-shaped sunglasses on Snow White...

More comin'!