Society of Illustrators West 47

The Society of Illustrators show in L.A. was this past weekend. I was supposed to have a piece in it, but apparently some UPS delivery guy decided to deliver it some unknown address instead of the Gallery, so I wasn't included in the show. So now, my framed print is missing, I missed the opportunity to possibly sell something or get some work, AND the return postage was in the package so I wasted $20 on that. Great.

From what I hear, however, it was a good show and a few of my former classmates from RISD had some awesome work in it. If you're in Alhambra, you should go check it out. And find my piece for me!

If you would like to see my work that was supposed to be in the show, you can go to the Nucleus Gallery website. You can also see all the other wonderful work that was in the show on their online gallery... it's pretty cool.

New 3D Illustration!

I finally finished it! This is a piece I started when I got laid off from my previous job and was considering a career change at 22. I decided to stick with illustration a while longer and make this, and I'm glad I did. You can see this image and all my other 3d illustrations here.

Dr. Sketchy's Sexy Ladies

Just thought I would post some sketches from a semi-recent visit to Dr. Sketchy's Anti- Art School open drawing. It's held at Dionysus in downtown Baltimore. I think they usually get some ladies from a local cabaret show to come and pose for people. It's a nice relaxed drawing session where eating and, more importantly, drinking are allowed and encouraged. I had forgotten how much I enjoy figure drawing, especially in a relaxed setting like this. Here are some of my best drawings from the most recent session I went to.

American Craft Council Show: Baltimore

Hello! I took a little break to find a new job but now I'm back!

Yesterday I went to the American Craft Council Show right here in Baltimore. Some kind soul gave me and two of my friends free tickets right outside the show so we poor artists could save some money!

The show itself was really inspiring. The fact that people can still make money on craft items in this economy is completely mind-boggling to me (and obviously very uplifting to someone who can't find an art-related job to save her life). But, there was some really amazing work that I definitely would have bought myself if I had had the cash.

As a 3D illustrator, I was really drawn to the sculpture artists, although there was some incredible work across the board. I think my favorite artist was Nicario Jimenez, the 'Artist of the Andes'. He combines traditional retablos with modern-day ideas or scenes. Not only are they interesting to look at, they are really beautifully made. At the Show, he had a massive one chronicling the important events that took place in America that allowed Obama to become president. There were what looked like thousands of little people in it, which he says are made from boiled potato and gypsum. Awesome.

Some other notables at the event for me were Tom Nussbaum (who told me I could eat an Aquaresin sandwich and live to tell the tale), G Todd Vaughn, Tom Wargin, Carol Owen, Mary Miller, Dona Dalton, Chris Antieau, Reina Mia Brill, Marilyn Andrews, and Jeff Hall, but really there are too many to mention. I would recommend going to the Craft Council website and looking through the exhibitors page if you're looking for something beautiful and unique to buy.

Sketches for February

Here are a few of my favorite sketches from the first couple months of 2009. Enjoy!

Puppy Painting

SPOILER ALERT! IF YOUR NAME IS JULIE OR JARED AND YOU ARE GETTING MARRIED TO THE ONE THAT YOU ARE NOT, STOP READING! I DON'T WANT YOU TO RUIN YOUR WEDDING PRESENT!
____________________________________________________________


Whew! I just finished a painting for a couple of friend's of mine who are getting married on my birthday this year. They have an adorable lab puppy and I have no money so I thought I would just paint them a picture instead of buying them something useful.

I'm really hoping they don't look at my blog, but if you do (you know who you are!), just act surprised when I give it to you, ok? I hope you like it...

I haven't used acrylics in a very long time... probably not since before college. They present a lot of challenges, but they are so much faster to work in. The drying time can be infuriating, and it can be a godsend, depending on how you look at it. It's a lot easier to make something look dry-brushed, but then again, it's a lot harder to blend colors without getting muddy.

I'm going to make a commitment to work in acrylics more though, since we don't have a studio and I don't want to harm our little kitty's brains.

Here's the image, sorry for the glare, my studio is not ideal for picture-taking...

Jobless Sculpture - Update

I was feeling industrious last night and decided to pull an all nighter and work on the new sculpture. I baked it (super sculpey requires that you bake it before you paint it), painted it in acrylics, and made some hats out of papier mache.

It's coming along really slowly, but hopefully it will look that much cooler when it's done!