Assassin girl Snake Belly

Snake Belly is sister piece to Blue Face Killer. I started it some time ago and after a time of not working with my oil paints, I have finally finished it. I had gotten used to working with acrylics for a while and just let it go. This piece is 24x36 on masonite. from now and into next year I plan on working on some of the larger pieces in oil that i have been neglecting.

New works!

If I were a man( I would give you yellow roses) 11x14 acrylic on canvas
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A commission for a very nice man6x9 acrylic on canson paper , he asked for a holy crocodile and it was a real fun painting to do

DCAC Wall Mountables

I painted a new series of acrylics for the DCAC wall mountables show in Adams Morgan called the albino series. All small paintings , small enough to fit a 24x24 inch space. The show is up until Sept 1st. Opening night was really wonderful and I'd like to thank everyone that came to see me. I was feeling pretty special for sure.

The series includes

White bread vs. white corn taco shell a triptych on 2x3" boards



Dinocorn and Dragoncat 2x3"



Saber Tooth Gopher 3x4"


ready to fight .. Shark vs. ?? 3x6" and Flora and Fauna3x4"



Just call me Al 3x7" and (squid) Battle Bino 3x6"









12x12 Battle Royale aka never bring a knife to a gun fight

The Daily Campello News Happy 4th of July!

Lenny Campello posted his top ten picks from Artomatic 2009 and I am so proud to have made the list,chosen from out of over 1000 artists. If ever I had doubted quitting my job to paint full time, this blew it out of the water. A very favorable review for sure.


Jeannette L. Herrera - Space 210 on the 2nd floor. This blue face killer is all over the map with her artwork, and yet she covers that map very well. She makes and sells everything: T-shirts, buttons, stickers, skateboards, shoes, custom made frames, etc.

She is a GerhardtRichterian artist in the sense that her artwork is about what interests and makes her tick, not what the critics dictate. I love the energy and drive and zeal behind her work; it's like an artistic hurricane in violent motion at all times.

I know a lot of accomplished artists, now in the October of their careers (the best time for hurricanes) who wish they could find a way to rediscover 10% of the energy and intelligence that Herrera drives through your brain with paint-stained nails in each of her paintings.

2 new acrylics~ as per request

For my friend Snoopy. He wanted one of him and his two boys. He bought G-Luv and liked the style. He's a pretty debonair gangsta fella himself so I tried to keep with his style and he loves classic cars , was a mechanic until a serious back injury kept him from that , so I put 2 of his cars in his kid's hands.



This painting is inspired from a friend's favorite Black Flag song. Police Story

When this tattoo is all healed up I will post it here. James tattooed a penguin on my arm that says SLIDE beside it. I have always been fond of the power animal and it made me laugh a bit too. James Marlowe is a really kick ass tattoo artist in Fairfax Va. If you would like to see his portfolio please click here
This is a 9x12 acrylic on canvas , you may not be able to tell in this photo but there is the smallest Virgin of Guadalupe on the gun handle

~Portrait work

I love to paint portraits , truthfully not everyone's portrait because some people like a straight portrait. I understand that but I prefer to work on something a little different. When i meet someone I am taken with for one reason or another or when i get a commission and we click then I want to paint your portrait . I want to see if what i see is what you see and I've been lucky to have fun clients, great friends and just a great desire to keep painting. Everyday i feel I improve and its a very good feeling.



~ Everybody wants to rule the world, a portrait
I have yet to take a decent picture of this but I finished a portrait of my very good friend Jason Von Victor. When we met I was immediately taken by just , that way about him. What a truly lovely person. Smart assy and hilarious , serious and not so much all at the same time, Not to mention the drive and the passion .... what a refreshing fucking human being. Some people seem to go by , without an appreciation for the greatness around them. In order to raise yourself to a better standard you have to keep your eyes wide open. See what's out there and try to learn from it , though you may never reach that goal you know that at least you haven't missed out on an opportunity to just learn something. Let it pass you by and mediocrity will eat you alive. He seems to me to be the kind of man that is always learning , or trying his best to anyways. Meeting him made me want to paint him and I hope that its a compliment for him. It is my first ever portrait in acrylic paint. Being as that i can't shake this cough I have been staying away from the oils.
(Painless J ), "Welcome to your life"


Jason Von Victor is a tattoo artist at Marlowe Ink . He has been tattooing my latest traditional pieces on me and I couldn't be happier. You can see his many talents posted at the Marlowe link where you can see his portfolio. The traditional pieces I painted around him are pieces that represent different parts of his life. I had talked to him prior to starting the portrait and got an idea of what I wanted to do and how it should look. This is also my first portrait in acrylic. I usually do them in oils. I prefer not to do a straight portrait , not that i don't appreciate the skill it takes to do that , it just seems to lack that certain something that says that I had a hand in it.

Other portraits I really enjoyed doing were Mrs. Batson
Commissioned by Allen Batson in remembrance of his mother. I painted one for him and he had me do one for his brother too. He came to me with the queen of hearts idea and all i wanted was to do her some honor and not disappoint him. You can only hope that you know what is going on in your clients mind and that you had a good connection. He was very pleased and that made me very happy. I definitely felt close to her and even missed her when she was gone. The frames I made from bass wood and plaster and then silver leafed them. Mrs Batson was quite the card player , so i kept with the theme.



A portrait of Martha


Martha's mom Nancy came to me with a request to paint her daughter so she can remember 21 year old Martha for always. Martha is the most together girl I have ever met. Mom and daughter both made me smile a lot. Nancy said ... this is the face that Martha makes to me... its that face , the " oh mom" face. I jokingly said , "we'll call this piece... Shut up Martha ! Just shut up!!" Needless to say , those two were a blast to work with

Katie~~~the tasteful nude portrait
always fun to paint...

Katie , so young and lovely and just too much fun to be with. Seriously her youthful exuberance is like magic. You just can't help but fall in love with her. An excellent model and a good friend. The skin tones were really fun to paint. I wish I had such pretty glowing skin.


Self Portraits
you can see my self portraits in some of my older posts.

Shows at The Phantom Gallery/ Orange California

Phantom Gallery
2736 East Chapman Avenue
Orange, CA 92869

The Phantom Gallery and I found each other on myspace when they posted a bulletin about an 80's show they were putting together. Since there is a slew of 80's paintings floating around in my head , I was in heaven when I heard about it.

It came from the 80's had a great turn out and I was happy to be a part of it. They did make a little video of all the pieces and let me tell you , any 80's fan will be over the moon to see what some of these artists came up with. There is a Jason "Bear"hese that just about killed me when I saw it. Look for the Hellraiser reference in one of these pieces.... it is awesome! Too many great pieces. I really wish I could have been there.










The pieces I did were small and honestly just more manageable a size to mail so far away. Otherwise I would have worked on a larger scale. I have had on my plate for a while an oil on masonite "Little China Girl" but since I had such a short time to get these out I re-started the idea in acrylic on a 6x9 canvas



Then my love for Prince could not be left out of such a great 80's event and I decided to combine 2 favs.

When the Doves Cry Purple Rain" 6x9 acrylic on canvas





Last night was the opening night for A salute to Cthulhu the Squid God
I really had fun painting this and it sold before the show even opened. Made my day!
5x5 acrylic on hardboard.


"Cthulhu takes a day off"






John Colle Rogers , The owner of Cthulhu is one of the most awesome people I have met, even though not in person, we had great conversations by mail. I got a glimpse of some of his work and I loved it!! Unicorns , muppets , and metal works of art..... so dope! "I do custom ironwork to pay the bills, fancy hand forged gates and railings. I get paid to play with fire."
SO here are a few of his works that I think you will love too.















you can read more about John Colle Rogers and see some more metal work here

my zazzle store

I have been very excited about all the options my zazzle store gives me in creating shoes, shirts, skateboards and you name it. One of my customers took the cutest picture with her new shirt on.
I'll post more as I get more people shopping but in the meantime.... Thanks Kristine! It looks freakin awesome!


click any of these banners to go to my zazzle store!




Nick and Keller.... what a couple of cuties!

more zazzle awesomeness!

The story of the assassin girls

After not painting for a number of years , the piece that started it all again for me really was the BlueFaceKiller painting , (" 2006 oil paintings of “Assassin Girls”—carnivalesque, weapon-wielding creatures inspired by the Japanese art/crime flick Pistol Opera") After an attack and subsequent traumatic head injury, I chose to pick up my brushes again and use painting as part of my healing process.
Being single and living a clean lifestyle, choosing to be celibate and even more so choosing a reclusive way of life, I was inspired to paint once again. I started painting on a daily basis and until all hours of the night.After one night of watching the Japanese stylized art film Pistol Opera , I was flooded with images of assassins and a little hippo dog warrior that had been previously invading my mind and immediately BlueFaceKiller,100,000 eyes and Snake Belly had formed in my head. BFK was the first to find its way onto masonite as it was the most clearly formed image in my mind.
Someone seeing my BlueFaceKiller painting at the shop I worked at had found a venue for my artwork in my first show in 2006 dubbed "The Art of Jeannette L Herrera ( Two Years Sober)" which I found amusing and honest at the same time. Some people took it more seriously than others. Two years sober managed to get some interesting images out of my head.

BFK is 24x36 oil on masonite. Some inspiration was given to me from Tobias and the Angel by Andrea del Verrocchio and it was also one of the earliest recorded paintings that Leonardo DaVinci's hand can be plausibly identified (as DaVinci at this time was one of the emerging artists in Verrochio's studio).

The images of the carp on either side as catch of the day , like the carp held by the boy walking with the angel. I liked the light in the eyes and the scales . I had never painted something like that before. The carp is generally a sign of good things , of abundance and wealth. Here the carp are gutted but still seemingly have some life in their eyes while the life seems to be leaving the little BFK warrior at the same time.






Following BFK was 100,000 eyes 20x24 oil on masonite




Pretty Kitty Killer 7x9 oil on masonite




and in progress so far I have Snake Belly 24x36 oil on masonite. She is the sister piece to BFK
making her too precious has been an issue for me and for that reason it has taken me twice as long to finish her.


belly detail , navel eating BFK soldier




floor panels that snake belly sits on , with faux wood grain



face in progress

I will be posting the completed work as soon as I can recover from this bronchitis. Paint fumes just seem to aggravate it.