OddRiddle Art Journal

January!

2010-01-27T14:04:00.002-05:00

A belated Happy New Year to this blog. I hope everyone is getting off to a good start!

I just wanted to post again and remind any watchers here that my sketch blog has been updating daily again over at oddsketch.blogspot.com. Also, to thank you all for watching this blog as well. I have paintings and site updates on the way, including the division of my children's and fantasy portfolios into separate sites.

Sketchblog hiatus ending soon!

2009-11-18T20:40:00.002-05:00

Hello blog readers!

Some of you may have noticed that I took a little hiatus from this sketch blog after I finished my first 100 posts. I'll be starting it up again this Saturday, though! I'll also be setting up a backlog to post daily when I'm out for the winter holidays, so you can look forward to another 100-day stretch of uninterrupted sketch posts.

Hope you're all doing well! I'll be posting again soon.

- Emma

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T16:28:00.002-04:00

This pumpkin is about the size of a grapefruit and was given to me by my neighbor's daughter, Kendall, so I decided to carve something fun and unusual (for my pumpkins).

Frith and Inle

2009-08-26T12:36:00.002-04:00

This is a pair of twin ACEOs, representing Frith and Inle (the sun and moon concepts) from Watership Down. They're a little more symbolic and less representative of individual characters but they still obviously bow to themes from the book. These cards are full bleed and meant to sit side-by-side.

SOLD

Scrap paper dragon.

2009-07-15T20:01:00.002-04:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

I had a bit of scrap watercolor paper hanging around, so I doodled a dragon on it. Then I decided to use a little color and... well, I like the result.

The scales on this guy are similar to those of a hairy bush viper (with some exaggeration). I think the fringe was inspired by marine iguanas. I do like putting catfish whiskers on dragons, but these came out very eastern-looking. Fun stuff!

Crested Firehawk

2009-06-18T21:51:00.002-04:00

Watercolor, 6x8"

A fun little painting of a fictional raptor species. I had an urge to do a red-and-black colorway, and this was the result.

Three Deaths

2009-06-18T21:30:00.002-04:00

Watercolor, 5x7"

Funny, I thought I uploaded this one a while ago.

Further experiments with mixing watercolor and gouache! I've set aside my gouache paints except for a large tube of designer's white, which I mix with my regular watercolors to make colored gouache. The result is a separate pallet of gouache colors that properly matches my watercolor set.

Three Deaths Lineart

2009-04-30T11:46:00.002-04:00

I realized I haven't uploaded anything in a while, so here's the line art stage of a watercolor I'm working on right now. Not all of my watercolors have inked lines; sometimes I paint the lines in instead which allows me to use the full spectrum of color to do make subtler effects. However, on small paintings like this one (5x7") I can get much better definition using the ink.

Hand Bound Bookmaking Experiments

2009-03-26T12:26:00.001-04:00

Ok, so! Experiment time!

I'd like to try my hand at making small homemade books for a variety of purposes. Firstly I would like to be able to make portfolios for self-promotion mailers. Additionally if the process is efficient and the result looks really cool I might want to make editions of hand bound artist books for sale.

The options I've come up with so far (which I am not sure are viable for either purpose):

Staple Binding
+ Fast. Makes half and full sized books. Durable for small amounts of paper.
- Visible staples look cheap, though some kind of binding tape on top might help if there's also a cover. Need to buy a long-arm stapler.

Simple Saddle Stitch
+ Fast. Durable for small amounts of paper. Opportunity to use colored thread for added visual punch.
- Requires new hole punching equipment. Only half-sheet sized books.

Hand-Stitched
+ Can add as many pages as needed without sacrificing durability. Has the potential to look damn cool with the right paper even without extra coverings.
- Many steps make this process very time consuming. Special equipment is needed to improve efficiency and reduce risk of physical harm. Still, sharp objects and the pressure needed to piece several layers paper make self-injury a small hazard.

Ribbon Loops
+ Can use standard hole punches on computer paper to prepare the sheets and cover quickly. Relatively Durable and high potential for adding unique materials. Comparatively easy cover inclusion.
- Not as tight as a sewn book binding. Dependent on knots for durability.

Hybrid Loops - tie small stacks together across the binding edge like in hand-stitching, but also use the ribbon loops to fill the holes and attach the cover.
+ Can use standard hole punches on computer paper to prepare the sheets and cover quickly. Relatively durable and high potential for adding unique materials. Comparatively easy cover inclusion.
- Might take a little longer than plain ribbon loops.

The simple saddle stitch technique is shown on this page. It appears viable for sending out booklet sized portfolios.

The ribbon loop process is one that I haven't found strict documentation on but was inspired by the photo at the bottom of this page about traditional portfolio binding. I have high hopes that the process could be successful, for larger books and ticker stacks of paper. Because it relies on precut papers and a regular three-hole punch for everything the work time should be minimal and I won't need to get a giant paper cutter right away. If it's not holding together after a little experimental abuse, I'll try my hybrid loop/stack solution.

If anyone knows of another efficient homemade bookbinding solution, please let me know! If the handmade thing fails, there's always lulu and the iPhoto book printing (at least for promo). I just think it would be really cool to be able to do it myself if I want to because it would lend me a lot of flexibility in how I present my own work.

Sketchbook - Spider Librarian

2009-03-21T00:17:00.000-04:00

As someone a little on the short side, sometimes I wish I had a trick to reach the high shelves.

Sketchbook - psychopomp

2009-03-20T11:31:00.005-04:00

Psychopomp is the archetype used to describe any mythical being who conducts souls to the afterlife. Though my first thought in this sketch was for Ankou, this sketch mixes themes from several psychopomps.

Ankou, as near as I can tell, is a title or position rather than an actual deity of death. The stories come from the part of France across the channel from England. Basically, every new year the first adult to die becomes the new Ankou and is tasked with ferrying souls to the afterlife for one year before he can join them himself.

Here's a quick breakdown of the elements that got stuck into this consciously even though they're all from different cultures: the fellow on the left is the current Ankou, the symbol on his pendant is the elder futhark rune elhaz (which I once read is associated with Valkyries and dangerous situations), the dog is an allusion to the Old Shuck, and the boat obviously refers to Charon.

I've got my own ideas about the soul coming up the steps, but for now I think it would be fun to let you guys make up your own stories about him if you're curious.

Sketchbook - Frog and Toad Faeries

2009-03-19T00:32:00.002-04:00

A couple of initial thoughts on frogish faeries. I've got some more and some less human concepts that might get doodled up later this month as time allows. Still trying to make hair work on them...

And of course, the guy on the left isn't actually missing an arm; I just got carried away with drawing his vest and wanted to keep it as a costume study so I made my little hatching note that I use in turn-arounds.Naturally after drawing frog-fae comes a toad variation. Toads have so much skin texture that giving her human hair doesn't seem to clash as badly as it would with a frog's smooth skin.

She seems awfully possessive of her blueberry.

Sketchbook - Bird Fae

2009-03-17T12:48:00.003-04:00

Happy Saint Patty's Day! I'm sitting at the computer drinking tea and eating fresh scones as I type. I'm not wearing a stitch of green though.

Little, childlike hummingbird faeries! I think these guys came out awfully cute and they're high on my list of "things I need to paint in color." I was thinking of a Ruby Throated for the little girl at the bottom, since that's the species that always came to the feeders in RI.

Also, the sketch on the right was attacked by the memory of the 80's and his hair suffered a mullet.

This was the first page I sketched of the bird faeries. Again, I think that adding some color would really separate them from harpies. That, their humanoid arms, and their tendency to hunt insects and drink nectar rather than eating human beings.

Sketch Backlog

2009-03-17T12:37:00.004-04:00

I'm uploading a small backlog of sketches today, and I'll start with the "scarier" creatures.

Hob Goblins are nasty little man-eating monsters that I used to draw a lot back in high school.
They have a short torso with all limbs roughly the same length which allows them to run on two limbs or four. They're probably about as accomplished at walking upright as the fossil hominid Lucy, but opt not to do it very often. I didn't finish the loose sketch because the gait seems a little awkward; it needs something more like a leap and less like a gallop. I still like the gesture though so I left it on the page.

From an Irish folktale of the same name about a woman whose home is invaded by a group of twelve witches, each with an increasing number of horns growing from her forehead. The first five are in this sketch. Eventually the woman is able to save her family by following the instructions of a spirit living in the well outside.

The story's an interesting one, I might illustrate it in a full painting some day.

Sketchbook - Hrapp's ghost

2009-03-12T11:32:00.001-04:00

Hrapp is an old Icelandic ghost from the days of the early viking settlers on the island. I read about him in a book that contains translated stories from many sagas of the prose edda. It's called "The Sagas of Icelanders" and it's published by Penguin Classics if anyone is interested in vikings, though most of the stories aren't so supernatural.

Hrapp was a nasty piece of work in life; he found excuses to attack his neighbors and generally make life miserable for his own household. When he lay dying of an illness in his old age he asked his wife to bury him head-up as if he were standing under the doorway of his house so that he could "watch over the household." His ghost then proceeded to kill the servants and livestock and generally cause chaos.

Hrapp's corpse was dug up and moved to the outer edges of his land, but he still managed to kill people or drive them crazy. The farm lay uninhabited for over a decade until it was given to another man as a reward for heroism. One night, Hrapp was keeping the farm hands from leading the cattle into the stable and the new owner came out to challenge him with a spear he'd been given by the king of Norway. Hrapp grasped the spearhead and broke it off, then sank into the ground and dissapeared.

The next morning they dug up Hrapp's corpse for the second time, and though he'd been dead for years his body showed no sign of decay. They burnt his body and scattered his ashes, and that was the end of the haunting.

Sketchbook - Brownies

2009-03-09T22:42:00.003-04:00

Brownies! Looks like the cat's after his cream, but I like to think they have some kind of friendly relationship.

Sketchbook - Lepracauns

2009-03-08T21:32:00.003-04:00

The blending stubs have been abandoned. I like my textured shading, kthnx.

Aside from their pot of gold shtick, Lepracauns are also cobblers (shoe makers). The strange thing is, they never make a pair of shoes, they're always only working on one.

Three different character sketches that ended up somewhat blended into each other thanks to the all that grass the sleepy fellow is laying in. I'm thinking that with the grass that long this is probably the first time that the sheep has been to this field in quite a while. Definitely not expecting to find a little cobbler sleeping in his salad.

Sketchbook: the washing women

2009-03-08T00:09:00.003-05:00

Another strange bit of morbid folklore for today: the Washing Women are seen around secluded bodies of water. They are the ghosts of mothers who die in childbirth. The story goes that for seven years they have to wash the clothes of those who are about to die before they can pass on.

On a tangent, I found an old set of blending stubs today. I have mixed feelings about the results, but overall it was pretty fun to smooth things out so fast. I'll have to play around with it a little more though.

Sketchbook - Merrows

2009-03-07T00:04:00.000-05:00

Merrows. Kind of creepy, not-very-pretty fishmen. There seems to be some disagreement about whether or not they have legs.

Like a lot of aquatic faeries they do their share of drowning sailors and brewing storms, but my favorite story is one called "the Soul Cages." It's about a merrow who uses the souls of drowned sailors to light his garden walkways. He doesn't mean any harm by it, he even thinks he's doing them a favor by giving them nice warm jars to stay in out of the cold of the ocean. A man eventually finds out about it, gets him drunk and lets all the souls out of the garden while he's asleep.

Sketchbook - Puka scribbles

2009-03-05T23:57:00.002-05:00

Just playing around today with some more Puka Scribbles. They say that the Puka's human visage is that of "a dark hairy man."

As a shaggy old pony the Puka invites people to ride on his back. Unlike the Kelpie he doesn't kill his passengers; he just takes them on a wild and terrifying ride before dumping them in a bramble patch somewhere. More of a practical joker than a predator.

I've also heard of eagle and goat Pukas.

Hand-lettered tea labels.

2009-03-05T16:08:00.002-05:00

I thought I'd try out some hand lettering as a new approach to graphic design. I think I like the results of these. You might recognize a couple of these as redesigns from old school projects.

And by the way, these are done on separate pieces of 2.5x3.5" watercolor paper - that makes them possible ACEOs in addition to their packaging design function.

Sketchbook - more selkies

2009-03-04T23:52:00.002-05:00

So, more selkies! The first one has a little group of them, the second sketch shows a pony-shaped puka on a little pier, courtesy of something my friend Caitlin mentioned at the Strawberry festival this past weekend.

Sketchbook - Selkie

2009-03-03T22:48:00.001-05:00

There's likely to be more artistic nudity like this over the course of this month's project.

A selkie inspecting an old pocket watch covered in bladderwrack (that seaweed that has the air pockets). Selkies are seal faeries that can take off their skins and come ashore as humans.

(I watched the Secret of Roann Innish today.)

2009-03-02T23:54:00.001-05:00

A couple different varieties of trolls. More variety to come tomorrow.

An old troll.

2009-03-01T23:50:00.001-05:00

For march, I'll be uploading a sketch or sketches every day. Looks like the theme I'll be going with is faeries and related creatures. This old troll takes up almost the whole of the first page of my sketchbook. There may be a few more trolls over the course of the month; I've come up with a design for some of them that I enjoy quite a bit!

Z - Zoning Out

2009-02-26T22:04:00.004-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

Last of the series! Also possibly the most complicated.

One painting every day for 26 days, that feels pretty good! Now I can get to sleep earlier for a little while.

Y - Yearlings

2009-02-26T01:04:00.003-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

Norwegian goats were really great at climbing on everything. And at sleeping on everything.

Tomorrow is the last painting of this series!

X - Xyst

2009-02-25T02:32:00.003-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

Xyst - "(in an ancient Roman villa) a garden walk planted with trees." - dictionary.com

This girl reminds me of my sister, though she hasn't had very long hair in years...

W - Woodland

2009-02-24T02:00:00.004-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

Yikes, look at those claws! Early spring is cold, and I love the colors you see before things start growing again. Especially in damp weather, there's a lot of different colors in a winter/early spring landscape.

V - Vigil

2009-02-23T05:37:00.002-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

Took some artistic license with the lighting on this one to go for higher drama. I love owls.

U - Unseeing

2009-02-22T05:21:00.002-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

Sanna in the forest, a few years older than in "Trust."

T -Trust

2009-02-21T04:36:00.003-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

Sanna and her brother with their father's favorite dog.

S - Snowdrifters

2009-02-20T01:18:00.003-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

A small pack of wolves make their way across the snow. A couple of those wolves are less than 1cm on the paper... thank goodness for microns.

R - Remembered

2009-02-19T04:30:00.003-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

Q - Querying Cat

2009-02-18T02:49:00.004-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

A girl uses a clipboard to draw on the carpet as one of the family cats looks on curiously. I'm curious who in the house thought it was a good idea to put the houseplant on the floor, because I know what the cat's going for next...

The coil rug is sort of based on a couple that my Grandma had.

P - Prudence

2009-02-17T05:08:00.002-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

It's prudent for the rabbit to look around before leaving his burrow. Perhaps with the scouting aid of a cricket?

O - Ovoid

2009-02-16T02:27:00.004-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

Apparently, it's the name for a leaf shaped like this.

N - Narrow Pass

2009-02-15T02:52:00.002-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

Maia and Shadow navigate a rocky desert pass with a three-toed equine in tow.

M - Majesty

2009-02-14T12:23:00.002-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

The man in this image is one member of an Oligarchy that leads the largest northern country in my Malkin storyline. The banner above him is the official Imperial coat of arms.

L- Lilies

2009-02-13T02:00:00.002-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

Another very general interpretation of the letter form. Painting a still life out of my imagination; I never would have though it of myself a few years back.

(edit: I tweaked the values to make the "L" shape a little more distinct.)

K - Kingly

2009-02-11T22:33:00.003-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

I keep making up birds for this project, but it kind of makes me happy that they all seem close enough to real birds that they're not quite fantasy.

I couldn't think of what to name this one, so I had to use a crossword puzzle resource site to find a "k" word. There aren't a lot of pretty "k" words.

J - Joining

2009-02-11T02:00:00.003-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

This bridge has elements of many different suspension bridges that I've seen in the past.

I - Intruder

2009-02-09T22:45:00.004-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

Somehow the letter in this painting even got its serifs... hmm.

Who is intruding on whom? I took some artistic liberties with the distortion in the honey jars. Partly to make it easier to draw (because it would be hard to do that without reference), and partly to make it easier to look at.

H- Harmony

2009-02-09T00:57:00.004-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

I was watching a documentary on ancient Egypt last night, and one of the actresses in their reenactments was wearing little braid end caps. I loved the idea so I went and made a much more ornate version (I guess I was indulging myself in details today).

Lighting faces can be rough, but when you have no reference things can get out of hand... which is part of why this painting ended up so dimly lit. But I think it came out quite well for all the extra washes. I wanted it all a bit dim to contrast the bright "H" design from her hood and hair ornaments anyway.

..this is one of those paintings I really wish I could show people in person because despite my best efforts the scanner kind of ate it.

G - Gallant

2009-02-07T19:49:00.002-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

A rooster in a vague interpretation of the form of the letter G.

F - Fearsome

2009-02-07T03:34:00.004-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

These gargoyles started out pretty Gothic-looking and became more and more Asian seeming over the course of the painting. I think that the strong highlights really brought that out.

I'm pretty happy with the fact that I have not had to use gouache on any of these alphabet paintings.

E - Emptiness

2009-02-05T23:10:00.003-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

I painted this to resemble my favorite memories of Tucker Pond in Rhode Island, which I still feel is one of the most beautiful and unearthly places I've ever been. Just take a kayak out on the water in the fog and this is what it looks like; you can see far enough, but never to the opposite shore. There are several small islands in the middle that you see instead, and they are covered in enormous rhododendrons and old pine trees. I made up the birds, though. I based them on my memories of swifts, but I'm not sure that they look like any real species of bird.

If you're having trouble finding the "E" in this, look to the white (negative) space.

D - Detached

2009-02-05T02:17:00.001-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

Watching a red deer hart through an opening in a thicket.

C - Cavern

2009-02-03T22:57:00.003-05:00

Watercolor, 4x6"

Surprisingly, I don't have any stories tell you about this guy. Feel free to invent one for him instead!

B - Barren

2009-02-02T20:51:00.004-05:00

watercolor, 4x6"

A - Aquatic

2009-02-02T01:03:00.003-05:00

Kicking it off a little late in the evening, but I think it's a good start for the month...

February Alphabet Project

2009-01-31T11:35:00.006-05:00

OK you got me, it's not actually an alphabet project like you'd see in a children's book.

I'm doing another personal deadline project in February from the 1st through the 26th: I'm going to post a new small painting every day, and the composition of each painting will resemble a letter of the alphabet to varying degrees.

These are possible thumbnails for the project. This should be educational for me, at least.

Peacat

2009-01-28T01:55:00.002-05:00

It's a peacat!

The Wisp Chaser

2008-12-11T19:12:00.001-05:00

watercolor and gouache, 4x7"

A little something self indulgently surreal out of my "Malkin" storyline. This cat has so many names (Malkin, Olnor, Shadow, the list goes on)... I guess it's to be expected when you travel a lot and you can't tell anyone what your real name is.

bright spot

2008-12-07T21:38:00.003-05:00

From my new an slightly larger watercolor sketchbook.

Macabre Fall II

2008-11-30T22:27:00.001-05:00

Watercolor, 9x14"

This is probably the last of these skeleton guys I'll be painting for a little while. Onward to fresh subject matter!

Little Mermaids

2008-11-28T23:47:00.001-05:00

Watercolor, 6x8"

Brisk Morning

2008-11-28T17:52:00.001-05:00

Another watercolor from my sketchbook as I'm just getting into the spirit of the winter season. It's harder to do that in Florida.

Damselfly Faerie

2008-11-24T08:32:00.003-05:00

Watercolor and gouache, 9x14"

Oak Brush

2008-11-17T01:47:00.002-05:00

Another little watercolor sketch...

Seedling

2008-11-17T01:25:00.004-05:00

Seedling is a watercolor and gouache painting measuring 9"x14" Below is a mini painting I did in a moleskine watercolor sketchbook to get a feel for the character. I decided to give the final image more drama by showing off more of the costume and punching up the colors... a lot. And I looked up what peacock feathers actually look like, and decided that the real thing was more impressive than what I'd made up.

Life from Death

2008-11-10T00:31:00.002-05:00

I'm playing off of my previous skull-masked costume sketches with this painting. You can expect to see more of this sort of thing in the near future...

2008-11-01T18:29:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I forget how pointy my nose is.

I haven't done a "real" self-portrait in a couple of years, so I decided to participate in the international self portrait day over at conceptart.org. It's probably the first post I've made over there since I was a sophomore in college.

Also... this is probably the first time I haven't regretted trying to put my freckles into a painting.

Skull Masks/Costumes

2008-11-01T00:21:00.001-04:00

Concepts painted on a bit a scrap watercolor paper.

It's Halloween and I'm already thinking about costume concepts for future years. Not that I've tried to make a costume since high school, but it might not be a bad idea to try it again.

These concepts are inspired by Venice carnival costumes and Day of the Dead. I've always been fond of costumes with masks; I guess I think it's more fun when people don't recognize you.

Dragonie

2008-10-23T08:19:00.002-04:00

No, it's not Barney!

When I was a little kid like pretty much everyone I had a favorite toy. Mine was a smallish purple stuffed dragon named (with astonishing creativity) "Dragonie." I came accross Dragonie in storage the other day and started doodling how I had imagined her when I was five.

Scrap Fishes

2008-10-16T21:54:00.002-04:00

A quick watercolor and pen doodle on a bit of scrap paper.

More moleskine.

2008-10-15T23:35:00.002-04:00

It's Odin. I suppose by now it's becoming obvious that I like drawing/painting beards.

Moleskine watercolor sketch.

2008-10-13T23:35:00.002-04:00

I'm starting out with a new watercolor moleskine notebook. I've never used one before but I have to admit that I like the paper. It's a little thin so I'm sure it would warp pretty badly if it were much larger, but it's really perfect for this little sketchbook.

Cat Stereotypes

2008-10-02T00:37:00.002-04:00

Just a few quick little 2x2" illustrations.

IF: Island

2008-09-18T20:40:00.004-04:00

"Pointer Island" is how how I thought of this one, anyway.

Speed painting for this week's Illustration Friday topic.

Dark Koi Pond

2008-08-05T21:38:00.002-04:00

Further experimentation.

Frog on a Leaf

2008-08-03T15:05:00.001-04:00

A watercolor painting exploring the transparency technique I used with the aces in my card deck.

Card Deck Four Picks

2008-08-03T15:01:00.002-04:00

I'm uploading these so that you can see a little more detail from the card deck project.

One Week Deck Complete!

2008-07-25T23:04:00.006-04:00

This deck is copyright Emma Lazauski 2008. It is NOT available for public use. Please do not print, alter or redistribute without first receiving written permission.

I am planning to have this deck printed and made available for sale! Please comment or email me with your email address if you would like to know when the deck is available for purchase.
emma at oddriddle.com
So I finished the project in time. 54 images in one week! I'm not crazy! I feel really good about this project, and I would consider doing a similar one again in the future.

Progress: Done! 54 finished paintings.

Wednesday and Thursday work.

2008-07-25T00:06:00.003-04:00

On Wednesday I painted the suit of Spades.

The suit of Clubs was finished today! The joker is also finished, and the card back is drawn. I'm keeping the card back hidden for now because I'd like for something to be new on the final update.

I think that clubs are my favorite suit now. I'm such a sucker for green!

Progress: 53 finished paintings, 1 drawing.

Tuesday's work.

2008-07-22T23:55:00.001-04:00

Today I finished the suit of Hearts! Enjoy.

Progress: 26 finished paintings, 27 drawings.

Monday's work: Diamonds

2008-07-22T01:42:00.005-04:00

Today I finished painting the suit of diamonds.I will be replacing my hand-lettered numbers with a font once I get down to the designing portion of this project.

Progress: 40 drawings, 13 finished paintings, 18:30 hours.

Sunday update.

2008-07-21T00:09:00.004-04:00

Today I finished all of the drawings expect for the card backing. In these photos, 3-6 of diamonds don't have their symbols yet, but they do now. There's a little overlap from the yesterday where the sheets with the courts of hearts, diamonds and clubs were only half-full, but there are still 33 new images in there.

Progress: 53 drawings, 15 hours.

Drawings for breakfast!

2008-07-19T22:46:00.007-04:00

Mm-mm. Tasty! Nothing washes down early morning drawings like coconut tea and orange juice.

First update time! This weekend I've decided to concentrate on putting all the drawing out of the way. This way I can experiment a little more with the overall design of the suits, before locking in my drawings with the paint. Also, I'll be able to spend my evenings painting them this week as part of an extended batch. I think it's probably a good idea to paint all the cards in each suit the same night. It'll be easier to make sure that they all match up that way.

I finished 20 drawings as of this posting. I'll do a couple more before I go to bed tonight. I'm finding my groove and unless I hit a snag with a concept they're going pretty fast. But enough chit-chat, I'm sure you'd like to see a little proof!

I started with the Ace of Spades because I'd already had an idea for that card. I've got the traditional cards laid out so that I can check the head positions of the face cards.

The first eight cards of the suit of Spades! Note: sometimes Spades are also known as "leaves" and "shields." After this, I only got through the face cards for each suit.

I've chosen to represent diamonds with quilt squares, napkins, kerchiefs, etc. I suppose that comfort is as good a form of wealth for a cat as any!

Hearts. Probably my least favorite solution to putting a spin on the suit symbol, but I like it anyway.

Clubs! These guys are going to look great in color.

That's all for tonight. I'll be sure to check in again tomorrow with the rest of the drawings in some form!

Progress: 20 drawings, 6:30 hours.

My "One-Week Deck" project kickoff

2008-07-19T19:56:00.002-04:00

I realized that I haven't been stressed-out enough over projects since graduation and I fear that I'm becoming a little too complacent. In order to refresh my memory on what that's like I've created a special time-crunch project! I'm also hoping it would be an accurate simulation of what it's like to do moonlight freelance work, possibly help me discover my limits ...and maybe I'll even bag a decent portfolio presentation in the process.

The project: design and illustrate a full themed deck of playing cards in one week. There will be a unique image on each card (not just a copy-paste multiple of the suit symbol). They will be spot illos, not full-bleed, but it should be enough of a challenge considering the sheer number that there are to do. The main point of this project is to apply pressure to perform well under a tight deadline in addition to my day job.

Here's the logistics:

I began this project today Saturday, July 19th and will finish the deck design by midnight on Friday, July 25th.
The cards will be formatted 2"x3" so these will be small paintings.
52 playing cards + 1 joker + 1 backing image = 54 illustrations.
54 illustrations over 6 days averages 9 illos/day. That would give me one day to check my work and format some sort of grid-type presentation before my deadline.
Estimate 4 hours/day on weekdays, 8 on weekends: (4x5)+(8x2)=36 hours to work on the project. I can work longer hours on this and probably will. Unless I somehow get ahead of things this estimate will probably be a minimum. I'll be keeping track of my time for future reference.

Photo update of today's work to follow!

Moth Queen

2008-07-11T19:20:00.002-04:00

watercolor, 8x10"

An early concept of a Moth Faerie, her clothing design has become more "natural" and her own features a little less human since I began this painting, but once again it was an enjoyable exercise in manipulating value with my new tube watercolors.

Viking Profile

2008-06-14T18:22:00.005-04:00

A 5x7" watercolor, fresh off the painting block! A simple, small, quick profile portrait of a viking in a field one morning.

IF: Punchline

2008-06-13T23:31:00.004-04:00

Full view, please!

A young girl and her friendly border collie Robert go through the "punch line" at the train station. Maybe I should call this a "PUNch line?" Ow, no hitting!

IF: Forgotten

2008-06-12T23:27:00.004-04:00

This was not Sir Snugglesworth's lucky day. Nor had it been his lucky week. Unless you counted bad luck, and in that case he had had plenty.

A small taste of the RCAD senior illustration show.

2008-04-26T10:11:00.002-04:00

My company received an invite to the show, so I figured that since I live down the street it would really be a shame not to go. I met some of my old teachers and got to talk with them a little. I didn't get to talk with many of the students because I got there a little late and I think that a lot of them had left.

Now for the links I collected from business cards! All but a few people had their blogs listed as their only professional website... I guess it's a trend these days. Maybe I should call this post "part one" because I do plan to go back sometime while the show is up and collect more business cards. If you're a Ringling senior illustrator don't hesitate to poke me in the right direction for when I go back.

Luis Espinosa - One of the few people in this year's graduating class that I know. He's a hard worker in addition to having a solid illustration style. Check out his motion graphics! They're short, but they're also really professional.

Tina Sweep - I was able to talk to her for a while; she's really nice, and her work is really professional. Plus, it's watercolor and I'm sort of a sucker for that.

Andrew R. Wright - OK, now I'm into the people I haven't met. This guy's work caught my eye because his style involves a lot of printmaking. Not sure if it's woodcut or linoleum, but it definitely adds an interesting flare to the work. There's a lot of other printmaking techniques in his work, too.

Jack Koetje - This guy's work is digital, but it looks a lot like traditional media. His style is pretty cute and he also has a lot of good development work on his site.

Neesha Hunter - I wish she had more of her thesis on her blog, but apparently that's coming soon! Another watercolorist, she's got a fun, whimsical style.

Blue Cthulhu

2008-04-05T09:56:00.004-04:00

watercolor and gouache, 8x10"

Just a little something to let me experiment with my new watercolor set. Tube watercolors make it a lot easier to use saturated washes, so in turn it's much easier to paint colorful and high-contrast images. Huzzah, no more mashing wet brushes in the pans to get enough pigment! That's what I get for being emotionally attached to my dry set.

Nuthatch

2007-10-14T18:28:00.000-04:00

watercolor and gouache, 5x7"

I asked my Mom what she wanted for her birthday, and she said she'd like me to paint a bird for her. This is one of our favorites, the white-breasted nuthatch. He does everything upside-down!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Fear in the Dark

2007-10-01T00:04:00.001-04:00

watercolor, 8x10"

Here's something a little darker in theme than my usual subject matter. This scene is from "Fear in the Dark," a chapter in Watership Down by Richard Adams.

"Zorn! Oh, zorn!"

While out exploring around Watership Down, Hazel and Dandelion run into Holly and Bluebell, who are much the worse for wear. At first Holly can't stop gibbering long enough to make sense so he interrogates bluebell instead, all the while worrying what kind ob attention a wounded, screaming rabbit might bring down on the rest of them (fortunately, nothing worse happens).

I painted this under self-imposed time restraints... I hope I don't hate it in the morning, but for now I'm pretty happy.

Running Boar

2007-09-16T00:02:00.001-04:00

media: watercolor

Please full-view! The smaller image loses all of the details.

A quick little watercolor inspired by the "Florentine Boar" sculpture. [link] I never thought that a pig could look noble before I stumbled across a photo of that piece

Orachard Visitor

2007-09-01T22:55:00.000-04:00

I really like how this painting came out. Sometimes the under-drawing for a painting leaves space for me to paint in other basic shapes without having to be so concentrated on staying in the lines... like the extra branches I added to the final painting of this image. If I were doing this for a commissioned work, however, I would have at least blocked the shapes in.

I suppose that woodland trolls don't suffer from that sunlight affliction the way their mountain cousins do... still, I'm sure they wouldn't want to be caught out at noon.

Fire Wyrm

2007-08-26T19:15:00.001-04:00

PRINTS AVAILABLE!

Well, I haven't painted any dragons in a while. Here goes:
I scanned the drawing in at a very high resolution before going at this with watercolors because I might possibly use it to try out some new digital coloring ideas. Might.

The final watercolor. Which, of course, my scanner mangled nicely. Or maybe it's my monitor... although I should be taking care of that problem in a couple of months when OS X Leopard comes out. :D Scales in this fellow are shaped like a hairy bush viper's, and the pattern is very loosely like a copperhead.

Stand Tall

2007-07-24T21:25:00.001-04:00

9x12", watercolor

Further experimentation with the style I developed for my "Snowflakes" illustration from my poetry thesis, (for those viewing this page from Illustration Friday, my thesis is a collection of ten illustrations of classic poems).

This painting was done entirely in watercolor with minimal drawing. Only the most basic compositional shapes were mapped out prior to using paint; all of the details have been drawn with watercolor.

This was a spontaneous image from a dream, so I suppose that explains why there are two moons in the sky.

"Breakfast Cub"

2007-07-24T19:01:00.000-04:00

Because every morning should start with a bad pun.

2007-07-17T18:13:00.001-04:00

I'm back! I have a job in Sarasota FL now, designing/concepting decorative Christmas products. It's nice that in my first post-grad job I'm doing what I've been trained for and achieving that coveted financial independence. I'm glad I took the job even though I had some doubts at first; my apprehensions were alleviated the first week, such that I barely know why I was so worried before.

I hadn't been doing much personal work for a while, but this week I've got that back in gear. I'm going to try to catch up to the most recent Illo Friday topic in between any other ideas that pop into my head while I'm drawing Santa and that need to wait until the dinnertime sketchbook run. I'll see how that works out. You should be able to expect seeing some new work posted soon.

For now, this is a quick little watercolor painting on a piece of postcard-paper. The varying hare, or snowshoe rabbit, changes its coat in wintertime. This fellow's still got a little of his summer coat showing.

Thesis: The Little Crocodile

2007-04-22T22:11:00.000-04:00

This is the last painting to be completed for my poetry thesis! Now it's off to finishing my other school projects before the end of the semester...

Poem: How Doth the Little Crocodile by Lewis Carroll

How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in,
With gently smiling jaws!

2007-04-17T23:20:00.000-04:00

My ninth poetry painting. I don't do a lot of landscapes, but I had a lot of fun stylizing the trees, bushes and snow in this, so I'm probably going to play around a lot more with this mode of stylization in the future. One more painting to go in this project, my goal is to have that done by tomorrow evening.

Poem: Snow-Flakes by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Out of the bosom of the Air,
Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,
Over the woodlands brown and bare
Over the harvest-fields forsaken,
Silent and soft and slow
Descends the snow.

(PS, look for the sky-lady.)

Thesis: The Boy and the White Horse

2007-04-17T23:16:00.000-04:00

Painting number eight of my traditional poetry thesis!

Another short poem this time...

Poem: The White Horse by David Herbert Lawrence

The youth walks up to the white horse, to put its halter on
and the horse looks at him in silence.
They are so silent, they are in another world.

IF: Green

2007-04-11T22:19:00.000-04:00

The illustration friday topic this week is "green." Frogs are one of my favorite animals; they bring back a lot of happy memories of chasing bullfrogs in a cranberry bog... of course, red-eyed tree frogs are only something I've seen at the zoo.

Thesis: To a Mouse

2007-04-03T22:01:00.000-04:00

This time I used my camera to take WIP photos of the painting as I went along. The photos all depict stages with pen and watercolor before it went into the acryllic for the final image.

poem: To A Mouse by Robert Burns
On Turning her up in her Nest with the Plough

Wee, sleekit, cow'rin', tim'rous beastie,
O what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee
Wi' murd'ring pattle!

(...)

But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft a-gley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promised joy.

Thesis: She Hears the Storm

2007-03-30T22:29:00.000-04:00

The 6th painting for my poetry thesis. A lot of complex lighting in this one, which is why it took longer than expected. There is light from a fireplace behind the viewer, as well as from the candles.

I may come back to this one again, but I'm done with it for now!

Poem: She Hears The Storm by Thomas Hardy

There was a time in former years--
While my roof-tree was his--
When I should have been distressed by fears
At such a night as this!

I should have murmured anxiously,
'The prickling rain strikes cold;
His road is bare of hedge or tree,
And he is getting old.'

But now the fitful chimney-roar,
The drone of Thorncombe trees,
The Froom in flood upon the moor,
The mud of Mellstock Leaze,

The candle slanting sooty-wick'd,
The thuds upon the thatch,
The eaves drops on the window flicked,
The clanking garden-hatch,

And what they mean to wayfarers,
I scarcely heed or mind;
He has won that storm-tight roof of hers
Which Earth grants all her kind.