Kristina Carroll- 69 Love Songs

Queen of the Savages
Charcoal

When I listened to Queen of the Savages, it made me think of those ill-fated rebound relationships. You know, when you have a hard break up and end up meeting someone who seems perfect simply because they are the exact opposite of everything that is familiar. For a while the newness can devour your heartbreak but if you aren't careful, you can get completely eaten up by it.

She eats other queens,

she's very religious

She doesn't use a fork

I don't think I'll go back to New York

This was another quick drawing I managed to squeeze in among other work and deadlines this week. Whew! What a month! Thank you everyone for so much beautiful art, inspiration and motivation! I am so happy with how this month turned out!

Kristina Carroll - Fetish

Pasiphae
graphite on paper

Taurophilia - The love of bulls.

Oh those Greeks. So much bestiality.

 I've been enamored of the Labyrinth and Minotaur story ever since I can remember. So naturally I had to give a nod to poor Pasiphae who was cursed by the gods to become obsessed with a bull and give birth to the Minotaur as a result. This was a very quick drawing experimenting with different ways of using graphite. I've had bulls on the brain a lot lately because I am working on a full Minotaur illustration right now. Here's a teaser:

Kristina Carroll - Favorite Love Story

Dragonslayer
Charcoal 18 x 24

It's a little ironic that I am not a huge love story person. When it comes to romance, I like my stories with a little less "Happily Ever After" and a little more grit. And while so many of the stories illustrated so far definitely fall into that category for me (some of which I was considering doing myself!)- I still needed something more. Especially when it came to inspiring me visually.

There is a painting By Jeffrey Catherine Jones called Dragonslayer. It's  a twist on the classic St. George and the Dragon tale, where the hero goes to rescue the Maiden, only to find her in bed with the Dragon. I have been in love with this painting ever since seeing it and just couldn't get it out of my head. So I decided to pay homage to that illicit romance and one of my favorite artists.

Kristina Carroll - #nofilter Valentine

Metamorphosis
Charcoal/Digital 18 x 24

So everyone always says "Just be yourself, you should be loved just as you are!" And while that is true, what they don't mention is the simple act of loving and being loved changes you. Being in any meaningful relationship changes your perception. It introduces new ideas, causes you to like things you never thought you would, dislike things you thought you liked... both about your partner and yourself. Certainly these transformations can be devastating, they are often painful... but If you chose wisely, hopefully they will be good in the end.

2014 Artist Spotlight I

Elisabeth Alba
albaillustration.com

Amanda Atkins
http://amandaatkins.blogspot.com/

Wylie Beckert
http://www.wyliebeckert.com/

Eric Braddock
ericbraddock.blogspot.com

Kristina Carroll
http://www.kristinacarrollart.com/

Jason Cheesemen-Meyer
http://cheeseman-meyer.com/

Anna Christenson
http://www.annaeatspaint.com/

Taryn Cozzy
http://www.taryncozzy.com/

Michelle Dickens
http://www.dickensillustration.com/

Tim Durning
http://www.timdurning.com/

Narciso Espiritu Jr.
http://narcisoespiritu.com/

Daniel Fishel
http://www.o-fishel.com/

Sarah Gay
http://heysgay.com/

Kristina Carroll - Jeanine Henderson

oil

Jeanine is the awesome talent behind our beautiful Month of Love header and background pattern. Her work is full of color and fun and after looking at her pictures (especially those from the Mermaid Parade) I realized her personality comes across much the same. So I had to paint her full of color, smiles and hearts. Thank you for making us look so beautiful Jeanine, I only hope I did you the same courtesy!

And thank you all so much for joining me on this crazy ride. it was inspiring, exhausting and educational. I seriously love you all and hope we can most of us meet up in NYC next week.

Kristina Carroll - Love Song Shuffle

The first love song that came on was "Ruby Tuesday" by the Rolling Stones. All I could think about was this  woman with flaming red hair  half seen in a dream. You know, that sort of dream that leaves you with a very distinct emotion that sticks with you for days. Ruby Tuesday is that sort of dream.

There's no time to lose, I heard her say
Catch your dreams before they slip away
Dying all the time
Lose your dreams
And you will lose your mind.
Aint life unkind? 

Goodbye, ruby tuesday
Who could hang a name on you? 
When you change with every new day
Still Im gonna miss you...

Kristina Carroll - catching up on some food love

watercolor

This week was super busy and I got behind. But I won't be knocked down! Here's some food love for Monday and Wednesday. My favorite bakery and my favorite mug with sweet caffeinated nectar.

oil

Kristina Carroll - Freestyle Sunday

I got home in time to catch the tail end of the Oscars, so I tried to do a little "life" sketching.

I thought they were a bit puny, so here are a couple more random sketchbook pages:

Kristina Carroll - I would do anything for Love

But I won't go on murdering people with a machete...

Scott and I finally watched 7 Psychopaths this weekend- which I thoroughly enjoyed. It had some of my favorite people in it: Christopher Walken, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, and Tom Waits. Tom played, surprise, one of the psychopaths but sort of a psycho with a heart of gold. {SPOILERS}  He met his wife at her rescue from a serial killer and they decided to become serial killers of other serial killers. Eventually though, it started getting to him and he let her go off alone, which he immediately regretted and spent all his time after searching for her. The rabbit is a keepsake from their last "date" with the Zodiac killer.

Basically it's Tom Waits, in a suit, walking around with a rabbit the whole time. It's perfect.

Kristina Carroll - Ophelia

I'm fascinated with characters who are driven to extremes by love. Like Medea, Ophelia has been misused, though exactly how is never explicitly mentioned. To me, she was always meant to represent the very fragile and most human elements in Hamlet. Between ghosts and murder and incest, how does one lovesick girl compete? We connect with that simple desire in the face of evil and the tragic results of what happens to innocence in  madness. I see the death of Ophelia as the point of no return for the other characters.

I really want to do something more with this I was playing around with the shapes of flowers and thinking of orchids when developing the overall shape.

Kristina Carroll - Mating Rituals

Charcoal

Everyone tries to put on their best features, real or not,  when meeting new people. Sometimes the mask comes off after a while, sometimes it stays on as a barrier from person to person, but everyone wears them.

Very, very rough sketch that I may like to develop more.

Kristina Carroll - I love my job

James Gurney painting a student

Jim Burke has been doing some amazing things with the illustration program at NHIA, and I am so grateful to be a part of it. The latest big project was coordinating a a demo, a lecture AND a stunning Dinotopia show in our gallery through a partnership with the Norman Rockwell Museum. (up through March 13th) Needless to say the students are ecstatic.(they've been talking about this for months - I love my students. They know what's up.) So I decided to do this sketch of James during his demo, but as I didn't get home until 1pm last night I am only getting to post it now. (btw- that big square in front of him is the laptop monitor pointed at his painting to project it on the big screen in the auditorium. IT didn't look like the most comfortable set-up but didn't prevent James from making a beautiful portrait.)

Kristina Carroll - Odd Couple

Even grumpy old Bridge-Trolls deserve a Valentine.

Kristina Carroll - Spooning

It's past the halfway mark- time to break out the bad puns!

Kristina Carroll - Freestyle Sunday

We have a colonial graveyard in the Arboretum near our house. I love the style of gravestones from this era and often walk through the area in the morning. Here's a quick sketch from one.

Kristina Carroll - Tainted Love

Feeding the Beast - pencil

This is about the love of self-destruction. We all have had something in our life; whether a habit, a toxic relationship or a self-image, that is bad for us but we delicately nurture and feed because it gives us comfort on some level.

Pardon the lateness, I actually did do this yesterday but didn't get close to my scanner in time to post it before bed.

Kristina Carroll - Cat Tryst

watercolor

For some reason on my morning walks lately, I've been coming across pairs of cats interacting fairly regularly. And whenever I do, it always seems as if I am interrupting something intimate. They immediately stop what they're doing and stare at me until I leave, and I walk away feeling slightly ashamed.

Kristina Carroll - First Love Story: Part III

 Then one day, I waited for Chris to meet me after school and he didn't show up.  I was a little bit worried but convinced myself that he was just sick or something. However when I called his house later, he wasn't home and he didn't meet me the day after that either...

Later that week, I found out he had been walking Misty Powell home from School. He was no longer my boyfriend.

- The End -

Part I
Part II

Kristina Carroll - First Love Story: Part II

Chris and I talked on the phone a few times.

 

He even came over once to play on my jungle-gym with me.

When he gave me a big, purple ring from a cracker-jack box, I knew it was serious. I mean, our names were sort of the same so it was clearly meant to be.

And for two whole weeks, he continued to walk me home. This was pretty much a record relationship in 6th grade and I was very proud.

( Part I here. )