Pin It Now!
Hey folks,
Just wanted to give an update on what I've been working on. I have a couple of things in the works. I'm working on an illustration of Hansel and Gretel. I originally was working on it for a competition, but the deadline has now passed...but I still want to finish it. I have a couple of other fairy tale illustrations that I've done and I thought it could fit nicely with the rest of those. It's about 75% done, I'd say.
The other thing I'm working on is some updates for my website. I want to add a lot more content to my gallery. Actually I want to set up several other galleries for different groupings of my art such as my Celtic design work, preliminary sketch work, and just other art that doesn't quite fit in the main category. I hope to work on that during spring break from my teaching which is coming up. Be on the watch for it!
Cara:)
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Edit of Anti-Valentine
Pin It Now!
Hello again,
I'm actually posting my valentine artwork again because I made some slight changes to it. After I posted it, I got some feedback on it that led me to make some edits: I added the broken heart graphic element, as well as making the arrows at the bottom a little darker and easier to read. I think it's an improvement so hopefully so do you:)
Cara
Hello again,
I'm actually posting my valentine artwork again because I made some slight changes to it. After I posted it, I got some feedback on it that led me to make some edits: I added the broken heart graphic element, as well as making the arrows at the bottom a little darker and easier to read. I think it's an improvement so hopefully so do you:)
Cara
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Anti-Valentine Card
Pin It Now!
Hello again,
Here's something new that I worked up for the latest SCBWI on-line contest. The theme was an "Anti-Valentine's Card". Mmm, rich territory. I needed to keep it somewhat sweet though since it was for a children's illustration society:)
I decided to make it kind of a medieval setting since I like historical or fantasy imagery. I made a drawing that I was happy with but ended up with very little time to add the color. After planning to paint it in acrylic, for the sake of time I went with painting it in Photoshop. Anyway, here it is... What do you think?
Friday, January 11, 2008
Final is finally posted
Pin It Now!
Hello all,
Well, I finally put up on my website the final version of the rough comp from my last post. It has been done for at least a month but I've just been too busy to get it up on my website. I feel really happy with it. I wasn't sure what to call it so I had just been calling it "Nadine", which is the name of the model I used, but I've now decided to name it "The Shunning Tree". This is because my good friend Deanna wrote a story inspired by the picture and that is the name of the story. I've decided to turn the character from the picture into a series so I am now at work on another painting featuring the same model and character. I look forward to posting some preliminary work for that soon.
In other news, this past week I had the fun opportunity to attend a 3 night seminar at Fullerton College by my favorite drawing teacher, Marshall Vandruff (see www.marshallart.com). I took pretty much every class I could from him when I was studying at Cal State Fullerton. This seminar was his Composition Crash-Course. I had taken it a few years ago, but he's always tweaking it and adding to it. It was so helpful and informative, so I feel ready to charge into this new year with new enthusiasm for my art. I took pages of notes but especially picked up on what he said about designing your pictures with abstract shapes and metaphors in mind. I was also really inspired by all the slides Marshall put up of one of my favorite artists (and one of Marshall's former students and a Fullerton College alum) Justin Sweet. Looking at his art really gets me excited about making new pictures.
Until next time...
Cara
Well, I finally put up on my website the final version of the rough comp from my last post. It has been done for at least a month but I've just been too busy to get it up on my website. I feel really happy with it. I wasn't sure what to call it so I had just been calling it "Nadine", which is the name of the model I used, but I've now decided to name it "The Shunning Tree". This is because my good friend Deanna wrote a story inspired by the picture and that is the name of the story. I've decided to turn the character from the picture into a series so I am now at work on another painting featuring the same model and character. I look forward to posting some preliminary work for that soon.
In other news, this past week I had the fun opportunity to attend a 3 night seminar at Fullerton College by my favorite drawing teacher, Marshall Vandruff (see www.marshallart.com). I took pretty much every class I could from him when I was studying at Cal State Fullerton. This seminar was his Composition Crash-Course. I had taken it a few years ago, but he's always tweaking it and adding to it. It was so helpful and informative, so I feel ready to charge into this new year with new enthusiasm for my art. I took pages of notes but especially picked up on what he said about designing your pictures with abstract shapes and metaphors in mind. I was also really inspired by all the slides Marshall put up of one of my favorite artists (and one of Marshall's former students and a Fullerton College alum) Justin Sweet. Looking at his art really gets me excited about making new pictures.
Until next time...
Cara
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Rough version of new work
Pin It Now!
Here is the rough color comp I did in Photoshop of the new bookcover I'm working on. It's not for any particular story. I just thought it would be a good addition to my portfolio as an example of a fantasy bookcover. So, here it is...
I'm working on the actual painting of it right now, which is being done in acrylic.
I was fortunate in finding a really good model for the girl and getting some excellent reference of her.
Here is the rough color comp I did in Photoshop of the new bookcover I'm working on. It's not for any particular story. I just thought it would be a good addition to my portfolio as an example of a fantasy bookcover. So, here it is...I'm working on the actual painting of it right now, which is being done in acrylic.
I was fortunate in finding a really good model for the girl and getting some excellent reference of her.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
new work finally coming
Pin It Now!
Hey all,
I know it's been a long time coming but I'm in the midst of a new illustration now. My motivation is having new work to enter upcoming competitions with. I'm sad that I already missed one of the deadlines I wanted to make, for the Illustration West competition a couple of weeks ago, but now I'm focused on getting work done for the NY Society of Illustrators competition. The deadline is Oct. 1 so it's still going to be very tight. It's been a while since I did one of my regular traditional-style illustrations so it's making me a bit nervous. But that's how it always goes. I mean, as an artist, with each new project it can be easy to freeze up and say, "I forgot how to draw!":) But you just have to push through it.
For this illustration I've decided to go with a different focus somewhat as I'm composing it to be used for a bookcover. This is a result of my experience at the summer SCBWI conference. I came away from that feeling like I should focus my efforts more specifically on the middle-grade/teen markets in the fantasy genre. These markets feature color covers with some black/white interior illustrations. I did a little reconaissance work after the conference and went to Barnes & Noble with my camera and took photos of all the covers from those markets that I liked (well, until a B&N worker stopped me and said I couldn't do that--luckily, I had already taken enough shots:). I then drew thumbnail versions of all the bookcover photos so I could get a feel for the way shapes are used and composed on those bookcovers.
I then drew up a design that I felt could be seen on a bookcover. I'm pretty happy with my drawing, so now I need to push through to actually painting it.
I've also been doing some sketches for another bookcover. For this one I actually read a teen fantasy novel and want to do a cover and some interior illustrations as an example of what I would do for that novel. That artwork is only at an early stage yet though.
OK, that's all for now.
I know it's been a long time coming but I'm in the midst of a new illustration now. My motivation is having new work to enter upcoming competitions with. I'm sad that I already missed one of the deadlines I wanted to make, for the Illustration West competition a couple of weeks ago, but now I'm focused on getting work done for the NY Society of Illustrators competition. The deadline is Oct. 1 so it's still going to be very tight. It's been a while since I did one of my regular traditional-style illustrations so it's making me a bit nervous. But that's how it always goes. I mean, as an artist, with each new project it can be easy to freeze up and say, "I forgot how to draw!":) But you just have to push through it.
For this illustration I've decided to go with a different focus somewhat as I'm composing it to be used for a bookcover. This is a result of my experience at the summer SCBWI conference. I came away from that feeling like I should focus my efforts more specifically on the middle-grade/teen markets in the fantasy genre. These markets feature color covers with some black/white interior illustrations. I did a little reconaissance work after the conference and went to Barnes & Noble with my camera and took photos of all the covers from those markets that I liked (well, until a B&N worker stopped me and said I couldn't do that--luckily, I had already taken enough shots:). I then drew thumbnail versions of all the bookcover photos so I could get a feel for the way shapes are used and composed on those bookcovers.
I then drew up a design that I felt could be seen on a bookcover. I'm pretty happy with my drawing, so now I need to push through to actually painting it.
I've also been doing some sketches for another bookcover. For this one I actually read a teen fantasy novel and want to do a cover and some interior illustrations as an example of what I would do for that novel. That artwork is only at an early stage yet though.
OK, that's all for now.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Narniaweb contest
Pin It Now!
OK, I'm finally posting the picture I created for a contest on narniaweb.com. It's of the castle of Cair Paravel from the book, Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis.
The contest was for a promotional image to be used for the new Narnia movie. Unfortunately I was not chosen as the winner :( You can see the picture that won here: http://www.narniaweb.com/news.asp?id=1256&dl=13420360
And some of the other entries here: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/narnia/fanclub/fanart_winners.html
I try to enter competitions whenever possible. Win some, lose some. This one was a little unique in that I did a drawing and then colored it using Photoshop. I usually go traditional but thought I'd experiment on this one.
Cara
OK, I'm finally posting the picture I created for a contest on narniaweb.com. It's of the castle of Cair Paravel from the book, Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis.
The contest was for a promotional image to be used for the new Narnia movie. Unfortunately I was not chosen as the winner :( You can see the picture that won here: http://www.narniaweb.com/news.asp?id=1256&dl=13420360
And some of the other entries here: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/narnia/fanclub/fanart_winners.html
I try to enter competitions whenever possible. Win some, lose some. This one was a little unique in that I did a drawing and then colored it using Photoshop. I usually go traditional but thought I'd experiment on this one.
Cara
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
