I've never painted a man's full portrait before. So I took a chance with Ryan Gosling. Cuz, ya know, not exactly an unpleasant task. Since I mostly paint women, I was afraid that maybe my paintings of guys would turn out all girly and pretty ;-) The scruffy 5 o'clock shadow helped, though. So maybe it's time to expand into painting a guy or two now and then? Just me and Ryan and a little Ella Studio time :-)
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My friend Irazmi and I go way back, all the way to our college days in the architecture program at the University of Arizona. It was great to reconnect back in LA after years of living in different cities. And I was happy to see that Irazmi is still involved with one of her passions, cheerleading. Her work with cheerleading teams connects her with so many amazing people. One of those people is Ava London Doiron-Frankland, the daughter of Michael Doiron and of cheerleading coach Jeff Frankland. Ava bravely battled glioblastoma for more than 2 years. Sadly, in June 2016, Ava lost her fight. This beautiful and vivacious 7 year old went through what no child should ever have to endure. And although I did not meet Ava, I was amazed and inspired by the story of her strength and the endurance of her loving family and friends. You can find out more about Ava's journey on Facebook at Ava's Army, a community that stood by her and supported her and her family throughout this difficult time. I was incredibly honored to paint the portrait of this sweet angel for Irazmi and for her family. May you rest in peace, sweet Ava! Spending special time with little Ava in Ella Studio and sending her and her family my prayers as I tried to capture her essence on paper. Eva's special and joyful smile.
A little while ago I painted a portrait of a cute little pup named Matilda who passed away recently. Caroline, Matilda’s owner, loved the portrait so much, she commissioned me to paint her sister’s dog’s portrait, too, Bear, who also passed, sadly. This is beautiful Bear. After Caroline gave her sister Bear’s portrait, she told me: ‘She loooooooved it. I mean, really really loved it! Everyone said that you really captured his essence. My father explained, “that is exactly the look Bear would give me! It’s just like him!”. My sister cried. And smiled. Hugs. Thanks again for sharing your talents to produce such a meaningful remembrance! This is the best gift ever!’ I was incredibly touched to read those words! Thank you, Caroline, and to your whole family for those kind words! I am very happy I was able to make a difference by bringing some comfort to your family. Thank you for trusting me with your special memory. Working on Bear's portrait in Ella Studio, a few minutes at a time. All the short Ella Studio sessions add up ... Loved painting sweet Bear!
This is a trio of portraits for my childhood friend, Giorgiana. I've known Giorgi and her mom Nutzi since I was a young kid. But I have yet to meet Giorgi's daughter, Yasmin. Hopefully one day soon. And although years have past, and we’ve been living in different countries for close to 30 years, it’s nice to reconnect thanks to the awesome technology of social media. Nutzi, Giorgi and Yasmin: three generations of beautiful women. Giorgi's finished portrait. She was wearing the most fun outfit for a garden party, with silver glittery sneakers and a tshirt with a print of the shoes. I love the mix of the lady-like skirt in the fun bright fuchsia with a playful tshirt and sporty shoes! Super cute! I'm applying a bit of Martha Stewart magic, silver glitter, to her portrait. After shaking off the excess glitter. Cool sneaks! The beginning of Giorgi's portrait, during picnic at the park. Gotta love LA weather, it's always picnic ready! Nutzi's finished portrait. In progress, in Ella Studio. Adding the finishing Martha Stewart touches to Nutzi's gold necklace. Yasmin's portrait, a beautiful young lady. Ella Studio action shots. My Ella Studio's got me covered: cup holders aka brush holders, small water container in the second cup holder (under the painting), color palette and my messenger bag with my portable painting supplies. I'm all set! I could paint anywhere! Yasmin gets the gold Martha Stewart bling treatment, too. But all the glitter action happens at home, in my actual studio - as much as I love glitter and don't mind it all over the house, I draw the line at my Ella ;-)
Ella Studio in session! More Clean Food Dirty Girl T-shirt designs explorations at lunch. Testing out some ideas inspired by bad ass Ruby Rose, who is right on brand for CFDG. I love it when I push my skill into gritty and loose! Ella Studio set up, complete with hot pink tape!
I've known my good friend Terance through architecture volunteer work for many years. We met as volunteers on a Research & Development Committee for NCARB, the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. I know, it's a mouthful! He and his wife Tiffany have become my friends quickly. We really connected over shared values and life experiences. And of course, over architecture. These two are an amazing couple and they have a great family! They're also a pretty crazy and fun bunch, that's for sure. Terance commissioned me to paint Tiffany's portrait, and I have been delighted to paint such a beautiful and kind-hearted lady. Her beautiful spirit shines through, and I am honored to have had the chance to create this work for her. All my love to you both and to your wonderful family!! xoxo And here's poor Terance, his mug being cropped off, in favor of his beautiful wife. Such is life! Once again, Ella Studio to the rescue! Thank goodness for cup holders - they make perfect brush holders! ;-)
You guys, I'm so excited to be working on a commission to design T-shirts artwork for Clean Food Dirty Girl. You may remember my connection with CFDG from this post a while back, when I was so inspired by Molly Patrick's plant-based cheesy sauce that I simply had to paint her portrait using it. Since then, I connected with Molly and Luanne Teoh (Molly's partner) on their Facebook group, and we are now collaborating on artwork for T-shirts and other merchandise to represent the CFDG brand. These are two of the designs I'm working on right now, a mouth hungry for plants and of course, something to represent that yummy cheesy sauce. My day job as an architect keeps me plenty busy. Some days, and some weeks for that matter, it's hard to find the time to paint. But I am determined to keep my passion moving forward, and sometimes a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Enter Ella studio: on days when I'm super busy with my day job, when I have to work late or my days are full of project deadlines and meetings, I carve out a little time for myself at lunch to paint. Sometimes this time is as short as 20 or 30 minutes. Sometimes I manage to paint for my full lunch hour. But no matter how little time I have, my car is always the perfect solution to squeeze in a few minutes of painting. I have a Hyundai Elantra, affectionately known as Ella. And since I started using her as my portable painting studio, she has become Ella Studio! And I've grown quite fond of my little special universe. This is my Ella Studio process, with my little portable painting set up at hand, and taking photos with my iPhone. Hey, whatever works, right? So what if I end up with a rainbow of watercolor stains on my clothes? I mostly wear black and grey anyways ;-)
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WELCOME!
I'm Cristina Tudor, a Beverly Hills fashion illustrator. I paint live illustrations at fashion, retail, entertainment, bridal and lifestyle events for clients such as Chanel, Ferragamo, Piaget, David Yurman x Galia Lahav, Badgley Mischka, Bloomingdale's, Warner Bros. Studios, Diptyque Paris, Ted Baker London, Eric Buterbaugh x Beverly Hills EB Florals, and Survey Monkey, among others. FOLLOW CRISTINA:
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