walking and chewing gum at the same time

I follow a blog called The Sartorialist. This guy just goes around taking amazing photos of amazing fashions on everyday (but, amazing) people. I love it! I sat down to watch a movie, but my hands wouldn't keep still so I drew this pic as a study.

first snow

I am not normally a fan of snow, however I do try to find the beauty in all things. So when I saw the snow fall for the first time tonight I decided to make a illustration out of it.

I chose to make the snow looking in, instead of the people looking out. This way the snow was more a character than a object-however the snow is still a secondary character to the main figures. I also tried to play with color contrast and value- wondering what the figures nearest to the window would look like vs the figures farther away. I tried to keep in mind while this is a "cool" palette I still wanted warmth; so I focused on warm grays and shades of yellow ocher, rather than various shades of blue which would be a normal fall back for someone painting night.

I sound a little geeky, but I love this stuff!

Over all, it makes me smile.
And I hope it makes you smile too :)

study of a painting

Here is a painting by Fredrick Carl Frieseke --The Yellow Room, next to it is my study from it. Another study, perhaps too close to the original. But I wasn't trying to pull this off as my original idea to begin with. Just a study of color and pattern with a more modern twist.

study of night

As I have mentioned before, I am building my portfolio- trying to find a market to put it in, as well. I have too many images of women in flowing dresses in nature. I needed a mix. So I made myself a challenge:

1)night
2)limited palette
3)mystery scene


The third wasn't as much of a challenge as I thought it would be (meaning I wasn't pulling at my hair.) It was really fun! It made me think and create in a way that wasn't my norm.

Above are color comps/sketches of possible paintings for a young adult book (tween), children's book market. The first is a book cover idea, the second could be a cover as well a page in a children's book.

The first image, I wanted to create the illusion of being in a bird cage. So I painted stripes around the crow on the wall and on the girls dress. By slanting the image I created a sense of urgency along with the clues of the sudden appearance of a light, the opened letter, and the squawking of the crow. But even in this scene I just couldn't quite get by without flowing hair and fluffy dresses :)

The second image, I wanted to give the viewer the feeling of waking up in a strange space. So everything in the room is twice the size it should be. I love the the girl in the HUGE chair! I am excited to make that one into a real painting.

I love knowing that with each image I make I get a little better. Notice that my contrast between values is getting better? I love being an artist, it allows me to have have a visual journal of growth.

Have a happy day!

Live Study....