Sketches of LEAF

Oh no! My last post was in August. Sorry! I haven't even kept up with my altered calendar because I have been putting so much energy into creating a studio space and moving into a new house. Life does that sometimes, but I am here to post the sketches I did on my trip to North Carolina last week-- I went down to Asheville by way of Charlotte, met tons of wonderful dancers, many of whom offered beds and futons and rides and food and great conversations and, naturally, dancing. The main event was a music and arts festival called LEAF, which happens twice a year. It was wonderful-- I think I stepped into a magic fairy land for a little while. There was contra dancing every day, slam poetry, delicious festival food, and I sketched anything I could in spare moments.

The view from our southbound plane window. Air plane en en plein air!

Anyone who has been to LEAF probably will recognize this chair. There are hundreds like it in the main dining hall. To the left of the chair, some sketches done while people-watching. 

I spent a great deal of time on this nightscape, and I don't think this image really conveys the drawing very well but I think you get the idea! This is the view from the merch tent where I was volunteering. 

I got to see Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn perform at LEAF as well and at one point, Abigail Washburn introduced a song by asking the crowd, "so who else here likes old-timey murder ballads?" The audience responded with wild cheering, of course. It inspired this drawing:

After LEAF, we spent a day exploring Asheville, which it a lovely town full of cute local craft stores and great cafés, like this one where Neil and I ate breakfast (ok, it was probably about 2 PM, so, more like late lunch of breakfast food).

The next day we piled into a car with a bunch of other contra dancers and headed back to the airport. See ya next time, NC!

Altered Calendar Project: August: Go for the Heart! This is not a Metaphor.

For this month's altered calendar piece, I've got a girl who will not settle for peaches! No way! Why go for the peaches when a giant human heart is in reach? Always go for the heart, not just peaches. This is not a metaphor, though in the process of writing this post, I have just realized that it could be. I was just putting interesting images together, I swear. This is not a metaphor. I found the heart lying on the ground at MIT. The other images are from an antiques catalogue that I picked up from the Boston Public Library book sale. 

Still not a metaphor. 

Altered Calendar: July

Now that it is the last day of July, I figure it is about time for me to post July's altered calendar piece. I basically filled this mountain with flamingo silhouettes. It's flamingo mountain! That's all I have for you today.

We're just going to cover everything in glitter.

As I wrote in my previous post, I have just completed a summer class in illustration through the SMFA. It is the seventh of eight classes I need to complete my Illustration Certificate! One more to go! I wanted to share the work I did for this course. When I took Introduction to Illustration we had a new assignment every week, each one based on an actual job that a working illustrator might get. The Intermediate Illustration course I took this summer was structured in a similar way but spending more time on fewer projects. We critiqued our work every class and were expected to make edits and present considered and finished work. It was challenging and also similar to how a real illustration job would go. 

We kicked off the class with a New Yorker cover-- a magazine with a long history of illustrated cover artwork. If you get your work on a New Yorker cover, you're kind of a big deal. Often the covers are clever comments on current events, but not always! Sometimes they are just nods to New York City as a place and a culture, or nods to something seasonal. I'm not particularly well versed in politics so I decided that my cover would be a love letter to Summer in Upstate, New York. I painted Enfield Falls near Ithaca. This is a real place where you should definitely go swimming if you are ever in the area. I had fun with the green and red color palette.

The following assignment was an illustration for a short story, such as you might find in Harper's Bazaar. When you illustrate stories for children's books, you usually want to show the characters in fully realized detail, but when you illustrate for adult audiences, they usually want something less detailed that allows the reader to imagine details for themselves. Generally characters' images are only suggested or fragmented in stories for adults. 

We read a story called "Old Mrs. J" by Yoko Ogawa, which is a rather eerie story about the landlady of an apartment building whose garden starts mysteriously to produce hand-shaped carrots. I don't want to spoil the ending, but there are other strange, unsettling things that go on and a very creepy twist. I did a couple sketches of hand carrots for class.

My class's feedback was basically that I needed to make it creepier. "So creepy that you scare yourself" was the exact advice. We explored ink as a medium and I decided it would be ideal for this assignment.

I felt that my piece could be creepier still, so I looked at images from that old book, "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" whose illustrations (by Stephen Gammell) are done in ink and absolutely terrifying. They are too scary for my blog, so you should google them. But do it during the day, when it's light out, maybe with a friend so you're not alone. 

Much creepier this time around!

Our next assignment was a celebrity portrait. Illustrations like this are often used for published interviews with anyone from politicians to pop stars. My instructor, when giving us this assignment, recommended that we use sparkles. I couldn't entirely tell to what degree he was kidding but he said something along the lines of, "It's not a mandate-- I'm not saying use glittler......... but use glitter." So I knew I needed to do a portrait of someone who would make sense covered in glitter. 

Ke$ha seemed to me to be the obvious choice.

So here she is in all her sparkly glory, in a gold bathtub, drinking a beer with a wolf in sparkly sunglasses. I feel like that is something she would do, right? Plus, wolves feature prominently in the video for her song "Die Young." 

As an in-class exercise we looked at hand lettered fonts and text and logos and album covers that include interesting hand lettering. Typography is something I used to find incredibly boring, but lately I've been really into it! We did some experimenting with text. I was drinking lemon iced tea so I wrote "lemon."

Then I wrote, "Lime" in Spanish to go with it. For being an in class exercise, I'm rather pleased with them.

We put all of our text practice to good use for our final assignment, which was product labels. I have a secret love of hot sauce labels-- they usually involve quite frankly really cool art with skulls and fire and death, devils, scantily clad cartoon chili peppers... I believe hot sauce is the grocery store product with the most interesting variety of labels. I may start a collection of interesting hot sauce labels. I will look like a weirdo taking photos in the grocery store but I don't even care!

I designed a blues dancing inspired hot sauce logo using stills from youtube videos. Some dancer friends and I agreed that a blues dancing hot sauce would have to be flavored with aged peppers, molasses, and a splash of Kentucky bourbon.

My class liked the concept but gave me some ideas for editing the background colors and the text. I agreed with what they had to say and did some alternate text sketches, this time using smoke as an inspiration for the lettering.

... And then put it all together with a new and improved background! I am very pleased with the results! Now if anyone ever follows that recipe and invents this hot sauce, I have your logo!

The Neverending Story-- The Poster!

This summer, I have been taking the SMFA's Intermediate Illustration course. It was an intensive class that ended up being quite rigorous and much of my creative energy has been put towards classwork for the last six weeks or so. Thanks to interesting assignments and helpful feedback from my instructor and fellow classmates-- who were all incredibly talented-- I made a lot of work of which I am very proud and my next post will cover more of what I did for the class. As for this post, I wanted to share some exciting news!

Whenever this illustration class is offered, one of the assignments is a project in conjunction with the Harwich Junior Theatre on Cape Cod. The illustration students design posters for the show that HJT is putting on that season, then the folks at the theatre choose one of the student designs to use on their posters. It is a great collaboration that gives the students a real-world illustration assignment and gives the theatre creative artwork to promote their shows.

This season they are putting on a stage adaptation of The Neverending Story. Being a fan of the film, I was excited to get the opportunity to submit a poster design. I spent quite a bit of time painting our hero Bastian Bux as he discovers that the dusty old book he found is coming to life-- the warrior Atreyu and Falcor the luck dragon magically fly out of the book. I am happy to tell y'all that the Harwich Junior Theatre chose my design to use for their official posters!

I wanted to make a couple of notes:

I had help from my instructor with some of the photoshop elements, primarily text placement and the addition of HJT's logos in the bottom left corner. This won't be the final version. There are a couple of tweaks still to be made with the text, but I was excited to share this news and I wanted to post it right away!

Also, a note about Falcor: anyone who remembers the film probably remembers Falcor as being more like a giant flying dog, which is so iconic of the movie, but the original book The Neverending Story describes Falcor as being similar to a traditional Asian dragon with lion-like features. The play follows the book rather than the film and so I stuck closer to the book's image of Falcor.

I am really proud of my poster and honored that it was selected by the folks at HJT! I'm sure it will be a fantastic production!

And now, just for fun, I leave you with this video clip of Falcor from the 1984 film:

Enjoy!

New York Sketches (plus bonus sketch!)

Last weekend I went to New York to see my family. They throw a pretty sweet annual shindig in the Catskill Mountains and it was so much fun to see everyone and celebrate Father's Day with the extended fam. I spent a good amount of the afternoon sketching my sister by the pool (pictured below riding an inflatable alligator). My younger cousins in the 5 to 10 age range sat and looked over my shoulder while I was drawing, then when I brought out the markers, it naturally became a collaboration. I told them what colors to use and they filled in my sketch, so Anna's portrait became a group effort, and a very successful one if I may say so!

After the party I headed to New York City to spend the night with my good friend Caitlin. We had a great night drinking wine and catching up and then in the morning my plan was to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and do some more master copies but the day was too gorgeous to spend inside so I ended up in Central Park, sketching those famous, twisty New York City trees and listening to street performers. It was perfect.

The last sketch is a bonus sketch! It is not from New York, but from a kitchen right here in Massachusetts! The first person who can correctly identify whose kitchen it is based only on the sketch 

Altered Calendar: June

My roommates had a yard sale this weekend and, poking through the wares laid out on the front lawn, I discovered this treasure trove of vintage postcards! My roommate had an incredible collection of old postcards and she was selling them for real cheap so I spent $2 at my own house for this beautiful pile of exciting new visual material to work with!

The first order of business was to alter this month's calendar page. I cut up three identical Christmas cards and made a new composition. I also threw a basilisk down there at the bottom.

Also, what appears to be a flower is actually an upside down wise man in a robe. In the Christmas card he was kneeling to give his regards to baby Jesus. Look closely!

Altered Calendar Project: May

May is the fanciest desert house, 

complete with sky chandelier 

and horse skeleton embellishments. 

(This is part of my altered calendar project.) 

(I bought a boring calendar and I strive each month to make it less boring.)

(See also: April, March, February, and January.)

USS Constitution Museum Comics

Over the course of the two and a half years I have worked at the USS Constitution Museum, I have done many, many drawings at the front desk while greeting visitors. I progressed from ship doodles to anchors to compasses, to sailors, and eventually cartoons about my fellow staff members and goings-on at the museum. They may read a bit like inside jokes, but nonetheless I am presenting them for your entertainment. You can read my explanations or just look at the drawings.

The first is called "The Broken Cannon" starring Derek and Orlando, who do maintenance around the museum. It also features our cannon exhibit, in which you learn about all of the different steps you go through in order to fire a cannon and then when you press the button to fire, the target screen lights up and tells you whether you hit the enemy ship or not. This exhibit is super cool and popular but has a habit of breaking and needing a lot of attention.

In case you can't read it, the cannon has an "out of order" sign and Derek says, "Not again! Darn thing breaks every other day!" He presses the button to fire and says, "Are you gonna work now?" The target screen says, "You shoot like a merchant vessel!" and Derek shakes his fist and says, "What did you say to me? I'll fix you this time, you stupid cannon!" He fires again and the target screen says, "Haha! NOW whose sides are made of iron?" Derek says, "Aaaargh!!!" and "Grrr!" and kicks the cannon. Orlando comes up and says, "Dude, let me try" and presses the button. The screen says, "It's a hit!" (which is what it is supposed to say) and Derek says, "Who are you, the Fonze?"

The second comic is called "Check Out My Tattoo!" starring the Museum Learning Staff (so basically the characters are me and my co-workers in my department). Again, in case it is too small to read, Gary is in the first panel, showing off his tattoos, "My first tattoo was the peace sign. Later I added the anchors, a mermaid, a seagull..." Then Tracy jumps in and says, "Oh Yeah? Well check out my tattoo! GO RAVENS!" (Tracy is from Baltimore). Then Michael says, "Oh yeah? Well check out my ship's biscuit tattoo! It says 'Bite me'!" Then I say, "Oh yeah? Well my tattoo is a pineapple with sunglasses" and then Susan says, "Oh yeah, well check out my tattoo! Tribal symbols!"Jennifer says, "Oh yeah, well check out my tattoo" (it is a skull with fire around it). Susan says, "What is that from again?" Jennifer says, "It's from when I was in that biker gang-- The Flaming Skulls!" Susan says, "Of course! The biker gang!" Chris jumps in and shows off his unicorn tattoo saying, "Oh yeah? Well check out my tattoo! Unicorns rule!" The final panel is Derek looking cross and saying, "You guys, your body is a temple. You know those will be on you forever, right?" 

This is funny because in real life Derek actually has more tattoos than any of us. Also, since the time I drew this comic, Chris got a real tattoo that I drew for him in basically the same spot that his cartoon self has a tattoo! His real tattoo is not a unicorn. 

The third is my most recent and nerdiest USS Constitution Museum comic. It is called "Who's on First-- Constitution Edition" and stars Pardon Mawney Whipple, who was a midshipman aboard USS Constitution during the War of 1812. He served in the Mediterranean after that on other Constitution cruises. We have a lock of his hair on display at the museum, which he left for his sweetheart back on shore as a token of his love. It sounds pretty creepy now, but that was totally a thing in 1812. I keep saying we should clone him since we have a DNA sample but exactly no one is on board with that idea. Anyway, none of that is relevant to understanding this comic. All you need to know to get the comic is that his name is Pardon, which is a rather unusual name that lends itself to lots of plays on words. 

The first panel is USS Constitution in the harbor with a sign directing new recruits on board. The we see a young Pardon Mawney Whipple shaking hands with the Captain (Probably Isaac Hull, but I'll admit, I didn't look it up). The Captain says, "Welcome aboard, what is your name?" Pardon says, "Pardon, sir!" The captain says, "I said: what is your name?" Pardon repeats, "Pardon." The captain says, "Pardon what?" Pardon says, "Mawney Whipple"The captain is frustrated and says, "Who is Mawney Whipple? For what do you want me to pardon him? AND WHAT ON EARTH IS YOUR NAME?" We pan out to see the two men on Constitution shouting at each other. Pardon says, "PARDON!" The captain says, "I SAID..." And that is where I ended it.

Really though, who names their kid Pardon? I guess "Mawney" is kinda weird too. But Puritans named their kids stuff like, "Diffidence" and "Elected" and "Humiliation." I would way rather be named Pardon than Humiliation. 

YAF Sketches

 I spent this weekend at a Young Adult Friends Quaker Retreat in Southern Mass. It was a really centering, refreshing experience and the setting was a little meeting house surrounded by trees and low stone walls so very iconic of New England. We were a short drive to the beach and I did some sketching there as well. I also shamelessly stole this picture of me at the beach from my friend Helen's instagram. Tell me if you want me to remove it Hel! And give me 12 slaps on the wrist with a wet noodle!

Master Copies in Marker

I recently went to the MFA and tried an experiment I have been meaning to try: copying famous paintings in marker. It was challenging and interesting and I am definitely going to continue. Turns out half-dry markers are great for copying impressionists! Very painterly.

"Ballet Dancer with Arms Crossed"

Edward Degas

Detail of a mural

John Singer-Sargent

"Lilith"

Kiki Smith

"Still Life with Three Skulls"

Max Beckmann

Detail from "Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?"

Paul Gauguin

"A Capriote"

John Singer-Sargent

Altered Calendar: April

I just completed the Altered Calendar piece for April:

I cut out over 60 of these tiny little shapes from a jewelry catalogue.

Skulls, big cats, and a rabbit are all hidden in here. Birds, flowers, and a heart as well!

May's calendar collage is already in the works!

Portland Sketches

I went to Portland, Maine last month and did some drawing. I forgot to post any of the sketches until right now. I had a surprise day with nothing planned at all, which basically never happens to me, and I wanted to do something I had never done before so I booked it to South Station and hopped a bus to Maine. Destination: Cryptozoology Museum! I had been meaning to go there for quite some time so when I had the chance, I jumped on it.

The Cryptozoology Museum is this quirky little two room museum full of evidence and artifacts relating to Crypids, or animals that may or may not exist/still exist. Like Bigfoot, and Nessie, and Aliens, and Swamp Monsters. On display there were also things like vintage movie posters and tourist objects and cryptozoology related artwork. Also, for some reason replica Egyptian artifacts? 

I ate at a little cafe that was full of mismatched tables, musical instruments, art, and beautiful dreadlocked people serving you local beer and organic Mexican/Thai fusion food. Portland is like a magic wonderland. For real.

Altered Calendar Project: March

With creative input from my sister Anna who is visiting New England this week, I have completed the altered calendar piece for March: it is inspired by the popular Victorian Era pass-time of goat stacking. Wealthy gentlemen vacationing in the Alps would hold contests to see who could create the highest and longest-standing stack of goats. Mostly it was men who participated, but one woman-- Elizabeth "Bitsy" Gladstone was undefeated in goat stacking for several years running. Turns out goats are highly stackable!

Anna documented the collage process:

Collage detail: 

Historic Alpine Goat Stacking:

I hope y'all are having a goat-stackingly good month of March!