Thumbnails

Been working here and there on a book (re-covered) project for the DoeDeMee cover project for illiteracy . Below are some of my sketches rendered as I read through my book choice, The Scarlet Letter . As of a few nights ago, I had my poster looking like so: ... But something was missing. I picked this novel for the sake of the story's message on identity. Upon looking at other covers throughout time, there were a couple recurrent themes: Hester & Child (Pearl) and the big red "A". These characters actually become what the "A" symbolizes and I wanted convey with the cover. I think I did this rather successfully transforming these two characters into an "A".  However, there's another character that's typically ignored for cover art, and I really wanted him to have at least a subliminal presence, because without him, there would be no Pearl and thusly no evidence for the need of that adulteress mark: Reverend Dimmsdale. He too...

THRILLED to have gone, but a little bummed I couldn't attend the entire weekend. With work, travel and a tight-tight budget (so that we can attend the LA conference,) I was only able to join for the Saturday workshops. Though I take away a lot from my single day on site, I still wish I could have stayed for the full conference. "C'est la vie!" To really get the most of the conference my advice to myself and other potential goers: 1. DO the poster contest (illustrators) 2. DO the portfolio/manuscript review, especially that quick-query. I didn't meet a single person who felt it was money wasted 3. Don't get the chicken (lunch) 4. Do the portfolio showcase (illustrators) - ALWAYS show that folio when an opportunity presents itself 5. Take more pictures for more visual interest when you go back to Blog about your experience so that you don't just end up hoisting your business card up on the site for recognition The only real negative I take away fr...

Butterfly Sketches - 2/2012 Not to come off as creepy or Damien Hirst-like, I am currently on the market for dead butterflies. I believe the official term is specimens , but from what I've been shopping, I'll be receiving dried corpses so... same difference! I'm hunting these little buggers down for my next personal illustration project, which has been inspired by my recent trip to RI SD's  Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab , for a live animal study session. Amongst the live animals were many not-so-live animals, including a couple cases of mounted butterflies. My illustration project is simple: I want to make faux mounted butterfly illustrations using my cut-paper technique. I want to make scientific renderings rather than generic forms, so I need to be able to study the real things. Since I am no butterfly expert, (though that does sound pretty sweet to me now!) I am plotting a trip to Cambridge to visit the Museum of Natural History . If they allow me to sketch, sket...

Well, I'm behind on what I would have thought to be a quick re-start to my "Thumbnails" blog. I've been trying to get the old illustration-y stuff going, but we've run into a minor issue: Sam (still) hasn't purchased a scanner yet {blush}! So how did I do this in the past, you ask? I do own a scanner... it's about |  -- yay --  | big. At nearly a decade old, its not exactly what I would call reliable in the fields of quality-scan and software. The software (probably) pre-dates Mac and PC compatibility, so I wouldn't even dream of looking for disk. Also, it's attached to an old laptop RIDDLED with viruses and malware, so to be blunt: it is dead to me. I think I could tolerate the scale of the flatbed, if it were at least able to scan over 500 dpi. Most recently, to finish my portfolio I scanned all my artwork in from work, of which I felt guilty through the whole process. Sam's big fat conscience doesn't want the "Day Job" and...

I'm currently in the starts to remodel my blog. Just to give you an idea as to what's going on, you'll see a collection of new PAGES, which will allow users to take a peek at the "happenings" in my illustration world. Some new big features will be added to the site. Some of these include: "Story Time" tab is "HOME" or the main Blog page. This will be my regular journal. I plan to allot at least one or two posts per week, but to start out with, I'll probably be posting quite a bit. "Sketchbook" is... yes a spot to show off some of my doodles. I promise I won't be as obsessive about this, as when I held the "Thumbnails Sketchbook" blog post. It's not a "Doodle-a-Day"; I plan to post to this page maybe once or twice a week, just to share what I'm working on. "Playground" is where I plan to have some Downloads for sharing. They're essentially paper cut-outs, toys and coloring sheets fo...