Emily Crowley, Illustrator

Where have I been

2012-01-07T07:41:00.001-08:00

Hello! I feel awful that I haven't updated in the past few... oh let's not count. But some very monumental things have happened since my last post. If you recall, I was living with my sister in San Marcos, California, and during that time I was able to get a pretty cool freelance illustration job. Although I'm not at liberty to talk about it yet, gettin' 'er done was part of the reason for my recent disappearance from the blog. I hopefully will be able to show you some of the job later this month, or in February.

The other reason: Well, I had to drive back to Michigan! My parents came to help, and together we drove through some of the worst winter blizzards of my life in Albuquerque, New Mexico (and I'm a Michigander mind you! Worst winter driving of my life!) But we made it back in one piece. Here was where I may or may not have slacked off given the holidays, and my long time departure from my long term boyfriend.

In the meantime, I had been preparing another sort of portfolio for the other graphic art work I do. Things like marketing, logo design, typography on packaging, etc. And luckily, I was hired immediately for a job I applied to where I get to use those skills! Hallelujah, I get to use the skills I was trained for! So I am very thankful, and very excited to get to be in a collaborative, creative atmosphere again.

On the flipside, freelance fantastical illustration continues, so now I have two jobs (oh brother!). And that is what you can still expect to see from this blog. Long story short, I'm still here, and I will be updating all of you on what's to come. I don't think you'll be seeing anything new in the coming weeks, as I am preparing some older pieces to submit to Spectrum's juried competition. Spectrum is basically my guidebook and go-to for eye candy for the kind of illustration work I enjoy and want to produce. Here is a bit on them:

Believing that there was a tremendous amount of high-quality fantastic-themed art work created each year that some how wasn't being represented in other annual art books and shows, Spectrum was established in 1993 by Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner with the intent of providing creators with a regular showcase for the best fantasy, science fiction, horror, and otherwise uncategorizable artwork created each year.

Also, I look forward to their new convention happening this May in Kansas city! So, those are some more immediate things to look forward to. I'll show you guys updates and revisions (centaurs, Aloja, Steve Irwin, Dragon) for Spectrum soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

Centaur Finished!

2011-11-10T11:41:00.000-08:00

Ta da! Things will probably still be finessed, but I need some fresh eyes. This is 98% final. I like it!

Centaur Progress

2011-11-03T16:57:00.000-07:00

Just so everyone knows, those centaurs are battling it out! Still. Trying to make this puppy look awesome. So here's just a little tidbit. I'd give you more, but I think any other shot will give too much away. But I have been taking lots of progress photos so you can see the progression once it's done. So hold your horses! - er half horses (does that mean you're a centaur and you're commanding the lower half of your body to remain still? I don't know. Like maybe this clip from Fantasia where the girl centaur has to whip her behind to jump the fence- fast forward to 3:32), and we'll see you all again here soon for the reveal!

Oh Fortuna! Centaur Battle!

2011-10-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

It's either a man's choir, or that Mortal Kombat voice, but you can't deny... CENTAUR BATTLE! Forgive me, it just cracks me up. I've finally come up with a color study (with the prodding help of my sister to make it dark and twisty enough) and I think I've landed closer to epic awesome centaur battle, and have ridden safely away from wolf-howling-at-the-moon-with-lightning tapestry. The battle begins tomorrow... in oil, on gessoed canvas if you'd like to know. I'm all set to go, and everything is drawn out. I'll try to be more diligent about taking process photos as well.

Centaur color studies

2011-10-25T21:40:00.000-07:00

I've settled on the far right composition from my last post, the moment where the centaurs are about to strike. Here are some color ideas floating around my head, still not sure what direction I'm going to go in, but I'm leaning towards anything heat lightning-y. Anything that outwardly depicts the inner fury of these warring man horses. Haha! My job is ridiculous. I love it!

Centaur studies

2011-10-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

Ah, I'm much less impulsive, more calculating, and smarter about my studies with the morning. So, here is where we should have begun, little value compositions to help me decide which direction to go. The starred ones are the ones I'm considering, and I'm really leaning towards the one on the right. It's right before the moment of impact, and I think although there are nuances to a fight like this, this is probably the most interesting moment.

Centaur Battle!

2011-10-24T21:53:00.000-07:00

I mean, how can you not read the title of this blog post and imagine "Centaur Battle" being said in a Mortal Kombat voice? And I promise to make it bad ass. They're batting it out like wild mustangs over leadership of the herd. And here is my brain, trying to make tangible some of the color ideas, and composition ideas in my head. It may change a lot from here, it might change a little. But the morning always brings a fresher outlook on these things, so we shall see.. in any case.... CENTAUR BATTLE! GO!

Did my best

2011-10-23T20:20:00.001-07:00

Ta da!

Do your best.

2011-10-22T12:32:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to "do my best"- a lovely phrase my old Korean roommate, JeeHee, liked to use that I have since adopted and especially use when I need an extra kick in the butt when I'm working. Hence the title of the post. I'm going back into some previous pieces and really trying to make them the very best I can. I still think both of these could be finessed even more, but... I got excited to show them off. I promise though, I'll do my best.

Goldilocks Progress

2011-10-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

It's coming along. I'm not a fan of it completely yet. Maybe because it's a little more "cartoon-y" than I usually do. We'll see. As my dad always said, "You can always save a painting". While I maybe not really believe that (I think you need to know when a bad idea is just a bad idea - kind of a "you can't polish a turd" situation), his mantra must be more true for digital painting! God bless "Ctrl + Z"! (Edit, undo!)

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

2011-10-18T11:15:00.001-07:00

I decided I needed a couple more child friendly pieces in my portfolio, so I'm working on this digital Goldilocks piece. It's kind of tricky re-learning how to paint fur digitally, but it's a good challenge. I'll just keep on keepin' on with this, and look back for further progress and the finish!

Moby Dick Finished!

2011-10-14T17:50:00.000-07:00

Mocked up like a book cover and all. He's comin' for ya! I like it! Website worthy, I say. I might check back in day or two with fresh eyes to see if there's anything I'd like to amend or change.

Next up! Goldilocks and the three bears!

Um, I think we found him

2011-10-14T08:07:00.000-07:00

This freaks me out. I ended up choosing the green color study, and I think it lends a really good, freaky, sickening feeling about the whole thing. About every five minutes though, when I really bother to look at it, I get the shivers! Who knows, maybe this will help me get over my fear! Honestly though, if I got to see a whale up close, I'd be so excited.

Moby Dick Colors

2011-10-11T20:06:00.000-07:00

Whoohooo hoo hooh oooo! Gives me the jibblies. I know I posted "willies" earlier, but I feel like we've really gotten to know each other, so I think it's time you know that I actually say jibblies. Now, picture these with a little more dimension of color, a little less monochromatic. But you get the feel of the thing here (remember to click on it to see it better!). Huge animal + tiny people out of their element = "OMG. OMG OMG That thing is huge." I only say this because... biggest fear. Things coming out of the gloom of the water. Let it be known though, that Moby Dick was not a ferocious, man eating whale. Really, it was that crazy Ahab that was the bloodthirsty one. Poor old Moby was just being a whale.

Look back for progress on this one! Haven't completely settled on what color I'm going with, but I'm leaning towards the green and the brown, actually.

Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven"

2011-10-11T11:18:00.000-07:00

Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" is one of his most famous poems. In it, a raven drives the narrator crazy by only repeating, "Nevermore" which rhymes with the narrator's lost love Lenore. The raven is perched on a bust of Pallas Athena (only referred to Pallas in the poem). Done in Photoshop CS5 featuring, again of course, the lovely Wacom Intuos 4 tablet and pen. This only took me about 5 or 6 hours from concept to completion.

Next up for big projects, I think I'll be traditionally (with oil paint) tackling Moby Dick! Think about it... white whale, coming up out of the gloom of a dark green sea.... aswdvielbws!!! It gives me the willies! On a side note, giant squid coming out of the gloom of the ocean is one of my worst fears. Actually, anything coming out of the fogginess of the water. But, at the same time... mmm glazes of dark green over the whale... could be cool!

Sci-Fi Final

2011-10-01T17:51:00.001-07:00

She is sexy. And bleeding. But she'll pull through, you know she's one tough girl!

Sci-Fi Progress

2011-09-30T11:21:00.000-07:00

Did some color studies, selected this one. She's progressing! Click to see the detail.

Logan's Run

2011-09-28T16:30:00.000-07:00

But not really Logan's Run. But this sci-fi girl is running away from someone, and she's just hit the door close and lock button just in time- but it seems she's suffered some sort of cut on her side. I'm having fun with this and I intend to take it all the way! No color yet, but here's as far as I've gotten so far. It's funny what interesting images pop in your head at 5:30 in the morning... As artists, we are constantly thinking. Constantly. Constantly running images, concepts and compositions through our heads. Constant. Good and bad, all the time. Did I mention that it's constant and that you can't turn it off? This ain't no nine to five job kids, ho no. You live with it. (By the way, remember to click the image to see it larger!)

Mountain Home

2011-09-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

A new digital piece. I came up with it in my head while visiting the Grand Canyon on my way to California. I don't think it's done, I'm still learning a lot about Photoshop to help take my pieces to the level I want them to be. But here's some progress anyway!

Dirigible Finito!

2011-09-22T17:57:00.000-07:00

Yep. I like him. There's something still missing, but for now, looks good, and I've got to keep moving forward with the portfolio building. But I really do like this one. I think I could go further with it given the enormous storyline I concocted in my head just for one painting! Remember to click on it to get a larger view.

The Digital Revolution

2011-09-22T13:15:00.000-07:00

Well, in order to stay competitive, I've decided to make digital painting a regular tool in my arsenal. I just got a brand new Wacom Intuos 4 tablet, and I'm lovin' it! It's a lot of fun. So, here are just a couple of master studies from John Singer Sargent and Joaquin Sorolla (respectively). Neither took me very long, and I didn't bother to texture them or get too fancy, and I'm still happy with the results! So, look forward to some digital pieces from me in the near future!

By the way, for those who don't know, digital painting is not any easier or better than traditional painting. I don't trace anything: I still draw and paint and make creative decisions like I would otherwise. The upside is that digital does expedite my process, because I can "Edit, Undo" and change colors at the click of a button. The speed and the act of being "paperless" is what ultimately makes it more desirable in certain situations.

Dirigible Days 4/5..?

2011-09-20T10:47:00.000-07:00

Days 4 or 5. No more anyway. Something feels missing. I'm not sure what. Maybe it's just a matter of rendering out the ships in the sky a little more, or adding another one, but I don't know. Lovin' my little dinghy though. You like the gold eagle there? Yeah, me too. Make sure to click on the full picture so you can see everything better than in this tiny view.

The Drawing Club in LA

2011-09-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

First, here's the progress of days two and three of the the dirigible piece. It's coming along, and there is still a lot of the day to go on this day 3/4 ish... I kind of lost track because stuff was happening, like...

The Drawing Club! The Drawing Club is based in L.A. It was a themed three hour long session of poses with a model. I was surrounded by professional animators and illustrators doing what we love to do best! It was fun. If you click on The Drawing Club link (the words "The Drawing Club at the beginning of this paragraph), a couple of my illustrations are sitting there with the others'. It's fun to see everyone's different take on it, and it's great have all of these opportunities to participate in my industry's community while living here in Cali.

Dirigible Day One

2011-09-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

Here's what I got done yesterday. I'm liking it! This one should progress very quickly!
Oil: tit. white, cad. yellow, permanent rose, cad. red medium, cerulean, pthalo blue, burnt sienna (so far).

The Study-o

2011-09-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

Well hello again! It's been forever since I've updated the blog, but a lot has been going on recently. I just moved to California to live with my sister while her husband is away on Navy duty. I'm writing this new post from the "study-o": part study (for my sister), part studio.

See that canvas? He'll be our little boy in the dirigible dinghy. Starting it today as soon as the gesso's dry.

And would you believe it, I finally got myself that new camera I've been thinking about for a while! An Olympus XZ-1. It's a point and shoot (because, let's not fool ourselves, I know close to nothing about SLRs) and I am just amazed by the results. It looks fantastic. So, I have no excuse anymore for lack of quality photos of my work. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen: paintings from June to beginning of August. Go ahead, click on those puppies! The file sizes are probably way huge, but I don't care!

Colored Dirigible

2011-08-16T12:15:00.001-07:00

Color study

Dirigible Revamped

2011-08-16T09:01:00.001-07:00

I've found out recently that talking about your ideas for a piece out loud to someone else can have great repercussions on your work. For instance, I was explaining my dirigible piece to my very best friend (and boyfriend), Chris, who happens to be a mechanical engineer. He wanted to know all about my little made up world, and because I needed to give him answers to it, he helped me to cultivate a more interesting, well rounded illustration idea.

So the story now is that because this is a little cloud, flying civilization boy, he is much more interested in the ground he has never been able to touch rather than the clouds that constantly surround him. So he sneaks away in a little hot air balloon dingy to go see it for himself. When he arrives, he accidentally happens upon one of the ground natives that he's been warned against his whole life - in fact, it's one of the reasons he's never touched ground and part of the reason his people have never left the sky they had ventured to many many years ago. They didn't flee the natives, they just have lost so much time with their land bound cousins that they have invented all sorts of crazy beliefs about them. The natives are equally as wary of the boats in the sky, and it's been hundreds of years since they've seen the people that man them. The boy and the native are at once shocked, and in awe of the other, and that childlike wonder will probably win out and the two will become friends. Anyway, this is their meeting. And it might look something like this. (Ps, the contrast to help my focus characters stand out will be in the color, and less in the value. I'm referring specifically to around the boy's head)

Are you more interested?

Steampunk Dirigible

2011-08-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

Hey there, thought I'd update all-a-ya'lls on what I'm going to work on next. Nothing is seriously finalized yet, just some sketches and some ideas floating around in my head. It's going to be more of a children's piece in a sort of a Russian, steampunk, dirigible/wooden ship kind of way. But at it's core it's going to be something more simple: kids just want to catch clouds in a bottle. I mean, I always wanted to. I would imagine being allowed to stick my head out of a plane window so I could gather up the fluffy stuff in a jar, and just keep it there like cotton candy for the eyes. So... I'm just exploring my own ideas from childhood for a children's piece.

Anyway, this is a page from my sketchbook (ha! like I'm devoted to just one at any given time. There's seriously about 10 lying around), which is typical of my thought processes for any piece. Also, I know for sure I'm using my brother as a youngster as reference. Seriously there has never been, nor ever will be, a cuter kid on the face of the planet. Look well readers, you are looking at the cutest human ever. I hope I do him justice.

Aloja finished!

2011-08-05T09:56:00.001-07:00

Here she be. By the way, the colors are pretty darn accurate to the original. All in all, she probably only took me 3 days to complete, because the final day I busted out a bunch of work in a short time.

So, grand total, not counting the couple of days to brainstorm, gather reference, draw and do value and color studies: 3 days.

Aloja - Day Three

2011-08-03T08:23:00.000-07:00

Day three of progress from yesterday. One more session and she should be good to go. Sorry for the differences in color between days. One day it's sunny, one day it's cloudy, yada yada. I'm trying, and I plan to scan this puppy for perfection when it's done. This is fairly close in color, but perhaps slightly more yellowy green in the sky.

Aloja - Day Two

2011-08-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

As promised, day two of work. Day three may be delayed due to some other project deadlines (and I'll be able to show you these projects later), but the updates on Aloja here will keep coming. In any case, I only estimate maybe two more days to finish up the water and the birds and those last details.

Not to worry

2011-07-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten to daily update. But due to some prior obligations that happened to coincide this weekend, I wasn't able to work yesterday (I was judging a llama 4-H show, no kidding) or this weekend. I will show you Day 2 of my progress which happened today, but I've gotta go! Look back later Monday or Tuesday for days 2 and 3 of the progress!

Aloja - Day One

2011-07-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

Rather than a big reveal, I thought I'd show my day by day progress. Might be more fun, or a different kind of fun anyway!

Day 1
(I'm excited!)

Color palette (oil): Titanium white, cad yellow med., raw sienna, burnt sienna, permanent rose, cobalt violet hue, ultramarine, sap green, payne's grey. Stand oil as a medium.

Aloja!

2011-07-26T09:30:00.000-07:00

Nope, not the Hawaiian greeting, that's the name of our foxy Catalonian, water nymph, bird conjuring girl! I've worked on some color studies here in Photoshop, and I'm already sold on which colors I'm going with. Can you guess? Will it be:
1. Dusky twilight, green pond water with purple goodness?
2. Magical, mystifying teal and purple? Or...
3. Sultry red lady with tumultuous grey blue waters?

no peeking

no peeking

and...

If you guessed "Dusky twilight green pond water with purple goodness" you guessed correctly! I just think it's the most interesting of the three, the least expected. And Lord knows I've been painting things blue for a few too many projects now. It is settled! Expect some crisper edges and darker darks in places for the finish though.

Finished Stepping Stones and new painting

2011-07-22T15:10:00.000-07:00

So here is the finished Stepping Stones piece! I'm going to let it sit me with me for a couple days and then decide if there is something else that needs to be done to it.

In the meantime, here is the next piece I'm starting. It's a Catalonian (Spanish) myth about a water nymph type creature who lives in fresh water and can turn water into blackbirds. Now, magical or otherwise, I have no idea why you would ever want/need to turn water into blackbirds, but it sounded like a cool illustration! This is a value study. But I'm telling you- I need a bigger scanner! It took me 10 scans to get the whole 28x36" drawing!

Shucks!!!

2011-07-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

What would happen if Disney's Pocahontas and Megan Fox had a lovechild that then became famous enough that a Bratz doll was fashioned after her? It's a question I'm sure we've all asked, but finally- finally, here is the answer... in the form of "Oops! This first attempt at this painting is not working". Go ahead, click on the image to really understand the horror.

I said to myself, "uh oh, does this look like Pocahontas?" and then, "Oh no... there's a bleeping willow tree too!" Had I stumbled upon gold, John Smith? No, it was just lowly corn... shucks!!! (you see what I did there with Pocahontas, my upset feelings, and the title of this post? Huh? Huh?) I had never planned a Pocahontas painting. But our subconscious can have a funny way of creeping up on us. Well, the damage had been done and I needed to do some serious damage control, which I've been doing today. I did everything I could to make this new girl as much UNlike "Pokey" as I could, including redoing the face to be less Bratz like. I give you... red haired girl!

Still work to do, but we're on our way. I also got rid of the glowing pink plant. I figured there was too much foreign plant life to concentrate on, so I just eliminated it. It was also just a poor compositional choice, so I'm glad he is outta there. It should be all done by next week, and I'll do my best to get the best reproduction I can. A lot of the light lights are washed out in this one.

Stepping Stones underpainting

2011-07-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

I've got it all drawn out and the underpainting in (burnt sienna and ultramarine blue). All that's left is to paint her! In case you're wondering, that large circle to the right of her is a plant I've made up that is kind of like fan coral, but I didn't bother to paint all the holes in.

Sisters of the Light

2011-07-11T06:59:00.001-07:00

Ta da!

You may notice it looks a little different from my value study. My apologies. Over the next night, I got up, looked at the study- and hated the composition. So I redid it without informing you. But don't you like this so much better? Ok Tor, hire me!

Next up, the girl on the stepping stones that I showed some color studies of here. So you can look forward to the progress of that!

"Sisters" sneak peek

2011-07-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

In case you can't wait until Monday...

Stepping Stones

2011-07-07T10:39:00.000-07:00

Dear readers, never fear: Sisters of the Light is on it's way and is nearly finished for your viewing pleasure. We've had a little down time due to the holiday, but we're back in full swing now. Since we're so close to completion, it's necessary to step away and forget about it a little bit to see all of the flaws I might not have noticed with my face pressed up to it for so long. You can expect it finished next week.

In the meantime, here are two color and composition studies for a new piece, more young reader themed, still with a fantasy twist. Imagine a nature loving girl with super duper long hair, and there's this lily trotter type bird that leads her down a secret path in the woods to this more magical, phosphorescent, bio-luminescent section of the woods. But I think the lily trotter has dubious meanings behind why he's leading the girl... maybe she'll be trapped there, or there will be a lot of dangerous creatures to encounter, or maybe the bird needs her to get something it can't reach on it's own and the bird actually shouldn't have the thing.... I dunno! Those are the stories I make up in my head to stay inspired. I've decided I'm going with the top version, the bottom version I was still feeling out a lot of rough ideas in my head. So stay tuned for results on this piece too!

One last tidbit: I didn't have a reflective surface for my water when I was taking photo reference, and I thought and thought about what I could use. I finally remembered that in one of my first aid kits I had one of those silver, plastic heat blankets! So I just unfolded it and voila! Instant reflective surface that unfolds to about a 3 by 4 foot area, and folds back up into a 2" by 4" square. I have since moved the blanket from my first aid kit to the art supplies!

New Painting- Sisters of the Light

2011-06-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

Here's a peek at a value study I've been working on.

When I was younger, I was a huge fan of the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind, and my favorite has always been the second book called Stone of Tears. In that particular book, our hero and newly budding wizard Richard is taken away from his love to a place called the Palace of Prophets to help him learn how to use his magic- or he will die from it. He is taken away by these women called the Sisters of the Light, and although we learn they are in fact some of the good guys, in this book they are initially presented as a powerful force with mysterious pasts and even more mysterious ways. Their judgement is sometimes clouded by a strong belief in prophecy, and there are certainly religious overtones with their belief in the Creator and the Light. Anyway. I loved those books, and I decided to get inspired by revisiting them and doing a piece related to the three sisters that travel to find Richard. Besides, it gives me an excuse to paint pretty girls and horses. What could be wrong with that?

Critique Day!

2011-06-17T12:48:00.000-07:00

Done! Unless in a couple days I see something that I have to change. Also, as most always, I want to get a better reproduction of it. I'm telling ya, I really need to start considering a better camera/ finally get that big 'ol scanner I need.

Color in flesh tones

2011-06-13T12:26:00.000-07:00

Another peak at the painting coming along. The blues tints were just the icing on the cake for me! I love it and it adds so much to the overall color scheme. The blue is the blue of the sky seen "off canvas". Let me just say though, one can go overboard with the blue "foreign" color. Enter Skeeter from the tv show Doug:

Trust me, it's much more subdued and attractive now. I just was painting away, "la la la, I'm so happy I thought to do this blue" and then all of the sudden I stopped and... "Honk honk! Hey Doug!" And I thought I'd share this temporary failure in my mission to make a great piece. He looks much more like the guy sleeping now. Shouldn't be long until the whole thing is done, and I've already got ideas for the next piece!

Sneak Preview of "Critique Day"

2011-06-08T20:17:00.000-07:00

I bet you thought I was going to leave you hanging on my cavemen piece, "Critique Day", didn't you? Well never fear. It is underway and I am positively loving everything from the composition, down to the value and color. I was working... well, just a second ago at 11pm, before I shot this sneak peak for you! It's gonna be a beaut!

By the way, in case you were wondering, I'm working with oil on canvas rather than board as I had originally decided. The texture of the canvas really works out great for subject matter like this. Color palette: Titanium white, cad. yellow, raw sienna, burnt sienna, alizarin crimson, cad. red medium, burnt umber, cobalt blue, sap green. Mediums: Galkyd light when I want something to dry fast, and stand oil the rest of the time.

The Twilight Zone: It's A Good Life

2011-05-28T21:05:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to expedite the process of creating a larger body of work with some pieces that are a little less time intensive than what I normally do. And so, with brevity in mind, I give you illustrated brief stories... from the Twilight Zone.

This first one is called "It's a Good Life". It always gave me the jibbilies as a kid. It's the one about the little boy who has powers that has cut his town off from the rest of the world (which no longer exists) and if something upsets him he will on a whim "send it to the cornfield". Anything! Cars, electricity, dogs, people. It's a creepy story, and I love how it resolves- but I'll let you see it for yourself if you never have.

Anyway, here's the little boy about to wish something (probably you the viewer) to the cornfield, and his frightened parents are trying to convince him not to. I like how it turned out! I think I'll do a few more of these. Don't worry, my cavemen painting is still in the works.

Critique Day

2011-05-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

I've recently graduated from the fabulous four year illustration program at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan.

So, Real Life, let's see what you've got! As my friend Tom Chouinard and I like to say, "It's game time."

And we're kicking it off with a little promotional piece I like to call, "Critique Day".

I got to thinking about the beginnings of art during a final critique in my glass blowing class, and this image came into my head: Neanderthal like homo-sapiens having an aesthetic discussion. Now, I know that Neanderthals and homo-sapiens aren't actually the same species, and I know that they didn't have time for the finer things in life, but who cares? And wait, see, it's funny, because there's the guy giving the critique, the one person listening, one forgot it was critique day so he's grabbing some random rocks and he'll make up some bs explaination for his "project" on the fly, another has fallen asleep, and the last one... well, he's going to eat a bug he found on a stick. They are Neanderthals after all (do I feel a Geico caveman commerical beginning?)

I'm hoping that this particular piece will be applicable to a wide range of potential employers, and I think it's going to be fun to do! I plan to do it in oil... probably on board. Anyway, this here's my little value sketch. It's very subject to change, but so far, I'm liking it.

Better reproduction of Dragon

2011-05-03T19:48:00.001-07:00

Muhhhhhhhhhh-ch better!

Better reproduction and Veronica

2011-05-02T13:16:00.000-07:00

Here's one you haven't seen on the blog finished, my friend Veronica! Running towards her goals, what a champion. And a detail shot...

Here also, as I promised, is a better reproduction of my engineering painting. Ta da!This one keeps growing on me. More updates to come!

Steve Irwin Final

2011-04-27T13:26:00.001-07:00

Good reproduction news! Here's Steve-o, in all his glory.

Engineering

2011-04-27T13:04:00.001-07:00

Here's a piece I did on everything engineers can dream up! Thanks to the wonderful Chris Burton for assisting me with reference. Again, not a fabulous reproduction. I'm sensing a trend here. I'll get a better one up when I get a better photo!

Wha-oh! That's a Dragon!

2011-04-27T12:51:00.000-07:00

If you recall, our brave knight was checking his map for directions to the gold, last we saw him.

O_O

...oh geez!...

It has been nearly impossible to photograph or scan this well. To make the dragon as red as he is, there were a lot of glazes involved, which means the piece is very very shiny. I think I simply need a better camera to start with. This just doesn't do it justice, but you get a feel for the thing. He's fun! I like him. Promise I'll upload a better one as soon as I can!

Another portrait study

2011-04-26T16:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry the blog's slow right now, but soon it will be bombarded with the things I'm finishing up for my final semester in college. Graduating in two weeks! Here's another portrait study I did in class that went well.

Maria

2011-04-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

Trying to update the blog more often, so even though lots of my friends have seen this one, here she is. My friend Maria, in all her beautiful glory! -Maria, as soon as you get that blog up, I'll set up a link in this post to it! ;)

Blueberry Fish!

2011-04-05T20:57:00.001-07:00

Tonight, given the ingredients I had at my disposal, I made blueberry glazed catfish! It turned out pretty good, just boiled down some blueberries, orange juice, honey, and a little thyme and put it on top of my olive oil fried catfish. Blueberry fish made me laugh though, so I did a little illustration for fun!

Medieval Treasure Hunting!

2011-04-02T21:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a sneak peak at some progress of my next painting. And look what we have! A knight, checking his map for directions. I sure hope his treasure hunt goes okay! Looks like there may be a small hitch in his plan on the way to the gold though....

The Detroit Shoppe Poster Final

2011-03-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

Remember this bad lad?

Well, he got pretty awesome while you weren't looking:

What up, Detroit Statues!? Rock on. The posters are due this week, so I'm excited to see how they'll like this guy. I like 'im!

Venice

2011-03-27T15:22:00.000-07:00

Not sure I ever posted this. I took this photo in Venice last year, and decided to paint it. Oil paint on canvas, 24 x 36".

Hagopian Results

2011-03-17T07:58:00.001-07:00

Remember this little guy?

Well he won me a second place prize for the Hagopian Rug Design Competition! Not too shabby.

Hip-Happenins

2011-03-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

So, here's what's going on.

Here's an oil portrait I'm working on. Run towards your dreams! I have a feeling the background is too large or something now. Not sure. It's coming along nicely though.

The Detroit Shoppe poster is also coming along nicely. Here's a sneak preview of the linoleum cut.

Also, the other day in a portrait painting class, I was pleased with the outcome of this one. The model was texting and smiling, so I asked her if she got a nice text. She responded that she was like a spider weaving a web. A little bit later she received a text and started smiling even more. "Did the web work?" I asked. She smiled, "Oh yes it did!" I thought it was pretty funny. I tried to catch her little smirk she was trying to hide in an effort to sit still while she was weaving away!

Steve Irwin

2011-02-21T11:27:00.000-08:00

Here he is! It's hard in this Michigan gloomy winter to get the right lighting to photograph this painting. The colors aren't as deep, and it's difficult to try to get them to where they really are in Photoshop, so some of the detail is lost. I need a good sunny day and a room that doesn't have windows at all the wrong angles!

The Detroit Shoppe/ Somerset Mall Poster

2011-02-21T11:13:00.000-08:00

Work in progress. This will be my submission for the Detroit Shoppe's poster contest. The shop will be moving to a new permanent location in the Somerset Mall, and they are looking for submissions for posters to sell at the store. I love the architecture and sculptures best about Detroit, so I decided to focus on bronze sculptures in the area (hence the man pouring molten metal). There are some tweaks that need to happen, for instance the tile pattern is supposed to be Pewabic Pottery, but unfortunately the pottery isn't bronze, so now I feel it is out of place. Also, some of the molten ribbon needs to be enlarged so that the statue names are more easily readable. This will be a lino cut and I will colorize it in Photoshop. I'm pleased so far!

Rug Competition

2011-02-13T16:38:00.000-08:00

Here's my submission for a recent call for entries to the annual Hagopian Rug Competition. Hagopian Rugs makes high quality rugs here in Detroit and they annually invite College for Creative Studies students to submit designs.

The theme this year was the spirit of Michigan, and to me, the lakes are what make this my home. Growing up on Lake Michigan we were always going to the beach, listening to the jet skis and seagulls; in the winter we would sit in the parking lot and watch the waves crash against the lighthouse, and every spring my siblings and I would see who would jump in the lake first (when we were younger it was sometimes in March or April!) I'm all about the lakes. My design is meant to be the sun set sparkling on the waves lapping up to shore. Mmmmm. Home.

Steve Irwin

2011-02-08T12:52:00.000-08:00

Most recently, I've been painting a portrait of Steve Irwin wrestling a heavenly crocodile. 'Nuff said! He's still in the works; I'm going to bump up the value of the clouds in front of him, do a little bit more on the crocodile, and fix those hands but he's about six hours away from being finished. I'm painting in oil (titanium white, cad yellow, magenta, burnt sienna, pthalo blue, burnt umber) on a gessoed wood panel.

Here are some other painted studies from models. Each is about 25 minutes.

Also I'm working on a poster for The Detroit Shoppe for their new location at Somerset Mall. The poster is art deco themed, and it will be another lino cut! I'm very excited about it, and it should be a good one!

Finished Lino Cut Illustration

2011-01-07T13:03:00.000-08:00

Here is the final assignment completed for my Editorial Painting class. The book was being used for teaching purposes only. I combined two linoleum cuts: the actual image and then the carved text so that I could separate the two in the future if I wanted. Then I digitally combined them in Photoshop CS5 and colored it there. The actual print I got from my lino cut is below. I'm pleased with the result, and it was a lot of fun to learn a new process. Despite being an editorial painting class, my teacher Cathy Gendron has always been very open to utilizing all sorts of techniques to create the perfect editorial illustration. Who knows, I might include lino cuts in some future work I have planned too.

Lino Cut and Printing

2010-12-11T19:26:00.000-08:00

For my Editorial Painting class as our last project of the semester we are illustrating the novella "The Big Wave" by Peter S. Buck. The story is set in the by gone days of Japan, and so I decided that using a similar technique to the Japanese woodblock print would be appropriate. With the help of my friends Veronica, and Ray, and a few instructors, I'm attempting a linoleum print for the first time! Here's the "lino cut".

The linoleum comes as the grey cut away color, so to help me see what I cut away as I worked, I colored over the top of it with a blue sharpie.

Here's a sneak peak of the prints and the process of printing. It's true that in two hours you can kick out near 20 pieces, but it sure can be a messy process with all that ink around!

Oops. Don't itch anything is basically the rule of thumb I learned today. Artists are nice people. I ran into several with my face looking like that, and none of them stared or laughed at me. Just a common workplace hazard I guess.

Thanks again, Veronica. I couldn't have done it without all your help and knowledge!

Some more Fables

2010-12-06T09:54:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delayed posting! This time of year gets pretty busy. Here are some more Fables that will be added to the book. I've also been working a lot on copying the book into InDesign and designing the pages and page numbers.

Watercolor Studies

2010-11-09T21:10:00.000-08:00

I decided I had some time before bed tonight, so I did an extra little project. I follow James Gurney, of Dinotopia fame, and his fantastic blog daily. Today (er, yesterday, it's 12:18am) he posted a site that compiles random Google map photos of places all over Earth, called Map Crunch. It can give you a more varied feel of the places you want to visit. He then suggested doing little thumbnail watercolors that take no longer than 10 minutes to complete. I did have a blast doing them! Each took no longer than 10 minutes, and as long as that sounds, I wanted to spruce them up more. But the point was to be quick and get to the point (and be looser with the paint and have more fun). From top to bottom, left to right you are looking at Diamond Peak, New Zealand; Morelos, Mexico; Saint-Livres, Switzerland; and South Qu'Appelle, Canada!

Scans of Fables

2010-11-03T06:24:00.000-07:00

There are still touch ups to be done, pushing value in a few areas, but here are the scans of the three fables I have so far for the inside illustrations.

Final Paintings from the Ludington Show

2010-11-03T04:58:00.000-07:00

Remember that show I had a few months ago? Well I finally have nice reproductions of all the paintings in their final state. Let me also just say that the show at the Ludington Arts Center was a hit, and I had so many people attend I couldn't talk to them all! Thanks again to everyone who came and to the Ludington Arts Center for being so generous with the studio they lent me and the space for the show. In order of completion:

Mayor Henderson

Dr. Bill Anderson

Todd and Brad Reed

Lee and Joan Schoenherr

Bob Neal

Bill and Jane Carpenter

More Fables

2010-11-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

Here are some more illustrated fables that will be illustrations in the book. From left to right: Tortoise and the Hare, Crow and the Pitcher, Lion and the Mouse. Unfortunately, I couldn't scan these individually tonight, so the colors appear washed out. I'll update them soon though. Also, here is a scan of the cover.

Aesop's Fables Final?

2010-10-23T19:23:00.000-07:00

Maybe some touch ups once I get some more feedback.

Aesop's Fables

2010-10-23T09:57:00.000-07:00

This new project I'm working on is to redesign the classic book of Aesop's Fables with my own illustrations. This is my progress thus far, although we're nearing completion. Eventually, I hope to actually get the book manufactured so that it is a real product.

I'm centering on the more well known tale of the fox trying to reach the grapes for the cover. The fable goes:

One hot summer’s day a Fox was strolling through an orchard till he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine which had been trained over a lofty branch. “Just the things to quench my thirst,” quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater success. Again and again he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: “I am sure they are sour.”

IT IS EASY TO DESPISE WHAT YOU CANNOT GET.

And here's my process:

I decide to go with this version. Most people couldn't tell until I explained with this sketch, but imagine that we're by the grapes on top of a wall looking down at the fox, and he's looking up at the grapes he can't reach.

This is my final sketch, although I scale down the fox to make the grapes seem more out of reach and to allow for more room for my book title. I'm still deciding now that I see how the project is turning out whether or not I should include the parade of animals at the top, or if I should think of something else.

Beginning to ink in.

Ink detail.

Glazes, Neal, and the final portrait!

2010-08-04T13:47:00.001-07:00

I am pleased to announce, that with a little more than a week to go, I have begun THE FINAL PAINTING! Soon, dear followers, you will see the entire show in it's finished glory.

One of the steps to attaining that glory is a glaze I've been putting on once the painting is dry. My glaze is a mixture of ideas from Marsha Steinberg, my painting teacher back at Lorenzo de' Medici, and this guy, Jonathan Linton. Previously, on my Anna Lisa painting, I had used Marsha's medium mix of 2 parts stand oil to 1 part linseed, 1 part essence of turpentine, and 1 part damaar varnish. Recently though, I came across Mr. Linton's blog via the blog of James Gurney of Dinotopia fame. Mr. Linton mentioned that on a recent painting he did a final "oiling in" of stand oil and gamsol (odorless turpentine) once the painting was dry, and that it did the job to pop the darks back out again. So I messaged Linton, asking what was the logic behind oiling in as opposed to varnishing, and explained to him my medium. Linton wrote back,

"You don't want to add Damar (unless it's retouch) since that will seal the painting and the vapors underneath the varnish will be stuck. This will cause "blooming," which is a layer of milky white that will increase in opacity and size until the varnish layer is removed."

Since I still don't think I know that much about oil painting, and I am constantly concerned about yellowing of the colors and just archival quality in general, I decided to give his Gamblin calculator for mediums a try. After trying it, I bought some cold wax and made up a medium of my own: 85% stand oil, 10% cold wax, 5% linseed, and some essence of turpentine just to thin it out a little. So far (without being able to see the effect of 20 years on my paintings) I LOVE this mixture. It produces just enough sheen to bring back the dark colors, but the wax keeps it from being annoyingly glossy. It works perfect for making my paints smooth, yet is still viscous enough not to be too smooth- I can still make the paints work impasto. And then as a glaze it is just wonderful, with color or as just the final "oiling in". Anyway. That's enough about that, just wanted to share my discoveries. The photo above is there to show you what a glaze can do for paints that haven't had any medium. I don't lay it on that thick, but you get the idea. The dull parts are just pure oil paint that has dried without medium or glaze.

Finally, here is Mr. Bob Neal! All done except for a few Prussian Blue glazes in his shirt, and some drips off the bottom ice cream scoop on his tie.

Bob Neal

2010-08-02T11:15:00.000-07:00

If you've ever heard or have ever been to Ludington, inevitably there will be at least one of two things you know about it: The Car Ferry named the Badger that sails passengers across Lake Michigan to Manitouwak, Wisconsion, and House of Flavor's Ice Cream.

House of Flavors is owned by Bob Neal. This restaurant and ice cream parlor is so popular that it's even mentioned in a "Pure Michigan" ad for Ludington. There are most definitely over 31 flavors (beat that Baskin Robbins) and they are all made here in Ludington. Actually, my first job (and my brother's also) was being a "cone-y" or kid who scoops ice cream at House of Flavors. The business has had a significant impact on the area, to say the least.

But Bob Neal has done much more for the area than simply House of Flavors. An overriding theme that I'm discovering with all of my portrait subjects is that Ludington is a special and beautiful place- a place where you can leave your car unlocked and not worry about someone stealing anything. So Mr. Neal has decided to give back in other ways too. He's set up some condos by the city's marina with underground parking- much like they have back in Colorado where Mr. Neal spends some of his year. The condos are a beautiful addition, and have been very successful. Mr. Neal also owns some of the surrounding blocks around House of Flavors, and he has done an excellent job of attracting local businesses that have helped stimulate the cities economy, and as always, the blocks look beautiful.

So, it is my pleasure to once again to paint someone who has been so influential in helping Ludington to be a beautiful, prosperous city. Bob isn't quite done yet, but he's very close. The photo I've included is the progress on the painting thus far. Next up, my last portrait! Bill and Jane Carpenter.

Wish you were here!

2010-07-31T11:19:00.000-07:00

Here is my submission for the Ludington Art Center's postcard exhibit. This was quick and fun, and a nice change of pace. I really enjoyed doing it!

Post Card Exhibit

2010-07-27T21:54:00.000-07:00

The Ludington Area Center for the Arts is putting on a postcard show. Each postcard sells for $30, with $15 going to the Center. I decided to submit something as an excuse to do something digital! I never thought I'd miss it so much, but after all this painting, it's been fun to do. It's not done yet, partly because my mechanical engineering boyfriend keeps telling me my clouds aren't right. I trust him, because he's looking at it from a completely fresh and pedestrian point of view, rather than me with my grandiose vision. It's been good! Even though he keeps telling me that the clouds look like coral, or that it looks like she's running away from something burning and the float plane was her last chance to escape safely. Ah... 'out of the mouths of babes'. But honestly, he's been pushing me towards a stronger piece. Thanks Chris!

Getting closer...

2010-07-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

My show is coming in seventeen days! Everything is coming along. Two more paintings to go.

Budde Reed progress

2010-07-22T07:52:00.001-07:00

Here's the latest progress on Budde. The show is getting closer! Two more paintings to go and I'll make my 10 portrait goal.

Milan "Budde" Reed

2010-07-09T08:07:00.000-07:00

Hey all, sorry about the delay in posts. The 4th of July holiday has been treating me well. But don't worry, because I've still been busy at work on the Ludington Show.

Here is progress on my latest portrait, Milan "Budde" Reed. And yes, he is related to Todd and Brad- the photographers I had done earlier in the series. Mr. Reed is another very philanthropic resident of Ludington (for instance he has helped donate to the Ludington Arts Center), he is also the third generation owner of Ludington Beverage Company, Inc., chairman of the city of Ludington building authority and member of the board of directors of West Shore Bank. He was nice enough to come visit me in my studio prior to me taking reference photos of him in his office at the beverage company. I asked him why give back, and to Ludington of all places?

Mr. Reed said that more than money, he felt above all that it was important to give one's time. To make yourself available to the community and that sharing that community togetherness was what was most important in giving back, and that the time one puts in is what gets things rolling and happening. Mr. Reed stays in Ludington given that the Ludington Beverage Company has stayed in the family for three generations, which in this sort of day and age and economic climite is almost unheard of. Ludington, he says, is a special place, and while it may not have a ton of career opportunities, it is a city that can always be improved upon, which will hopefully encourage people to come and for the younger generations to stay, and at the same time should be preserved for future visitors. He had a lot of really good things to say, and it makes me wonder why more people don't volunteer in communities across the nation. Philanthropic and volunteer actions such as Mr. Reeds are part of what make great cities happen.

Alright. So. Even now, with the reproduction of the photograph on my camera and on here, I can see that some value relationships need to be tweeked. The spot on the nose has gotten too dark, and the piece of paper on the table looks like it's glowing from within! So, there's work to be done. I won't be posting again for quite a while, I will be in Pasadena at The Illustration Conference, which I am extremely excited about! I will be a volunteer there, but hopefully it will present some good networking possibilities. Wish me luck!

Business card final

2010-06-29T09:41:00.000-07:00

Here's what I decided on for my business card. I haven't received them yet, but I ordered them through overnightprints.com. My excellent teacher Dave Chow suggested the website to me, and it's great because there are tons of coupon codes you can find on the internet that work. I got 100 premium business cards for free! So, it's worth checking out.

Lee and Joan Schoenherr

2010-06-27T16:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been posting my progress recently, I've just been concentrating pretty hard on getting this one right.

Lee and Joan Schoenherr own Floracraft here in Ludington. Don't think that means anything to you, my dear Detroit friends? Well, let me just say that Floracraft ships their products worldwide. They are the largest fabricator and supplier of styrofoam. That's right styrofoam(tm). I can guarantee that just about every Michael's craft store you've ever been to has Floracraft products. And Floracraft has been in business for 60 years! Congrats to them!

Apart from being successful business owners, the reason I'm painting Lee and Joan is because they are also extremely philanthropic people. For instance, they have donated this sculpture, entitled "Reflections" to our marina, which happens to also be my favorite:

Philanthropic, and have good taste! I haven't had a chance to really sit down and discuss the ins and outs of why the Schoenherr's enjoy and stay in Ludington, but I will when I return the reference photos I borrowed from Joan. The Schoenherr's are also very busy people, and for that reason I have borrowed several photos from which I'm drawing my reference from. Here's the piece so far. It's given me a little more grief than Todd and Brad. For instance, there is something in the eyes of Lee that is off and I just haven't nailed it yet. It's ruining the likeness, so it's going to take some more careful consideration. Also, hands aren't done, and there are little details yet, but I wanted to show off something. I should finish by tomorrow, and then, on to the next!

And now for something completely different....

2010-06-23T11:39:00.000-07:00

Business cards! It's about time I had some, and they will come in quite handy when I go to ICON in a couple weeks in Pasadena. Won't you please let me know which of these you prefer? I'm leaning towards Anna Lisa, but I do like the clean look of the black buck.

Todd and Brad Reed Progress

2010-06-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

To do:
-HANDS
-Todd coat
-bottom of camera
-Brad pants
-lighter in Brad's hair
-corners of Todd's mouth
-glaze grass yellow
-Brad left eye?
-light on Brad's ear
-Brad elbow too crisp
-Todd eyebrows?
-glaze all when dry

Dr. Anderson completed, Todd and Brad progress

2010-06-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

Well, here he is! He turned out just dandy. Unfortunately, I cannot for the life of me get the lighting to reveal the correct colors. All of my camera settings are either too yellow, or too blue, or too dark or too light. This is a little too yellow, and too bright. I should really learn more about my camera, or get a slightly more advanced one anyway (another thing to add to the list of things to get before I'm out of school!) But trust me, the painting is lovely in person.

Also, here is part of yesterday's and today's progress with Todd and Brad. It's coming along nicely, but wouldn't you know it... guess who STILL didn't set down her darkest darks to compare the other values to? !!!!!! GAH! Maybe if I repaint the shadow portion of the third and fourth faces of this project, maybe THEN I will FINALLY learn to set down all of the LIGHTS and all of the DARKS in the BEGINNING! Anyway... it will just fine, but it is something I really have to remind myself to do as a painter.

To those of you non painters, what I'm experiencing with the shadows on the skin tones in my paintings is kind of like this optical illusion. A and B are actually the same color, but A looks darker and B looks lighter. Why? Because A is next to a much lighter color. The light square and A really are that different, but in comparison to black, or to a much darker grey like the squares next to B, that color is actually quite light. In an effort to not rest my hand in paint, I've tried to paint the faces of my portraits first. They look great, until I add all of the surrounding darks, and then, like moving square A for square B, I now have a 30% dark value as opposed to what I thought was a 70% when all that was around the paint was white canvas. Does that make sense? So yes. Something to definitely work on. Save myself some time and effort!

Todd and Brad Reed

2010-06-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted the final painting of Dr. Bill Anderson, but there are some final touch ups to be done once the painting isn't so wet. Actually, that might get to happen today. We shall see! In any case, it should be completely done very soon.

Next up: Todd and Brad Reed. The Reeds are a very artistic bunch. Todd has been photographing the Ludington area and Michigan for many years, and Brad has joined the family business within the last few years. On a side note, Todd's nephew Ryan Reed is also a photographer, and has recently done a project in Sudan. You can visit Ryan's website here.

But back to Todd and Brad. Those of you who know me well know that photography is not something I get excited about very easily. Maybe it's because it is so accessible these days that anyone feels they can call themselves a photographer. That being said, I have always enjoyed the Reed's photographs. Photographing a tourist trap like Ludington and still being able to create pieces that are unique and interesting to look at is no small feat. Todd and Brad really know how to capture the essence of Ludington and Michigan without doing anything that feels overdone or tiresome, or anything that relies too heavily on camera "tricks". And that is what I find so appealing about their work. Also, I just really enjoy the subject matter! In addition to their great photographs, the work they do really does a lot to help stimulate the Ludington economy (for instance, they try to work with local businesses- I know this because in the past I have had to cut and put together 1,000+ double mats for their pieces when I worked at the Artist Market). For that reason, they have also been named business of the year here in Ludington. Lastly, they are all really nice and exceptional people. And that really makes it a joy to work on this particular portrait. You can visit Todd and Brad's website here.

Todd and Brad were nice enough to supply me with some of their own photographs to work from, because I wanted to do a painting of them in the field. Some of you may feel this is cheating, but let me just say that no illustrator works strictly from one photograph. In fact, a lot of it becomes intuition, or artistic license. There are problems with every photograph for an artist. For instance, look at this great one that I'm pulling most of my reference from

Looks great right? Well yes, the lighting is very nice, and I like the green background because the other portraits are mostly blue... but there is the issue of both of them squinting. This can cause more wrinkles than necessary to create a likeness, and may even give the impression of disgust or anger if done strictly from a photograph. Therefore, it is necessary to work from more than one photograph to come to a nice in between squint that will help to make them look a little more natural- and the viewer will never know! The intuition I feel comes most handy when it comes to color. I like to retain realism in my work, but I love pushing color just a little more than it looks in reality on skin tones. I feel it just makes the work so much more interesting. If I made everything look exactly like a photograph, how interesting would that be for me or my viewers looking at paintings? Also, intuition and know how come into play as far as brush strokes and edges. Interest can be created by doing tight detail in the area of focus, and then "blurring" (I don't like that word here, it's a little misleading) the edges that are unimportant. That is a simplified explanation of what I'm trying to do.

Lastly, here's the sketch of the heads I will be using. I know it's not the best photo of the sketch, but notice how the eyes are a little wider, yet still squinted, and how I've made the decision to make Brad smile with teeth as opposed to the photo version where his mouth is pursed. He looks like he's really tired of squinting in the sun. Also, here's the color studies. I like the top better, and I'm excited about using lots more green and less blue. I think it will help the work as a whole to not have everything have copious amounts of cobalt blue.

Lighthouse done

2010-06-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

Just going to spray it with some Damaar spray varnish and we should be good to go! (I swear by that stuff now. It brings out the darks without making your piece annoyingly shiny) Actually, there may be very small touch ups once it's more dry. But, ta da!

Lighthouse

2010-06-10T12:40:00.001-07:00

I'm waiting on getting the next reference photos for portraits. In the meantime it's giving me time to also get started on the paintings for Jamesport Brewery here in Ludington. They wanted some nautical themed paintings, so, here is the lighthouse. I actually do really like the lighthouse, I've never seen another one that looks like ours, and it is a symbol of home. The painting is still very much in progress, but here we are day 2.

To do

2010-06-09T10:36:00.001-07:00

Nope, I can't leave it alone. Too many things bother me. At this point I literally do write out a to do list so I don't forget anything. As Richard Schmid says, "Never knowingly leave anything wrong on your canvas!"

Dr. Anderson to do list:

-hand redder in shadow
-perspective on black cabinet
-fingers by book
-shine on shoulder annoying
-paper too crisp
-wall by floor darker
-darks in hair
-darker shadows on side of face
-blue reflected on neck
-darker under desk
-edges of pants by table

Dr. Anderson progress

2010-06-09T10:02:00.001-07:00

He's coming along. With the background in though, I'm discovering that some of the values in the skin tones are not as dark or at least as deep as they should be. Guess that's why Sargent says to paint everything at the same time! But I avoided it this time so that I would have somewhere to rest my hand as I painted the face. Now I know! He's by no means done, but I need to wait until the paint gets a little more tacky. It's too wet to do much of anything right now. In the meantime, I'll begin a painting of the lighthouse. That should go fairly quickly. I always appreciate suggestions by the way!

The Ludington Show: Dr. Bill Anderson

2010-06-07T13:53:00.000-07:00

Recently I met with another one of Ludington's finest, Dr. Bill Anderson. Dr. Anderson has in previous years been Westshore Community College's president, and he has done a lot of work in support of the arts (he knew about the College for Creative Studies which is a first for anyone around here that I've talked to!). In addition, Dr. Anderson is an avid historian. He has one of the largest private collections of Tiger's baseball memoribilia. His basement is literally a small museum of signed baseball bats, photographs, and even some of the old Tiger lockers! More importantly for the area though, Dr. Anderson has an extensive knowledge of Ludington's logging history, given that his grandfather used to be a logger in the area. He will be adding to White Pine Village (just like Greenfield village for you eastern Michiganers) an original logging site, which is truely a remarkable find in this day and age! For these reasons, I can understand why he was so instantly recommended to me to be included in the show. Keep up the great work, Doctor!

Here are my color studies, and what I've begun today. The skin tone I'm going with this time is a base of cadmium yellow, cadmium red, and some ultramarine blue. I think it will be a nice contrast of warmth to the sort of cooler warmth of the Mayor portrait. The cadmium yellow and red are warmer than the lemon yellow and majenta of the Mayor portrait.

You can see that as I went I got tired as I did the studies.

Coming along well! Maybe I'll even finish tomorrow.

Mayor John Henderson

2010-06-02T15:09:00.001-07:00

Almost done! Just waiting for it to dry to make some final touch ups. I'd really appreciate any helpful suggestions/corrections people have. Here are some process photos:

Also, I'm extremely excited about my new studio space at the location where I'll be holding the show, the Ludington Arts Center! I get the space in return for volunteering for the Center, which I'm more than happy to do. Oddly enough, the Center is located in my old church before it changed locations, so I'm very familiar with the place (my studio is my old Sunday School room!). I have tons of space to actually move now! You wouldn't believe it, but before I was painting in my bedroom and I literally had to pull some Cirque du Solei moves in order to maneuver around with all of the stuff.

Next portrait and post will be concerning Dr. Bill Anderson, and that will be coming up over the weekend and beginning of next week. Also, early next week I will be posting something in our local newspaper to ask the public who they feel is important to Ludington, or who makes the city what it is today. The project is moving along at a good pace, and I just need to keep staying on top of it!

The Ludington Show

2010-05-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

Hello all! For the summer, I have decided to create my own show highlighting the great people that make my home town of Ludington what it is. The show will be a sort of snapshot in time of these people and the beautiful places here. I have big plans, including an end of the summer show in August that will be open to the community. Also, I will soon be posting something in the local newspaper asking the community for their suggestions on whose portraits should be included in the show. In this way, it really could come around full circle and truly be a Ludington show.

And I believe I'm starting off on the right foot! The first portrait I will be doing is that of our Mayor, John Henderson. Recently I met with him to take reference photos at one of his favorite locations, our city's fairly new marina, and to talk to him about why he cares about Ludington and what makes him want to be Mayor. The largest thing I took from our talk is that if you can believe your actions can have a negative impact on the community or world, then you have to believe that they can also have a positive change as well. Mayor Henderson says that he became mayor to combat the stagnant situation of Ludington in the past. Apparently, the city just wasn't moving forward, or in any direction, as it held on to the idea that what had always been done was all that could be done. Henderson says that he stepped in to initiate change. Whether the issues made everyone happy or not, he believed that certain projects, like the new marina, might never have happened without people making some waves (pun intended!). In a small city such as Ludington, instituting change is certainly not an easy feat, and so I'm proud to be able to honor Mayor Henderson's vision of positive change with this portrait!

The challenge I'm facing with this portrait is light. The Mayor and I were able to meet at 4:00pm, which unfortunately means the sun is setting towards the marina. This makes it so that any interesting view incorporating water will unfailingly cast the Mayors face into a harsh shadow. However! I think that the shadow can be made interesting, if I am careful to not make it too dark. I like the look of the shadow, because to me I really feel the sun and wind with that bright light on the side of his face. Shadows also, in my opinion, not only create interest, but help to define planes of the face, which I enhances a portraits structure, and therefore likeness to the person. And, I think I can get the shadow to creep a little more into the second half of his face, which will help it to be even more interesting. Here is the original reference photo, and three color studies for the portrait.

From the photo you can see my dilemma with the shadow. But, I think the color studies show that it can be resolved in a convincing manner utilizing the same shadow. As far as skin tone, I think I prefer the first one best, using cadmium lemon, as opposed to the other two in which I used cadmium yellow. I think it helps give it that still sort of springtime lightness as opposed to midsummer heat of the day. But, I also think that in the first one the cerulean blue for the summer sky is too green, and I prefer the cobalt or ultramarine versions. So! A little of this, and a little of that and we should be golden. The rest of the day I will probably work on the final full sized sketch, taking breaks, looking at it with fresh eyes and standing farther back, because I can tell even now that there are some issues when an hour ago I didn't see them.

I can't begin the painting today because I will be leaving tomorrow for San Diego, and the painting would dry before I return. So I will update you on the progess after labor day. And hopefully, I will be able to get a studio space at the new Ludington Center for the Arts so I can get out of my very cramped studio/bedroom!

Anna Lisa Finished!

2010-05-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

Here is my lovely "Anna Liser" finally finished. I'll need to get a better photograph (and photographer!) though, because the piece is pretty shiny, and it's difficult for me to photograph it well.

Anna Lisa Progress

2010-04-23T12:16:00.001-07:00

Here are some more process photos of my Anna Lisa oil painting. She's coming along well!

New Portrait

2010-04-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

In an effort to expand my portfolio in the direction I want to go, I am starting a new painting less two weeks before our yearly final review. Don't worry, I can do it! It will be of my very good friend and fellow illustrator, Anna Lisa http://inspiraled.blogspot.com/. Here are the beginnings, a sketch and a value block in, and I have high hopes for the finished piece.

A still more glorious awaits

2010-02-23T14:11:00.000-08:00

Most of those who would read my blog will recognize this autotuned video of Carl Segan and Stephen Hawkings speeches about the universe being put to song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgiXGELjbc

I shared it with my dad who reads Hawkings and books on quantum physics and string theory for fun. And I thought I'd share his response on the matter:

Yes it is beautiful. Sadly the vast majority of people really don't appreciate the vast glory of the Universe, they're too busy thinking about the mall or MTV or the next episode of Idol. To attempt to comprehend or begin to understand how incomprehensible the Universe is, or to marvel at magic of the simple structure of reality, is to experience wisdom, to attempt to describe it with words or pictures or music is ART. Science, philosophy and art are the constituent components of that reality.
I'm not trying to wax poetic here, just saying how happy I am that you have a sense of wonder. Never ever lose it.

And I think we should all remember that. How can those words not inspire you? "A still more glorious dawn awaits, not a sunrise- but a galaxy rise! A morning filled with 400 billion suns... the rising of the milky way!" It just makes me want to create a gigantic painting of how beautiful that would be. It's moments like these where I really get excited about being an artist, and start to feel extremely passionate about it, and I thought I'd share this link and my dad's words to help inspire the people around me.

Channeling Franklin Booth

2009-11-27T14:26:00.000-08:00

I forget how I stumbled upon this artist, only I remember that it was online somehow, and I remember wanting to rent a book on him through the CCS library, but that the library lost the book. In any case, an artist who I really enjoy and would like to learn more about is Franklin Booth. I believe his work is mainly in pen, and what I really enjoy is the large amounts of detail, but especially that he doesn't cross hatch with his pen lines, but rather creates chunks of parallel lines together, and then alternates their direction according to the planes on the subject matter. Here are a couple of my favorite examples:

I just think his use of line is so sophisticated and elegant. I just love it. So, here's a couple of my own works where I've tried to employ that same line technique. Obviously the need a little refinement in comparison to Booth's work- a little more attention to plane. The first is another imagined city, sort of a cloud thing, that will become a book, so there's a lot more to go yet. The other is a sketch of Dave that I did this morning while visiting the Academia here in Florence. I really intend to find out more on this artist, and practice more of his style in some of my pen sketches!

First Oil Painting

2009-10-22T12:28:00.001-07:00

Okay, I maybe lying a little. I have done maybe 2 or 3 other little oil paintings with alkyd oil paints, but this is my first large painting with real oils and mediums. The painting itself is ... oh... In inches I want to say 25x30, I forgot the size in centimeters. The medium we used was a mixture of 2 parts linseed oil to 1 part stand oil, 1 part damaar varnish, and 1 part essence of turpentine. As far as the medium goes it's kind of nice because it dries a little slower than liquin, but it's a little too shiny for my taste, so maybe I could use less or just omit the damaar varnish in the mixture. So, ta-da! This is about the only this I've done this half of the semester that I really enjoy. I think I would like to do a little more work on the basket. Let me know what you think!

Sketchbooks!

2009-10-22T12:10:00.001-07:00

For me, this picture means heaven. The leather brown sketchbook is the one I'm keeping currently, and when you hold it you feel like you're an explorer recording untold lands- however, I've almost filled it. The second brown one is the moleskin sketchbook I got as part of the ArtHouse Co-op's Sketchbook Project. Here is an overview of what the sketchbook project is:

Sketchbooks offers a glimpse into an artist's life, which is why we want to make a publicly accessible library of sketchbooks that people can browse, peruse, and check out. We think that this sketchbook collection has the potential to open a new line of communication between the artist and the viewer, since the experience of making and viewing are both so personal. Anyone can sign up to receive a sketchbook. Before joining our permanent collection, sketchbooks will be exhibited at select galleries across the US.

You can check out more about The Sketchbook Project here: http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject/about

The red leather sketchbook is one I just bought in a store down the road from my hostel called Lo Scrittioi- I wish you could feel this. It is the softest thing, and it feels so great to hold it in both of your hands and just grip it. It's fantastic. I feel a little like I'm cheating on my brown adventure sketchbook because I haven't filled it yet, but it just feels so good, and I knew I'd have to buy a leather sketchbook while I was here in Florence. To my brown adventure sketchbook's credit however, it does have nicer paper, although I would be able to do little watercolors in the red one as well. My mom got me the brown sketchbook from a lady who learned how to make them in Venice actually. In short, I just wanted to devulge a little of my geeky artistic side and show you all what I really love to spend my money and time on.

Sketches

2009-10-10T01:53:00.000-07:00

Some of you have been bugging me about sketches (ahem Walter!). But I decided it was finally a good idea to post them, seeing as how my blog is titled "Emily Crowley, Illustrator". Here are some from my gorgeous sketchbook. Unfortunately I've been writing in it more than drawing, and I've almost used it up! <:( I'm going to have to get another one. I'm sold on it now. Leather cover and handmade paper goodness... mmm ice cream is to kids as this leather book is to Emily. Anyway, here's what I've got in there!