Illustration Friday: Double

Atelier acrylic & Acryla Gouache on 8" x 8" wood board

As I worked on my last painting commission I decided to take my second unchosen idea to final as well to use in my portfolio. It may have 'doubled' my work, but I enjoyed working on them both.  While the other was more appropriate for the assignment, I was glad I pushed myself to complete this one as well.

It was rather fun bouncing back and forth between the two. I just slid them down my drafting table, and as I was still figuring out a section on the one I could focus on the other.

This time I supplemented the Atelier Acrylics with some Acryla Gouache for some of those brighter pinks and whiter whites. I'll be experimenting more with this combo.

I then used this for one side of my promo postcard to take to the SCBWI LA conference.

I've also made this painting available as a print since I just discovered that Imagekind does have square formats available. Yay! So, I've uploaded some of my more recent works as well. You can view them all here.

*update: revised colors

Illustration Friday: Breakfast

Atelier acrylic & Acryla Gouache on 6" x 6" wood board

Hey! Come back here with my breakfast!

This illustration idea started out in my sketchbook as a tug of war between 2 bunnies, but they weren't going to play nice in my square format, so one bunny then picked up the donut, and before I knew it he took off running! Perhaps he realized how little time I had to complete this. It wasn't until I was working on the colorstudy that I saw that this hearkens back to my 2010 running rabbit theme.

My years of Illustration Friday training helped push me to go from sketch to final painting in just under a week. Thanks to the entire Illustration Friday community for being so supportive and encouraging!

This piece will be in the Too Yummy! group show from July 30 - August 1, 2010. Too Yummy! is the second installment of this fun-filled food-themed event, which will raise funds for the Mid-Ohio Foodbank.

I needed new business cards for the SCBWI LA Conference next week, so I worked this into the design which I now need to rush over to the printer.

Special thanks to illustrators, Tracy Bishop, Laura Zarrin, Andi Butler for helping me critique my business card tonight. Just when I needed a kidlit critique group in the late evening hours the universe found these wonderous gals who helped me out despite my bad timing of coinciding with kidlitart chat! Multi-tasking all the way!

Carrot Donut Thief print available here.

Illustration Friday: Diary

Atelier acrylic on wood board

Dear Diary, when I grow up I want to drive fast!

This painting was a recent commission that I very much enjoyed working on. I was told that this was to be a baby gift for a little girl whose nursery is pink and blue with a floral oriental rug, and that she likes sock monkeys and her dad likes to race cars.

As a base I started with a very watered down acrylic wash. I love this part! It's the only time I get to use the big brushes. The palette doesn't stay this clean for long. I'll share the after in the next post.

 After the paint dried the boards needed just a bit of sanding. Yes, there's two because I had a second idea I wanted to complete. I'm finishing it now, so I can add it to my portfolio for the SCBWI LA conference that I'll be attending at the end of this month.

I transferred the drawing with brown colored pencil. I always keep references I collected close by.

Before I started the painting I worked up a loose color study in photoshop. I was still unsure of how to pattern the colors, but I realized I would need to work it through during the process, or I'd never get anywhere.

I sort of liked the all pink color scheme, but finally dove into the blue. The dark navy blue became the necessary contrast. You can see a slice of the other painting I was working on to the left.

If the paint became too thick, or an area wasn't working I sanded it back, which is something I enjoy about working on wood. It's like having an undo button! The smoke went through several evolutions.

When I was finished I sealed it, and attached a wire for hanging. I just heard today that this gift was given and well received!

Birds of CAW show

Myself, my art, and the works of many of my fellow CAW (Creative Arts of Women) members will be at our Birds of C.A.W. exhibition opening this Saturday, June 19th. My 'Canary Chimes In' piece from my previous post will be on display for sale.

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!