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.