Includes my art process, art shows, new ideas, products that are released into stores, artists I admire, and printable art that is free to download (free printable coloring pages, etc.). Your feedback is always welcome.
If you haven’t already heard of Illustration Friday, I encourage you to check them out. There is something so friendly and encouraging about their site, and I always enjoy creating art for their prompts.
This week’s prompt was “Game.” I took it as “The Game” or even “Game ON.” Below are my two variations. Have a favorite?
I waffled over this composition, about how magical to make it. My husband felt the horns were too much... yeah, ditch the ears too... So I submitted both for this week's Illustration Friday challenge, Ice.
A few weeks ago, my 8 year old son asked why I only submit collaged work to Illustration Friday — why don't I submit drawings? I'm not 100% sure of my answer for this yet, but I did decide to draw for that week's challenge, which was "Nest."
I went with one of my favorite styles to work in right now, an all-one-line/not-lifting-my-pen drawing. I then cleaned it up a bit in Photoshop and added a subtle blue tone in Illustrator...
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.
Time has been tight the past couple weeks, but I was able to re-purpose some collage elements and submit to this week's Illustration Friday challenge: Sparkle.
I wanted my dragon to be calm, but confident, and made of metal.
I submitted this guy...
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...
Another week, another Illustration Friday challenge!
Below is my collage for this week's topic: Shelter.
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.
This week's Illustration Friday challenge was "Smart." I think the intelligence of the crow is super cool, and I love fables and folklore, so I chose to illustrate Aesop's The Crow and the Pitcher.
This week's Illustration Friday challenge topic was "Orbit."
Similar to the "Moon" collage from a couple weeks ago, I used photos of grungy and decaying textures to create a scene that was recognizable, but almost accidentally so.
After showing my 7 year old my initial abstract layout, he emphatically felt I needed to showcase the word "orbit" more, so I added more planets and some moons. This is what my son finally approved....
I really enjoyed creating this piece for last week's Illustration Friday's challenge, and I was stoked that I was able to submit again this week. This week's theme: "Tropical."
I haven't worked with birds lately (possibly my favorite subject ever), so I decided to focus on tropical birds. I looked through various images, and considered a flamingo collage, but then I found a beautiful shot of a toucan. Below is my collage inspired by that photo...
I've created art a couple times in 2015 for Illustration Friday's weekly challenge, but in 2016, I'm planning to submit something new at least one week each month.
Below was my submission for last week's challenge, "Moon."
Yesterday, I remembered to create an illustration for Illustration Friday's weekly challenge. The word was "Heart." Here are a couple collages I came up with...
Last night I submitted art to the Illustration Friday challenge for the first time. The word to illustrate was Path.
This is what I sent in...