Princess Zelda

Zelda looks slightly evil but I think it suits her since she keeps getting possessed/manipulated in order to resurrect Ganondorf, or as he's named in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Demise. I haven't finished the game yet, but when I do, I'll have a review for it up on The Verbal Mosh's site. I'm taking a break before I attempt fighting Demise. I know it's gonna take me several attempts to beat him. SEVERAL.

With many breaks in between. Unless, of course, I get lucky. When I played Twilight Princess, I remember feeling like it was easier to beat Ganondorf compared to the guy trying to resurrect him.

Sometimes the simplest puzzles get me stumped.

E.T.A. I beat Demise on my second try. What?!!!! :D

Anyways, Happy almost New Year, everyone :)
-O.Pelaez

Severus

I was watching Deathly Hallows Part 2 again, the other day. I just had to draw this moment as I LOVE this scene in the movie. It's so heartbreaking.

And look! I finished my mittens with the buttons I bought :D

Happy Holidays!
-O.Pelaez

Severus and Lily (c) J.K.Rowling
The above fanart and photo (c) O.Pelaez

So Cold

The other day, I was walking outside with no coat, just a sweater for additional warmth. By the time I got home, my hands were balled up with my sleeves pulled over them and my ears were freezing. Not good.

The latest issue of Knitty is up. I just love "Borough." This has been the first time I ever saw a project, queued it and cast on so quickly. I had been thinking about knitting myself mittens for a while now, and after the events described above, it only cemented how much I needed them. They're just about done too. I need to find buttons. I really want to check out the store, Tender Buttons, but I'm afraid it's a little out of my way right now. I may just plan a visit though, once I've started my new cardigan. I've got all the yarn for it. I need to start swatching and charting my pattern.

I paint a lot of pet portraits. Occasionally, I get asked if I paint people's portraits too. I do. I just love painting animals a lot more, so I don't have as many examples but here's my latest self-portrait. :)

Black Friday

Yesterday was exhausting as I spent the whole day cooking food for Thanksgiving. My favorite dish I made was my Mac & Cheese. I had gotten the recipe off of Martha Stewart's website a while ago. Every time I make it, it comes out so good, cheesy and crunchy. Sometimes I'll top it with roasted tomatoes, sometimes with bacon or like yesterday, I made it plain. Mmm.

I haven't done a whole lot of painting and drawing outside of commissioned work so I don't have a lot to show right now. I did make a new, cute booklet/card that you can see in my etsy shop. From now until Monday on midnight (EST) you can get 15% off everything in my shop by using the coupon code: FESTIVE15 at checkout.

I'm organizing my desk space and trying to clear it of the yarn clutter that currently occupies it. I had gotten rid of my previous pin cushion to use the yarn for another project. So, my pins were just laying about. I just couldn't find any other pin cushion designs appealing to make. Then, I realized I had the perfect pin cushion all along. Alfie! My elephant. The pins on him make an adorable headdress.

100 Heart Giveaway *EDIT* Winner announced

Hi, guys and gals ^^

To celebrate 100 hearts on my Etsy shop, I'm having this giveaway/contest.
In order to enter, all you need to do is leave a comment on this blog post. You'll have until Monday (Oct. 24, 11:59 p.m. EST) to enter. I'll be randomly drawing two winners.

The first prize is an original ACEO* watercolor painting from me of Princess Zelda (because I'm so excited for Skyward Sword to come out.)

The second prize drawing is for a 4"x6" print of my watercolor ocelot painting. 

Good luck to everyone!

:)

-O.Pelaez

*ACEO stands for Art, Cards, Editions and Originals. They are 2.5"x3.5" in size.




*Edit*
Using a random number generator, the two winners are:

For the Zelda painting:
Comment 4.
CraftyMoose Crafts


For the Ocelot Print:
Comment 2.
badwolf


CONGRATULATIONS!

Winners, please get in touch with me so I can mail your prizes out to you. You can find out how to do so via my About Me tab at the top of my blog or at my profile link on the right.

:) Thank you, again, to everyone who entered.

O.Pelaez

This past weekend, I went to New York Comic Con. I had a really great time. For a fuller review, you can visit my podcast's website.

*drum roll, please*

...




Today is finally the day I get to change my Etsy shop name. Previously, I had been using a username for the shop that I use on a bunch of art sites. I thought that was a really good idea for maybe two minutes (okay, I'm exaggerating a bit) but the point is I didn't like it after a while. It was a name that I threw together from something I heard on t.v. It wasn't me. It wasn't my brand.

After waiting patiently all morning for the Etsy admins to give everyone the green light, it's now changed. I decided to make a new banner, too, to mark the occasion.

O.Pelaez 

I think the cat better represents my shop compared to the knitting needles. There's still an element of knitting in the banner, though. I don't think I could ever get rid of it. The background is an abstraction of a knit one, purl one ribbing.

When I went to New York for comic con, I also stopped by one of my favorite yarn shops: School Products. I bought three skeins of their beautiful lace weight merino yarn. I'm finishing up a lace shawl, a Laminaria from knitty.com, and after that, I plan to knit a cardigan with my new yarn. Gosh, I love getting new yarn.

I have two new comic projects lined up to work on and a couple of projects being sent to publishers.
I have 98 hearts on my Etsy shop. When I reach 100, I'm going to be throwing another giveaway. I'll pick two winners this time. The first will win an original ACEO and the second will win a print of my "Ocelot" painting that you can find for sale in my shop.

Here is a detail of my ocelot.

And here is my clue as to what the original ACEO painting will be: she is a princess

 :)

-O.Pelaez

Kevin and the Kitchen Witch

It's been a while since my last post. Here is the cover to a comic I recently worked on. This is my first time working with a colorist. I enjoy collaborations and this was a fun project.

"Kevin and the Kitchen Witch"
Written by Steve Orlando
Pencils and inks by O.Pelaez
Colors by Heather Breckel

Currently, I'm working on another commissioned comic and I have another comic lined up after that.

New York Comic Con is only a couple of days away. It's always such fun. Hands down, one of the best conventions I attend. Last year was even more awesome because the convention dates lined up with the NYC Yarn Crawl. Unfortunately, that's not the case this year. I still may pop into the LYS if my mood deems it so. I really want to make myself a new cardigan, but I might hold off until next year to do that.