Above are a couple of illustrations that I took from my sketchbook that I thought were the most successful or interesting. All these pictures were made using a black ink brush pen that was waterproof so that I am able to add watercolor later if I like. The illustration with the plants at the top, I made originally as a study which lead me to play around with the composition by adding more elements. The Second piece from the top is drawn from imagination and observation. I would go out and sit at a coffee shop and basically people watch. When there was an interesting character walking by I would make up a story of why they are there and then try to make a caricature of them. For the overall page, I tried to fill up the space as best as I could with subjects as well as fill. What I mean by fill is by giving the clothes texture, pattern or some sort of gradient so that its not just black outline. This could help in telling the character's story. The bottom illustration of the llama is probably my favorite because it was a doodle that turned out looking like a finished illustration. 

This is one of those pieces I make that turn out better than I expected. This shows that I need to keep making art because somewhere in the pile I get something worth keeping. This is a wood burning with autumn red acrylic for the leaves. This gives the piece a timeless feel where it can be out all year round for any holiday or season. 

Above is a watercolor I created for the book cover project I was assigned in my Illustration class. The project was that we had to choose a book to redesign it's cover and assemble the new cover onto the book itself. I picked the classic Secret Garden but wished that I picked something a little more contemporary. The reason behind this is that the Secret Garden has been illustrated hundreds of times and half of them show this exact scene of the girl and the door. I had a lot of fun making this image but once I inserted it with the rest of the cover on the computer, it looked unfinished. I spent too long on this single illustration that I did not really consider the rest of the book. As I printed out the final, the cover not only looked unfinished but a tad cliche. If I could change anything it would be that instead of completing this cover in traditional and non traditional mediums I would have done it entirely traditional. 

Yesterday, I attended an opening for The Starting Out exhibit at New Visions Gallery in Marshfield, Wisconsin. Here, I submitted my watercolor illustration that I made over the summer. This was a juried exhibition which means there was a board that decided which pieces were to be displayed. I was exited to receive the email for it felt like I was given a break. However, it's a break so that means I need to get back to work afterwards and start cranking out more art. Hopefully I can submit more pieces to galleries such as this one and get noticed. The president from MIAD, Jeff Morin, spoke at this opening about how to work as an artist using the gallery as an example. He mentioned how he, himself, submitted art to galleries and how he never gave up no matter how many times his work was denied. Eventually his work made it into galleries which started a chain reaction of finding clients.

I don't know what will happen having my work on display. Even if it's for a short period of time, it only takes one look to make all the difference.