Band of the Month: Queens of the Stone Age

Haha suuuuuper late with this post but hey, better late than never. Latest band I've been into would be Queens of the Stone Age. Seriously, these dudes kick all sorts of ass. It's fronted by Josh Homme and tends to roatate through members of the back up band, much like another fave band of mine Nine Inch Nails. Anyhoo, their music has been often labled as "stoner rock" although I do despise that title. You don't need to be stoned to enjoy how awesome their albums are. For once I have to agree with the majority of fans, which rarely happens, and say that "Songs For The Deaf" is by far my favorite album of theirs. That's got some well known songs such as "No One Knows" and "Go With The Flow". I just love their overal sound and I've been craving some good 'ol fashion rock 'n roll. Their past two albums have been pretty good as well although not as good as "Songs For The Deaf". Check out their other albums and other artists affiliated with them here: http://www.qotsa.com/ . New stuff will be going up soon after the New Year.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Happy holidays to everyone:) I bring you a random image from one of my favorite movies of all time, The Nightmare Before Christmas from the amazing Tim Burton. Have a safe holiday!

Updates galore!

Hello!
So now that the semester is over, I now finally have time to update on here and on the Flickr account. Lots of stuff on here. Some sketchbooks, other pieces in my Natural History Class, and experimentation on Photoshop. Oh and I will be adding a banner VERY SOON, I promise. It's just managing to find an image I want. Most of the stuff I have been doing is mixed media and photoshop. I'm also looking to do a book based on my eccentric family because:
1. I think it will be somewhat therapeautic for me seeing as I tend to bottle my frustrations in. Not to mention my work tends to be autobiographical in a sense.
2. I did this awesome project Freshmen year at AIB about childhood memories which involved my dysfunctional family. Susan LeVan, my professor, loved it and has been begging me to do something like that since.
Basically, over break I will be doing sketches for it and then for Senior Studio Part 2, the series will begin.
Very exciting things happening. I've finally got a direction, I'm gonna be graduating, and I will finally start submitting things. Overall, things are looking up!

Flickr!!!

Hello everyone!
I started a Flickr account. I'm still trying to figure out the whole flickr badge business for the blog but here is the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashleynicolehenry/ Bare in mind though I have just started this so it's very much under construction. It comprises of some new sketchbook images and stuff I have already posted on the blog here. Enjoy:)

More Stuff.

The top 2 pieces were done on gesso board with newspaper, ink, and matte medium. The bottom 2 are more doodles and things from my sketchbook using the same materials as above and acrylic paint:)

Stuff.

Hey there! So I've been continuing with the mixed media process that I have been on as of late. Mainly working the backgrounds first before placing the image. This has resulted in me collecting almost EVERYTHING around me. It's become a lot more beneficial for me as it helps me notice things I never did before. I've also been getting into weird patterns as of late. This may be due to my Natural History Drawing class. A lot of the plants and stuff we've been using as subject matter I in turn have been using in my personal work as well. I really love the interesting structures that can be found when you look at say a mushroom or flower of some sorts. Particularly with my style they come out as weird abstracted objects that can be used as a pattern. Most of the work is fairly small, no bigger than 8x10. Inks, acrylic, gouache, watercolor, ephemera, and other assorted whatnot add to the process.

BAND OF THE MONTH: Queen

So I figured this would be something else fun for me to put on here. As I have said, I'm a huge music buff. My first love will always be classic rock but I do love my hip-hop, R&B, Pop, and well everything else in between. This month we're going with one of my favorite bands of all time, QUEEN! Let me just say that yes I was one of those people that first got into them when Bohemian Rhapsody was used in that infamous scene in the classic comedy "Wayne's World". I remember watching that scene and rocking out with those dudes. Then my sister was kind enough to give me their greatest hits album and I was hooked. I've recently acquired a couple of studio albums and some live albums. I really wish more people would buy their studio albums. There are some real gems on there besides the hits like Killer Queen, Play The Game, etc. My personal favorite albums would be Sheer Heart Atack, A Night At The Opera, and The Game. Honestly, what makes Queen great for me is how versitaile they were as a band. They truly put the glitter in glam but also knew how to rock you hard. They would go from songs like "Stone Cold Crazy", to ballads like "Somebody to Love", to dance tinged songs like "I Want To Break Free". Also, no one and I mean NO ONE knew how to rock the crowd like Freddie Mercury. The man was a true musician and had one of the best voices rock as seen. He was charismatic, charming, and all around fabulous. He truly didn't care what people thought. It's really unfortunate that most people only have the Greatest Hits albums because like I said, their studio albums, particularly from the 70's era, are FANTASTIC. Their live albums are a great listen as well. Ok so here's my top tracks from Queen in no particular order after number 1:
1. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
2. Tenement Funster
3. In The Lap Of The Gods...Revisited
4. Stone Cold Crazy
5. Dragon Attack
6. Play The Game
7. I Want To Break Free
8. Bring Back That Leroy Brown
9. I'm In Love With My Car
10. Bohemian Rhapsody
11. Somebody to Love
12. Killer Queen
13. Drowse
14. Get Down Make Love
15. Bycicle Race
16. A Kind Of Magic
17. Fat Bottom Girls
20. You're My Best Friend
In closing, I love Queen. The anniversary of Freddie Mercury's death is coming up soon so I figured I would pay tribute to a great rocker. R.I.P. Freddie

Natural History Drawing

These are from a class I am taking this semester called Natural History Drawing. Basically, it's drawing from plants and such. It's a lot fun. I mostly work in inks and watercolor for that class. The first pieces were from a class where we drew from assorted fruits and mushrooms. Very fun. The last image is from a class where we worked in a grid of nine squares, took our best four pieces, and re-worked them to a finish.

Sketchbook Volume 3

Here is some stuff from my last sketchbook I had. They are just some watercolor portraits that I was experimenting with. Basically I threw some color on the page, let it dry for a bit and did the line work. I had a lot of fun with these pieces so I hope to continue with this series.

The Never-ending Shepard Fairey Extravaganza

I'm sorry but I just had to get this off of my chest because I am just SO sick and tired of all of the coverage around this issue. Well folks, it turns out that Shepard Fairey was indeed full of shit and did steal that image of Obama but lied about it to cover his ass(http://www.theworldsbestever.com/2009/10/20/shepard-fairey-tuesday-somebodys-a-big-liar/). Maybe it's just me but, no surprise there. I mean let's be real, if you were facing a million-dollar lawsuit from the Associated Press about copyright infringement would you honestly tell the truth and say yes I did or try everything in your power to avoid it? I'm not saying what he did was right but the fact that people are so surprised by his actions and angered baffles me. Artists have been getting away with copyright issues for YEARS. THIS IS NOTHING NEW and better yet, they make a whole successful career off of it and manage to make a hell of a lot of money. I won't name names but certain people have been making comments about how he used his corporate/capital schemes to make a name for himself. While this is indeed true again I say, THIS IS NOTHING NEW. I hate to break it to ya'll but if you think that being an artist automatically you avoid capitalism and corporate crap then you are in for a rude awakening. The whole gallery network in the end is a, you guessed it, BUSINESS! Not knocking galleries by all means but they are running a business in the end and money is power, especially nowadays. Corporate America is one of the main foundations of the country, hence why the economy is in the toilet. Like I said, what he did was wrong and it's crap but on the other hand this kind of stuff happens all of the time. Seriously people, let's all move on with our lives. Okay, now I feel so much better now that I have gotten that off of my chest.

Academia is killing me.

Hello!
I have had so much to do for my courses over at Lesley which has not been fun, AT ALL. I don't exactly get off on Essentials of Health and Cultural Anthropology. Due to those two classes I have been drawn away from making work for myself or for studio. It's so weird how just having two academic courses distracts me from making work, even when it's two of the easiest courses. Academia is a bitch at times and I cannot wait to be done. Mixed Media is the route I have been going as of late. New favorite tool for paint, the brayer. Seriously anyone into mixed media should take 10 dollars and by one. Also, buy a crap load of cheap acrylic or tempura and go nuts. Throw in magazine scraps, newspaper, candy wrappers, cardboard, whatever. It is the most fun I have had with my work in a long time. Pretty much I have been using a brayer for my backgrounds and doodling over then in my sketchbook. It's been a lot of fun to just let loose. Anyhoo, here are 2 recent doodles from my sketchbook. Enjoy!
EDIT: Added another doodle for ya'll. Just a plain simple one I did in Art Since 1945 last week:)

Old School Part 1

This is work from the past last year from my illustration courses. I still tend to work in this bold line style with brushes, inks, watercolor, acrylic, etc. These are from the classes character design and Obsessions & Phobias. To be honest, I still have mixed feelings on both of those courses but they did help me grow as an artist and come to terms with my style. These are some good pieces that came out of those courses.

Sketchbook Volume 2

Here is some more stuff from my sketchbook. I will be scanning in some more work for next week.

Obama Wins The Nobel Peace Prize

Whoa didn't see that coming in a heartbeat:http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/09/nobel.peace.prize/index.html

Sketchbook Volume 1

Here are some stuff from my sketchbook. Mostly watercolor, inks, and acrylics. Mostly doodles I added color to:

HI HI HI!

My name's Ashley Henry. This blog is a long time coming after getting told almost everyday "YOU NEED TO START A BLOG". Anyway, I'm an Illustrator currently at The Art Institute of Boston and I'm a senior. A little bit about me:
1. I'm a lover of classic rock. It just doesn't get any better than bands like Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Clash, The Beatles, The Ramones, AC/DC, etc.
2. I'm a total goofball and it drives the people in my life crazy sometimes.
3. I'm a huge sci-fi/fantasy/action junkie. It's seriously all I watch and read. Very rarely do I get into chick flicks.
4. I love wandering around aimlessly for hours on end with nothing but my ipod on me.
5. I'm a huge keeper of sketchbooks. I go through one every month and a half or so.
Ok that's it. Now on to the posting of cool images. I'll try to update with work and random tidbits at least once a week or hopefully a lot more frequently. Depends on my workload.

~Ashley