Poppies for a Cause

My sister every year organizes Coffeehouse for A Cure; a coffeehouse and raffle to raise money for the Children's Tumor Foundation (a cause very near to our hearts). Each year, I like to donate a painting to be raffled off to do my part in helping. Of course, I always decide to do things at the last minute, and so couldn't post a picture before the actual event. I did decide to document my process a bit with this project so you could see more how I work.

the thought process

First I started with a sketch in my sketchbook. This was quick, and unfinished, but I wanted to scan it in and do a color comp (yes I am impatient with that). The first row of the above picture is the original picture of the flowers I took a couple summers ago, the quick sketch and the quick color comp.
The second row is a cleaned up sketch that I did with tracing paper and pen, from there I got the color comps to the right. The gray background was a happy accident. I went to fill the background in Photoshop with a blue but had scanned the file as a grayscale file so it came out gray. I liked the way that looked against the orange so I kept it. I also decided to keep the grass in the background gray as well, simply outlined in white so that the flowers really popped. I was really happy with this as a color comp.

the painting process

After I had printed this out, I mixed my colors and got to work. For this piece I used gouache. Gouache and watercolor are my favorite media, and for this, since I was going for more of a graphic look, I decided to use gouache. Basically this is all the different stages of the painting.

the workspace. Pretty neat for me actually. and of course my coffee is always near.

the final painting (before I signed it)

Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of it when it was framed and looked all nice and pretty. I did scan it before I framed it, so I put a black frame around it in photoshop so you could get the idea of the final project.
I was really happy at the event because the painting seemed to get a lot of tickets, more money for The Children's Tumor Foundation!!! The winner was my younger sister's friend, who was ecstatic (she told me afterwards she was one of my biggest fans).
I love being able to share my talents to raise money for such a cause, and actually had a lot of people come up to me afterwards to say how much they loved it (always a good ego boost :) ).  I would love to be able to do this more in the future. But back to the drawing board. I hope not to leave this blog for as long this time without a post. Also need to get the much promised revised website up. Well, as an illustrator, your work never seems to be done.
Hope you enjoy the painting!

Pandas, Pandas, Pandas Everywhere! (and a hippo)

One of the things we did often in school was draw from life. Unfortunately, I've fallen out of this habit a bit since then. However I have decided as a New Year's Resolution to do more drawing from life.

Therefore, the other night I was sitting on my bed looking at my twin sister's bed. She LOVES pandas (and that is an understatement.) I think she has about twelve pandas at the end of her bed, all in a pile.
So I pulled out my sketchbook and a pen and drew them. (there is also a hippo, a tiger and some sort of brain cell there. yeah she's a science nerd too)

"my sister has a lot of pandas. sometimes it's hard to tell where one begins and another ends"

This was a fun ten (maybe fifteen?) minute drawing. It is just a inky pen drawing. I thought people may like to see some informal art, as opposed to the finishes I keep posting. Hope you like the pandas!

Illustration Friday: Grounded

I realized that some people who read my blog might not know what Illustration Friday is. I was so proud that I actually got something done in time for it last time that I didn't even bother to explain what it was! My apologies.
Illustration Friday is a website on which there is a weekly Illustration challenge (given every Friday, hence the title of the website). Each week, illustrators who wish to participate illustrate the theme for that week and post links on the website to their blog where they have posted their version of the theme. At the end of the week, a piece is chosen as the pick of the week and a new theme is posted.
Last week's word was grounded. I had an idea for this, and then unfortunately got sick so was unable to post it in time. However, I was happy with the result so I decided to post it here anyway.

Sammy's mom said he could have a komodo dragon for a pet when pigs fly. Much to his disappointment, Delilah remained very much grounded. 

I used collage as the main medium for this piece, with micron pen for the facial features. I am really enjoying collage, let me know what you think!

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.

A little taste of Summer in November

I haven't posted anything here in a long time, but that does not mean I haven't been working!
I will say that most of my time (art time that is) is spent brainstorming and sketching ideas for new pieces for my portfolio. By Jan. 1 2012, I would like my website to be almost entirely work that I have done outside of school.  I need to get cracking on that, but soon I will be posting sketches for feedback!


Of course some projects will need to wait til after Christmas to be posted. . .  :)

In the meantime, I recently did a project for my mom. Since I was in middle school, my family has spent a week at the Jersey Shore (we called it that before certain television programs existed). The house we stayed at was one of the small bungalows that are built in neat little grids through Ocean Beach (where we stay.)  As a thank you for a recent stay (and for the many trips we had taken there in the past), my parents asked me to paint a picture of the house for the owners.  So, here it is.

The actual house

my painting

I haven't painted like this in awhile, so i was a bit unsure of the outcome, but they loved it!
(and since the customer was pleased,  I consider the project a success.)