Spraygraphic Poster Show

I sent the poster i did a couple weeks ago to the Spraygraphic Poster show in Tempe, AZ and they recently posted the pics from the opening. Thought i would share. Check out the link below.

http://www.spraygraphic.com/postershow

What I Did on My Spring Break

Well, I am really glad i didn't have any travels planned this spring break because I ended up getting very sick with some sort of flu/food poisoning and was very content to spend the better part of the break in my comfy bed and couch. I did have high hopes of getting a lot of work done on a freelance job, which I did get somewhere with, just not as far along as i had hoped.

So when i wasn't spewing my guts out i actually got some reading done! I discovered a GREAT new comic series called The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way (art by Gabriel Ba, with delicious colors by Dave Stewart) that I zipped through, and became quickly in awe of. I got Pat hooked on it too. It's about super-human orphans who were adopted by this rich genius and crafted into a para-normal sorta ghost and alien fighting team. The characters I immediately fell in love with because they are so quirky. I am failing to really communicate the awesomeness that is this story and art, but it's a great, fun, beautiful read.

I also read the newest Scott Pilgrim, in which SP battled yet another of Ramona Flower's evil ex-boyfriends, coming through unscathed (love it!). And Pat and I finished season 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender, which left us hungry for more episodes that don't exist (deep sigh, can't wait for the movie...).

On the final day of break, i decided that i should do something fun! So i decided to do something i have been wanting to do for a while. I have been trolling The Temple of Cartoon Mojo, the SCAD-ATL Sequential Art blog (which my bf did the header for!), and always seen the weekly sketch challenges, and wanted to participate. I have also been looking for an opportunity to collaborate with the bf, Pat Bollin, on a project, and thought this was a great time to do that as well. I came up with a concept, and i drew it, then did line art with microns, and Pat digitally colored it (brilliantly, i might add :-) .

The challenge was to draw a character from any graphic novel/comic we were reading, and of course i had to do the Umbrella Academy. I was also making a lot of trips to Panera over break, trying to satisfy my bland, getting-over-being-sick diet with bagels and rolls and 7up, so i drew me and Pat sitting at Panera, reading. I drew him as the character "Spaceboy" and me as "The Rumor," with "Pogo" serving us coffee and soda. Ang, from Avatar is in the background ordering something. I thought it pretty much summed up our spring break, at least the happy end part of our spring break. We had a lot of fun working on it together and think more projects together will be in the future!

All in all, wish i had time to do more, which is always the case with a break, but i am excited about all the assignments and things to come from a new quarter of classes!

Maps of Malta gig poster

This is a band poster I did for my friend's band, Maps of Malta. They don't have much of an visual image yet, so i had pretty much a free range of imagery to draw from. At the beginning of the project i really had no idea of where to go. Looking at other band posters, I realized just how much free range i had, because the imagery often does not relate AT ALL to the music. SO i tried to come up with some imagery that was quirky, and pop/rock influenced. Ultimately, the band's song titles were the inspiration--they have a couple that reference the morning. So i went with this gross-ish kinda breakfast thing.

The technique was tons of fun. Once i inked it and tweaked it enough to where i was happy with it, I did a variation of the Susan Berghard technique, which involves using distressed laser printed paper. I really enjoyed roughing it up after that too: I scanned in images of coffee stains, ink splatters, and experimented with some drawing with some mulch outside for some other effects to make it a little less pristine.

I hope my buddy Jordan and Maps of Malta like the poster!

Swanky Party - line of party products

Just finished my latest project, based on the illustration i posted previously of the wine and cheese party. From that party image, I have now created products which include: a set of plates (large and small), napkins (large and small), cups, invitations, a dishtowel, and a wine box.

This was both a frustrating and truly rewarding undertaking. It was frustrating because i had to deal with lots of measurements, and numbers are a weakness for me. But when i saw my products come together, it was really happy, and think i pulled it off fairly well. (I got some good critiquing from my professors, things to think about).

This is my first attempt at anything of this kind, and i will do more lines of products based upon my "fashionista" imagery soon.

Children's Book project part II: Interior Illustration

Just finished the interior illustration piece for the children's book project that we have been working on in Illustration for Publication class. Previously we designed characters (to go along with a story written by a local children's book author) and decided on a technique to do one illustration of each of the characters in. I blogged about that a couple weeks ago. The second assignment was to do an illustration from the story using our characters. This illustration was, like the characters, done in Payne's gray watercolor (with a tiny bit of Ivory Black watercolor) on a "Aquaboard" surface. I had a lot of fun painting this one. I enjoyed getting lost in all the details of the piece: the leaves, the spots on the turtle, the houses in the background. And I am now motivated to do more with watercolor.

Let's have a swanky party. You bring the cabernet. I'll bring the brie.

I finished my first project in my Directed Projects class last week, and neglected to blog it right away. Shame on me! So i am posting it now. The projects in this class are up to us to plan. I have been wanting to beef up the surface design part of my portfolio, continuing in the same vein as my winter box design from last quarter, with the skinny fashionistas. I decided, spurred on by a suggestion by my professor, to do a party line of products, and i geared my project to be this sort of wine and cheese party. Project number two will be the products that coincide with this illustration: cups, napkins, a wine box, etc.

I was thinking about some of the parties i went to with friends of mine in New York City. Specifically probably this one party I went to with my friend, Ezra, where the host had this fantastic view, the whole wall was a giant window overlooking some fantastic NYC landmark building (or maybe it was Madison Square Garden). I was also thinking about the view from the roof top bar of 60 Thompson, which is fabulously snazzy, and has a gorgeous view of an ocean of staggered buildings.

I had some problems with the colors in this one, i had a lot going on, and i wanted the the outfits to be individualized and funky and fun. Funky and fun equals lots of color to me, so i had to reel in the palate, and it didn't come out how i had imagined, but i think it ended up being pretty nice. I would go to my party. I always have fun when i put these kind of illustrations together, i think because i partly imagine myself in the scenes. I plan on doing more!

St. Patty's Day Poster Contest: #2....and that ain't bad.

Our latest assignment in my Illustration for Publication class was to do a St. Patrick's Day poster illustration for Atlanta's St. Patrick's parade (the winning one to use for the actual event, with payment for the use of the design). The contest was confined to the five students in the class. Last year, the contest was open the entire Illustration department, and i was lucky enough to tie for the runner up position with a fellow student. I was surprised and delighted last year. This year I was equally as happy to find out that mine was the runner up again (although this year there was no prize money for the no. 2 spot). This makes me feel good, like i might have a pulse on what the client's needs are.

I wasn't feeling this year's design, originally. I have been experimenting with this dead line and rough coloring technique since last quarter, and i don't feel comfortable in it yet. Sometimes i just think it looks too unfinished. My idea started out as just one kid being lifted by a single shamrock, but then i (with the input of my class too) felt like i wanted to say more about the event, like that it was held in Atlanta, which is a diverse city, and of course i had to work in the peach too, and that it was fun (hence the confetti leading down to the city), so slowly my idea, I felt, got too big. I have been reminded many times before to keep my ideas simple, and i wasn't convinced that this was hitting that mark of simplicity. But i finished and started working on another design, this time in Adobe Illustrator. However, that didn't get done in time. I would like to blame the cross platform use: trying to work on CS3 at school, and CS4 at home destroyed my layer organization and made me frustrated. But honestly, I just don't think i could have gotten it done in time anyway, with being out of town the weekend prior.

Last year's entry:

This celtic-knotted shamrock took absolutely forever to do. I designed the basic knot shape in Illustrator, then imported it into Photoshop for manipulation.