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!