artist – Naomivaldivia.com

Hey everyone,

Instead of doing New Years Resolutions the same way I’ve done for pretty much every year since I was 13, I decided that I didn’t want to systematically write a laundry list this year. Don’t get me wrong, it’s helped me in the past. I always get closer to my overall goals every year, but it’s too slow moving for me at this point, and I need to manifest things quicker. So I just decided to put my goals into action, and just draw and paint again, without guilt of not getting other things done, like laundry and dishes. Those things get done anyway, because I will eventually run out of underwear, and need a mug to drink coffee out of, and I’ll do it.

This year I’ve made a conscious decision to pick up where I left off when I graduated art school, and create art that is truly part of myself. It’s time now, and it was meant to happen now, and not earlier. I’ve picked up so many things along the way. Found out a lot of things about myself, seen, heard and connected to the Divine Consciousness (interpret that how you will) and have so much positivity and beauty to manifest into my art.

I started The Drawlers last year, but haven’t done much with it…until now. This will be my most busy site this year. I have been non stop drawing and painting in the last two weeks. It’s been amazing! The ideas, the visions, they are constant flowing through me. So expect to see some fun stuff! Click the video below to view what I’ve been doing, and make sure to follow TheDrawlers.com!

I got to check off one exciting thing from my bucket list this past Saturday. One of my favorite living artists, Jasmine Becket-Griffith was not only showing her work at the Wonderground Gallery at Downtown Disney, but she completely TOOK OVER the entire gallery! She was there in person, and I finally got to meet her! She was also doing live painting, which I unfortunately wasn’t able to stay and watch, but I did get to see one of her paintings as it was in progress, and got to see how she works and what her underpainting looks like. This was such an amazing experience. She was so nice and down to earth. She had a line outside with other fans waiting to meet her, but we did get to talk a little bit about art and her process. I would have loved to have stayed there longer and just “talked shop” with her!

Do I look super excited in this picture? Well I was!

Check out more pictures I took at the gallery HERE.

When I met her, Carlos didn’t take a picture like I thought he would. He said that it was such a big moment for me, that a photo would not do it justice. He took this video instead:

You can’t really hear much, but this truly was a significant moment for me and my art journey.

I walked away so inspired, so be ready for some new art from me very soon!

I have the distinct pleasure of being in an art show with artist Luis Tinoco. The show is at Muddy Waters Coffee House in Santa Barbara, CA. If you’re in the area, go check it out! It will be up until November 30. The first time I found Luis’ art online it was this piece:

I was an instant fan! Here’s another one of my favorites:

Mr. Tinoco has been drawing since he was a kid, but got disillusioned with the lack of knowledge he was getting from college. He decided to take a short break and has since been mostly self taught. His work ranges from digital to traditional, but he prefers the traditional “because it’s more tangible.”

Currently, Luis is working on a series of portraits, mainly in oils. “The human face has always been a great fascination of mine. I’m working on a series right now in between creating work for shows, consisting of only females and comprised of influences from Casey Baugh, Shawn Barber, Aaron Nagle, David Kassan, Sean Cheetham and Tim Okamura.”

Here’s an example of a more recent oil portrait: