Here at school I don’t have access to stock piles of gift wrap, ribbon, and tags like I do at home. Instead, I had to get creative for a pre-holiday gift or two. I did some research online to see how others mad unique, but totally on-the-spot gift wrap before… Read More »Resourceful Gift Wrap
Right now I am sitting in my studio taking a short break from painting. The semester is coming to an end but because of all of the interruptions to my work and the work of my classmates, we all have a lot of of work to get done by the… Read More »Exactly two weeks until the semester ends!
Musician and little brother Eric Leva has just released a new Holiday EP, available for free as a download when you sign up for his mailing list. The album artwork for this EP, available only in digital form, was created by yours truly. This painting was executed from start to… Read More »Album Art for Eric Leva’s Holiday EP
Whoa! November just flew by, didn’t it!? I haven’t posted in forever, and for that I apologize; it has been such a busy month. Finally, I have a new painting ready to show. This illustration was done as a special project in our illustration department at school. Every year, the… Read More »Summer Term Cover Contest Illustration
I haven’t gotten to carve a jack-o-lantern in years! Being in College for Halloween every year makes it tough to find the time, the space, the supplies, and a place that allows candles to even show off the pumpkin. But because of the power outages in CT, I got to… Read More »My Jack-o-lantern
Ah, the first snowfall of the season! Who would have thought that it would be such a major storm? As I sit under the threat of loosing my power at any moment, I would like to get in a blog post while I still can. I have for you today,… Read More »A Reindeer Painting to Welcome This Winter Weather
Today I was a figure model for a freshman foundation drawing class here at the Hartford Art School. I was asked by one of my professors, who also teaches this drawing class, if I would be willing to model one of my more frilly costumes for her students to delineate… Read More »I was a figure model today
Yesterday I dressed up for a “Zombie Prom” on campus. It is essentially a Zombie themed dance. There are lots of Zombie-themed events these days, and with Halloween only a week away we all have yet another reason to look like a Zombie! In this post, I am going to… Read More »Quick & Easy Zombie Costume
Today I went on a field trip to the Norman Rockwell Museum out in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. I really love how beautiful everything out there is. The landscape is filled with mountains, farms, and beautiful colored leaves. Fall is my favorite season, and I thought that I would post a few… Read More »A little bit of Fall in Stockbridge, MA
This week in makeup class I learned how to make safe-to-eat wounds using Gelatin and a few other house-hold items! Below I’ve provided a tutorial so that you can make these disgusting edible make-up props as well! Just in time for Halloween, too. What you’ll need: One box of clear,… Read More »Edible Gelatin Wounds! Just in time for Halloween.
I am happy to announce that I am a newly accepted member of the EtsyBloggers team! They are a group of nice people who both sell things on Etsy, and love to blog about their craft. In celebration of my acceptant to this group, I will be writing a little… Read More »I am an EtsyBlogger
This weekend I will be attending New York Comic Con for the first time. I will be representing Nerd Caliber as cosplay correspondant, and will be conducting video interviews all weekend. I also plan to take tons of pictures and, as always, write a detailed review of my experiences for… Read More »New York Comic Con. This Weekend.
This week in makeup class I was assigned the task of designing makeup for a real character. I choose Mrs Meers from the play Thoroughly Modern Millie because she is over the top, and makes for interesting makeup choices. Her character is a retired actress who is white, but is now… Read More »Character makeup: Mrs Meers of ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’
Today I’ve added two new paintings to the Illustration gallery. This set of two was designed for my advertising illustration class to appear on bottles of wine. Our assignment was to come up with two different wine labels, done in a comparable style, that features two different animals: one for… Read More »Paintings for Wine Labels: The Walrus and Penguin
This semester I am enrolled in a stage makeup class. I think this class ties in nicely with my quest to find out how and why people alter their appearances; with stage makeup the goal is often to look like someone else through the application of heavy make-up. This week,… Read More »Stage Makeup: Middle age
Today I have spent a considerable amount of time going over the Galleries on Shaunart.net and re-structuring them to be easier to use, better looking, and more informative. Check out the Artwork Page to see the changes that I have made there, and while you’re at it, poke around in… Read More »Added a New Gallery
Today was my second day in Stage-makeup class where I applied makeup to my face. Today’s goal was to play with my features and make myself look like someone else. This makeup may look strange in a photograph, but from far away (like you would be if you were in… Read More »Stage Makeup: Altering the Face (as in I don’t normally look like this)
Longest title ever. Right! So incase you missed it on the cosplay pages, last weekend I attended The Great New England Steampunk Exhibition (TGNESE). As with any convention that I attend, I wrote a thourough and honest review, posted here, and wore a two newly completed steampunk ensembles, seen here,… Read More »Incase you missed it: review of TGNESE, New Steampunk Outfit, and NC pictorial contribution.
By Shauna Leva Hair is a badge that distinguishes you from others. It has always been that way. You may not even realize that your hair, like so many other elements about your appearance tells the world what group of people you belong to. You might think I’m just stereo-typing,… Read More »All About Your Hair: What it means, how it got that way, and what it says about you.
I honestly forgot that I took these pictures. I moved back into school the day after the storm and there just wasn’t time to upload them at the time, and I just rediscovered them on my memory card. Fortunately there was not a lot of damage to private property on… Read More »A little late, but….Damage During Hurricane Irene.
Decorated confectionaries with confectionary sugar.
This semester I am fortunate enough to participate in two coordinated independent studies on body adornment and modification throughout history and across cultures. As part of these independent studies, I will be writing (relatively…sort of…okay, not really) short blog-worthy articles on my findings. Posts will be located on my primary,… Read More »Two Independent Studies: How We Humans Adorn the Body
The River that runs through campus has flooded once again. And though this happens like every week, this time, flash flooding has claimed more than thirty cars. Public safety, which normally sends out an email to students to move their cars well before flooding occurs, did not do so, and… Read More »Flash Flooding at UHA
The Heritage Farm Pancake House is a beautiful, working farm and pancake house. Homemade pancakes came in several flavors, and are topped with real NH maple syrup. Yum! We chilled with the animals while we ate. They wandered free, but never once begged for our food. Real country charm, that… Read More »A Really Great (and Photogenic) Pancake House
So not too long ago I met the friendliest cow. She and her calf were hanging out by the edge of a fence at a farm near lake Winnisquam. I took the opportunity to get some great close ups. She really loved the camera; look at her pose! What a… Read More »A Very Friendly Cow
I love this picture so much, and am very proud of it. So I would like to revisit its beauty.
I took these photos while in the mountains of NH on Vacation.
Look! There’s a ghost in this one
My family and I spent a few days just South of Laconia, at a resort on a hill. Since I just got a new camera, I took lots of nice pictures. You can watch the slideshow, with bigger pictures here. If anyone wants one of the above photos for a… Read More »Vacation in the Mountains, Pictures Part One: Landscapes & Clouds
I just bought a new camera! It is a Nikon D3100, and it is absolutely wonderful. So far I have been nothing but impressed. Though DSLRs can be expensive, there is really no comparison between a camera like this, and even the best of point and shoots. I decided that… Read More »My Shiny New Nikon D3100 <3
Did you miss the Chihuly Exhibit at the MFA? Well its a good thing I took so many pictures then, isn’t it! Chihuly slideshow The work was absolutely amazing, and definitely lives up to all the hype, if you’re into sculpture. Chihuly’s work has been on display at the Museum… Read More »Chihuly Exhibit at the MFA Boston
I recently completed another commission for CD album art! Here is the finished packaging images. All the images and type were rendered digitally by me. You can find out more about the music and the artist at www.ronbrault.com
The other day I pretty much taught myself how make stuff out of real leather. Or at least, I began to teach myself. I’m sure there is a lot more to learn in order to master the materials, but the basics are pretty simple! So, I bought a very small… Read More »Leather Working at Home: Simpler Than It Sounds
Read the full post and watch the videos of my interviews on the cosplay blog!
Last week was my first time ever at “Look What I made,” the functional, dishwasher safe version of “Plaster Fun Time.” At “Look What I Made” children and their guardians (or babysitters) can walk in anytime, select a ceramic piece to paint by hand, and a week later, pick it… Read More »Look what I made! No, really.
Nature produces all the most beautiful shapes and colors. I believe nothing that man can make will ever be as effortlessly beautiful as nature; therefore, why not use organic materials when decorating your living quarters? In this post, I am going to show you a few really, really easy ways… Read More »Using Nature to Decorate your Home
The long awaited X-men Photoshoot from Connecticon 2011 has been posted to the cosplay blog, here. Along with the photoshoot, I have completed and published the new X-23 costume page, which details how I made my costume, and showcases the best pictures taken of my creation… Read More »X-men Photoshoot and X-23 costume page are up!
The photographer that shot our X-men photoshoot at Connecticon 2011 said that the pictures should be ready to post in a day or two!! I am very excited to see how the shoot turned out, and will post them on my cosplay blog as soon as I have them. I… Read More »Update on Connecticon pictures and Videos yet to come.
Connecticon 2011 was pretty awesome. Want to know how awesome? Then read my full review on the cosplay pages. Click Here to Read Full Review Tell me what you thought of the con in the comments if you wish. 
So I know the fourth was a week ago, but here are my fireworks photos from this year. Videos to come shortly. Aren’t they beautiful?
The first video is of individual fireworks exploding in the sky. Close up and colorful. The second is a portion of the grand finale of this particular fireworks display.
Here is a Commission that I recently completed for a local Real-estate Agency. They wanted three original paintings of one of their client’s homes. I like painting houses in watercolors because the softness of the paint helps to ease the hard geometry of the modern home. These portraits are quick,… Read More »Another Home Portrait Commission Complete.
New painting in the illustration gallery, done especially for the Renaissance Faire. This girl with the flowers in her hair was done in acrylic inks, watercolors, and colored pencils. I absolutely love celtic knotwork, and want to work more on decorative boarders and embellishing my work. This was the perfect… Read More »Girl with Flowers in Her Hair