Philosophizing Food

Some Flies Live Longer

...And I hate them.

Type Experiments

Ok, so I went to a portfolio review at my school. There were supposed to be illustration experts and professionals there to look at our illustrations, as we are all illustration majors. Something like that. Anyways, someone dropped that ball, and I spoke to a graphic designer instead. He told me that I might consider exploring custom type to accompany my book covers. I liked this idea, as it combined by initial love of book illustrations with my work as a part time graphic designer. So yay for that idea.

So I made a cover and some full page illustrations inspired by Michael Martone's adaptation of Jack and The Beanstalk, called A Bucket of Warm Spit.  And I kinda like it.

ART 495 Digital Portfolio

Painting Studies

So, I am not a painter. Not by DNA, not by practice, not by love. I struggle with color, I always have, and painting is terribly messy, and OIL painting is worse. AND it is freakishly time-consuming and is such a process that I avoid doing it at nearly all costs.

That being said, I painted these.

Planimetric Head. These are what we are taught to master seeing. 

The idea is that if you can paint planes on a styrofoam head, you should be able to do it to a well-lit body, as they have planes too. This was not super thought-intensive.

But then you are supposed to be able to do it multiple times. Not as easy.

Very not as easy.

But I got better. Until we moved to color.

Torso Study.

Fabric Study.

Then we had to complete the ever-dreaded "Self Portrait Assignment". I hate these. People get so weird when they examine your self-portraits. They ask, "Why did you make yourself look so tired?"when you include every detail you see. And "Why did you make yourself look unrealistically perfect?" when you leave out those same details. My professor, Jenny, challenged me to use a tiny brush for my face (to force me to continue to cut the potatoes) and to use no browns in the facial deconstruction. 

Local Model. Actually, funny story. One night, while I was painting this on my balcony, my roommate popped her head out to tell me that she was going shopping for a bit and would be back soon. I nodded, earbuds still in, and did not notice that she had locked the balcony door my mistake, out of habit. I left my phone, keys, and additional jacket inside. I realized that I was locked out shortly after she left, but Had no way of contacting her. I waited outside on my balcony that for a good three hours on the arctic night. She came back and wondered what I was doing still out there. *facepalm*

Saturation Study.

Final, on wood panel.

Secret Garden

Mary making friends.

She finds an abandoned garden.

Mary discovers her distaste for her cousin, Colin.

Sneaking around Medlock.

Colin learns to walk.

80 Days

Possibly the book cover.

On a steamer.

In the study.

On the train.

Catching a train. 

Jack B. Storyboard

Secret Narrative

Character Final

This is Mary Lennox. And Robin Redbreast. She doesn't know that he is her friend yet, but she will catch on by the time she learns to skip rope.

I Made a Fox!

But it might also be a dragon. I'm not sure. But he's nice.

Around The World in Special Studies

This is a book cover, not quite finished, of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days.

Works In Progress

These are some WIPs I felt compelled to share. If something screams at you that seems lacking, comment below (if you can, I think it is working) and tell me what's up. Great minds fight a lot. 

This one is for a younger Alice series (cliched, I know, but I can't help it. I love her) I am working. This is one of three or four, and I like the idea of a kid being able to see an image from more than one point of view. I suppose I am mostly just giving myself something to render with these. I tend to leave things in the sketch stage too often.

This was for the scene in A Little Princess, where Sara's lowly attic space is magically transformed into a warmer, luxurious safe-haven by her mysterious next-door neighbor's Indian Butler.

This is one of those stays-in-sketch-phase thumbnails that I have decided to work up into a more finished state. In the future. 

This is intended to be the Alice book cover. But I may decide that I like it for something else entirely. I will just have to wait and see where it goes when I bring it, like the previous one, out of the sketch-phase.