Amber Art NYC

I am so happy that 3 pieces of my art will be at Paper Doll Vintage in Sayville, NY. Art by Amber D'Amato These 3 pieces of art are for sale in the month of April 2016 at Paper Doll Vintage. The opening will be on April Fools Day and light refreshments will be served. I hope yummy cheese and wine. Ha! Where: 23 Main Street, Sayville, NY 11782 When: Friday, April 1, 2016 Time: 6pm to 9pm About the pieces in the show: Astro Pointillism : A stream of consciousness drawing on black paper with white ink. 9x12 Retired : A portrait of a retired circus beauty. Watercolor pencils on sketchbook paper. This one is neat, it has secret sketchbook drawings on the back of the picture. Extra bonus especially since I never took a picture of them before I said goodbye to them... 8x11 The Grave Joke : How do you feel when you have to endure a bad joke? Ink illustration and oil pastels on tan toned paper. 9x12

The Grave Joke by Amber D'Amato I am no good at fake laughing. I try to smile and attempt to be polite, but overall, I have no idea how to respond. I think she perfectly captures how I feel in moments I have to endure bad humor. Even one eye is off, kinda like a twitch...

Orisha Oya by Amber D'Amato I wanted to create a series based on my favorite strong ladies, Bride of Frankenstein and Lethe . I painted this beautiful woman who has one foot in the dark and one in the light. (Although, you can only see her face.) My friend said my new lady reminded her of Orisha Oya. I researched Orisha Oya, she is a fierce and powerful female warrior who also protects the marketplace and the people who have passed on. She has one foot in life and one foot in death. I figured that was a perfect correlation. I viewed her as a special deity, balancing the darkness and lightness within her and externally. One thing I did not expect though, when the lights are turned out and I view the painting her eyes stand out. That creeps me out a little bit. I think I am a little scared of her. Haha! Oh... But I think she is beautiful and she is special to me. Maybe she'll protect me in the marketplace regarding my art? Or maybe she can be a talisman to activate my ...

Strength by Amber D'Amato She is one of my favorites. For a painting to be a favorite of mine it has to come naturally. This was effortless. I created it in one day.  I wanted to create a picture where the ground looked like it was cracking open and gold was spilling forth, but like, emotional gold. While I searched for a woman to paint on Pinterest I stumbled upon a photo of a woman looking resolute and stoic.  The photo of the woman I used looks different, and more elegant. This one is more earthy. She looks more like the gorgeous  Janelle Monáe and that makes me happy.

Mare by Amber D'Amato I wanted to draw eyes that were not human. So I chose to capture a horse's eye. It doesn't really look all that weird or wild or unbelievable. I think I should have made the eye color lighter so that you can see how different the pupil shape is. Just so you know, I am not complaining, I actually like this girl. I think she's pretty and pretty cool... I mean warm... I love those warm browns.

Yupo Paper again! I used a valentine gift of homemade watercolors using Gamblin pigments. It was fun to use because it was such a vibrant and colorful experience using them. Below are watercolor sketches of a college friend and some random figure. Liz by Amber D'Amato Liz by Amber D'Amato Hot Chick with the Flu by Amber D'Amato

Homemade Watercolor Painting by Amber D'Amato For Valentine's Day I received homemade watercolors made from Gamblin pigments. I thought that was such a thoughtful and wonderful gift. A friend of mine who I have drawn and painted, Kristyana, said that I tend to draw soulful and vulnerable women. I think she's right. There is strength in choosing to be open and vulnerable and not letting it kill your soulfulness. I feel that's where I am at right now.

This is my attempt at drawing an angry face. Instead I think I captured an alien version of a concerned Anna Faris.  I love the idea of someone's skin being a cosmic landscape.  Galaxy Babe by Amber D'Amato

Does anyone use Phhhoto? You can make cool GIFs on this cool phone app. You can also view them online,  http://phhhoto.com/emberamber . Happy GIF-ing! =D

Tears of Gold by Amber D'Amato Sometimes titling pieces is difficult. I don't know what to call them and try to think of an emotion I was feeling while making it or a person it reminds me of... As for this, I saw a pretty photograph of a woman with gold dripping from her eye on Pinterest. So I loosely used her face as reference and drew her and paid attention to the shadows on her face. Other than that, it looks nothing like her. I don't feel sad. I don't feel any mega strong motivation to create this from a deep meaning. The actual motivation was, "that gold is pretty and her teeth are kind of sexy and weird." Ha! The fact that I chose oil pastels as my main medium makes me think that this was just as fun and simple as applying lipstick to my own lips. I always wanted to be a makeup artist. I love makeup! I used to wear cool eye makeup all the time. That is not the case anymore. I rarely wear makeup. My passion for it kind of died in 2011 or 2012? I n...

I repurpose cardboard and use it as a substrate for pastel drawings when my artist block visits. I was having an artist block and viewed my sketchbooks and canvases as too precious to use. I was packing a box and I ripped off one of the limbs by accident. I took that fold and decided to draw on it. I ended up drawing on slices of cardboard boxes, cut up tampon boxes, and tissue boxes that led to creating uninhibited art.  Perhaps uninhibited is the wrong word when describing subject matter, since they are pretty quaint pieces, nothing too wild, although, now that I wrote that I will be thinking of something wild to draw.  Cardboard usually has beautiful warm brown tones that is perfect for charcoal, soft pastels, hard pastels, or oil pastels. So if you create something you don't care for you can give it to someone but also have the satisfaction of using pastels and beautiful colors spread across the board without worrying about making a piece perfect.

I feel honored to share that a painting of mine is in Cloth Paper Scissors' March/April issue! I am kind of bummed about the quote. I did not know that the question they asked would end up being published. Ha! Oh well. You live and you learn. Aside from that, I am beyond happy that I have my work in a magazine. Cheers! Here's to hoping I'm published more and that all of our dreams come true too! =)