greenbeanbaby art

feeling loved...

i think i'm rested up now... still behind on emails and there is MUCH to do artwise, but it felt good to relax for a wee bit... as stated in the [lengthy] previous post, i received some wonderful gifts... this is my favorite, a watercolor illustration by my sweet ramel... it's a character from an xbox arcade game called castle crashers... ramel stayed up all night making it for me- it is now framed and on my studio wall...

ramel also got me call of duty: world at war... i think its the 4th one... we went through the campaign together but now we both are trying to do solo on veteran level [the hardest mode]... i won't share my frustrations about that but i can say the co-op campaign mode is fun!! the xbox live points are always great to have... and the starbucks card is mighty handy.... ramel sure knows his wife, eh?!

my friend ali, gave me her mac laptop... yes, i have a WORKING laptop with more recent versions of adobe illustrator and photoshop, along with a million other applications... i feel so darn cool!!!!!! [and of course, so grateful]... so with the starbucks card, i can get 2hrs free wi-fi and can be like everyone else... sipping on coffee while playing mafia wars working... ali sure hooked me up!!!

my friend esther bought me a ton of tim burton goodness... she knows how big of a fan i am... [anyone else geeked about "9"????? and anyone in new york anticipating tim burton's exhibit at the MoMA???] i don't think i'll take them out of the box and assemble the statues... .i don't THINK... the awesome coffee cup is used daily... and the magnets are just dreamy!!!!! esther is a sweetie...

and ms. andrea!!! while it wasn't for my birthday, she had a gift for me that must be shared!!!! a beautiful GREEN handmade sweater from ecuador!! no doubt, it will be worn sometime this month, as wisconsin weather cannot be trusted... she also gave me some freshly wonderful ecuadorian coffee, straight from the country!!! makes ya wanna get your caffeine on, eh?! thank you sweet andrea!!

then matt, a cut paper artist, made me a beautfiul piece of art!! he also lives in new york and i was able to meet him when i was there... he is also an xbox fan so it was nice to meet the guy i play with, in person.... his beautiful illustration hangs in my studio as well... thanks so much matt!!!!

now, i'm off to work on imagezoo illustrations, sketches, and some monkey art... andrea is due any second now... her son, jonathan seems to be taking his time so i MIGHT have time to finish one of his gifts before he's born... but we both are cutting it pretty close!

happy monday all!! and happy birthday to all the july bloggers out there!

someone's site is up

and his name is ramel hill... check it out! its about gamers who dig art... it's been revamped and reworked by the talented nelson polanco... both nelson and ramel have worked quite hard to get it up and running and user friendly...

take a peek and enjoy!!

ps. next post to be about diego :)

a gamer [not] by nature

here's a little history about how greenbeanbaby got into gaming... we'll start back... wayyyyyyyy back... i was born in 1981.... and that was right around the time atari systems and games were all the rave... i was far too young to enjoy them... and although my parents were merely 21, neither were into games...

growing up, our family played a few board games... like pictionary... pictionary was often a mix of emotions... i mean, i was the artist so this was the right kinda game, right?! sadly, no one could really regonize my drawings so my team would lose... and my team's loss left me in tears, not to mention frustrated... pictionary became the game everyone dreaded... i wasn't a good loser [and at times, i am still not]... eventually, my sister and i resorted to a card game called "war"... that didn't require much havy duty strategy...

by 6th grade, i got to see what an atari looked like... maybe it was earlier but my memories revolve around 1992... we'd go to a friend's house and play pitfall or seaquest in the basement... classic! we'd even play on a black and white tv.. it was fun times, but by no means was i a good gamer... pac-man... did i ever win?! or what about river raid?! good thing atari had a "game reset" button...

around 1995, my mom started finding atari consoles at rummage sales... she'd find them in good condition although the controllers were not as easy to find... most of them had electric tape near the ends where cord meets controller... [hey, you know what i'm talking about!] she even found a sega master system... i swear, i thought that console was modern and IN... well, i think we were still nearly a decade late...  did i complain?! no way, jose! in fact, despite the fact we lived in a ritzy suburban area, i gloated about our many gaming systems...

still, i wasn't good at the games... in fact, i didn't become semi-good at SOME kinda game until i was married... so that was in 2004... we got a gamecube and ramel began me on mario kart, mario parties, and x-men legends... ask him how our early days of gaming were... fights about him killing all the bad guys and not giving me a chance left us worn out... or maybe it was just me... eventually we moved onto a bit of star wars and a few xbox originals....

then 2008 happened... it's a blur... somewhere i began playing halo 3 on ramel's xbox 360... it became an addiction... i started playing more games... and then ramel's xbox became MY xbox [only it was still really his]... what's mine is mine but what's his is ours ;) every few days, ramel would rave about how i needed my own system... in fact, we know a wonderful new york couple who each have their own... i think it was them that gave ramel hope that one day he'd not have to share his... i just wanted to play...

so you know what happened? ramel surprised me... with my very own xbox 360... as cole would say [from gears of war] YEAH BABY!!!!! IT'S ON!!!!!!!

so yes, i am doing artwork... a little slower today but don't worry, i won't give up my artwork to play games... i mean, i still couldn't beat one round of kung fu kid... still, the love for gaming runs in the family now... diego was so excited to play legos batman that he fell and "kissed" our kitchen floor... he was sad for only a moment... and he sat down to play games with a swollen lip but happy anyhow...

and i'm just happy to have my own system in my own studio with my own copy of gears of war 2...i wenet from owning atari systems to a sega master system to a nintendo ds to an xbox 360... thank you babe!!

ps. not all pictures match the paragraph below them... i just wanted to show off my atari games- and allow you the remember those days in the 80's...

gears of war 2

yes, i'm gonna be getttin' my gamin' on tonight and tomorrow... we got the game the minute it came out [midnight] and played horde mode... can we say, hot diggity dog?!

so have a wonderful weekend... we will ;)

ps. this illustration took only an hour... inspiration from such a gorey but awesome game

facts from the greenbeanbaby world

1. i'll be having a greenbeanbaby etsy clearance sale next week from tuesday, august 26th to friday august 29th with more goodies to be added

2. currently, i'm in love with the two shows "extras" and "flight of the conchords"... hilarious stuff!!!

3.isabella is a girly girl for sure!!although she hates when i do her hair in a bazillion pigtails, she will patiently sit as i put on a new pair of earrings for her... or to get her toenails painted...

4. like her brother, she now wears a necklace, which used to be mine... diego stole my monkey charm and she stole my butterfly charm ;)

5. i mistaken for a boy on more than one occasion when i was a kid.... if  learned that saying my FULL name [middle name ANA included] was crucial for others to determine my gender... [you can see more childhood photos here]

6. as a kid, i hated wearing my purple snowsuit.. i also didn't like brown cordoroys, winter boots, legwarmers, furry coats, and jogging pants... now, i just don't like snowsuits and jogging pants...

7. a sweet friend met via xbox live sent me an awesome gift... NINTENDO DS!!! i did a "ramel move" and bought a slew of games

8. i am not very well coordinated when it comes to monkeyball... but i'm stuck on mario party!

9. diego likes seeing other people HAPPY... sometimes, he tells me things like "it's okay isabella can hit me  if she want to" because he likes seeing her giggle... or "it's okay, logan [his cat] can bite me if he wants to"

10. speaking of diego, this kid needs a twin sized bed... his toddler bed is all too small these days...

11. diego and isabella are going to be the only kids in the greenbean household... two is enough for us!!!

12. isabella can sing the spongebob squarepants song pretty well, along with several they might be giants songs... you have to check out some of their podcasts!!! 

13. sweet simone sent diego a wonderful "get well from surgery" package which included chocolate not shown... don't worry, i didn't eat it on him... btw, he loves these books!!!!! thank you, simone!

14. i'm finally catching up on illustrations, swag, surprise packages, and contest entries [including ramel's monthly contest and a submission to a magazine]

15. and overall, the greenbean family seems to be doing pretty well... we've been doing alot of park adventures and family time... it's always wonderful to see the family happy, ya know?!

this is how guys

 

think they can get their girl into gaming....

and well, it worked...

the love triangle

meet zelda... she's a princess from the nintendo world who happens to be dating a fellow named link... but she's been having an affair on the down-low with another guy... and she isn't too happy to find out that he's cheating on her too!

here is the two- timer... his name is gaara and he is from the naruto world... once a bad guy, and later turned good, his evil ways still haunt him... on occasion he falls into his old habits of harming all who are on his path... he's dating two girls at once and loves that zelda is so angry... he likes when girls are angry...

but then you have luring cortana... she's from the halo trilogy of the microrsoft world... she knows that if she offers sweet treats to gaara, like chocolate covered strawberries, he will date her instead of zelda... it's quite the competition...a princess elf vs. a fictional artificial intelligence with female programming....

it's not like gaara is all that worth it... but here you have the love triangle made in cut paper and still to be asembled into one illustration with a unified background... it's for "the big three" contest, in case you want to participate too!

lastly, i am sorry that i've been slack with blogging... typepad seems to go slower these days and blogging takes much longer to upload pictures and overall post.... i do have a few kid videos on my flickr though... still, i'll try to post more, especially as i get ready for a new etsy shop re-stock... the date to be announced soon!!!!

nariko and the red ring of death

thanks to ramel and his new gamers site and blog, i've been inspired and motivated to create some game related artwork... in fact, he is requesting submissions from all sorts of artists and i'm joining in on the fun.... it began with my kratos holding his teddy bear and now, here is nariko from PS3's heavenly sword. She is, apparently, stronger than kratos and can fight up a storm.... while i never played the game, i do find the images of her intriguing and fascinating... the gal has alotta hair and it's a wonder she can fight without it getting in the way... still she is female warrior who [thankfully] doesn't look like she could be in a playboy magazine [as most games tend to make the women quite top heavy

my nariko is giving herself a haircut... she is tired of playing on the swings and getting her red strands stuck around the pole.... she has scrapes on her knees from tripping over it... she gets migraines at such a young age from the weight and she goes through shampoo bottles daily.... even her mother complains of finding LONG pieces of hair all over the house... often her vacuum cleaner gets clogged from this issue... so nariko decides to chop a few inches with the scissors [although her sword could have done just fine]

but as i like to work on art when the kids are asleep, i enjoy playing a few games on the xbox 360.... yesterday, ramel and i sat down to play some halo, when  all of a sudden, our game FROZE.... we shut the system down and restarted it... it froze again... one more time.... frozen...  finally, we turn it on again only to see the RED RING OF DEATH... the dreaded red ring that blinked where there once was green.... i couldn't believe it... GOSH DARN IT!! our first night to play halo together [ramel's been busy] and i just got my level back up to an 18 when we get this dilemma?! NO FAIR!!!

yes, i'm whining... and yes, we  will get the xbox repaired... but i have to wait, perhaps up to two weeks... phooey.... well, at least i can catch up emails and projects without any excuses.... :p

kratos- god of war

meet kratos... he is the god of war... well, in my version, he isn't the god of war yet... he's merely a boy, angry that his mother insists on him cleaning his room again.... he's upset that he is blamed for the mess in his room as there are little creatures that are the cause... his mother cannot see them though so this is where he begins his training on combating ugly demons... it is at this age, where he finds he is destined to be the god of war....

and here is ramel's version of god of war... he's a bit more humbled compared to the "real" character but nonetheless, powerful... he is ready to fight any demon that crosses his path but he strategizes his path... and this is much like the look ramel gives the television when we play xbox 360... ramel's illustration is awesome and will be seen soon elsewhere...

and here is the REAL character... or at least a photo of the statue version of him... to be honest, i never played the game... i seen ramel play it on ps2 and it LOOKED good but i never sat down to play it... apparently kratos goes after all the greek gods...

all this began because ramel showed me his sketch and i thought, "wouldn't it be funny if i made a de-emasculated version of this fellow?!"

 

all about comics

"the xmen boy insisted on playing xbox 360 while getting x-rayed"

the illustration is finally completed after sitting on the table abandoned during all the new year moments... the background took forever to choose and of course, it's green... and both the wall and  the ground are the same papers used in the computer illustration and the baby screaming illustration... so, it's not that original but it works, right?! i considered on making a goal to NOT use a green background for a month but it doesn't seem feasible [or i am just too stubborn]... either way, this xmen boy has me revved to send  off some game related illustrations to a few companies... on that long to-do list...

"little wally spent his last dollar on a comic book"

and here we have a coupon holder.... the flash has got to be one of my favorite characters  in the dc comic world... if diego was to be a superhero [in the dc world], i'm pretty sure he'd be like wally west here... i'd like to be hawkgirl [without being a traitor].... most likely ramel would be superman, since he tends to go for those leader roles... isabella??!! hmmm, i'm not too sure on what she'd be... batgirl? however, it would be so cool to have the money that batman has and the cave filled with gadgets... and of course, having a butler who could do all the chores and rid the cave of pesky spiders and bats... you must admit though, living in gotham city or metropolis is quite hazardous... home owner's insurance as well as life insurance must be pretty high... [but if we had the money like batman, that wouldn't be an issue, eh?!]

so, what sort of superhero character would you be if you lived in the comic book world?????

[today has been brough to you by the letter x... and the number 22- HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO MY MOM AND POPS WHO HAVE BEEN MARRIED FOR OVER 23YRS AND TOGETHER FOR 3 DECADES]