Illustration Friday: Electricity

After Ben Franklin discovered electricity he invented the oven, and he and Isacc Newton baked that apple that fell on Isaac's head into a very fine pie in this chapter of altered history.

This week's topic of course made me think of Ben, but I also, for some reason, immediately thought of Isacc, perhaps because their epiphanies both came about outdoors. Anyway, I was excited about drawing some historical figures, but the sketch wasn't turning out like I planned. It was too dull and ordinary, and I asked myself, "Matteson, where's the style, the dynamic shapes, the fun???" I was discouraged, but kept at it until I got to this point which I'm kinda o.k. with.

Interestingly enough, I just read that Ben just missed meeting the aging Newton. So it feels good to be able to bring them together at least in spirit. Ben actually did invent the Franklin stove, but it wasn't electric. For more real facts follow the links above.

Illustration Friday: Seed

Little did the mothers who gave birth today at Hanz Hopkins Hospital know that Doctor Spermalot had planted his seed all over town.

This was the first idea that came to mind this week. Mostly likely influenced by last week's episode of Reaper. I wasn't sure I wanted to finish sketching this idea, and had started a 'prettier' second idea, but bounced back to this one. I've got to get working on these earlier in the week, but then again having no time means quick decision making, and more unexpected results.

Illustration Friday: Wrinkles

Sam never worried about his wrinkled, rumpled clothes when he went fishing.

This needs some proper shading, but I only have time to block in some quick colors. I tried not to clean up my sketch so much this time for added wrinkly effect. :)

Illustration Friday: Primitive

Back home at my parents home there used to be a ton of cute, furry, little chipmunks scampering about the yard. But, slowly they started to disappear as some neighborhood cats took over the territory. Soon, no more chipmunks were to be found, but occasionally we would find a tail here and there. I began to imagine that the savage wild cats would perform some sort of ancient tail-removal ritual to gather these prize souvenirs. Somewhere in a secret lair I imagine them decked out in full ceremonial garb with the tails made into headdresses and necklaces. In the drawing I had to strategically place the tree stump because these guys are so savage that they don't wear any pants.

This is a sketch color blocked in photoshop. The other week I was busy painting some of my decorative wooden boxes to give my little place a little spring makeover, and I was sanding a painted surface, and ended up scanning that, and I used it here as the background texture.

My apologies to chipmunk lovers. No chipmunks were directly harmed in the creation of this illustration. The same can't be said for what happens in the wild.

Holocaust Star Project

back:

The illustrations are acrylic painted on wood.

When Jillian Curtis contacted me about the Holocaust Memorial that she is building in her front yard I was more than happy to participate. It's a wonderful way to teach her children that every life is precious, and that we can never let hate overcome.

Jillian is asking that stars of any sort be sent. As I thought of what to illustrate I remembered the striking imagery of the girl in the red coat in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List. While the girl in the movie wasn't based on anyone in particular, Roma Ligocka said that when she saw the movie she saw herself. She was wearing that same red coat when she was a little girl at the door to the home of the polish family that took her in, and secretly housed her.

You can follow the star project on Jillian's blog: Blog Me Til Midnight

••• update: The Winona Daily News did a story on the project. There's a sweet photo of Jillian and her boys holding my star. The article is here.

•••• 2 News stations covered the project for Holocaust Remembrance Day. You can read the articles, and watch the videos at these links:
KAALtv story and video
WEAU story and video on lower right side

Winona Daily News photo

• The news stories are no longer available, but here is the photo of Jillian and her boys.

Illustration friday: Homage

An homage to an old friend.

This was a commission that I completed for someone as a christmas gift for her father. She wanted a portrait of their dog, Cocoa who had passed away. I used gouache on this acrylic paper I found which had a linen finish, and held up to the paint better than the bristol I had been previously using. I was given a few photos to work from, and I asked for a list of his traits. She said he liked the snow and liked riding in cars, so I incorporated that into it. (The snowy background is a little hard to see in the scan.) Trying to get some kind of likeness was difficult, especially since I couldn't see his eyes in any of the pics. When I gave it to her she said she loved it, and said I got the eyes perfect. Whew! He ended up younger than the pic, but she liked that since the painting was about remembering the good times when he was still alive.

Illustration Friday: Heavy

I had the idea for this little illustration back in the fall when I was remembering one autumn when I was viciously attacked and bitten by multiples of ladybugs, or rather it was most likely the fake ladybugs who masquerade as the nice benevolent ones, but are in fact nuisance worthy Mexican been beetles which feast on crops, and apparently exposed flesh. Anyway, it got me thinking that maybe the real ladybugs should have a showdown with the impostors, and the idea of the ladybug sumo wrestling bout was born. I had tried a few sketches at the time, but couldn't get the positioning right. 'Heavy' seemed like the perfect topic to make another attempt at it, and I have to say I had fun with this one. Some ideas just need extra time to marinate.
This was painted in photoshop, and was enhanced, as the last post, using some free brushes offered by the brilliant artist, Alex Dukal.

my workspace

A couple week's ago Nina Seven tagged me to share some pics of my workspace, and I thought it was a pretty cool idea for a meme. My art palettes in the first photo are empty since I left them set out too long uncovered, and fuzzies and dust had gotten into the paints, so I just cleaned everything out to start fresh with the new gouache paints I just bought. I snapped the photo yesterday when some morning sun was shining into the living room, a very rare occurance.
This second photo is my little Ikea computer desk which I'm constantly changing to try to make it more comfortable. Currently, I've decided it works better without the front panel on the drawer, and I finally removed the bottom shelf that was driving me crazy although this means my printer now sits directly on the floor. The clearance chair that I bought to go with the desk didn't work for sitting on, so it became a table for my scanner. That bit of shiny corner on the wall is the mirror I use to keep an eye on the tv when I'm too busy to take a real break, but want a little entertainment while I work. It's funny to see everything backwards. It makes it look like everyone is driving on the wrong side of the road. :)

I feel like I'm a bit out of the loop with who's already done this meme. I'd love to see everyone's workplace, so if you've already posted some photos of your space, or would like to share some pics please send me some links to your posts. :)

Illustration Friday: Garden

I really do want to be a more consistent blogger, but that mean, nasty flu bug got me the other week, and threw off all my plans. I was feeling better last week, but my creative brain was still all mushy, and the ideas were just not flowing. But, when I saw this week's beautiful topic I just couldn't let it pass by without drawing up something new in the sketchbook. I thought this would be fun to traditionally paint, so I did some small tests, and realized that I didn't have enough time to do the details justice. I also desperately need to buy some new gouache paints since most of my tubes are dried up and old. So my big plan for tomorrow is to make a trip to Blick's.
(Digitally painted in Photoshop)

Illustration Friday: Theory

Nutritionists are always telling us their latest theories---eggs are bad...no wait, eggs are good. Real sugar is evil, but now they say most sugar substitutes are even worse. My theory is that we already know what's good for us. A meal of home cooking with fresh garden vegetables is about as good as it gets. Mmm mmm!! :)

I did a rough sketch of this last week, but didn't have time to take it any farther. It's one of those images that popped in my head. I just bought 2 of Rébecca Dautremer's children's books, Princesses, and Cyrano. I've been wanting them for awhile, but my US Amazon wasn't carrying them. I happened upon Amazon France, and decided to give my password a try, and I was surprised that it worked. It never occured to me that all the Amazons worldwide use the same information bank. I decided to order from Amazon Canada since it is closer. Shipping only took a week longer, and there were no customs fees, so I was super pleased. I find her work very inspiring. In this sketch I focused on the big sweeping shapes, and then refined a few areas. I really want to try a traditional painting of this, but this digital photoshop painting helped me work out the colors.

You Make My Day! :)

I didn't mean to be away from the blog for so long. I had some other projects that I needed to focus on. I wanted to say a big thank you to Linda over at Sketched Out for passing me the "You Make My Day" a few weeks ago. Her wonderful sketches and brilliant sense of humor always make my day as well, so right back at ya' girl!! :)

Here is how it works:

1. Write a post with links to 5 blogs that make me think and/or make my day.
2. Acknowledge the post of the award giver.
3. Display the “You Make my Day Award” logo with a link to the post that I wrote. (Optional)
4. Tell the award winners that they have won by commenting on their blogs with the news.

I know this has already made the rounds to all the great artists out there, but I still want to pass this along to some awesome friends who are always making my days sunny! :)

- Eric Smith (glimbit)

- Eric Orchard

- David Sones (pickeldog)

- Andi Butler (gee, that's swell)

- And everyone who has stopped by to comment. Your input, support, and critiques are much appreciated as I continue on my artistic journey.

Illustration Friday: Tales and Legends

Oh, the princess had already kissed so many frogs, toads, and various other small amphibians, so how could she know if this one would be the true prince?
Was this tale created in the days of old to convince young girls to marry toothless ugly men? Just wondering.

I was so excited by this topic, and it's many possibilities, but the ideas didn't flow as expected. I've been collecting all sorts of references of people poses, etc. for quite some time, and pulled out my stash, and 2 images seemed like they would make a wonderful illustration. I tried to sketch it all week, but it didn't want to work, so I abandoned the idea, and started anew. I decide to work on the left side on my sketchbook, since I've been skipping over all the left sides, and I thought taking advantage of these blank pages would give me a new outlook. I worked with the overall broad shapes of the illustration first, and then gradually added a few details, and the process felt very comfortable.
I was reading my horoscope for next month over at Astrology Zone, and Susan included this interesting tidbit, "Social scientists say that creative breakthroughs occur in 90-minute cycles. When you first sit down to begin working on your idea, you won't know exactly where in the cycle you are entering, so it is important that you keep concentrating for at least 90 minutes."
They say this is the way our sleep cycles work, and also our daily energy cycles, so perhaps there's some truth to it. So when things aren't working next time I'll have to keep at it consistently for 90 minutes. I guess it's worth a try.