HeroesCon 2013 prep!!

My first convention of 2013 is also my biggest- HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC is right around the corner and I'll be at Artist Alley tables 418-419 with Little Asian Sweatshop, Maria Danalakis, Phil Balsman and select works of Christy Sawyer. This will be my 3rd year attending Heroes and it's always an amazing time hanging out with friends I only get to see a scant few times a year. The low-key vibe of the show is a welcome alternative to the high-anxiety pace of bigger shows like San Diego and NYCC.  I'll have lots of new merch available!

LOOK for the NEW Paigey banner!!

Just a fraction of the magnet sets I'll have for sale!

Bracelets, stash tins, even KEYCHAINS!

Harley & Ivy and Bettie & Marilyn mini prints- $5 a set!

8.5x11 prints- $5 each!

Ballsy's classic monster mini prints! Set of 5 for $8!!

Plus TONS of original art for sale!

*Original* Poison Ivy inks! HAND-colored!

Miss Mary Jane inks, hand colored! 

Mondo Gecko! Hand colored and ready to frame!

Also new stuff from Little Asian Sweatshop!

*Knockout* pencil/makeup bags!

Starro hair flower!

Lady Blacula pencil/makeup bags!

VERY excited for the show this year! Hope to see you there!!

The Visionary Tattoo Arts Festival!

Check it out, all! I did the flyer for the Visionary Tattoo Art Festival going on in July at Asbury Park, NJ and will also be a guest artist all weekend and will be vending my wares as well as Little Asian Sweatshop's. I hope to see you there!

I completed this flyer in about a week and a half, the deadline was pretty tight with the shop that runs the show getting approval for it to go on later than normal because of damage to the beach from Hurricane Sandy. So this is the 'unfortunate' result of me being bad at time management and artwork negotiations/consultations with friends who are fans whose enthusiasm for my work is contagious. Especially when they're feeling my ideas and give me lots of creative control. Before I've put pen to paper I've promised them (and myself) the moon and stars because you know, I'm THE Paige Pumphrey! I can do MAGIC! AND it involves impressing a subculture from which I at one point in my life felt excluded from? Oh MAN, ALL THE BUTTONS.

We wanted to make the branding of the Festival more light and beachy and family-friendly as opposed to previous years where it had a more 'come out and get some nails in your dick/metallll wooooooo!' vibe. After being shown examples of the beautiful facade of the Convention Hall, with it's Victorian sea monsters and copper plating, I was inspired to make the design an early 20th century/Victorian themed beach poster. Looking at the works of JC Leyendecker, an all-time favorite artist of mine, as well as the art and feel of the Battleship Bay area of Bioshock: Infinite (which my husband has just arrived at in the game) I knew I had quite an undertaking. My clients also really liked the layout of my Saints and Sinners flyer for my artshow a couple years back- of having two characters framed by very detailed typography. We chose a sword-swallowing mermaid and the Asbury Park mascot Tillie (who is similar to the Coney Island funny face) in old-timey swimwear to be the 'hosts' of the flyer.

Rough sketches of the mermaid and Tillie.

Tight pencils.

Inks. (Scanned in Photoshop.)

Flat colors.

Slowly starting to lay out the flyer. Originally I was going to use Victorian clipart to save time, my husband however looking over my shoulder suggested it would look soooo much better if I drew all the filigree and framework out. Begrudgingly I agreed with him.

Printing out what I had at 40% opacity, I drew out all the elements by hand- the banners, the gold railing, the sun-shaped caption for the date. I even added a sea monster as a call back to the building facade.

Scanning the sketches for the elements, I traced and built them out of vector shapes in Illustrator, then ported them over to Photoshop for placement on the actual flyer. You can notice some of the changes elements went through during the process.

Coloring in all the elements individually, adding shading, texture and slowly figuring out my palette. In the end the only clipart I ended up using was the background filigree and the seashells on the the gold railing. 

GOLDMINE shopping party! 5/19/13

The Gemini & Scorpio loft!

Heads up New York people! I'll be vending at Gemini & Scorpio's GOLDMINE shopping party in Brooklyn this Sunday, May 19th from 1-8pm! I'll have a bunch of fresh merch and some Little Asian Sweatshop hairflowers available for purchase!

Here's a sneak peek of some of the goodies I'll have!

New prints!

Bracelets!

SO MANY MAGNETS!

And a fresh new banner!

Here's the info from the Facebook invite! The address is not public so you HAVE TO RSVP on the Gemini & Scorpio event page. Click here to do so!

Sun May 19, 1pm-8pm, FREE / VIP preview 12-1pm, $10Kickstarter backers get in FREE to VIP preview: http://bit.ly/GS_loftAt the G&S loft in Gowanus, BKAddress with RSVP: http://www.geminiandscorpio.com/events.htmlFB: https://www.facebook.com/events/447177058690897
Have you ever wanted to shop (or at least rifle through) Miss Scorpio's closet? This is your chance. She's teaming up with burlesque bombshell Veronica Varlow, a fellow dress-up addict, for some spring cleaning and fundraising for their respective homes. You already know about the Gemini & Scorpio Loft, our art space project. Veronica's upstate home burned down, and she's rebuilding from scratch.
In addition, some of the most fabulous ladies of the burlesque, cabaret, and design world will be opening their closets and displaying their magnificent contents for your purchase -- and sharing their fierce handmade items with you. Think one-of-a-kind vintage, corsets and crinolines, feathers and fascinators, elbow-length fingerless leather gloves, and lots and lots of sparkles. Of course even divas have days off, so there will be plenty of casual wear alongside costume and vintage pieces. Mimosas and music, too; plus lounging on our giant roof. All G&S Loft Kickstarter backers get access to the VIP preview.
Featuring the handmade designs of:6362 Metaforce - hip utility belts for festivals and beyond -http://6362metaforce.com/Anne Arden McDonald - lace, sea creatures and natural elements in hand-cast silver - http://www.etsy.com/shop/ardent1Electric Candy - laser-cut blacklight-reactive fierce acrylic party wear -http://www.electriccandycouture.com/Kita St. Cyr - evening gowns, jewelry and rhinestone encrusted shoesLamia Gloves - the fingerless leather gloves of choice for NYC party people - http://www.lamiadesign.com/Liberace Nation - drapey slinky luxe handmade unisex clothing -http://www.etsy.com/shop/LiberaceNationMake Fun Studio - when you need the perfect circus leotard or stilt pants -http://www.makefunstudio.com/Paigey Pumphrey - delightful pinup illustrations enjoyed by ladies and gents alike - http://www.theartofpaigey.com/Pinkitrix - whimsical costumery and colorful headpieces -http://www.facebook.com/PartywearByPinkitrixSarah Sparkles - hand-crafted stone & crystal jewelry - http://www.sarahsparkles.com/Wheylan Dean Ford - Gothic-Victorian gogo couture and leather accessories - http://www.etsy.com/shop/WheylanDesignsPlus Ali Luminescent - representing a handful of international designers whose work you can only get through her directly -http://aliluminescent.com/
===================To get event invites from us on FB, join the group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/41331183538To get invites directly, get on our mailing list: http://bit.ly/GS_list===================Support the arts in Brooklyn! We're running a Kickstarter fundraising campaign until 5/30 to support major renovations to our events loft:http://bit.ly/GS_loft===================

Hope to see you there!!! 

Harley and Ivy

Working on a set of chibi-styled Batman ladies for fun. I plan on doing 6- Batgirl, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Black Canary and Huntress. So far I have completed Harley and Ivy and have sketches for Catwoman and Black Canary! Check em out!

Bitty Bettie and Mini Marilyn

Working on a bunch of 'chibi' styled character drawings for fun and possible future merch, and started with two of the biggest icons of pinup art, Bettie Page and Marilyn Monroe.

Heroescon 2013 commissions are now open!

Heroescon (June 7-9) commissions are NOW OPEN. $100 gets you a single character inked on vellum, toned with grey marker and spot colored. 8.5"x11". Payment in advance. Pickup at the show only. Email me iampaigey(at)yahoo(dot)com for further info.

I will have an Artist Alley table alongside Little Asian Sweatshop and we'll have lots of new and exciting merch for you to check out! Lots of original pieces! Hope to see you there!

More examples of my commissions:

Studying Up on Retro Cartooning

Always looking to keep my work fresh I'm constantly keeping my eyes peeled for new inspiration. Like a fancy new liquor I can splash in the martini shaker of my brain, sometimes I find something in the back of of my cabinet shelf that's been there all along, hiding in plain sight, covered in dust and cobwebs. I mix it in with my regular favorites and holy crap- where was this deliciousness my whole life? 

'Gee, willeckers!'
Self portrait in the pie-eyed
style of 20s-30s animation.

I plan on doing a whole 'family portrait' in this style
for eventual 2013 Christmas cards. 

So hey guess what- that thinly-veiled analogy I just used of liquor is actually about retro cartoons, particularly those of the 1920s. I've always been a fan of old cartoons, especially since my first artistic interests laid in the animation industry. I fortunately have SUPER supportive parents as well, who were totally feeling my artistic obsessions (especially since these interests were nice and quiet and solitary when I was a kid) and would point me in the direction of pretty much anything animation-related they came across. In particular the old Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies and Fleischer cartoons of their youth and then eventually I moved on to the more obscure works including those of Osamu Tezuka (Unico), Richard Williams (Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure) and Nelvana (Rock & Rule). Even during vacations to Disney World as a child my parents would enroll me in children's animation classes while they were getting to ride Splash Mountain. 

'Cutie Patootie!'
A flapper pinup in the 20's style.

As I got older my interest shifted from animation into comics but I still wanted to keep the clean aesthetic and line economy of traditional 2D animation and I've been chasing that look ever since. And being a big fan of the concept of 'climbing your artistic family tree' for inspiration, I've been researching the works of Ub Iwerks and Max Fleischer, two of the founding fathers of animation. I remember watching so many of these cartoons as a kid and being engrossed in the adorable creepiness.

Fleischer's Bimbo in "Bimbo's Initiation"

Part 1 of "The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story"

The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story... by CarlStallingEnthusiast

I hope these inspire you as well! I hope in the near future to have my pie-eyed portraits available as a commission option!