Illustration Friday: Fearless

I did this piece for the 'Art Makes Noise' show a few months back. Here it is transferred onto stained wood art board & lightly shaded with colored pencil. A few of my reference photos are lying about the living room.


I turn the computer screen so I can see my color study that I worked out in photoshop as well as a few reference canaries. My printer is almost always out of ink, and even streaks black & white images, so visuals on screen are my better option .

I'd like to go back and work a few areas just a bit more. This was done on wood board specifically made for painting, but I found it too be much too slick for me. It was like painting on glass, and the paint just slid off. So, I've since gone back to my original craft boards with their toothy wood grain that I love.

'Canary Chimes In'
Acrylic on wood
 
The yellow canary was so fearless he flew in and sang his own song loud and proud.

Illustration Friday: Linked-princess process

'Azure Princess'
paperclay on vinyl Baby Qee toy with jewelry findings, yarn, and ribbon

More and more I understand and respect how everything in life is linked, and how life is one big chain of events leading us to that next step. It's the same in art creating as one step links to the next, and jumping ahead will spell disaster. When you're lucky all those steps can be really fun as they were in this this Baby Qee toy project.

For the Toy2R 15th Anniversary World Tour show at Rivet 20 artists were given vinyl Qee toys to customize. Since my 'Aviator Piggie' got his own post I thought I'd show the process on the princess. My 'Azure Princess' started out as the elephant Qee.

I knew I wanted to make it a girl, so I hacked off the trunk with an X-Acto blade (after warming the Qee in a heating pad). I popped the head off thinking it might be easier to work on, (and out of curiosity). The very tip of the trunk ended up being cut and re-purposed as the Princess's crown later.

I decided to use Paperclay for her reconstructive rhinoplasty becasue it air dries, so I wouldn't have to worry about baking and possibly melting the vinyl. Epoxy Resin Clay is also often used, but I didn't want to deal with the toxic fumes. I had first roughly sanded the vinyl to help the Paperclay adhere (which you may be able to see on the ears). Sculpting the eyes was giving me lots of trouble before I realized I needed to sculpt the eye sockets first then place in the dry eyes, and then sculpt eyelids onto them. The Paperclay re-wets with water, so this, while helpful, was still tricky.

Her big hair was a big challenge, and took much longer than anticipated. Again, I found I had to let the first layer of Paperclay dry a bit before creating details on top. Eeks!...she's still naked. Don't stare!

I wanted the entire surface to have a consistant Paperclay texture, so I covered even her arms and feet, but to help the Paperclay stick I applied some Elmer's glue first which was a bit gooey to work with, and increased drying time. Originally, I planned for her to have this green ribbon, and to be more of a woodland character, but seeing her hair I knew I didn't want to hide the details with the dark paint that this plan called for, and this thin ribbon alone wasn't as wild with movement as I envisioned, so I brainstormed new ideas.

During a trip to Hobby Lobby I found a yarn that had the loose fun quality I was looking for, and her new identity was born.

Some glazing of silver paint over her hair and dress was the final polish.


She, and 'Aviator Piggie' are now on exhibit & available for purchase at Rivet Gallery in-shoppe or online here.

Here's some photos of the opening night I attended.

A nice review by Tomopop with great photos of the show can be found here.

Illustration Friday: Rescue

Got a sweet tooth craving? Never fear, Aviator Piggie to the rescue with a deliciously sweet caramel apple! Please do excuse the insects though. it's to be expected when one flies through the air with sticky objects.

My flying piggie from last autumn has come to life in 3D for the Toy2R 15th Anniversary Qee Show at Rivet Gallery here in Columbus, OH. Opening April 3rd.
Please see my previous post for more show info.

Sculpting and painting took longer than anticipated, and with the show this weekend I knew Piggie and I wouldn't have much time together, so we tried to make the most of it. Here's how the day went:

click for larger images

Now, the princess, who also happens to be in the Qee exhibition couldn't be bothered with this tree climbing and playground nonsense, but I did manage to snap this quick candid shot of her--



Both the Princess and the Piggie are available for sale at Rivet Gallery here.

Toy2R 15th Anniversary Qee Show

'Aviator Piggie'

paperclay on vinyl Baby Qee toy with needle felted clothing

'Azure Princess'

paperclay on vinyl Baby Qee toy with jewerly findings, yarn, and ribbon

I just dropped off my 2 finished pieces for the Toy2R 15th Anniversary World Tour (Baby Qee Edition) @ Rivet Gallery. These were so much fun to create. I had forgotten how much I love to sculpt in 3D. The paperclay ended up being a wonderful surface to paint on. It was great breaking out the needle felting again too.

more process info here.

The official show flyer featuring Chris Ryniak's awesome work:

official press on the show here.

More show & artist info at Rivet Gallery

custom Baby Qee toys in progress

This blog needed to be fed with some art, so I thought I'd share what I'm currently working on. I've been sculpting Paperclay onto these Baby Qee vinyl toys, which are both new materials for me. My previous 3D experience has been with Sculpey and Sculpey 3, so I washed off the Sculpey bits off my old tools, and was happy to see that it was somewhat similar to work with. After some trial and error I found that I actually like Paperclay more, and the bonus is that it air dries, so no baking, which I thought might be devastating to the vinyl. It also dries super lightweight, so they didn't become too top heavy, although my girl needed some stabilization built into her dress.

These are for an upcoming show:
Toy2R 15th Anniversary Qee World Tour @ Rivet Gallery
Group Exhibition - Opening April 3rd, 7-10pm
more show info & artist list here.

Here's how they started off before their brutal facial reconstructions and rhinoplasty. I ended up covering them almost entirely with Paperclay. I'm finding that I really like the texture of the Paperclay surfaces, and that it's really fun and easy to paint on. More updates soon....

my lightbox reconstructed

My little 11" x 14" lightbox has been a handy part of my sketching process since before college, and I guess I expected it to last forever, but this was not to be. The switch had been aggravating for years. But, more recently it didn't want to stay on. A new bulb gave me another couple weeks of life, but then it refused to turn on at all. It has very few parts, so one would think you could just replace one or two parts and be back in business. My dad helped me diagnose the situation, but Radio Shack didn't have the correct switch, and the wrong one would deliver a continuous current that could cause a massive explosion! Danger! Danger! Radio Shack guy told me he had one that started a fire. Apparently, fluorescents are nothing you want to mess with. The problem also could have been the transformer, and I didn't know where to find the proper one of those.

So, I had to accept that nothing could be salvaged except for the box and the opaque cover, and I removed all the guts.

Sure, I could have bought a new one, but I didn't care to spend $45 - $100+. Instead, I found an UnderCabinet light at Meijer for $8.00. I fastened it to the bottom of the box, and it was a beautiful fit. Someday, I might be able to find a way to cut a hole in the metal box to run the plug through, but for now it's ok hanging over the top sandwiched under the cover.

For a skinny little bulb it is surprisingly bright, and as you can see I'm able to view my drawing through the sketch paper perfectly!

Currently, I'm working on a couple paintings for a local arts show. Updates soon....

Illustration Friday: Confined

When deciding on images I wanted to paint for the 6" x 6" exhibition I thought about my previous whale and boy illustration, and wondered how I could squeeze these characters into a more confined square space. I'm often cropping images down, but this forced me to think about how the image related to the edges of the board, and I liked how this influenced the work.

Here are a few process photos. For info on paints and technique please see my 'Undone' post.

Illustration Friday: Renewal

I've been trying to get a new painting started, but I just couldn't let this IF topic slip by without a post. For me, 2009 was all about change, and oh, so many changes there were! A new job, and moving for the first time in 9 years, and being now back in Ohio with dear friends, and getting involved in the local arts community has brought on an amazing feeling of renewal for me. My life had grown quite stale, but now new possibilities and creative opportunities are everywhere!

For the past few years I've thought of each year in terms of themes I want to focus on. Going back to my 2009 Resolve post I was happy to see that I did keep all my 'resolves' in mind, especially the part about being more pro-active in all things. I took a lot of leaps, and told myself again and again to think and worry less, and do more.....just do....just act.

This year, as I find there's just so much more going on, deadlines everywhere, etc., I'm going to work on keeping my momentum going, but to really work on my focus. I finally have a calendar up at the new place, and I'll need to work more on scheduling and budgeting my time.

I decided that this year also needed a symbol, which is the running rabbit above. I started seeing this type of rabbit here and there, and paging through my sketchbook had drawn one, and written that seeing one was a sign that I was on the right path. I do feel like I've taken a trip down the rabbit hole, and while there were a few things that I was running from, (old limiting ideas and fears), this year it's more about all the things I'm running towards. My Chinese zodiac sign also happens to be the rabbit. This year, I believe I'm going to need to keep a move on to avoid being eaten up during this approaching year of the tiger!

OAL Thumb Box Exhibition highlights

There's a nice article about the OAL Thumb Box Exhibition on Jeff Regensburger's On Summit blog. I was pleasantly surprised to see my little paintings mentioned as a newcomer to the local arts scene. It was a fun show to be able to participate in!

Check out the article here: On Summit- OAL Thumb Box Exhibition

Terrible Yellow Eyes

My 'Where the Wild Things Are' tribute piece can now be seen on Cory Godbey's Terrible Yellow Eyes site. If you haven't already, I encourage you to check out this collection of amazing artists from around the globe. Cory has posted that he's made the decision to close the project with a final post, Friday, January 1, 2010, but the work will remain online as a tribute to Maurice Sendak's book that we all love so much.

Visit the Terrible Yellow Eyes blog to see all the contributions.

Illustration Friday: Undone

I've been meaning to post about my painting process, and seeings how this week's IF topic is 'undone', I thought I would post the 'undone' to the done stages of my recent 'Not to Be Trusted' piece for the Thumb Box Exhibition.

I wanted to paint with acrylics on wood, which is something I haven't done since the Holocaust Star Project. Blick didn't have the 6" x 6" size I needed for this small works show, so I bought 6" x 12" craft wood, and since Home depot said it was too small for them to cut without damaging the wood, I bought a Kobalt Fine Tooth Laminate Saw to cut the boards in half, and then sanded. I've always loved woodworking, so this was fun. :)

I gave the wood boards an acrylic base coat stain, and then transferred the 2 drawings I had completed. I could submit 3 pieces, but I only had 2 weeks, so I wasn't sure if I'd get that 3rd board, but prepped it with a blue stain just in case. (I'll post the outcome of that one later.)

I used a Pablo Caran d'Ache sepia-toned pencil to go over my drawing and add some shading. My goal was to maintain some of my linework in the final piece. (Before this step I had I scanned the drawing and the actual wood surface into the computer to work out my color plan in photoshop.)

I then started painting with my new favorite paints, the Atelier Interactive Acrylics, which enable you to re-wet them for blending, but you can also 'cure' the bottom layers with a hair dryer to glaze on top. They gave me the ultimate in flexibility. I also worked with stiffer brushes than the sables I'm used to. I liked the look of the illustration with the wood background showing, and contemplated leaving it like this. I wish I could have hit the 'duplicate' button to end up with 2 painting versions.

''Not to Be Trusted' acrylic on wood

After I had the background, and most of the rest painted, I had to scan it back into the computer to rethink her dress color. My original plan was to make it an emerald green, but that started to feel wrong. Testing out some colors in photoshop took the guesswork out. To 'cure' the painting I used a hairdryer over all of it. Some of the whites darken when they dry.

I was able to help hang the show, which was a good learning experience. The night of the opening I was surprised to find that she already sold. I was excited, but also just a touch sad as we didn't have much time together. I took lot of photos and scans, and I'll be offering a print soon.

This week I'll hit my 4th year Blog Anniversary!!! It's been quite an artistic journey, and it makes it all the better to be able to share it here with such a great art community. At first I was just so excited to meet fellow artists online, but this year I've been able start meeting some of you in person at the SCBWI conferences, and local artists here in Columbus, and it's been so inspiring.

I want to send everyone warm wishes for a very Happy Winter Solstice! I love this day as it means the days will start to become longer. I hope everyone has a safe merry holiday season!

Illustration Friday: Hatch

This sketch still needs work, but I wanted to post it for Illustration Friday because this week's topic, 'hatch' helped me figure out what I wanted to do with this drawing. I started the sketch below several months ago, and I had a distinct color scheme in mind that I'm quite excited about, and I knew I wanted to paint it on wood. I had to set it aside to work on my children's portfolio for the conference, and then an opportunity came along to do some small 6" x 6" paintings. I ended up feeling like the new work is more me. The girl below doesn't feel like it has enough of the style I'm going for. Sometimes it's only when you distance yourself through time that you can begin to see these things more clearly. I still liked some of the concept, so I reworked it into the above sketch.


Working digitally has given me more respect for the sketch phase. I'm now finding ways to be more patient and careful about my technique to keep some of that linework in my traditional painting. before I pick up a brush I need to make a plan for the value and how to create depth in the trees. I have a wood plaque designated for this, and I'll be using the Interactive Atelier Acrylics again. I'll be posting more on the new painting process soon.