acrylic painting – LittleZotz.com

Tag: acrylic painting

Starting 2023 with Dollmaking and “Nobody Saves the World” Fan Art

Posted on January 14, 2023July 16, 2023 by Lauren Spear

I’ve been wanting to make more stop motion animation videos and I’ve put together some jointed dolls to do so with. The lil guy in this video was made with a doll body I received from Amazon and half of a “Vinny the Victim” head/face (my dad had some for some reason lol). Since the face was just a flat half, I used air-drying clay to build the back half + hair for his head. Twice! I had two faces available so I thought having one on a body and one on a “green screen” painted popsicle stick (so it could detach and float around in weird/silly ways) would be cool.

I’m not the best at color-matching flesh tones (this shouldn’t surprise you if you’ve seen me apply makeup/foundation lol) so I ended up with way too much paint mixed in my attempts. Rather than waste it, I used it as the base for a lil painting of “Nobody” from the video game Nobody Saves the World. My husband and I have been playing that game on our Xbox together and love it 🙂

The music is just me noodling around on my ukulele! I only know a few chords (C, Am, F, G, G7, and D) because I’m very much still a beginner. I’ll get better in time!! haha. My Kofi supporters will have access to my ukulele learning journey (I got a uke on Oct. 13, 2022 and have been keeping track of my progress learning an instrument for the first time ever!). Hopefully this video’s music isn’t too bad. Having sensitive ears myself, I do worry! Anyway!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Talk to you again soon!

–Lauren*

Melee Island Map Acrylic Paint on Canvas Timelapse | Monkey Island Fan Art

Posted on September 30, 2022July 16, 2023 by Lauren Spear

I’ll be streaming a playthrough of Return to Monkey Island AKA Monkey Island 6 on 10/01/2022, 10/07/2022, and 10/14/2022 at 9:00pm Pacific on https://twitch.tv/littlezotz Come watch!!

Note: The Melee Island map in my fan art painting is cut off because I was originally going to have it just sort of vaguely in the background with something (someONE?!) in front, but then I liked it so much on its own that I just kept it as is 😅👍

Music = “Horizon” by fanchisanchez via Pixabay https://pixabay.com/music/electronic-horizon-1056/

How to Continue Creating During a Personal Crisis

Posted on April 7, 2022July 16, 2023 by Lauren Spear

This hasn’t been a great year… I know you likely feel the same way (and probably have for the entirety of the 2020s thus far!). We’ve all been dealing with immeasurable stress, crushing losses, lingering grief…

It’s been an especially difficult time for creators — writers, artists, and other creative minds.

In a dose of cold, harsh reality: Freelancers and independent creators don’t get paid if they don’t create! (And nothing adds extreme stress to an already crisis-level emotional situation like wondering “How am I going to buy food/pay bills this month??”). For many of us, we create because we have to in order to survive — it’s the only thing we’re good at.

In a more romantic sense: We create because we NEED to. It doesn’t just help us survive financially, it just plain helps us survive.

Creativity is at the heart of everything that matters. In many ways, it’s the only thing that matters. Especially now.

But sometimes creating things is SO DIFFICULT!! Even when we want to — even when we need to!

When you’re in the midst of a personal crisis (illness, bereavement, sleep deprivation, etc.), it can feel almost impossible to find the will and the inspiration to create anything. I know it has been for me… But, in spite of the difficulty, I’ve been creating a whole heck of a lot of stuff on a fairly consistent basis.

The following are the techniques I use to keep creating, always. I hope that my tips help you to continue creating during a crisis as well.

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You Matter and You Deserve Happiness (Video)

Posted on November 24, 2021July 21, 2023 by Lauren Spear

You deserve happiness. And I hope you feel it soon. If not… Tomorrow. Tomorrow for sure. ❤, L

You’re still breathing!

You are loved.

You’re human.

You are SO much more than your worst memories…

You’re still YOU!

YOU MATTER!!

Music = “Long Road Ahead B” by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incom petech.filmmusic.io/song/3995-long-road-ahead-b

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Autistic Masking and the Fine Art of Emotional Wellness

Posted on October 23, 2021July 16, 2023 by Lauren Spear

I’ve been back at my desk for one month and one week since having my uterus removed (full recovery ends in January, but I was given the a-okay to return to my desk in September). I came back strong! Maybe a little too strong… I had all sorts of things planned for October’s Emotional Wellness month, including a special post for World Mental Health Day on October 10th, but I was a bit too “on” — autistic masking in full force! — a bit too soon and I wore myself out.

I slept a bunch, tried to come back on my other site (HorrorFam.com), accidentally tuckered myself out even more because although I “learned” the lesson my mind/body was trying to teach I assumed I could boss it into behaving on my timetable (big ol’ nope on that one — though I did end up with real stress-induced tears in my eyes for a horror-themed video I made so that was…good…I guess?), and then I got increasingly more agitated until I finally stopped ALL activity and REALLY rested for a while.

Now I’m back again! And I made a new art piece!

However, I also want to fulfill my promise to my readers (and myself) that I would tackle some deeper topics related to mental health and emotional wellbeing. So, rather than the usual Art post format, I’m going to make this post very long and tackle both the artwork itself AND the topic that inspired it: autistic masking and burnout.

I’m going to put a Table of Contents here so you can jump to the sections that interest you (or you can read the whole thing if you skim the ToC and decide it all interests you!):

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Purple Narwhal +Two Kappa | Two Arcylic Paintings (no sound)

Posted on October 3, 2021July 21, 2023 by Lauren Spear

This was formerly a Kofi Exclusive. For more about why it’s not anymore, you can read this update: https://ko-fi.com/post/Im-No-Longer-Kofi-GOLD–Heres-What-That-Means-Y8Y4KPBW2 Thank you for your viewership/support! –Lauren*

*** ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: Purple narwhal thing and a kappa. For the “One-Eyed, One-Horned, (non-flying) Purple People Eater”/ narwhal, I tried using some budget paints from Target (Mondo Llama acrylic paints) to see if I could save some money but I hated them. They were very watery and took FOREVER to dry (which is why I had time to paint the kappa – with my Liquitex acrylic paints – while literally waiting around watching paint dry!). The final result looks “okay” here, but when that painting fully dried it looked so faded and horrible. BLEH! I love the Kappa painting though. I have it hanging above my monitor where I can see it every time I’m at my desk! 😀

Have you ever created something you love by accident while struggling with the art you’d intended to make…?

My Yoshi Fan Art Craft Inspired by Yoshi’s Crafted World

Posted on September 29, 2021July 21, 2023 by Lauren Spear

a green and orange yoshi made from colored fuzzy pom-poms, pipe cleaners, cotton balls, and googly eyes traverse a canvas painted with acrylic paints, battling with a Shy Guy and a Little Mouser (also made out of pom-poms and pipe cleaners), tossing around Yoshi eggs made from makeup removal pads! It's a fun craftsy adventure! And then there's a light blue overlay with some yellow text that says "Fan Art Craft Inspired by Yoshi's Crafted World - LittleZotz.com"

Well, hello there! Just like last time, I’m not so much doing a step-by-step DIY tutorial type of thing so much as I’m just showing you something fun I made in the hopes that it’ll somehow inspire YOU to make something fun too! Because I don’t really know what I’m doing when it comes to art. I just kind of… do stuff.

So, if you look at my artwork and go “Hey! That’s kinda neat… But I bet I could do it even better!” then GOOD. That’s exactly the point and what you SHOULD be taking away from this! Haha.

Enjoy my Yoshi’s Crafted World fan art and then go create your own video game and/or dinosaur-influenced artwork!

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“Bad” Girls Painting: Portrait of Our Cats

Posted on August 31, 2021July 22, 2023 by Lauren Spear

a desk littered with acrylic paint tubes and cups of water labeled "paint water don't drink" with a large painted canvas in the center featuring two dayglo kitties and the words "beep beep" "toot toot" and "waaaaahhh"

This isn’t an art DIY lesson or anything like that. Mainly because I have no idea what I’m doing in regard to artwork and, therefore, don’t really have a whole lot to pass onto anyone teaching-wise. But, I enjoy looking at other people’s artwork and it often fires me up and makes me want to create my own stuff! Hopefully my artwork will have a similar inspirational/motivational effect on you. 🙂

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