Over Christmas break I wanted to make a watercolor piece that would help "beef up" my portfolio. I was doodling in my sketchbook trying to come up with a scene that would be fun to illustrate. Eventually I came up with the idea of illustrating something that could be real and odd at the same time, hoping to create a sense of fantasy. The idea of accordions came to mind for they are bizarre and charming instruments. At first I wanted to illustrate one player but thought it would be more ridiculous for there to be three. This piece is 8"x 10" on watercolor paper.

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.

Acrylic Paintings!

I made a couple of acrylic paintings over the summer. Some were experimental pieces while others where commission work.

This is an 8 X 10 inch watercolor illustration I created for a contest. Unfortunately I did not make it far in the nationwide contest, but I managed to create something I didn't know I was capable of. This contest was the Michael's Art Challenge competition and the top 10 pieces selected were awarded cash prizes. The public voted for their favorite out of the ten and the winner was awarded a trip to London to study in an art studio. So, as I was saying, I didn't make it to the top 10 and now I'm going to move on and talk about my work.

When I first heard of the contest, I wanted to use London as an inspiration. The first couple of ideas I had were pretty cliche so I made a list of English icons and I thought 'tea party.' But I wanted to go further so I tried to imagine the last thing  at the table like a dog, Now that I think about it, I wish I did something more outrageous like... cows? Anyways, I did dogs and this is how: I made a sketch. traced it on tracing paper. Transferred it onto watercolor paper. Then I painted away.

The Painting process was a bit slow for I was researching as I was working. My Google search history was very interesting during those weeks, Suggestions like 'window light,' 'tea pot,' 'teacups,' 'tea lunch setting,' and 'cupcakes' would come up when I was typing. However, it all paid off in the end. My main goal in this illustration was lighting. I put a very light blue wash over the background so everything would recede. I haven't perfected it but I will explore this technique more in the future.

When I was finished, I took the painting outside to take a picture on a sunny, morning. I don't know why morning light is the best for taking photos but it works wonders. When converting the photo to a digital format I didn't have to make any changes because the photos turned out beautiful.

This piece has taught me how I was able to take something from my fantasy and make it a reality. I never knew I could pull this off and I am happy with the results.