Life Drawing...sort of!

Post-graduation life has been busy and great and full of a lot of changes. I moved home for a bit to save on rent and I've been working full time as an in-house illustrator/designer at a party supply company. I've been learning so much about package and product design. It's unbelievable sometimes riding the train home from work covered in glitter from mocking-up birthday banners; but I'm learning that's the life of an artist sometimes - unbelievable! And fun :-)

Speaking of riding the train home.....that brings me to the topic of this update: life drawing...unofficially. To pass the time on my commute, consisting of two trains and a bus, I people watch/sketch. It's also nice to start and end my day with a bit of pen to paper since I spend a lot of time working digitally during the day.

**And I will readily admit that this post was inspired by another - far more talented and incredible blogger - Peter de Séve, who posted a blog with his drawings from New York's underground HERE and HERE; which I think are my favorite of his posts. If you don't already know who he is, you'll recognize his work when you see it - countless New Yorker covers have featured his art; he's also one of the character designing mastermind behind movies like Kung Fu Panda and the Ice Age series, among many other animations!

Anyway, here are some of my "life drawings" from the past few weeks

Sometimes I get tired of people....

Friday morning at the top and Friday evening at the bottom of the page

Thanks for looking!

Time time time!

This is an image I'm working on as a gift. It's based on the character Annie, from Being Human, played in the UK by the beautiful and talented Lenora Crichlow. This is probably the nerdiest thing I've painted in a while....beehee. Just playing with watercolors really.



Now that life is post-graduation, I'm coming to realize that the transition from student to "real person" for me isn't going to happen just because I have a diploma. Time-management, task lists, and progress seem more urgent now than ever (even than when I was in school). Time is so easy to let go of, but once it's gone, there's no getting it back.

That lesson was really pounded into my head this weekend, when I had the pleasure of attending the opening reception of Phillustration at The Philadelphia Sketch Club, where I interned last summer. A number of my fellow alumnae and my previous professors had work in the show (juried by Dave Palumbo!). Such greats as Charles Santore, Robert Byrd, Dave Palumbo, and Tony Auth were in attendance, and had work on display. Talking to all the artists and viewing their work reminded me how important it is for me to wrangle in my time and use it well - the competition out there in the Philadelphia art world is great!!!

Phillustration is amazing this year especially! Besides the already mentioned big-wigs who have work up, Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell each have a piece hanging for the second year in a row. The show's up till July 16 - GO!!!

A special congrats to my friend and former-fellow-classmate, illustrator Michelle Santiago, who took home from the show the 1st place in the student category!

Talk to you soon....!

****UPDATE****
June 29, 2011 @ 12:27

....Still working.....!

I DID IT!

I officially have my Bachelor's of Fine Arts Degree with a Concentration in Illustration! As of Sunday, I am an aluma of Moore College of Art & Design.

Stay tuned for updates on my post-graduate art life! :)

TA-DA! My Thesis Show is hung and open to the public!

Opening night was a great sucess! Thank you to everyone who came and was a part of last night - it was wonderful and I was happy to speak to so many people interested in art. Everyone there made it a very warm, exciting, and memorable night for our entire class - Thank you!

Go to thegalleriesatmoore.org for information if you're interested in seeing the show. It features all the graduating seniors and the work that was produced this year is amazing!

I'm the happy awardee of the Philadelphia Watercolor Society Award! I'm so and grateful and honored to be recognized by a club that was founded in part by Thomas Anschutz and which has presented the likes of Howard Pyle, Violet Oakley, and Pablo Picasso to the Philadelphia Museum of Art's permanent collection. Please visit their website here: pwcsociety.org

All of my pieces are for sale through The Art Shop at Moore until May 15th.


Here's a pic of me in front of my wall - to the right are the original paintings framed, to the left are prints of the works as they'd appear in the context of a book layout - go see it (and my fellow illustration classmates' works) in person! ;)

Quick Update! - Salome

Here's a peek at one of the pieces for my senior show - it's just inches from being finished! Yay!

Salome, watercolor, 9"x12"

In two weeks I'll be hanging (my artwork, not myself...hopefully)! Frames will be ordered today :)

Look what I found!

So...I was googling myself...for fun...and this image came up! This drawing is from my freshman year at Moore; I had no idea it was posted on my school's website! Bahaha. I'm surprised that I'm actually still quite happy with this figure study.



Charcoal on paper, probably 20"x30"....or something like that; I didn't start measuring things until the next year when I started in the illustration department :P

What I've Been Up To....

So, a lot has changed with my thesis over the past month...good changes to be sure :)

For one thing, I've begun concentrating on spot illustrations for my hypothetical book.  I really prefer working on them for a number of reasons 

1. they're smaller

2. they're faster

3. they're portraits

4. they add variety to my end result

5. they're smaller AND faster ;)

Portraying characters I had originally intended for a scene in a spot illustration has been an interesting challenge however.  In a scene the background and action can be used to say volumes about a character.  In a spot, however, (which in this case is actually a small portrait) I'm confined to something much quieter and more personal and silhouette driven.  The potential of subtle body language and costume count for a whole lot.  I've incorporated symbolic elements from each character's story to make them more than just plain ole' portraits. 

Widow with Two Mites, watercolor and digital, 9"x12"

Eve, watercolor, 9"x12"

Salome, watercolor, 9"x12"

All three of these ladies are still in progress, though the Widow and Eve are nearly there.  I'm very excited to start painting Salome tomorrow!  If you don't know the stories of these women (you might have heard of Eve...), they're very easy to find in  your neighborhood search engine ;) 

ALSO, I am still completing the scene of Hagar from my last post.  I haven't abandoned my original plan! :P

Ta-da!

I just finished the Hagar color study!! I'm happy with the result and psyched to start the final tomorrow! All this finished this evening with the wonderful company of The Riches on netflix :)

I'm adding a new technique to my process - finishing the piece by adding opaque acrylic white to my watercolor for the highlights. I've recently been inspired by Kadir Nelson's children's books, where he uses transparent darks and opaque lights in some of the most beautiful ways. So, here's my first try:

Forward Motion! (Hagar Line Drawing)

Soooo, already a month of the semester is gone - holy cow.

I'm finalizing the sketches for my Ladies. Hagar is the only finished sketch that's pretty much ready to go to final - AFTER I complete my color study. Soooo, here it is:





As I type, the lovely Epson Stylus PHOTO R2880 is printing it on my watercolor paper - joy. of. joys! Transferring a line drawing onto the surface I'll be working on is hands down my LEAST favorite part of the process. I may stick to watercolors the rest of my life simply because I can run the paper through a printer. That way, I preserve my original drawing and don't lose anything by tracing it and then transferring it manually. I'm not a technology lover, but this simple advantage always gets me excited.

HOWEVER, I cannot take credit for the idea. My friend and fellow Illustrator and Craftmaker, Alison Berry, recommended I try it after she discovered the wonder of Epson. Please check out her blog!! www.alison-berry.com
Her work is often hilarious, creepy, and drop-dead-adorable all at once! And her hand-made dolls are stellar - AND FOR SALE :) I've been lucky enough to be given a proto-type named Mr. Bean. I love him. Wish I had a picture to share. Anways, check her out :)

Until next time - make me some figgy pudding.

Mary of Bethany

Another one of my Women of the Bible series, completed this past December.

Mary of Bethany, water color, 11"x17"

Women of the Bible

Here are two of the finished pieces from my Women of the Bible Series thus far. Unfortunately, I had trouble uploading the Esther final :( I'll try it again later. And Sapphira is still in the works.... For now, I have Delilah and Mary of Bethany for your viewing pleasure.

Delilah - water color, 11"x17"

Just today, I shot reference for the next lady in my series - Salome! The daughter of Herodium, who after dancing so well she pleased Herod, was offered by the king anything she wanted up to half his kingdom. What did she do? Ask for mamma's advice, of course. What did she say? Ask for John the Baptist's head on a silver platter, of course. And thus we have the beheading of John.

Can't wait to share the preliminary sketches - stay tuned!

Book Cover - almost finished

My book cover assignment is nearly finished!

Corel Painter X

I painted the majority of this all in one night. Phew! I'm pooped out. Goodnight!

Delilah Thumbnail and Value Study

This is the sketch I started with.


Next, I took reference, using a two model, a lighting studio, and proper equipment (it was my first time using the studio and equipment - it was great!). Using my photos, I made the drawing, which I then copied to a small size and worked on this value study - a mix of pencil and photoshop.

I hope to have the color comp underway - maybe finished?! - this weekend. And I'll shoot reference for another piece on Tuesday.

Only a few more weeks until these are all wrapped up - yikes! Wish me luck, pleeeaaasse!

Sapphira Sketches

So, I'm not finished Esther yet, but I'm moving on to another piece in my series: Sapphira.

You can read the story of Sapphira here.

Here's my thumbnail.



And here's a study for the face I've been working on tonight. In the unfinished one, I used my own face as a model because the reference I had of the other model didn't have the right expression. However, working for the reference of her and the reference of my expression, I was able to blend the two and finish the study with the intended model.



Now, I'll do the final drawing, so I can scan it and start the color study by Tuesday. Then, I'll shoot reference for Delilah on Wednesday and begin that sketch right away.

Forward motion!

The Lady or The Tiger?

To take a break from Esther here's something different. I finally put the pencil to the paper, and, while it's not a whole lot, this all occured between 9AM - 3PM tpday.

**NUDITY WARNING**

What started out as a "book cover" illustration for the short story, "The Lady or The Tiger" morphed into a fantasy book cover with an unidentified tiger-lady as the featured character. Here are my character designs and layouts in pencil/digital sketches.

Progress!

I'm making progress on my final! At this point it SHOULD only take another day to finish it up. At this point, it looks like it's from the zombie apocalypse adaptation of Esther...but I promise it won't for long. So pumped :)

Esther: Updated Color

Here is my updated color study!  I spent some time playing with my first one in Photoshop to see how far the image needed to be pushed, and then I pushed it traditionally on the original study.  After pumping up the colors and focus, as well as changing some lighting, I am much happier with moving forward.

See for yourself how it's changed below.  The first version is on the left and the newer is on the right.

Unfortunately, some other projects need to come before the next stage of this piece. But I'm finally on my way to the final!

Esther Color Study

So, here is the color study! I worked at 6.5"x9.25" The final, which I'll begin today, will be 11"x17"

Let me know what you think and wish me luck!

***EDIT***

I'm actually updating this color study as you read.  Once I scanned it in and played in photoshop, I found these values and colors to be a little weak and taking away from the focus.  Here we go :)

Esther: Process

There's a long tradition of artwork inspired by biblical narratives, so I've decided to take my crack at it. I'm creating a series of five pieces based on women of the Bible. So far, I've selected two Old Testament gals and two New Testament dames. From the Old, we have Esther and Delilah, and from the New, Mary of Bethany and Saphira. For the fifth, I'm thinking of Mother Mary, but I'm willing to reconsider.

This weekend I was reading my friend's copy of James Gurney's Imaginative Realism. I was feeling lost with this piece, but it set me back on track - thanks again, Mr. Gurney! If you don't read it already, check out his blog. It's a wealth of information and inspiration!

Here is some of my process for Esther.

This first one is my original thumbnail. I sketched a few others for her, but I went with my first. It's important to me to show both her uncertain gaze ahead at the king as she approaches, what may well be her death, and her hands, clenched in determination.


I soon realized, that to match the format I want (a two-page book spread), my image would need to change. After I shot reference, with a model I clothed and lighted, and after creating the interior of the palace, I created this drawing. However, I bit off more than I could chew at this point in the process. I was making this 11"x17" sketch my value study; it was taking me too long and getting me off track. It was good, however, for planning out the format. At this point, I also realized the image needs another figure - a soldier standing guard at the entrance to the throne room. I added him in the next image. (Also, everything is outlined here so I could re-trace)


This is the official value study. It's about half the size and I was able to get a handle on the values in less than half the time I spent not completing my first try. The guard is suggested at the bottom.



Now, I'm on to finalize the guard and then I will move on to my color study.  The final will  be watercolor and pencil, 11x17.

I welcome any feedback on what I've done so far!  Thanks!

Finished Digital Painting

Here it is, folks! My first digital painting.


Corel Painter X


To be honest, I've never been crazy about digital work or the idea of creating my own. But after working on this piece and seeing what digital painting as a medium can bring to a piece, I have a new appreciation for it. There's so much that can be done digitally that can't be brought as gracefully to a traditional painting. For instance, multiple paper and canvas textures, charcoal texture over oil paint texture over watercolor; there's a whole world of mixed media that can be created and emulated in digital painting.

Personally, I think I still favor the confines of traditional media. Now, however, I'm much more open to working digitally in the future and I have a new appreciation of digital artists and what they endure to create a piece (hours in front of a computer - ew!). Still, I don't think I will ever get over working traditionally.

By the way - can anyone think of a name for my new monster?