2011- A Big Year

It seems like every time I update here, I am apologizing for not making many updates. Once again, I'm sorry! It's been two months and nothing, although a lot has happened. I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, but if I have to strive to make one thing better this year, it's to update more and be more on top of things art-wise. I'm not exactly lazy or unorganized, but I am busy. My art has to be one of my top--if not THE top--priorities this year. This is my last four months of school!

So anyway, Fall semester has ended. It ended a few days before Christmas last year. I was sad to see it go. I thoroughly enjoyed my classes and I feel like I learned a lot. Ended up getting a lot of good art out of it, as well. Ironically, even though I am an Illustration major, the bulk of that good work came out of my Watercolor II class.My instructor didn't push us to do a bunch of still-life paintings, which was nice and so I ended up with quite a few illustrations, done in watercolor.

Some of the ones I was most proud of:

 I titled this one Briar Rose because it tells the tale of Sleeping Beauty through the use of watercolor and collage. When discussing what I should do for my collage piece in watercolor, my instructor suggested I do something that I could see myself working with in the future. As I've said before, my style lends itself towards children's book illustration, fantasy, and fairy tales so he said I should do a book cover. Brilliant idea! I knew I wanted to do a Grimm's fairy tale, but which one. And I didn't want any trace of Disney (as awesome as Disney is). After much debate, I picked Sleeping Beauty, and decided to read the original story to help bring the piece to life. I also wanted to bring in elements of Art Nouveau because that is such an inspiration to my work. So here we have "Sleeping Beauty" or Briar Rose, which is her name, pricking her finger on the sewing spindle about to fall into a deep 100 years sleep. The string is actual string that I attached to the piece and the thorny vines along with the blue-gold space behind the spinning wheel is all tissue paper. The rest is done in watercolor and ink.

That's another thing-ink! I have developed a passion for using Walnut ink in my watercolor pieces. It gives a very deep, rich, antiqued feel to things which I believe really adds something. Also, this piece started my love of hot press paper. I will never go back to cold press. Hot press is just so much more smooth and works better with my style, I believe.

Another piece I was immensely proud of was the time machine piece:

 First of all, can I just say how incredibly excited I was after hearing this was to be our next project? I was beside myself with excitement! As you all might know, I'm a big fan of a little show called Doctor Who, which is all about time travel. Plus, what is more ambiguous and enigmatic than the idea of time-travel. Since there is no known proof of it, it is strictly up to one's imagination. I love getting to imagine things. And I will admit, our class got into an hour-long (or more) debate on what constitutes as a time machine or time travel. It was so ridiculous, but the good kind of ridiculous. I decided to just be blunt with it and design my idea of a "cool time machine", since it couldn't be the TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension In Space). So here we are. It is shaped like a rusty old metal tea pot because I love tea. The teacups surrounding it are other space crafts. I drew out the machine and teacups in ink first and then blended the ink with watercolor. I really love the look. But my favorite part was doing the wet-in-wet stuff in the background. I added some salt resists for that cosmic starry look.

For our final project, it was going to be a self-portrait without ourselves in it. But no one wanted to do that. We were all fascinated with what the Watercolor I's had done for a recent project. They had to read this book called Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. Look it up, it's very interesting! Anyway, it's about Marco Polo describing all these cities that he has traveled to. It is just entirely detailed descriptions of cities (in reality all the same city) making them sound fantastical and impossible. I can't describe it any other way.

 Sorry about the not so good quality, but this is basically it. Yes, it is finished. I embraced the white of the paper, I guess you could say. It was a conscious decision to do so. I wanted that feeling of emptiness surrounding the "city". This is Octavia, the spiderweb city. It is basically a city of nets and ropes suspended between two mountain peaks over a deep chasm. Scary, right? This is how I saw the city in my mind when I read the book. I don't believe it mentioned anything about floating, but I thought that added an even stronger feeling of precariousness and frailty. Such is life. Again, I used ink for the actual city part and watercolor for the rest. I like how puffy and marshmallow-like the clouds came out. It was a high note to end on.

I start Spring semester on Monday. I'm nervous, only a little excited. This is my final semester of school. I've got my fingers crossed in hopes of a great four months!

Collective Update

I am so, so, so, so, SO sorry! The entire month of October flew past and here we are in November. It's Fall. There is a chill in the air. I am extremely busy with school. It has just been intense. Good, but INTENSE!

So, really, the least I can do is show some of the stuff I have worked so hard on over the past month:

My Illustration: Advertising Art class has kept me sufficiently occupied. It's almost an overwhelming feeling. We had been working on packaging designs for food and beverage items. It was a fun but challenging project, mostly because there is an element of design involved. I designed a label for a Greek-inspired salad dressing and marinade first. It was actually based off of an existing product I found online which featured the Venus statue on the bottle--Not even Greek, I might add. It's called Greek Goddess:

This is NOT the final copy of this, unfortunately, but the main focus is the art. Not extremely proud of this one, but I learned a lot from it.

I also designed a label for a bottle of Iced Indian Chai by a made up company called "Karma":

 I should mention that both of these were done in watercolor/gouache and both are sans text. With the tea label, I was dealing with subject matter that I was more familiar with and liked more, so I suppose that is the reason why I think it turned out better than the dressing label.

Also, for this class, we had to design an ad for John Fluevog's Spring 2011 shoe. John Fluevog is a shoe designer who specializes in very, very unique and flamboyant footwear. The project was based around the contest to design the actual ad for the shoe. See the details here: http://www.fluevog.com/code/fc_briefs.php

This shoe--The Radio ABC Penny Loafer-- is something I would never wear, as it is a men's shoe and is not really my style anyway, but in the real world, you have to design for stuff you don't necessarily like, so it was a little life lesson as well. This is how mine turned out:

 
Compared to some of the others that are in the contest, mine seems kind of dull. You can really tell when I'm not feeling a project. Things just come out "blahhhh".

Then, there is Watercolor class. I truly am enjoying this class. I am almost starting to wonder why I didn't major in watercolor. I have so much passion for it. I am always happiest when I am painting. It's something I can't quite understand or explain. It just is what it is. I just love watercolor!

Our second project (After Skittles) was to paint a still life (I know...Zzzzzzzz) that included shiny, glassy, and sparkly objects. It was an interesting process, but in the end it was a winner. Our still life included a metal teapot (that I love!) that had a slightly ajar lid which made it look like it was speaking. That and the color scheme made me think of Beauty and the Beast. Perfect! I like to have some element of magic and whimsy in everything I paint so it just fit.

The illustration on the book was added by me. Unfortunately I don't have an old book of fairy tales, although that would be awesome.

Then after that we did an urban landscape project--AKA Perspective. I know it is important, but I've never been fond of it. The project was not to take an urban landscape and turn it into something completely different, but that is what I, and the rest of my class did anyway. I was thinking something oceanic and the picture reference I took of Michigan Avenue just happened to be very blue-toned, so viola! Underwater city!

 It turned out nice. Not exactly as I would have hoped, but things rarely do.

So, hopefully I should have more work up soon. I need to get into the habit of updating this more often. I do apologize again.

Sweet Update!

Well, it's almost been a month since I started school again and I already have some stuff to show from it.

Our first project for Watercolor II was what has been dubbed "The Chip Bag Project", but it, in no way, must include chip bags. It really only must include shiny, crinkly bags of any sort. "Why crinkly bags?", you ask? Well, the lesson this is supposed to teach is how to achieve the look of highlights and edges on something that isn't hard. When crinkly plastic is bent, it creates highlights and shadows and that look is actually quite hard to achieve in a painting. Anyway, the assignment was to go out to a store and take pictures of things that are in shiny, crinkly bags. Of course I didn't want to do chip bags. I mean, chips are wonderful, but it's been done. I'm sure candy isn't all that original either, but it was in my class...and I like candy. Candy is wonderful, sweet, magical, dreamy, whimsical...it's the essence of what I want my art to be. Candy it was!

But what candy? There are so many crinkly bagged options out there. I had my sights set on some foreign candy from the World Market (which-fun fact-is my favorite store), or some delightfully glossy gummies.

But it was our weekly grocery trip to Wal Mart that turned out to be gold. I photographed a few of the 41 oz bags of Skittles and decided, almost on the spot, that I wanted to paint them. I was a little disappointed that the candy I had chosen wasn't more original, but Skittles are also classic, and happen to be very delicious as well.

This is the photo I took and chose to work from:

My main reason for choosing it was because of the sense of depth you see in the middle where the bags are parting. My instructor said that the bags looked as if they were waiting in the wings to go out onstage. I really liked that concept. Sort of an homage to Degas' ballerinas...except not really.

It took me an entire week in class and then the weekend, but I did it and I truly enjoyed the process.

The finished product. I am so proud I was able to push the darks so far. Usually, that is one of my issues. I must be doing something right.

 

I'm still around!

Sorry for the lack of updates this Summer. You know how you say you're going to do something, with every intention of doing it, and then, life happens and you find yourself regretting making any promises in the first place? Well, that is what happened. I didn't do NEARLY as much art as I would have hoped this Summer. In my defense, I did work a lot (you know, in order to actually be able to afford all the expensive supplies I need). I know that there are no excuses in this industry, though, and for that I truly am sorry.

I do plan on making it up to you, though. Hopefully that plan won't fly out the window as well.

I just started my Senior year of college at the American Academy of Art last week and I'm proud to say that I have a few pieces in the making. This semester, I'm taking Advertising Illustration, which, as the name suggests deals with illustrations made for advertisements and product design. And there is a strong design element that goes along with this class since in most adds and packaging design, there is text involved. You have to know the best spot in which to place the text, what font to use, what color the font should be...etc. I'm hoping my design skills are up to par. Bad design can ruin a good illustration.

I am also taking a Beginning Photography class. I did not choose to take it, but I'm trying to enjoy it. Yes, trying. We shall see how that goes. I'm taking it day by day.

One of the classes I was most excited for this semester was Watercolor II, my final class. I am enjoying it. I just added masking fluid to my first piece, which I will explain to you another time. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping my skills don't fail me. I want to ace this class.

So, long story short, I should be getting things rolling again soon with more updates. Just stay tuned!

Lorna's Impatiens

Hi there! I know it's been a while since I've blogged. But I am still alive and I am still drawing and painting. I've been working for about a month now, so I haven't had as many opportunities to do art, but I did get one last week.

I had a half day of work on Friday and my parents and I had planned to visit a family friend who is also a painter. Her name is Lorna and my dad has known her a while since she and him worked together a while back. But Lorna has a really nice garden with a lot of flowers and she likes to have afternoon tea (she grew up in New Zealand) so we decided it would be fun to visit with her, catch up, drink some tea, and for me to paint some flowers from her garden.

I should mention that this was also my first experience doing plein air watercolor painting (painting in the out-of-doors). And I thought it would be difficult, batting off bugs, dealing with the wind, and what not. But it was actually very relaxing and inspiring.

And the piece turned out nicer than I thought it would. I ended up painting impatiens, which, compared to the rest of her garden, are rather modest flowers to say the least. But I tried going sans pencil lines and everything just kind of fell into place. It's just a quick piece but I think it really embodies the way I felt while painting. We were all just sitting out on Lorna's back deck, the large tree shading us and the light breeze rolling in above the creek (yes, she has a creek in her back yard!). It was very relaxed. I plan on mailing this piece to Lorna so she can hang it up. She was very fond of it.

I showed her some of my other work and she loved it. I was very proud considering she's been painting for longer than I have been alive. It was really special to let her see my work.

Tea, Jammy Dodgers, and Daleks

Ok, I guess I am a full-fledged Doctor Who geek. I just can't get enough of that show. I suppose it really isn't a big surprise that I like it. It's all about magic and adventure and it's sort of a fairy tale in a way.

For the past week, I have been working on my second Doctor Who fan art. This time, just with the Eleventh Doctor. I may do one in the future with just his companion, Amy Pond, but I'm taking things one step at a time. I found out that I wouldn't be working until June, so this gave me some extra time to just mess around with my watercolors.

I decided to try and not use any line work on this one. Don't really know if I was successful in that. I still think it looks kind of messy. But then again, nothing is ever perfect in my opinion. I am, however, happy that this piece actually looks like the Eleventh doctor. I actually looked through my Doctor Who Magazine that I bought for photo references. Technically, I used photo references the last time, but I just don't think I was as into it as I was here. I came up with the pose and used my characteristic style. I think I mentioned here before that I tend to stretch figures out when I draw them. Well, in this case, that actually works because the actor who plays Doctor Who, Matt Smith, is actually a tall, lanky, clumsy (said with endearment of course) fellow. Some areas look awkward, but that almost sort of works.

But at least I got his face mostly correct. He has a very difficult face to draw. Deep-set eyes, angular jaw bone...I must have erased and re-drawn his eyes a hundred times.

And a little side note for those who don't know. Jammy Dodgers are cookies, or biscuits from England. They're like sandwich cookies with jam filling and you eat them with tea. I had no idea what they were before watching this show, but now I think I must find them. And for non-who nerds, the Daleks are the things in the sky behind The Doctor. They are his arch enemies.

Well, don't I feel even more dorky now.

The Fairy of the Bleeding Hearts

Sounds a lot creepier than it actually is...in fact, it's not really creepy at all.

Anyway, This fairy has been my project for all of last week. It was my Mother's Day gift for my mom, since she's always been my biggest fan. Isn't that true of all good moms?


I knew that for a Mother's Day gift, I wanted it to be something flowery and Springy. My mom is an avid gardener. A few weeks ago, I was out in the yard and noticed that the bleeding heart flowers were just beginning to bloom. Bleeding hearts are probably my second favorite flower, next to poppies (which are also just starting to bloom in our yard). I decided that bleeding hearts would be the basis of my painting, so I took some photos, as I like to do.

for me, and for most illustrators, I think photo references are essential! Very few people have picture dictionaries in their heads. I definitely don't. Flowers are one of the big things I like to get pictures of if I'm going to do an illustration with them in it. There are so many little details and nuances in flowers. And plus, you don't want them all to look like the same flower. Flowers, love them, love to draw and paint them, but I will agree that they are a pain in the bum!

After thinking of the flower, I thought of fairies. I used to put fairies in EVERYTHING I drew! I was so into them back in High School. Those were some of my mom's favorite drawings of mine. So I thought adding a fairy was a nice touch. Plus, she could be the Fairy of the Bleeding Hearts.

I started out with a rough sketch in my sketchbook ( I don't have a photo of that, at the moment), and then moved on to the watercolor paper. I, once again, should have used nicer paper, but surprisingly, the paper didn't warp much at all, once paint was added.  I didn't do a base coat of a wet-in-wet for this piece because it wasn't going to be covering the white of the paper completely. I believe this is it for Day 1. Doesn't look like much, eh?

 

Day 2, 3, and 4 combined. I fixed her face to make her a little more dainty and pixie-like. I noticed that I always draw people (or human-like characters) extremely tall and lanky. It may look stylistic, and it is, sort of, but I'd like to draw a proportionate person at some point. I think it may be due to the angle at which I view the paper when I draw.

 

also Day 4...added paint to the flowers...the most dreaded part. I had my picture out, studying every detail. I still think it needs a lot of work (even in it's finished state).

Day 5 painting part finished. All that's left to do is inking.

the finished product:

 

Of course, I altered it a little in Photoshop...just for color and lighting and cropping. The quality still bothers me. We will be getting a scanner sometime soon. And yes, my mom loved the painting!