Spitting Image: I Am Batman

So I have been wanting to do a split face Batman portrait for a long time. I always imagined that if I did draw it I would choose my 2 favorites……Michael Keaton and Adam West. Well the best opportunity presented itself to me and pushed me forward to get this portrait done and off my bucket list. That inspiration was my best friend Regina.

See Regina has been a friend of mine since freshman year of high school. I am the fairy goth mother (aka godmother) of her daughter Ava Nicole (see that middle name.. its after me).  She was the maid of honor in my wedding.. although she didn’t end up making it down the aisle as she was in the hospital having Ava ha ha. Miles apart or time passes and we are still just as close as we ever were. We have been through so many fun times, got each other through the worse of times and have shared so many milestone moments.

Well, Regina is going through one of those milestone moments right now with the purchase of her very own home. She has been a renter for many years and can finally purchase a house. Knowing her for so long I know what a huge step this is for her and I am super proud of her. I decided to make her the most unique house warming gift I could think of. Seeing she is the biggest Batman fan I know and has been for as long as I have known her, I decided to push myself to do that Batman split portrait for her! All she knew was I was making her something for a housewarming gift but didn’t know of what. That was until I finished it and sent her a photo of it today.

Her reaction “OHHHHHH my god! I LOVE IT!”

I call it “I Am Batman” (as Regina and I both feel these 2 are the real Batmans ha ha). It was done in pencil, charcoal and pastel chalks.

I am looking forward to giving it to her in person this weekend! Prints and t-shirts will be available in my Etsy Shop for you fellow Batman geeks out there!

Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole

 

Remains: 10 Year Anniversary Gift

Over the weekend we drove out to visit our friends Mike and Heather. We joined them along with their other friends and family to celebrate their milestone 10 year wedding anniversary.

Heather’s Instagram post showing all of us at their wedding in 2006 and then all of us celebrating their anniversary now in 2016

 

My husband and I decided to make them a gift. I got to thinking of various ideas and then it hit me.. our recent Philly trip with them!!  Then I thought how perfect it would be to make one of our wood wall hangings of the Philly Love statue. Not only because it says Love on it but also because we shared a pretty funny adventure trying to see the real thing (due to road construction and a man dressed like Jesus preaching and praying with people around it). Needless to say we did a lot of drive by photo taking of the statue and never actually got to see it up close.

So Frank and I got to work. He got the wood, I drew it out, he used the saw to cut it out, he sanded it and then I painted it. We decided to use a gloss top coat to seal it because the real statue is actually very reflective and shiny.

They loved the gift. Heather opened it and immediately started to crack up. She totally “got it”. She even started planning out where she wants to hang it in the house.

It was a great time with great friends. So happy to have them in our lives. Here is to many more years of friendship as we all grow old together.

See more of our wooden wall hangings in the Remains section of my portfolio website!

Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole