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Every year Vegan Treats Bakery produces a killer chocolate box for Valentine Day. It’s called Fatally Yours and it’s the most decadent and lustful collection of goodness you can ever get. I illustrated this year’s box and it finally became available (https://www.vegantreats.com/shop) just on time to spoil your lover (or yourself). It’s pretty damn awesome to see my art printed on such a fun product. I have done artwork for Vegan Treats merchandise in the past: t-shirts, hoodies and panties. This is definitely my favorite piece of work for them. Stay tuned for more deadly Valentine products and go get your box now! 

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Some of the products available in my @redbubble shop. Find some cute and affordable gifts ideas at https://www.redbubble.com/people/ceciliagranata?asc=u  Thanks for looking <3 

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Approaching Holidays post! Here are all the old paintings and drawings (and, ahem, a table) that I have left. I would love to sell them and make room in my studio for a series of large paintings I am working on (pics coming soon!). If you are thinking of affordable artsy gifts, these could be them! Contact me at cecilia.granata@gmail.com for info. The heart shaped table was a find at this really amazing recycling material place in Berkeley, called Urban Ore. I purchased the table for few dollars, sand it and painted all over it with a traditional tattoo design. I even made a themed drawer knob and lined the inside of the drawer with a beautiful handmade Japanese paper. Only available if you can pick it up in the Bay Area. The nude drawing is from my first year of college, a charcoal chiaroscuro reminiscent of some classic poses in Italian Monumental Cemeteries. The two still life are assignment from my oil painting class, also in my first year of college. I think they are fun! The last one is a VERY old painting that has been in many shows across the globe. I still think it’s cool. Acrylic on wood, inspired by a Renaissance painting I once saw in Venice. Thanks for looking!

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I have been following a few really fun hand lettering classes on Skillshare. I have always been obsessed with lettering and its many uses. When tattooing, calligraphy, script and elaborate fonts are one of my favorite subjects. There is something about the elegant flow of a well designed alphabet that I cannot resist. I’d love to refine and improve my skills and find a way to incorporate lettering in my illustration range. Here is my first homework from the online class I took (hand lettering for beginners). The process consists of: pick a quote, brainstorm and make a list of terms related to the general concept. It’s a really free step, where you just let your brain roll. Then you create a mood board (I am not attaching it because I can’t find it on my computer) for the general style and feeling you are referring to. Warm up sketches of a couple of the words in different styles...serif, sans serif, ornate, fancy, black letters etc. Once you warmed up and threw some visuals, it’s time for loose thumbnails. The more the better. Pick your favorite 3 and take them to a refined sketch version. Pick your favorite and take it to a finish. I enjoyed this process and got sucked into it, deciding to produce more pieces that I will be posting soon. I liked the result of this and decided to upload it on @redbubble and @society6 to create some fun products. Thanks for looking <3

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I’ve always loved Halloween even though in Italy, where I am from, it is not celebrated. I like the idea of an upside down world, where fear and horror becomes manifest, it becomes acceptable and we can look it in the eyes and are able to make it light and even funny. For a day the worst becomes the norm, we immerse into it and come out reminding  ourselves that we stepped into madness and were able to return from it. Fueled by vampire stories, witches brews and a sweet tooth, here are some fun patterns I came up with this week. Products available in my Redbubble and Society6 shops. https://society6.com/product/bite-me1641896_print?sku=s6-9913852p4a1v45  https://www.redbubble.com/people/ceciliagranata/works/34731049-bite-me?asc=u&ref=recent-owner  BOO!

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I have been obsessing with @redbubble and @society6 lately. I uploaded a bunch of new designs in my shops. Here are some Fall and Halloween inspired designs, now available.  https://society6.com/product/fall-in-love1582508_cards?sku=s6-9772206p22a16v71  https://www.redbubble.com/people/ceciliagranata/works/34296951-trick-or-vegan-treats?asc=u&ref=recent-owner

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I write on a magazine in Italy that comes out every other month. It’s called Stigmazine. A group of girlfriends decided to found it out of the tattoo studio of Alessandra, in Milan (Le Caveau Tattoo). They wanted to create something by women for everyone focusing on the arts, tattoo culture, feminism and more. I was part since issue 0 with an article from California, about various topics. Here are some of the elements I added for some issues: bondage illustrations for my article/review of the headquarters of Kink.com in San Francisco. Go book a tour NOW if you are in the area. Then a photo of my friend Alessia at the Mermaid Parade in NY, about which I wrote another time. For the past two issues I traced a travel itinerary on the West Coast, with soundtrack, movie references and literary companionship included. The hubby was so kind to let me borrow some of his beautiful landscape or street photography  from our trips. (photo credits: Luca Boveri). In the last photo, a sneak peak of part of the next issue: a DIY tutorial on how to make these fashionable glitter bows as Holidays gifts.  Here’s a link to Stigmazine, if you want to check it out, it’s in Italian though. http://www.stigmazine.com

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Graphic doodles

I couldn’t sleep last night so I decided to dust up my skills with Illustrator. I’d like to include more logo-graphic work in my portfolio, keeping a somewhat true resemblance of my regular style but simplified. I though of something it would be fun to design a logo/sign for and came up with the idea of an optician shop. I gathered references from some random eyes sketch that keeps popping out from my drawer. I originally used it to create some hand painted home decor items from recycled items.  Anyway, I think it came out quite sweet, I will definitely keep playing to Illustrator in the future to expand my possibilities. Thanks for looking <3

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Hey you! Roar you! I’ve been really into repeat pattern designs lately. I love the application of illustration on products you can enjoy on a daily base, especially home decor, for which I am a sucker. I am aware this means an unjustified consumerism galore but I came to terms with calling it my guilty pleasure. I also do think that art makes people’s lives less miserable, and the more the better. So excuse me, for introducing you to some bold and bright pattern design that I promptly uploaded on my Society6 store page (link below). If anyone cares about the process, here it is: sketching out ideas while riding BART ( Bay Area Transit) to the doctor for the usual spine MRI because I am a 35 years old living in the body of a 85. Back home, refining the drawing on Photoshop with my adored Cintiq tablet, aka the love of my life. I use very limited brushes even though I’d like to expand. Mostly, a very basic solid line brush for outlines, and another brush that kinda looks like the effect of a tattoo shading machine. All of this is done while listening to either true crime podcasts that partly explain my terror of being alive in general, or music that is rude to my neighbors. I hope you like my tigers and you will buy some rad curtains :-)  Thanks for looking https://society6.com/product/tiger1519606_curtain?sku=s6-9623663p62a208v726

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Editorial Illustration assignment for an article about the physical and mental benefits of gardening. Thanks for looking :-)

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I have been accepted in the artist directory on Contemporary Curator. Here is the gallery with some of my works. It was a nice news, I’ve been trying hard to find my way back into full time illustration and this is a step :-)

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We went to the Women’s March in San Francisco last weekend. It was inspiring on many levels, including this :-)  I made t-shirts out of this illustration as well, available in my @redbubble shop here https://www.redbubble.com/people/ceciliagranata/works/30100451-we-are-not-ovary-acting?asc=u&ref=recent-owner   Watch out, this pussy grabs back!

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I took the opportunity over these few Holidays days to create a redbubble shop. In fact, I created two different ones: one for m illustrations and one for tattoo-derived images. I have a lot of products available, I have ordered a few myself to check on the quality but I haven’t had a chance to see them yet (I am currently visiting family in Italy and getting ready for 10 days in marvelous India). I am happy with the service so far, the range of products is nice and the system very intuitive. I’ve made a lot of sales right away but it should be tested in the long run since most of what I’ve sold was from a single design they featured in the main page. You can check out my illustration shop here: https://www.redbubble.com/people/ceciliagranata

I will be posting the tattoo profile over the next few days. Thanks for looking and Happy Holidays!

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Besides from illustration and tattooing, I do enjoy crafts of all kind, from sewing, to jewelry making, to...refurbishing of found objects. I found a cute heart shaped nightstand table at a local thrift shop called Urban Ore (it’s actually more than that, they take all kinds of things from clothing to building materials and everything in between and sell them for super cheap to encourage recycling. I love that place!). It was originally just plain wood, I bought it for few dollars, sanded it and re-painted with a traditional tattoo design. I paid some extra attention to details, such as creating a heart shaped drawer knob and lining the inside of the drawer with some fancy black and gold Japanese paper. I would love to sell it, possibly in the Bay Area because shipping would be expensive and unpractical, contact me at cecilia.granata@gmail.com if you are interested. Thanks for looking! 

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Just renovated my website, I will add more work as soon as my Children Illustration and Art for Licensing portfolio grows. www.ceciliagranata.com

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My Battle of the Bands sketch cards are now on Ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/garbage-pail-kids-regular-sketch-card-Battle-of-the-Bands-by-Cecilia-Granata/292305859262?hash=item440ec972be:g:VeIAAOSwh1pZ7~Ah

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Vegan Frittata, best easiest vegan meal ever in the history of ever #vegan #whatveganseat #herbivore #plantbased #love #ahimsa #fun #italianfood #recipes #vegansofig #mamatried #instafood #veganfoodshare #crueltyfree #vegancookbook #california #bayarea #eastbay #berkeley #frittata #veganomelette #yummy #buonappetito (presso Berkeley, California)