For this week's Illustration Friday's challenge, "Nose," I used my watercolor paintings as my collage material. It was my first time doing so, and I really liked incorporating both of my techniques into one. I definitely plan to explore this further.
I call this piece Portrait of a Woman with Flowers.
Spot Illustration for Mark Mitchell's Critique Group
One of my favorite instructors, Mark Mitchell, now hosts a critique group every month.
For a small fee, anyone can submit their work for live, online feedback by a professional in the industry (as well as from Mark and the enrolled members).
Last month's guest was Peachtree Publishing's former senior art director, Loraine Joyner. She asked us to submit one finished-ish piece, and I chose a spread that I had a few questions about. I thought she did an excellent job all around, and her suggestions for my spread were extremely helpful.
Loraine will be joining us again this month for another critique. This time she gave us an assignment to create a spot illustration/sketch for a Hans Christian Andersen story. She wanted us to choose a character and/or scene and draw, re-draw and draw some more, to see what personalities and details emerged.
After reading a few Hans Christian Andersen stories, I decided on The Nightingale, and I chose this passage for my spot illustration: "and even Death himself listened, and said, 'Go on, little nightingale, go on.'"
Below is the collage I submitted...
Illustration Friday, "Village"
This week's Illustration Friday topic was Village.
I decided to focus on the parts of a village, and the embodiment of a village within a person. Below is my illustration...
Illustration Friday, "Hat"
This week's Illustration Friday topic was "Hat."
I first sketched a bird with an actual hat. Then I thought of the Eurasian hoopoe that I recently drew for a client, and the cool crown/hat that it already has.
Using the scans of vintage drawings, I assembled this black and white bird with a hoopoe-style headdress. I also added a vignette effect to give it a slightly creepy, noir-esque tone.
Busy October, gallery shows and more to come!
It has been a very long time since I've updated my blog, and I hope you're still catching my posts on Facebook and Instagram!
The month of October was a very busy and exciting time for me. I had a good deal of illustration work come in, AND I had my first group gallery show since college. In fact, I had TWO gallery shows in October — one opened in Iowa on the 16th and the other opened in NYC on the 24th.
I'll update more about the illustration jobs soon, as well as details on an upcoming solo show, but here is a shot of the watercolor and collage work that was at the show in Cedar Rapids ("Rabbit," "Meeting the Wolf" and "Crow").
As always, your questions and comments are most welcome!
