It's almost time for the New Year. . . Goodbye 2011

  My goal was to have my website filled with new art by the time the New Year rolled around. However, with family things and whatnot, that has not happened. I am a little disappointed about that, but I did take the time today to come up with a revised design for the website with a couple of new pieces. I want to execute a couple more ideas I have floating around in my head and then I will put the new site up. Stay tuned! (my new goal is Jan. 31. Maybe by putting that here, I will actually get it done!)

Anyway, I have been hinting at a couple of pieces I was working on as Christmas presents which I can now post here.
The first was a set of "paintings" I did for my mom. She has a flowering plum tree in her front yard that she loves. So I did a drawing of the tree as well as a close up of one of the branches.

the pencil drawing

with tissue paper

with tissue paper

the pencil drawing

She loved a recent pencil drawing I did so I decided to keep the original sketch. I scanned it into the computer and then printed it on card stock. Using matte medium, I glued tissue paper over the drawings. I was pretty happy with the result. 

Another piece I did was for my sister. Last summer, I was able to spend a weekend at the beach with her and her family. From the trip, I got a lot of amazing photos. So I decided to do a painting of her children.

The first is the pencil sketch I did from the photo reference. The second is done in watercolor and pen and ink. I was really happy with the result as it is something I can add to my children's illustration portfolio.

2011 has been a good year for me. I graduated from the BFA Illustration Program at FIT, found a part time job working with great people, started this blog, met a bunch of great illustrators, and got a website up. I am excited for what the new year will hold: a new portfolio and hopefully some illustration jobs!
Happy New Year everyone. May it be better than 2011!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

I can't believe Christmas is only a week and a half away! Time flies when you are busy. While I am nowhere near ready for the 25th to be here, I must say I am very excited. I love the traditions of Christmas, and that most of my family is together in the same place for a couple days. I should be working on some secret projects (secret until the 26th of course), but I thought I would take a break and share some holiday cheer with all of you. Here is the card I did for the season to send to my family and friends (watch your mailboxes!) Hopefully I will be able to take my skates out this season like my friend here! Happy Holidays everyone!

Illustration Friday: Round

Hello Again. I am very excited to post my first picture for Illustration Friday (even if it is almost in time for the next word).

"The mouse pushed the round ball of yarn out of the basket to distract the cat chasing him and his fellow mice"

The word for this week was round. when brainstorming ideas of things that are round, I thought of balls of yarn. As many of my family members knit or crochet, this seemed like a good subject. I thought then, well how to make this interesting? and re-did a quick sketch I did a couple years ago that I called "Hide and Seek." For this picture, I used gouache, a watercolor brushtip pen (for the lines) and some digital collage. It isn't perfect but I thought the result was nice.