Speed Paint: Bird Illustration

I've been in artistic overdrive lately!  I'm getting a lot of work done on my book project and even moving onto new projects on the side.

Now that I've been thinking more seriously about doing illustration professionally in the future, I've been working hard to amp up my portfolio.  And that means more drawing, more painting, more illustration!  And then more after that!

Speed Paint/Drawing
Time elapsed: 1 hour (plus change)
Medium: Photoshop

Not particularly pretty, but I'll be going back into it later.  Feel free to critique! There's already a lot I'm looking forward to changing.  You'll see this guy again.
:)

Worlds Fair: Pages 9 & 10

One of the big projects I'm working on this semester is an illustrated children's book about the Chicago worlds fair of 1893.  I've posted about it before, and I'll probably post about it many more times.  It's a project I'm hugely excited about, but to go with that huge excitement is a huge amount of work.  When I say huge amount of work, I mean it.  Lots. Of. Work.  I'm getting faster and faster at the painting process (it's in Photoshop) but it still takes me hours upon hours to finish a page.  And the level of "finish" I get isn't quite high enough, even when I get there.

It's wonderful because I'm focusing so much of my energy on a cool project, which isn't something I usually get to do.  But at the same time, I really can't do anything else...

Here's a peak at spread pages 9 and 10:

There are a couple of kinks to work out of it, but it's pretty well set. :)
Just have to finish one today and one tomorrow and I won't be behind!  (o__o)

Back to work for me!

Self Employment in the Arts (SEA) Conference

This weekend I was lucky enough to attend the SEA (Self Employment in the Arts) conference in Napervile Il.  It was pretty cool and full of stories of success (and failures) and tips on how not to be a starving artist (but still be an artist).  The thing that was the most valuable to me was realizing that as long as you are able to support yourself (either through your art or not), your level of "success" is yours and yours alone.  Not the NY artist across the way.  Not what your friend/brother/aunt things it should be.

Now, I don't plan on being able to use my art for my full time career, at least not at this point in my life.  But I'd be lying if I said making a living off of my skills and the things I love doing wasn't very, very appealing.  So I'll be honing my talents and building my portfolio and keeping my little dream lit.  And maybe someday, maybe someday soon, I can take that step.

In the mean time: art!

(They gave away fine tip blue sharpies from Blick Art. Score!)

A doodle during one of the conference sessions.  It was a lecture on copyright law and very informative!

The Mural is Complete!

Remember that mural I was working on? Well, after a lot of work, a lot of time, and a lot of paint, it is complete!

From left to right:
Ben, Sara, me

(Photo credit goes to Ben)

It was a blast.  I really enjoyed watching the whole thing transform from a design on a piece of paper to... a mural.  A really big mural.  That's not to say it wasn't a fair bit of work, but with all three of us working it wasn't as bad as we originally feared.  (And swirls are fun!)

Now that the mural is complete I have 6 extra hours a week to spend on other things... like that book project...

I've Been Featured!

Good friend and housemate Jenny has featured me and a fashion illustration I did for her on her blog.  I posted an earlier draft of it here, but the final is now up!  Please go check it out on her blog, Fickle Kitsch.

Jenny's series "Fashionably Artistic" features artists who incorporate fashion (in any sense of the word) into their work.  She's looking for new entries, so if you're an artist who is interested, feel free to draw something for her!  I know she would be delighted.

Jenny is an amazing blogger and a prolific writer.  If you have any interest in Fashion (and Women's and Gender studies, and Nerdiness) make sure you check out her other posts too.

:D

Da Vinci Room: Mural Update

As you may or may not know, I'm working on a mural with two classmates for a local elementary school. We're nearing completion after a pretty long haul.  The mural is for their new "Da Vinci Room," a place for dance, art, and theater.  It's all pretty cool and makes me wish I could go back to elementary school. ;)

Ben designed the mural and Sara and I did the majority of the painting.  I handled the girl, she handled the boy, and it all turned out pretty darned well!

Ben made a pretty cool video of the mural in progress.  Check it out!

We're going back in next week to put on the finishing touches.  And then... we will be finished~!

Book: Sneak Preview

Oh hey blog...

I've been doing a million creative things this semester.  That's horribly exciting because I love doing creative things, however it's turning out to be gobs of work.

One of the major, major projects I've been working on is my illustrated children's book about the Chicago Worlds Fair of 1893.

Here's a peek at the first page.  :)  Still needs some tweaking but it's pretty much set.  Photoshop (and my tablet) and I have become fast friends again.  If you ever need to find me in the next two months, I'll be pressed against my computer screen scribbling.

Also, the blog is undergoing some cosmetic surgery.  I apologize if things look awful for the time being.