Illustration Friday: Flying

What do we have here? Well, when pigs fly in autumn they love to eat caramel apples while soaring through the air because they like how the stickiness catches the flying insects making for an extra special treat! Mmmm....yum!! There you go.....explanation provided. :)

When I read that the topic was 'flying' I immediately thought of my Flying Ace Andy, but didn't want to repost. Also, I needed to post a quick little illustration since some other drawings I've been working on have been proving to be more time consuming. ( I feel like such a slacker, and start to feel rusty if I go too long between posting a somewhat completed illustration.)

I'm about to register for the Indianapolis Picture Book Conference on Nov 6-7, and I was thinking I might use this for a promo postcard, but I'm not sure if I'm happy with how the colors turned out. I've started sketching another idea for the flip side. I'll have to take a look at this one tomorrow with fresh eyes. I'm thinking sleep is going to feel really good right now. I'm off to test that theory.......

(*edited with bolder line and color)

Reunited with my old drafting table

Since I now have more room in my new art studio I decided to move in my old drafting table that has been in storage at my parent's house since my high school days. Reassembling it was a bit of a challenge with only 2 hands, but miracles can happen with the right amount of stubborn determination. I never much liked this table because the wing nuts were always coming unscrewed, but I was introduced to locking washers at Home Depot, and so far all feels secure....fingers crossed. I had to make some modifications. I removed one of the cross braces to create a ledge, so I can try working at an angle, and moved the bottom brace that the chair was running into.

Friday, I found a clearance Ott-Lite TrueColor lamp, but I think I still need at least one more lighting device. I also realized I wanted to take advantage of the daylight when I can get it, so I rearranged my office, and moved the whole setup next to the window.

I can't wait to get painting to try this all out. With my old art desk, I can even work on 2 paintings or projects simultaneously! I'm planning on working on a new surface. (I just love the smell of pine, but transferring to the wood is going to be my least favorite part.) I've been working on this drawing for awhile, but still have details to work out. I've been distracted by sketching on some other ideas. The color palette came to me the other day which is exciting when I know what colors I want to play with before the drawing is complete. Colors often drive me.

Hopefully, I'll get some more art up here on this dusty blog before too long. I have procrastination projects lining up. Gourds to finish painting, necklaces to bead, pillows to sew. I call this kind of stuff 'productive procrastination' since it does result in the completion of other projects, but it keeps me from the more important stuff, so I must resist!

Illustration Friday: Welcome

I thought I would welcome autumn with a new fall-themed blog header. I've been meaning to update it all year! The new autumn breezes are making me want to start all sorts of new projects. A new season brings all kinds of possibilities, and fall especially, maybe because we're so trained for this being the time of year when school starts, always feels like a time to leave the frivolous summer behind, and get serious again. This feels like a more apropos time than New Year's to set down some goals. Of course, my head is spinning with a bit too much of what I want to do, and the chilly, darker nights are making me a bit more sleepy, so I'm not doing so hot on my To Do list yet. The trick I found to completing this tonight was to get straight to it after getting home from work, and skipping dinner. But, hungry now, so time to get something to eat, and make blueberry muffins for tomorrow's office potluck.

Illustration Friday: Magnify

I've been working on a project for a client, and one of the images just happens to fit this week's 'Magnify' theme, so I thought I'd post this work in progress. There will probably be some shading and subtle texture added, and I'm still tweaking the colors. I wanted to be farther along on this earlier in the week, but I've been feeling a bit under the weather.

Illustration Friday: Modify

And when she finally let go, the magic of her true life began to unfold....

And finally after many modifications I'm calling this painting finalized. Other things came up so this sat idle for a bit giving me a chance to figure out how I wanted to paint it. I was sure that I wanted to paint in gouache, but after painting a background wash and a bit of the figure it just wasn't feeling right, so I started over completely in watercolor. This seemed to give me more control over the tiny details. I can envision an infinite number of ways to paint this one. Maybe acrylic on wood, or different color palettes, but we'll stick with this for now.

I feel like this painting represents where I am right now in my life. I've let go of some past restrictions I had put on myself, embraced change, and am enjoying all the new developments that continue to occur. The future does look bright from this angle. :)

Prints of this piece are available in 11" x 16" and 8" x 10"

Also, for anyone in the Seattle area, Roq La Rue is running 2 incredible solo shows by 2 of my favorite artists. "Beauties and Beasts" by Nicoletta Ceccoli and "Daughters of Our Nature" by Columbus's own Eric Fortune will run until Aug 8th. These amazing shows compliment each other beautifully, and are a real treat for the eyes.

Illustration Friday: Unfold

And when she finally let go, the magic of her true life began to unfold....

I'm just posting a sketch so far as I'm not yet sure how I want to color this. I'm thinking I want to tackle it in traditional medium, gouache most likely. I have some experimenting to do, and I'd like to play with being looser with some textured elements, and let myself have some fun with it. I'll see what I can come up with this weekend, but it looks like it will have to wait until sunday as it sounds like I'll be working saturday. (I'll work on giving her some toes too. :P I ran out of paper. I'll also need to give the drawing more breathing room especially on the left side.)

Illustration Friday: Craving

The young prince was quite dismayed that his mother the queen forbade him from eating the cherry pie he craved until he finished his peas and brussels sprouts. (I myself love extra crispy roasted sprouts drizzled in olive oil.)

My strongest craving lately though is Edy's 'Take the Cake' ice cream. It's ice cream that tastes like yellow cake.....absolutely the most brilliant thing ever!! The blue frosting swirl adds a nice touch too. It's slow churned, so as Edy's website says "you get 1/2 the fat, 1/3 fewer calories, and all the taste you expect from regular". Yumminess with less guilt!

This is an especially late entry this week as my illustration mojo is still revving up slowly...

Illustration Friday: Adapt

Perhaps this illustration works for this topic as these characters had to learn to adapt to their extreme circumstances. This is a gouache painting of my previous entry for the Illustration Friday topic, Tales and Legends. It never felt finished, and I wanted to try my hand at giving it a traditional painting treatment. This was done several months ago, as I haven't got my IF mojo working yet. Since my move to Ohio I've been busy getting settled, and learning to adapt to my new environment, so I thought it fitting to jump back into the IF routine with this topic. :)

Having just moved for the first time in 9 years
I thought I'd offer up a few moving tips that I learned:

- Keep all your original boxes with the styrofoam, especially for electronics. If you've got the room this really comes in handy!

- Save plastic bags of all sizes. A great way to protect your clothes and other items from moisture.

- Seal all glitter containers properly!!! I learned the hard way that it's true that 'glitter is the herpes of the craft world'

Overall, I'm so happy to have broken out of my old routine life. It was long overdue. Change isn't just good, it's freakin' incredible!!!! :)

edit: (Oh yeah, and I just joined Facebook. Find me here.)

Beginning the Next Chapter....

I didn't mean to just disappear from the blogworld. I happen to be in the process of moving. After 9 years in Illinois I'm relocating to Columbus, Ohio for a new job and new adventures! Columbus happens to be where I went to college, so it will be nice to return to some familiar territory, and to reconnect with longtime friends. :)

I won't have home internet access for awhile, so expect a continued hiatus until I get settled, and the creative juices start flowing onto the sketch pages once again.

I want to thank everyone for all the support you've shown through your wonderful comments. You help keep me going, and give me that extra bit of strength to keep trying new things! You are the best!! :)

illustration Friday: Legendary

The legendary Marie Antoinette has gone down in history for having said the phrase, "Let them eat cake", but there is much controversy over whether this was the actual wording, or if it was even she who said it, or if it was instead spoken by Marie-Therese 100 years earlier. If you take all the callous political meaning out then eating cake and cupcakes sounds like a good idea to me! :) I was inspired by the Kirsten Dunst movie version of Marie Antoinette, which may have not been a good movie, but was the very definition of delicious eye candy.

I actually finished the sketch for this illustration back in October when the IF topic was 'Sugary'. I knew I wanted it to be very pink, but figuring out which pink went where, and how much blue and cream to use became a tricky puzzle for me, and I got stuck and put it aside, but went back to it many times. Then, last week when the topic was 'Intricate' I thought it might be a good time to tackle the details once again, but didn't get it finished until now.

I think I stressed myself out with this one because I knew I wanted to offer it as a greeting card and a print. I finally started up an Imagekind gallery store, and I'll be stocking it with more art throughout the year. My cupcake lovin' Maire is available here.

Illustration Friday: Breezy

This week the topic, 'breezy', led me to do some character studies of the 3 little pigs, who soon found that their homes became quite breezy when that wolf came a calling.

Instead of just the three, I ended up with 4 pigs. The fourth, rarely mentioned piggie, was so involved in his puzzle that he never even noticed what was going on around him. Luckily, he was roommates with the pig in the brick house, so he never had anything to worry about except for a few pieces that fell on the floor because the window was cracked open a bit. This piggie is dedicated to my mom who is the expert puzzle doer of the family. :)

The pigs in my drawings started out looking not so worried, but by the time I got to this last one the reality of the situation finally settled in. This guy obviously lived in the straw house that is now no more. I usually just play with my line work in photoshop, but this week I decided to bring it into illustrator to try simplifying it a bit, and then I ended up coloring all the characters in illustrator, and then bringing them back into photoshop to add the texture.

This piggie on white is more cartoony than my usual style, and a fun experiment.
I also wanted to share the evolution of the idea for these illustrations this week. I was eating lunch which was a nice Israeli couscous with asparagus, and relaxing and gazing out the window when I noticed a wolf staring back at me. Usually when I see things like this they are not photographable because they exist somewhere between imagination and reality, but this time the imagery stayed put for me to capture.

Can you see the wolf's head?

Bonus points for also spotting the bunny.

The wolf should be worried since that bunny is rather large in comparison. :P

Scroll down for the reveal.

Kreativ Blogger Award

I want to say big thanks yous and send hugs to Andi Butler and Christine Grove for giving me these sweet awards. It appears that Andi's blog is under construction. (I can't wait to see what exciting things she's up to over there!)

Now I'm supposed to list 7 things I love, so here we go.

1) My family and friends
2) Traveling to new places.
3) Being warm - Or more accurately just not being cold
4) Art, of course! Color, texture, pattern, design, typography, retro design, the whole enchilada!
5) Staring out windows. Perhaps something I picked up from growing up with cats.
6) Sour candy. But, I can't find any sour enough. They always end up too sweet, not enough sour. Does anyone know any great super sour candies?
7) Nature walks. Through the woods by a lake or river, or on a quiet ocean beach are my favorites.

I now pass on this award to some inspirational artists who's blogs I love to visit:
Annie Patterson
Anthony Van Arsdale
Kristin Sorra