Day 12: Most Recent Accomplishment

I took this literally...
My most recent accomplishment: I went out, and bought dog food with the dog and the boyfriend :)
(Oh-- and I have new hair! As illustrated here )

Day 11: Turning Point

Day 11 is "A Turning Point in Your Life"

I met Ken at Toys R Us, where we both worked. We fell in love on a dorky, rainy night after work, and we've been together ever since. Its been nearly 4 years... and I can't imagine life without him. I wouldn't even be in the art-field anymore if I hadn't met Ken.. pre-Ken, I was going to go to an east coast school and study English. When I saw how much fun Ken was having as an animation major, and how happy he was, I realized that I should be doing what I love too.

Day 10: Favorite Candy

Chocolate.
I love me some chocolate.
I especially love peanut-butter with chocolate... aka Reeses' Peanut Butter Cups.
For illustrations sake, I kept the wrapper on the chocolate in the picture... this could end badly, lol

A good friend of mine suggested that I work with the dry brushes to get rough edges and texture... he said it would add some extra interest. I think I agree, I really like the effect :)

Day 9: Favorite TV Show

I watch a lot of TV... this isn't possible. But I've always wanted to draw Dwight... :)

Day 8: Favorite Animated Character

Day 8 is favorite animated character, which is Ariel. A big "duh" for all my friends :)

Influence Map

I've been busy with commissions and being sick lately.... so I don't have anything new to show off yet, sorry :(
But I did this Art Meme that has been all the rage on DeviantART this week, and thought I would share it here too.



Template:

In No Particular Order:

1. Don Bluth:
I loved Bluth's movies as a kid. When I realized who he was as an "adult", I fell in love with his work. Great expressions, very fun animation and design!

2. Mary Blair
Lots of bold colors and shapes, and great textures.

3. Shane Prigmore
I don't know what to say... I love his work. I love the simple shapes, I love his sense of color and design, and I love how much he can convey with a few well places lines and textures.

4. Adam Hughes
Adam is a master at painting a pretty face. I love how he paints his skintones for his ladies, and I adore his attention to detail without over working. I try to remember that less can look like more when I work because of Mr. Hughes.

5. Brittney Lee
Brittney does these amazing sketches that she then turns into paper collage-type sculpture-painting-things, haha
I've seen a lot of artists doing this lately... but something about hers in particular just blow me away. She reminds me to try new things, try new mediums, experiment...

6. Disney Movies
When I've been down and out for a long time, I watch a Disney movie for some artistic inspiration. Usually its The Little Mermaid... but any Disney movie will do. I find my favorite parts and frame through them and try to figure out what makes the scenes so appealing to me: Expressions, Silhouettes, Movement... etc...

7. Dean Yeagle
I just love the exaggerated proportions and how he captures the "ditzy pin-up" look... though he swears up and down that Mandy is intelligent

8. Shedd Aquarium/Museums/Zoos
I live next to the Chicago Museum Campus, so I try to go out and sketch at the Shedd, Field or Lincoln Park Zoo as often as I can. What I learn about shape and form out in "the field" definitely helps later on when I sit down to draw something fully-realized.

9. Nate Wragg/Art Of Books
This particular Mr. Pricklepants is by Nate Wragg, who I love, but represents a greater whole: Art of Books. My boyfriend and I buy them up left and right, and we adore them. They're great inspiration!

10. Chris Sanders
Chris simply draws lovely women and adorable animals/monsters. He also inspired me to learn to watercolor

11. Van Gogh/ Michelangelo/ Da Vinci
I love to look at the greats. I love their sketches, their paintings, their sculptures... very inspiring. I try to remind myself that they started out like the rest of us: with a pencil and a piece of paper.

12. Amanda Conner
Amanda is my role model. She draws wonderful characters with unique expressions... something I need to work on. She's also an awesome and unique person, and a very successful female artist. I hope I'm as cool as her someday.

13. Glen Keane
We all love Glen. If cannibalism were a viable practice, I would throw Vegetarianism to the wind and take a good chunk out of Mr. Keane as to gain his mystical powers.

Day 7: Favorite (Live Action) Movie

Day 7 is favorite movie.
My favorite movie is definitely The Little Mermaid... but since there is a day for animation, I decided to change this to favorite live-action movie. Which, for me.... Princess Bride is up on the list.

Day 6: Favorite Book

Okie Doke-- so it would be impossible for me to choose a favorite book. I blow through a book every week or so... and whatever I'm reading at the time is my favorite. Right now I'm reading Harry Potter, though, so here is Harry, he is very hardcore :)

Day 5: Best Friend

Ok... maybe calling it "Day 5" is misleading... but I'm keeping it, haha-- its the fifth day I've had time to do this ;)
Bear with me-- its super duper quick, but this is Whit :) Shes purple cause I felt like trying something more graphic-ish... and according to Whitney, her favorite colors include Purple and Green.... but she might be mistaken.

SSRAC.Com Commission

Another commission, this one was for Mocha, owner of www.ssrac.com
Lots of fun!

Again, this piece is not to be distributed, copied, traced, referenced, or otherwise used without the written consent of the owner.

Blushing Bride

Here is another commission-- I was asked to create an "Alternative Bride", I chose to try to render a character who seemed otherwise like a typical bride, aside from the leg that is peeking out from behind the slit in her dress. This was a lot of fun, I'd never tried to represent a tattoo before :)

I've been keeping very busy-- and as such I had to stop my daily sketch post :(
I'm really mad at myself, I know there shouldn't be any excuses... I've just been so caught up with commissions and figure drawing and everything. Please, make fun of me until I start them up again... I really need to be peer-pressured into doing this, haha

I WILL finish them, I promise, I don't want to back out.

As usual, the below is watermarked for a reason. Please do not copy, distribute, trace, reference or otherwise use this work.

Day 4: Favorite Place

This was ssssuuuper quick, sorry. My favorite place is the sea, especially at dusk.

Day 3: Favorite Food

Again, I don't exactly have a favorite... but I certainly do enjoy my ice cream :)

Day 2: Favorite Animal

Oops! Forgot to post this the other day D:
I don't really have favorites... I'm very indecisive. But I enjoy bats, I think they're fascinating and adorable :)

Victorian

A victorian-era commission :)

Day 1: Self-Portrait

Some friends from school and I are doing a 30-day sketch challenge. I'm already behind because of work, lol... I'll catch up though!

Day 1: Self Portrait

Sketch Commission

Sketch Commission.
No ref, woo!

Stefania Portrait Commission

A portrait commission for Stefania Ferro

This was a lot of fun-- I've never drawn a squirrel before, haha

This piece is watermarked for a reason, it is not to be duplicated, distributed, copied, referenced, traced, etc by any person for any reason unless given consent by the owner, Stefania Ferro.

Green Night

Just playing around with composition and colors here...
I'm also starting work on an art book to sell at conventions. Its so, so hard not to post the work! But its only fair to those who buy... the book will be a combination of seen and unseen art :)

I'm Not Jaded

Hi guys! Sorry for my absence-- my computer suddenly started flailing and telling me "Danger! Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!"-- so I took it to Apple, hoping they could correct it. One week, three increasingly annoyed phone calls from yours truly, and one Logic Board later and I'm back!

This was done right before all hell broke loose; a commission for the owner of www.ImNotJaded.Com for her blog header. It was a lot of fun, she gave me lots of great references to work off of, right down to photos of shoes and lipstick colors! Thats how I like em', that way communication is crystal clear and everyone ends up happy :)

The following is watermarked for a reason. Please do not copy, print, trace, distribute, alter, or otherwise use this art for any reason what-so-ever.

Happy Father's Day

I don't even know what to say about this, haha--

This is the card I threw together this morning for my dad for dad's day. I wanted to try out the goofy noodle-arm craze, and I can see why artists are all into it... its super fun, fast, and addictive!

Jessie

Fan Art time! While all my friends are out catching the midnight Toy Story 3 release, I've been sitting around doodling (gotta wait for the boyfriend to see Toy Story, and he works night shift! D: )
Hopefully I'll get to see it tomorrow afternoon! If not, there is always the weekend-- I'm so excited for this movie!

And We Filled Each Other's Footprints In the Snow

So, I FINALLY got my Cintiq, after many moons of saving :)
I did this as a warm-up today and to get familiar with the feel of the tablet. It ended up kind of interesting, so I thought I'd share it :)
Its inspired by a line in Carina Round's song "Backseat" which goes:

"And we filled each other's footprints in the snow, full of warm, red alcohol. We were learning to make the world stand still, and it will, but until do I lie in the backseat of your mind?"

I think its a beautiful song, and it reminds me of some of the fun times I've had in the past few years of my life :)

(P.S.- The guy in the foreground isn't a stalker, I swear D: )

Zoo Sketches

Here are some sketches I did at the zoo last week :)

Relaxing Weekend

I put this together today to catch up on the topics for Ridiculously Sophisticated, the topic being Women.
I thought about women, and all that they do, especially moms. Having been a nanny for awhile, I've had a small taste of the chaos and fun that comes with the job of "Mom"- its hard work!

Go Frogs!

I thought I'd post the background I made for my previously posted flash final, in case anyone was interested :)

It was pretty quick, but I think it still has some fun stuff going on.

My First Flash Animation

My first flash animation, done for my flash class final.

Some things are a little wonky, but I'm really happy with it. I think as I get more comfortable with the program I'll be a little more adventurous in what/how I animate.

Sorry that its a little squished, YouTube doesn't support the aspect ratio I used, and I'm not sure how to fix it. If anyone has any ideas, let me know, otherwise: heres my animation!

Baby Blue

Just doodling, made a blue car, hehe :)

Groundhog

Very late groundhog, haha-

This is in honor of groundhog's eve, when children all over the world put their shoes by the door at night in hopes that the groundhog will fill them with "chocolates". :)

Flash Model Sheets

Here are a couple of model sheets I did for my flash class :) I think I' gonna tweak the girl's face a little, will update if I do

Rest Peacefully, Missy Pup

Hi All,

Sorry to be a total downer, I just thought people should know why I've been missing.

My dog, Missy, passed away about 3 weeks ago. I had Missy since I was 9 years old, I spent 11 amazing years with her. She was there for me through everything- Elementary school, Jr. High, High School, and College. She was there through first love, my first broken heart, graduation, my first apartment... just so, so much. She was always there to greet me at the end of the day, and no matter how badly I screwed up, she loved me unconditionally.

Missy had had a few health problems, occasional seizures and in the weeks before she passed she had some arrhythmia. Her acute illness was still very shocking and sudden, and we fought it as best we could. She underwent emergency surgery to remove a dying tumor from her liver and was recovering well. However, a few days later she had a sudden relapse and could only be kept alive via drugs and life support. We're not sure what happened, we suspect multiple system failure brought on by several unrelated complications. It was simply her time, we exhausted every possible option for saving her, and she died peacefully in my arms on Sunday, February 28th. She was conscious and aware of everything I said and did up until her final moments, and I'm glad that I was able to say goodbye to her in the way that I was.

I have started to come to peace with her passing. I know Missy would want me to celebrate her life and not mourn her death, but it is so, so hard to lose someone I love so very much. I know I did everything possible to help her, but at 11 years old she had lived a great life.

I miss you, puppy dog, you'll live on in my heart forever.

Addams Family Poster

For my Illustration for Film and Animation class, we were assigned to design a movie poster concept for our Addams Family characters- heres mine :)

Lemon

Some lemonade stand concepts for a student film I've been working on

Update: Here are some revisions and extra colors schemes

Model Sheets Addams Family

For my Illustration for Film and Animation class we were to reinvent and create three characters from the Addam's family. I chose Morticia, Gomez, and Lurch. They're supposed to be a younger couple, kind of trailer trashy. I was given critique to maybe make Morticia a little "trashier", but I'm not really sure how to go about that yet.

Lurch is the Dog, he's an old and tired dog that Gomez straps trays to in an attempt to have a free butler- Lurch puts up with it with some frustration :)

Concept Doodles

Spent today's class messing around and doodlin' ideas for my concept sketches/final pieces. Very rough and silly :)

Also! My buddies and I have started a group for ourselves entitled Ridiculously Sophisticated Concept Artists. We plan to pick topics and make us some purdy pictures based on said topics. Nothing is up yet, and knowing us it'll be a few days before one of us does anything, but heres the link just in case you wanna check it out:

Ridiculously Sophisticated Concept Artists

Sketches from the Field Museum

Nothin' too special here, just updating for the sake of updating.
Ken, Matt and I tried to go to the Shedd yesterday to draw the fishes. Unfortunately, that didn't work out, I have NEVER seen the Shedd so crowded. They were over capacity and wouldn't let people downstairs, it was insane.
We went to the Field Museum instead, which was pretty much deserted. I drew some dinos, which got very smudged while I was carrying the book around :(, and a few people and animals.

Flash Portrait

Hi guys!
I'm taking a flash course this semester! The first assignment was to make a self-portrait using the program, so here I am!

Christmas Loot

I can't believe I forgot to share my Christmas loot with everyone. This was an excellent year for loot- here's what I got!

Snow White on BluRay

Princess and the Frog Art Book

Dean Yeagle's Mandy DVD

Tarzan Collector's Edition DVDs

Dish Towels and Pot Holders! (Thanks Mom)

Hard-Cover Travel Sketch Book

Pastel Paper

GIANT Watercolor Moleskine

Tons of awesome pencils and brushes

Adam Hugh's Catwoman Statue

Bill Presing's Sketchbook from France!

Paper Dreams book

Sketch Pad

Pink Plaid Flats

HUGE set of Pastels

The Art of the Disney Princess

PowerPad

Robot Backpack

My first easel! :D

Awesome loot from my wonderful family and Kenny

Lacey

A friend requested this some time ago as her prize for screen capturing my 30,000th pageview on DeviantART... some 6,000 pageviews later I finally got to this, haha

So here is a pinup portrait of the lovely Miss. Lacey Pierson

New Years Resolutions and Sketch Dump

My new years resolution: draw more, learn pastels.

My parents got me an amazing set of Prismacolor pastels for Christmas, they are wonderful. I've never tried pastels before, so this is all very new to me. Heres my first attempt, a quick portrait of my dog, Missy. I learned a valuable lesson: don't get too excited, sketch first, or you get an out of proportion pup. But strangely shaped dogs aside, it was a lot of fun trying these out and I'm excited to try more. I'm considering taking a pastel class at a local art studio, could be fun, we'll see!

Also below are sketches of people at JFK and Burlington airports from last week. Below that are "master sketches" of Disney's Tarzan- these are not my original poses, they are just copies that I did of pre-existing work to warm up. And last are a few doodles of tree branches with snow, I thought it was kind of fun

More stuff soon!