FANART CONTEST

More details: 

http://painkillerstudios.blogspot.com/2012/07/fanart-contest.html

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK:

www.facebook.com/painkillerstudios2

Gots My Hair Did

My favourite place to take pictures is the women's bathroom at Watkins. If you look at my daily hair snaps, you'll start to notice a theme. :)
I got my new hair courtesy of Miss Sarah Potts.
It's a bit darker than I had anticipated, but I think the warmth flatters me pretty well.
I can't wait to see in a real shoot outside of a restroom. XD

Outfit of the Day

What I wore July 20th, Friday:
Click 'em to expand 'em.

Last Friday, myself and two friends headed down to a little town called Florence, to meet up with some other friends.

The lovely Whitney, myself, and my boo Jessi. <3

It was so humid that night...

We illegally parked in this beautiful alleyway. It made me super homesick for Nashville.

My gorgeous boo Jessi rockin' her 1950's style.

I don't know why we didn't get a picture of Whitney's outfit, because it was super-cute!

I think she was preoccupied with a bottle of wine. :)

My beautiful ladies!

Outfit of the Day and Heelless Shoes

What I wore July 19th:

Click 'em to enlarge 'em.

Last Thursday, my mom and I went down to the dentist at UAB school of dentistry. I was in the office from 8 a.m. til noonish. It was an absolutely gorgeous day.
It was super hot though, and that's why I'm making faces in these.

The outfit isn't super exciting, but I was pretty thrilled about how well these shoes went with these pants.
So far, I've only worn them with skirts and shorts.

Sadly, this is the only picture that really shows them off with the pants.
The sun was in mine and Mom's eyes. Which is why I'm squinting, and why she took the photo crooked.

This is the first time I've worn pants since winter. I figured they'd be best if I was stretched out in a dentist's chair all day.

Again, sun in my eyes. 

So, I went down to visit the dentist, which might be my fourth dentist in two years. I'm going to have to have a TON of work done on my teeth. Two implants/posts, three root canals, three crowns, and fillings on every single other tooth. Plus, I found out I have dry mouth, because of my weird sinuses.

Good news: It's *only* going to be $6000.

Which is way less than the $27,000 that I thought it would be. I thought I'd have to have all my teeth crowned, which is what two dentists told me.

They set me up with a treatment plan, and I'm going to go down and get the root canals. And then, hopefully, the implants.

Yep. Two missing teeth.

So what do you do when you're a broke college student/entrepreneur faced with $6000 in dental bills?
Go shopping of course!!
...
Actually:
UAB is in Birmingham, Alabama. So, Mom and I always stop by the Galleria mall, to browse and spend time together window shopping. We had Chipotle for lunch (our usual) and it was as good as always. We headed to the mall to see if they had those heelless shoes that I was lusting after.

If you've followed me on Facebook, you know:

I've wanted a pair of Jeffrey Campbell Night Walk shoes for MONTHS now. You know... those beautiful, weird heelless shoes... (I've wanted some since Victoria Beckham wore heelless boots years ago.)
The store that I was expecting to have them didn't have them. But another store did. Mom picked them up, and it was like a comedy cliche: she called my name, and asked: "Did you see these?" I literally squealed, dropped the shoe I was looking at, and ran over to her.
I spent at least 15 minutes trying them on, picking the right size, and picking between black and a beautiful goldish nude.
A pricing debacle followed, involving a $59 price tag, a 25% off sale, and a $99 price tag.

By the end of the day, however, they were mine. <3

Buying shoes (or anything) full price is unheard of for me. This was definitely a splurge. I only pay full-price on something if it's a wardrobe staple, or I know I'll love it. (Skin-tight black skinny jeans were $40 last year, fulfilled both requirements, and were worth EVERY PENNY.)

So, I had a bit of... well, not buyers remorse, but I wondered if they were worth what I spent, if I really needed them, or just wanted them. I agonised for a second about the insanity of spending that much on shoes when I'm facing a ton of dental treatment.

But I reasoned: I never usually buy things if they're not on sale. AND, I hate having to live my life working just to pay bills, or just spending money solely on things to perpetuate my existence: food, gas, medical bills.
I can afford it. I don't want to feel guilty. This makes me happy. So, I got them.
No regrets.
Yolo. (< joking. Sorta.)

I also got a pair of shoes that I've needed for a YEAR and have just now found.
Here's the swag list from Thursday:

(Please pardon the terrible photo, bad lighting, and messy room.)

I went to Belk and got:

pink top: $44.00 on sale: $5.99

black and gold top: $34.00 on sale: $5.99

white shorts: $32.00 on sale $8.99

I saved $89.03 !!

.........

wedge shoes, Breckelle's: $30

heelless shoes, Chinese Laundry: $80 (on sale from $99)

..........

(The striped top and pink shorts I bought earlier in the week, but since I haven't worn them yet, I figured I'd add them.)

pink shorts, Marshalls: $12.00

striped shirt, Rue 21: $3.00

(Told you I rarely buy things full price.)

...........

Those packets in the center of the photo?

Biotene mouthwash and toothpaste: free :)

They're special dry mouth dental products. Because apparently, I have dry mouth.

(Which actually explains a lot of things. Why I have a tendency to snore, why I drink so much water, etc....)

Full price, but they will be worth every penny.

JKLFDIOHIFLFKJLFDJKGHKL

UGH.
YES.
THESE ARE MINE.

<3

Photoshoot coming soon.

Outfit of the Day:

What I wore on July 14th:
Click 'em to enlarge 'em.

BFF and I have church on Saturdays, so not only do I try to dress nicer and more modestly, but I also try and dress up, and wear jewelry that I usually don't wear. Most days, I wear a collection of layered necklaces and bracelets that are very much me and go with most of the things I wear. On Saturday, I wore a pretty pink and gold necklace that matched my skirt perfectly.

Believe it or not, it rained like hell that morning.

The people at church no longer bat an eyelash at any of the shoes I wear.

Here's a bonus picture!!

My darling Braylen. 

He's BFF's roommate's dog.

But I love him as if he were my own.

<3
My blood sugar crashed one day, and he barked to alarm everyone, then he laid down beside me on the floor. What a good dog. I have pictures to prove it, so maybe one day I'll get them from BFF's phone and post them.

Shoots x Snaps (plus, a cat!)

Even though this blog is not yet live, I wanna go ahead and fluff it up with content and images.
I've been so busy preparing for the blog/Facebook dual launches...
I also have to do some graphic design work for my boss, paint two 2x2 canvasses for a show on August 11th, finish 3 graduation presents for my sister and cousins, and get ready for Anime Weekend Atlanta. (Which includes, but is in no way limited to: business cards, pinback buttons, free gifts, displays, banners, tshirts, jewelry, packaging...)
AND! I still have to make a logo. (I have one, I just need to finish it up and make a transparency out of it.)

Over the course of this blog, I'll be uploading stuff from old photoshoots (probably unedited) and random snapshots, and stuff on my hard drive that y'all might be interested in. These posts will be called "Shoots x Snaps."

Here are a few shots my sister took that I was planning on using for promo work, and personal stock.
The black cat's name is Sevin, and she's my only baby. <3
(Most of the shots were taken in my sister's bathroom. Hence, the toilet.)
More photos after the jump.

 

Fanart Contest!!!

To celebrate the soft launch of PainkillerStudios.com, we're hosting a 

FANART CONTEST!

That's right! I've been promising it for ages, and now it's finally here!
Check out the Character Page and meet all our characters: Roo, Lillet, and the rest of the gang.

1. Send your best work to PainkillerStudios[at!]gmail.com by midnight, August 31, 2012. (Central Time)
2. After all entries are collected, I'll post all the entries to Facebook, and collect votes. Once the voting period is over, the winner with the most votes will receive:

A Painkiller Studios prize pack valued at over $25

PLUS

a custom anime portrait

PLUS

a custom chibi portrait.

BUT WAIT! THERE'S ANOTHER WAY TO WIN:

Think that you're not good enough? Think that you don't have a chance?
That's not the attitude to have!
We love all fanart of all types. Every person who enters the contest will be entered into a random drawing to win:

a custom anime portrait

PLUS

a custom chibi portrait.

So send your best work to PainkillerStudios[at!]gmail.com along with:
1. Your email address.
2. Your full name/nickname.
3. Your Facebook profile. (So we can link to you during the voting process.)


Feel free to email me with questions.
I look forward to seeing what you guys come up with!!

Love,
Clara

1. Multiple entries are allowed for the voting contest, but each participant will only be entered once into the drawing.
2. Changing the colours/outfits of the characters is ok, as long as their style is preserved.
3. This contest is for fanart of the characters/Clara Andrews/past photoshoots, etc.
4. The characters must have clothes on. No nudes! :)
5. The winner of the voting contest will not be qualified for the drawing.

Things I've Recently Bought:

Yesssssss...... I am the proud owner of both of these.

Shoes: Glaze

Necklace: Rue 21

A psychology lesson, a horoscope lesson, and a very long introduction.

Hi.

My name's Clara. I'm also known by Jenova.

My biggest problem is perfection. The hunt for it, and the lack thereof.
I've heard that "good is the destroyer of great". That spreading your resources, time, and money over "good" things will keep you from focusing on the "great".
But I've also heard "just do it." 
Sound familiar? I love it. For me as an artist, as an athlete, as an entrepreneur, whatever, it's a mantra I repeat often. "Don't think about it forever, Clara... just *do* it."

But then, I second-guess myself. I tell myself "this project still needs this or that." "It would be even better if all the images were the exact same pixel dimensions." Or, "I need to apply the same formatting/filters to all of these."

And so I get caught up in the details, and nothing ever gets done/finished/published, because nothing is ever perfect.

This is a habit I'm trying to break.

How in the world do I find the happy medium between "just do it" and "do it to the best of your ability?" I know I'm good. I want to be great. Great to *my* standards. Not someone else's.

So, even though I don't feel like Painkiller Studios is ready to leave the nest, I'm gonna "just do it."


I'm in the bad habit of trying to *market* myself, instead of just *being* myself. Because I'm OCD like hell, I always try to categorise things... people and their styles... events in my life... favourite songs... personality types and archetypes... I always feel like I need to categorise myself to understand myself. Which is (naturally, for any human being) hard to do.

I'm a Sagittarius. A centaur. Half man, half horse. I was discussing with BestFriend1 that people often act like their signs. BF1 is also a Sagittarius. She's incredibly intelligent, but, as she pointed out to me, she gets impatient sometimes and often finds herself stamping her "hoof" on the ground. BestFriend2 is a Cancer. A crab. He's reclusive, withdrawn, and often "within his shell." It takes a bit of coaxing to get him out from underneath his tough, stoic exterior.... Takes a bit of patience to get to the delicious, juicy bits that he keeps behind a tough shell.

I'm incredibly ambivalent. "Ambivalent" has a tendency to be understood as "nonchalant". I'm not. I usually care so strongly in two opposite directions simultaneously... so strongly that it hurts. BestFriend2 says that I'm "half man, half horse, so of course I have a hard time making up my mind." He makes fun of me for saying things like: "I kinda wanna stay home, but I kinda wanna go out." Or: "I kinda wanna have lasagna for dinner, but I kinda wanna have Asian food."
Naturally, this drive both of us crazy. Him, moreso than me.
Bless him. <3

Personally, this ambivalency translates to:
I'm kinda a goth, but I'm kinda trendy. I'm kinda a girly-girl, but I'm kinda an androgynous badass. I'm kinda reclusive, but I'm kinda an extrovert.
I think I feel such a need to categorise myself, because I *don't* fit into one category.

This was the reason I put Painkiller Studios on hiatus back in 2010, despite its rising success. I couldn't figure out what kind of "look" the company needed. I had paint-covered grungy stuff. I had lacy, frilly, girly stuff. I had steampunk stuff. I had glam, trendy stuff.

And so.... the characters of Painkiller Studios were born.
We have the girly hime Lillet.
We have the streetsmart Roo.
We have the raver Atomika.
etc.
Check out the Character Page for more info! :)

As far as this blog goes...

I promise to do my best to:

Post at least once a week.
Stay current with my artwork and projects that I'm working on. I love you guys, and I know you're here because you're interested in what's going on.Keep you updated on any promotions, giveaways, etc. that are going on at Painkiller Studios.
Post plenty of pictures: Outfits of the day. Daily finds (spiked necklaces and backless boots. yes.), Painkiller work in progress.

I'm also trying to integrate a weekly advice column, so please send me your questions! Email me!
painkillerstudios[at!]gmail.com


With that being said, we have some AMAZING things to look forward to from Painkiller Studios this year.
Prints, Stickers, Clothing, Shoes!,

I look forward to hearing from everyone.

With love,
Clara

Old Sketches!

I was going through some old files on my hard drive and I ran across this gem!!

The first picture of Aphrodite I ever drew, and the picture that inspired all 8 of my Painkiller Studios characters!

I also found a sketch of a nameless rabbit boy that never turned into anything more than a sketch. I tried inking it and colouring it, but it looked way better as a Bic sketch.