Ellen Schebor's Illustration Blog

Something Different

2012-03-02T22:07:00.001-05:00

I've been experimenting.

Occasionally if I find myself getting too comfortable with what I'm working on, I like to step off the trail for a bit and wander down in the woods to see what I find. On such a jaunt earlier last week, I came back to path with a notion stuck my head.

Objects.

I started to think about my work as an object and not a watercolor, print or illustration. Spurred on by my love of the folkart movement, I spent a few days thinking about boxes, frames and diorama-type creations.

And then I went to a thrift shop down the street.

Bad decision in terms of fiscal responsibility, good decision in that I stumbled upon something new to play with.

I found that frame (originally a scuffed ivory/white) and it felt like it needed a rabbit in it, so made a quick sketch with pens/watercolors. All the sudden, it wasn't an illustration of a rabbit - it was an object. I came home with a few more frames that needed a bit of love, so I started printing other work and painting/staining the frames to match.

Overall, fun experiment indeed.

Also I may, or may not have brought home 4 more frames from Target this morning to continue said experiments...

Target was a bit expensive, but the thrift store required a good bit of fix-up (broken glass, missing wall-hangers...etc)

Any thoughts on where I might find intact inexpensive frames?

Sketchbook Sunday --- lyrics

2012-02-26T14:03:00.000-05:00

Over the years I've learned that if I take my sketchbook too seriously - I won't sketch in it. Or, if I buy an expensive, beautiful book, I will always have trouble marring the pages. Took me 3+ moleskines to figure that out!*

For a sketchbook to function as a sketchbook for me, it's got to be cheap, small and preferably a bit dirty. Starting out with a less-than-beautiful book makes the act of filling it with quick sketches a far more sacred event. I'm making the ugly book beautiful, rather than making the beautiful book ugly.

If I start taking my sketchbook too seriously, (Symptoms; attempting to tear out offending pages, erasing too much, or noticing the desire to purchase another book and start over) I stop and write a bit instead. I fill a few pages with quotes, ideas, or random collections of text. Anything to take the focus off whatever images I added that I didn't particularly like.

This restores the balance for me a bit, and allows me to continue working in the book. The above paragraph is the lyrics to a Gotye song; Puzzle with a Piece Missing. It's an excellent song.
Adding this to my sketchbook took the pressure off some of the previous pages, and I can continue with my quick and dirty sketching.

*Note on Moleskines*
I love them, they are gorgeous books. But I can't sketch in them.
I use them for studies for paintings (especially the watercolor ones) or as list books. Anything that requires a bit more time and attention than sketching. My current sketchbook of choice is actually selfmade, with some help from this great youtube tutorial. --My books never look as good as hers though!--

What do you think? Any favorite books to sketch in?

Manatee -- painted

2012-02-23T16:41:00.000-05:00

I love manatees.

I've been sketching the gentle giants a bit more since our excursion to Key Biscayne and decided to turn a few of the sketches into paintings.

They are just so cute.

Sketchbook Sunday -- Manatee!

2012-02-19T16:26:00.000-05:00

Yesterday a bunch of us headed over to Key Biscayne for an afternoon walk. The southernmost tip of the key is a state park, complete with an old lighthouse. Its got great beach access, a few trails to hike and a view of one of my favorite places in Miami, Stiltsville.

We walked around for a bit, met a few dogs and ate lunch in the park. I took a bunch of pictures for reference photos and there was even a dolphin sighting!

Also there are apparently regular visits by the manatees.

I freaking love manatees.

Inspiration and a Hibiscus

2012-02-18T22:27:00.000-05:00

I was literally smacked in the face by inspiration today.

While I was out on a run this afternoon, I took a shortcut behind a hotel to avoid the Miami Boat Show traffic. (It's been crazy here all weekend!) Little did I know, but the shortcut quickly ended in a hibiscus-covered fence. With my face now in said plant, I was struck by the beauty of the large flower that I see so often, but rarely stop to admire.

When I first moved to Miami, I swore I'd never get used to the beautiful plant-life that abounds here. That seeing palms, banyons and bird-of-paradise blooms would never cease to cause me to smile. Based on my face-to-plant incident today, I can see that I have been slacking in my appreciation for the beauty of south florida.

When I got back from my run, I set to painting a few of those flowers.

As I worked, I thought about what else I might be missing out on. What else have I literally 'ran' past without stopping to truly look at?

A crime for an artist.

I really enjoy working with florals. And living where I do - I really think I should be doing more of it.

Mass Effect 3 Sketches

2012-02-17T17:16:00.000-05:00

So I played the demo for Mass Effect 3 a few days ago.
I've been trying to ignore the building excitement and just focus on my work... but its getting increasingly difficult.

So I sketched a few characters over my lunchbreak :)

Sketchbook Sunday --- Powdered Graphite birds

2012-02-12T15:59:00.000-05:00

Powdered graphite is awesome. While working on this sketch, I came up with a quick list of why said medium is so awesome.

1.) One jar is under 10 dollars.
2.) One jar lasts years and years and years. I use mine fairly often and I am pretty sure the jar will only be half empty when the world ends. Twinkies, cockroaches and powdered graphite!
3.) The ratio of messiness. It might get everywhere, but it is easypeasy to clean up. I prefer my sketching to be a bit messier anyways, and this is far less permanent than ink spilled on a desk.
4.) Works well on tons of surfaces. I've used it on wood, wax, cloth, paper... it generally always needs a coat of fixative though.
5.) Can't be stressed enough, one jar is under 10 dollars. In the world of art supplies, its nice to have a something that doesn't cost an arm and leg!

I sketched this a few weeks ago out on our balcony - we had an influx of crows circling the building.

Aaand finished for now

2012-02-12T04:50:00.002-05:00

Got a little carried away, but it was good time :)

Starting something new...

2012-02-11T17:06:00.000-05:00

Few things are as terrifying and exciting as a blank page.

I love (and occasionally despise) the moment before the pencil makes it's first mark, when it's poised above the paper ready to bring some idea into existence and the ability to translate imagery in my head to imagery on paper is directly challenged.

Most of the time I stare for a bit, soaking up the feeling but trying not to let it overwhelm me. It's so easy for me to be intimidated by the blankness of the paper - and I have to make a rather concentrated effort to push past it.

So I scribble.

I scribble all over my paper with light wavy strokes and the fear of the white empty page just floats away. I usually then take the resulting scribbles and work whatever image I had planned into the strokes (less erasing).

This sketch started out as a wavy mess of lines, which then became hair, feathers and birds. I liked the initial drawing, so I scanned it - mirrored it and started to build up some color. Right now I'm in love with peaches, teals, and jades so I'm going to try to work with that as my limited palette.

It starting in a pretty different direction from what I usually work on, but I'm excited to try to something new :)

Dragon Seekers -- finally finished.

2012-02-10T15:18:00.000-05:00

3 months and one broken Cintiq later, its finally finished!
...and this was supposed to be a quick painting.

Its been awhile since I've worked on an image that went through as many fundamental changes as this one. It started as a vastly smaller, close-up of Farkas and the Nord woman.

Then I decided to redo the bow that the Nord woman holds. The dwarven bow I had painted felt over-done. A few days after that, I found the dog Meeko out in the woods of Skyrim and simply HAD to add him. Which meant extending the image more and giving both warriors *gulp* feet.

--(I don't really mind adding feet, but they used to be a huge source of frustration for me. I've since gotten over a lot of my trouble with their anatomy, but regardless of how many feet I draw -- I think I'll always carry a bit of that nervousness.)--

Then Dan had the great idea to distress Farkas's armor, which meant another evening of small tweaks.

I wanted to give the warriors bloody noses, or black eyes; something to suggest the middle of a fight - but I think I am skirting the line of over working the entire painting... so I'm done.

There are so many fantastic, emotional moments in the game - its hard not to want to draw them all.
Do you have a favorite? One quest that pulls at your heartstrings or causes you to fly into an almighty rage?

No Old Sketchbook Post.... sick.

2012-02-05T03:19:00.000-05:00

Not doing anything much today - except laying on the couch.
Here is an illustrated version of what my lungs feel like.

And back under the covers I go....

Dragon Seekers WIP2

2012-02-03T01:19:00.000-05:00

I had a bit of free time tonight to work on the Dragon Seekers painting - so I started to add the faithful companion, Meeko. Here is a close up :)
I'm aiming to finish the whole piece this weekend which is probably not quite possible. I am all for setting unreachable goals however!

Sketchbook Sunday -- In Bruges

2012-01-29T20:12:00.000-05:00

I was flipping through the moleskine I used while we were in Europe and I found this little sketch done in Bruges.

Being in Bruges was fantastic - completely disregarding the fact we got engaged there :) It's a smallish medieval city with winding cobblestone streets that snake around some incredibly old and well-preserved buildings. We spent most of our 3 days there without a map, just wandering about exploring and eating waffles. Every turn presented a different ancient church, belltower, or some other wonder -- so I did a lot of speed sketching.

This particular alcove was behind our hotel. The buildings were seemingly piled ontop of eachother and combined with the fog - made for a really neat scene.

Watercolor practice + Cintiq Update!

2012-01-27T19:02:00.000-05:00

I just started work on a mini-project from a lovely friend and her wonderful family to create a series of watercolor animal illustrations for her children's playroom.
It's been a few months since I've picked up my watercolor set, so I started off today with some practice animals.

I love redtail hawks. Growing up in Michigan, hawks and falcons were a constant source of inspiration for my drawings as I was able to see them in the wild fairly often. Though their habitat does extend into Florida, I haven't yet had the opportunity to see one here -- besides the falconers' tent at the Renaissance Festival!

Florida does have a lot of other awesome birds however - so no complaints there.

I think the final project will include a raptor,(deciding between a peregrine falcon and a redtailed hawk) a toad, a squirrel and a fox. I'm going for a slight Beatrix Potter-ish feel, but that may change as the project continues.

In other news --- my cintiq returned home this week. The wacom tech people did a speedy and flawless job repairing my old friend and it feels so good to have it on my desk again. The fix for the broken backlight was very affordable, so I went ahead and had them switch out the glass as well, as it had a few small scratches in it. Feels like a whole new machine and I couldn't be happier.
I want to go back to work on my WIP Skyrim illustration right away - but I've got a few other projects to finish up before I can get lost in that image once again. It is a source of serious motivation however :)

Old Sketchbook Sunday 2 --- The Hobbit

2012-01-23T01:11:00.000-05:00

This week, I found a sketch I had drawn for a book design project from 2007. The book was started as an illustrated collection of all the songs from The Hobbit, but time quickly ran out for a project with that kind of scope (There are a TON of songs!) The project then became an illustrated version of Bilbo's Last Song (one song, much easier to accomplish!) The song is gorgeous and was so meaningful as I prepared to graduate and leave MSU.

I saved this particular sketch even though it was never used in the final project and it eventually became one of the first pieces I ever colored digitally. Fitting for this week too, as my wacom is set to arrive tomorrow!

\

Project INF gets a few new characters

2012-01-19T23:56:00.000-05:00

Project INF got an update a few weeks back.
This time the update featured new models for each class, allowing the players to further customize their game experience.

I love, love, love creating new characters. The brainstorming, the sketching and the actual creation of the characters is some of my favorite work here at ChickenBrick.

These are the new models for the Scout class -- a sneak-based light fighter and the Brute -- a slow, but powerful opponent.

Introducing.... Sketchbook Sundays!

2012-01-15T21:28:00.001-05:00

Today felt like a good day to do some cleaning.

I was reorganizing our shelves, trying to make room for a new load of books when I decided to flip through the pile of old sketchbooks at the bottom of the shelf. I generally fill or swap books every 4 - 6 months...so I've accumulated quite a collection.

I soon found myself losing track of time, buried under pages and pages of memories and ideas that I had totally forgotten about. Most were laughably horrendous, but there were a few decent concepts that I'll probably resume work on.

Thinking more about it, I decided to go through a sketchbook of mine each Sunday and post something interesting. Good interesting, or bad interesting... I think either way I'll learn something.

The book I flipped through today was from spring of 2007, when I was back at Michigan State living in the dorms. I was having a ton of trouble with my masculine figures and remember spending quite a lot of time on my own trying to get my drawn men to appear a bit more manly.

This sketch in particular made me realize how long its been since I've spent time in a life-drawing setting, and how I sincerely doubt I could reproduce that form now. It's probably well-past time for me to find a life drawing class!

So I'll try to post something old each Sunday for a bit here (we'll see how long it lasts!) and I encourage all my creative friends to dig back into their stock of old work. It's humbling, humorous and a good way to spend a few hours :)

A trip to the MIA artfair

2012-01-14T17:38:00.000-05:00

Miami is an interesting place.
After 4 years here we've managed to carve out a comfortable niche in this fast-paced, sunburned city but there will always be days (usually when we are stuck in traffic) that we long for the great white north.

I suppose every major city has its ups and downs though.

One of our major 'ups' however, is the stream of art and art shows that dot the calendar. Art Basel in Decemeber, events in the design district, random gallery showings and art walks pop up in my email surprisingly often and we have been lucky enough to stumble into some pretty interesting gatherings.

Last night we made our way to the MIA artfair in downtown. This particular art fair was on a large yacht overlooking the Brickell/financial district area - making for a pretty spectacular view of the water and downtown.
We got there fairly early so the crowd was quite manageable. With 3 floors of art and one floor of a bar and tables, it was pretty easy to maneuver about the ship and spend time in each of the artist's (or art galleries) spaces.

It was a great time. A lot of really interesting work was shown and I wish I had thought to bring out my camera sooner. I wasn't sure if photography was allowed and I am generally hesitant to photograph art in a setting like this. (When we were in Europe, I had my camera poking out of my bag for pictures to be as covert as possible...even though I was fairly sure taking photos without the flash was just fine.) I did however, carry a notebook and wrote down names to look up later.

One of the names I was most interested in was Philadelphia artist Frank Hyder. His massive panels of mixed-media fish immediately caught my eye and I swiftly went to investigate. There were countless layers beneath a heavy coat of clear resin (I have such a soft spot for resin!) and I quickly found myself transfixed by the buildup on the surface. That same surface was also tooled into - creating ridges and waves in the (usually) metallic background that made for a really neat interaction with the solid paint of the fish. I wish I could stayed in that booth a little longer (or taken a photo at least!). Definitely some of my favorite work there.

The other name I scribbled down was that of Lian Jian. His faces were HUGE and incredibly haunting. The flesh tones were mesmerizing and I would have enjoyed seeing more of his works present.

Overall is a great art-filled evening spent aboard a very impressive vessel.
Miami definitely has it's perks :)

Day 8... twitching has commenced.

2012-01-05T03:25:00.000-05:00

So we opened up the wacom today. Terrifying. And still no closer to a fix.

The lcd is definitely on (as seen by applying a flashlight to screen) but the backlight is apparently out. Or the inverter for the backlight it out. Without a reliable multimeter, its a bit hard to tell which is which.

The consensus was to send it back to wacom. Their customer service throughout this whole process has been awesome, although I don't think they approve of the opening of the Cintiq -- but we had an electrical engineer with us, it's cool. My fingers are crossed for a speedy and affordable fix!

In the meantime, I've been working on my entry for the Sketchbook Project as the due date is quickly approaching. I'm about halfway through the book, so I'm a tad nervous about meeting the deadline. But that's why coffee exists, right?

Still no wacom, but new website design?

2011-12-31T19:30:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year's Eve!

Still no news on the wacom front. I have managed to keep myself occupied with other projects, but I can feel a slight twitch coming on.

I was hoping to redesign my website soon, so I threw myself into that this weekend and actually managed to finish it. I wanted something much simpler and easy to update - hopefully this will be both.

I hope everyone has a warm, safe and memorable New Year's Eve! Bring on 2012!

Cintiq needs a timeout...

2011-12-26T02:30:00.000-05:00

Earlier this evening my Cintiq decided to take a time out. I was 2 glasses of wine into a new Skyrim-related piece when the monitor went kaput. (My Nord and her favorite companion Farkas are actively seeking out a dragon to slay)

I scrambled to adjust the settings, un-plug/replug every cord to ever grace my desk area and swap power supplies... but to no avail. It seems my trusty cintiq decided it was naptime.

I'll call Wacom in the morning and see what my options are, fingers crossed that it is something simple. It's just incredible to see how fast I've come to rely on this piece of technology and how utterly weird it feels to see it turned off.

It's not like I don't have a heaping list of other non-computer works to attend to, so I'll just switch gears for a little bit. In the spirit of staying creative, I printed out this list of 33 ways to stay creative to help in my non-cintiq guided pursuits. It's a pretty great list to keep in a sketchbook in times of need :)

Finish your present wrapping with free gift tags!

2011-12-23T15:56:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone has a restful holiday filled with many delicious cookies, much eggnog and the warmth of loved ones!

I am preparing to head to Michigan for a few days, but still have a long list of things to accomplish before I leave. One of these things is the dreaded wrapping of presents.
I still sadly possess the wrapping skills of an 8 year old and I tend to leave the wrapping of presents until the day (or a few hours) before I give them out. This combination generally results in some fairly laughable packages. This year, I decided to snazzify my wrapped gifts with some custom gift tags, in attempts to make up for the saggy corners and uneven tape that will undoubtedly be featured in all of my presents.

I added them to my site as well, so that anyone can download the tags and print them off. Simply download the .pdf (its pretty large) and print on any thick paper you like. I tried my Hahnemuhle Bamboo paper as it has a nice warm glow, but any cardstock will do just fine. Just cut around the dashes (or keep them if you like the way it looks) and voila! A set of custom illustrated gift tags.

The watercolor animal illustrations are also featured on my 2012 calendar from my Etsy shop :)

Happy Holidays everyone!!

Oh Skyrim....

2011-12-09T01:52:00.001-05:00

Skyrim is fantastic. AND, eating up the majority of my free time.

The other night my Nord ran into giant mourning his dead mammoth. It was really rather sad, so I walked over (slowly, to avoid space-flight.) Knowing that there was really nothing I could do to help, I dropped a flower before continuing on.

From the Sea!

2011-12-01T20:53:00.001-05:00

I've been on a sealife kick for a bit now. I suppose living down the block from the bay and being an avid aquarium fan will do that.

With the opening of my Etsy store, I've been trying to create more physical paintings that I might be able to offer for sale.

The painting on the left (Tentacles) sold recently, so I was hoping to make a few prints of it. Unfortunately, my love affair with gloss gel seems to have made this task rather difficult. The glossy brush strokes scan *terribly*. They look like little white hairs all over the image, and ruin the feeling of the painting. While it looks nice in real life, I may need to abandon the gloss texture I've come to adore if I want to reliably scan any new work.

The painting on the right (Octopus) is a work-in-progress shot, which will NOT have the thick coat of gloss gel. I had a professor at MSU who abhorred the use of gloss medium, and I may need to channel her hatred for it if I want to leave it out!

In other news, I am still working on The Sketchbook Project sketchbook. It is still in pieces scattered by my desk, easel and work table. The due date is quickly approaching, so I am going to need to spend some serious time finishing it relatively soon. I'd like to create a time-lapse video of the project too, but that will probably fall by the wayside as the holidays approach.

And speaking of the holidays, I printed my Christmas cards with moo.com again this year!

I love, love, love their paper stock. The outside has such a soft velvety sheen to it --- perfect for Christmas cards! I've got them up on Etsy in packs of 10 (with matching envelopes of course!).

With so many things to work on, I have been running around a bit crazy. In the words of my favorite Companion, "Eyes on the prey, not the horizon".

...and yes, Skyrim is amazing :)

Grand Opening on Etsy!

2011-11-30T20:39:00.000-05:00

I've had "create Etsy store" on my to-do list for almost a year now. I finally got to cross that item of my list! I feel like I should bake a cake or something...

I'll skip the baked goods for now (had enough over Thanksgiving anyway) and go with a coupon code to celebrate instead! From now until Friday, use "OPEN2011" for free shipping on any item in my store :)

New work wednesday!

2011-11-09T23:45:00.000-05:00

Wood, acrylics, gloss medium and a spray bottle. I love these things right now.

I am pretty interested in exploring this new process. I've always loved drawing lesser-celebrated animals (hello possum portrait!) and the method of layering the pigment with gloss has me pretty much entranced. I've started a few more pieces with heavy india ink application as well, but I've had to lessen my reliance on the spray bottle.

In other news, I am about 30% done with my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project and am really excited to visit one of the tour locations. My theme is 'Time Travel' which has made for quite a few headaches thus far. Oh the paradoxes!

I am also trying to finally get my Etsy store up. I removed the store section of my website back in the summer while we were travelling and I have yet to find the time to put it back up again. I'm thinking Etsy might be an easier route at this point.

Moral of the story: So many things to do, so little coffee to be had!

Jon Snow sketch... in the snow

2011-11-03T01:29:00.004-04:00

I finished season 1 of Game of Thrones and had some time to sketch a bit before heading off to bed. I'm about halfway through A Clash of Kings and I am so hoping Jon makes it out of the series alive!

On a sidenote, will the whole show be called Game of Thrones? Or will they change the title to match the subsequent books?

Creation

2011-10-25T15:29:00.000-04:00

I finally got a chance to finish an image I started back in the summer. Originally I had titled it 'The Sorceress' but as I worked, I felt the image was less about the woman and more about the process (hers and mine.) I finished the piece a few nights ago and changed the title to 'Creation'.

Inking my sketches from Europe

2011-10-15T13:28:00.002-04:00

We got back from our 2 week trip around Europe on Tuesday. Now that I have adjusted back to eastern time again (and not just falling asleep at my desk) I am starting to play with the sketches I collected.
I found myself pretty well enraptured with the buildings in the areas we stayed in and spent a lot of time sitting outside pen in hand drawing cityscapes. (Or in most cases, villagescapes!) I loved the closeness of Bruges, the colors of Munich and of course, the canals in Amsterdam. Each city had so many beautiful squares, streets and hidden corners that it would have been impossible to draw everything that struck me. For this reason, I brought 2 cameras :)

I am starting to ink a few of the sketches I made in Munich (might as well go in chronological order) and am hoping to throw a few washes over each one. This one in particular was created at Marienplatz, a medieval square in the middle of the city.

Added Kimbra to the Gotye Painting

2011-09-24T04:09:00.000-04:00

I've had Kimbra's 'Settle Down' on repeat all evening. I love it. The Barbie, Ken and Barbie v.2 motif is killer. I meant to paint both her and Gotye into the piece I did a few weeks ago - and finished adding her tonight.

A few more acrylic transfers

2011-09-22T17:08:00.000-04:00

'Pidgeon', acrylic and paint marker on 8 x 11 wood board.

'Pigeons on wire' also acrylic and paint marker on 8 x 11 wood board.

I used a gold pigmented base for the background, which isn't incredibly visible in the scans.
More transfer experiments follow :)

Gotye painting on 0 hours of sleep...

2011-09-07T08:22:00.000-04:00

In the process of staying awake all night (to hopefully jolt my body back into a normal sleep schedule for a weekend in Michigan) I stumbled across an excellent video by a very excellent musician. Gotye's "Someone I Used to Know" has been on repeat for the majority of the evening, night and early morning. My goal for the night/day was to finish a set of new transfer images - but after a few hours of his music and being so struck by the visuals in this video I decided I probably needed to try to paint it.

Now that I have done that, I should probably go chug gallons of coffee if I hope to stay awake until this evening. My body doesn't seem to stay awake as well as it did in college...

Breaking in the new cintiq!

2011-08-27T04:16:00.000-04:00

We made it back to Miami from Boulder in one piece - which is awesome, considering we decided to drive the entire 36 hour trip in one go. The ferrets weren't exactly pleased, but we supplied them with a bounty of treats... so they can't have been too upset with us.

Upon getting home, we found a stellar deal on a Cintiq (wooo craigslist!) and I found myself upgrading from the 12wx, to the 21. Seriously, it's a whole new world. It took me a few nights to get used to it and I still haven't grasped all of it's capabilities - but it is definitely one of the better investments I could have made this year.

This little guy was made as a practice image on the new cintiq, based off a 'hallucinogenic spirit guide' character concept from conceptart.org. I missed the deadline for submission but was still intrigued by the idea. I wanted him to be friendly, beckoning and full of ideas we haven't found yet. Somehow that part manifested as a yellow glow in my head.... perhaps I just miss the Michigan lightening bugs :)

Whirlwind Summer...

2011-07-20T02:17:00.000-04:00

What? It's mid-July?? I have no idea where spring even went and it's already halfway through summer?

We've been in Colorado for about 3 weeks and though we have been super busy, it has been a wonderful time. The vibe out is here is fantastic and I could see myself living here, no problem.

As our level of busy-ness with our current project is at about 11 (on a scale of 1 - 10) I have not gotten much chance to paint. I am knee-deep in a pretty emotional portrait, but being surrounded by the scenery here I am finding it hard to focus on the face. Good thing I packed my seldom used watercolors!

I've decided to step back from the portrait (even though I enjoy it) and focus on where my attention seems to be constantly drifting. To the Mountains! The Flatirons, to be exact. I've been carting my watercolors and a convenient pack of postcard sized paper to the park across our street and have been trying my best to practice landscapes. Landscape work has always been a stretch for me, but I am finding the super small format keeps me from getting frustrated and encourages me to move quickly.

I also want to start painting the more interesting beer bottles I have started collecting. There are tons of local, delicious (and cheap!) breweries in this area, which results in some pretty nifty beer bottle designs. I'm hoping to do one each weekend :) Drinking beer, for art!

Saturday night sketching

2011-06-26T01:52:00.001-04:00

I started reading Game of Thrones a few weeks ago. It's a beautiful story, but thus far - so very depressing. The story has gotten inside my head pretty well, so when I was looking for reference poses I found myself drawn (pun totally intended) to more medieval costumes.

This was done in about an hour, with mechanical pencil in my sketchbook. A reference was used for pose, but I tweaked the face/body structure a good bit.

Regrets turn to Inspiration

2011-06-21T01:07:00.000-04:00

Not too long ago, Dan and I found ourselves reminiscing our time at MSU. I asked him if he regretting anything, and he said he didn't. Dan then asked me the same question. I unfortunately did.

It was summer semester of 2008 and I was in Drawing II with one of my favorite professors. Michelle was the caliber of professor that saw past the work you were creating and into what you 'could' be creating. She was full of wisdom and advice that I tried to take in, but my mind was cluttered. It was summer, I was a few weeks away from a summer in Austria and I was utterly unfocused. I felt myself falling short, which then caused me to step back further away from my work. There was so much potential in that class and though I was trying to grasp at it - the majority of it slipped through my fingers. I'll probably always regret letting that class pass me by, instead of addressing it with the fervor I should have.

Cut to a few years later, I found myself replaying some of Michelle's pointers to me as I worked. Caught off guard, I stopped working and began to examine the memories I had from Drawing II. Thankfully I possess a pretty reliable cache of college, (though I am not quite sure how I managed that!) and I found myself rocked.

Suddenly, everything I was trying to do had an answer. Everything I was feeling at that moment had a root and the root was buried deep in something I remembered from that class. Something that had not quite sunk in during drawing II, was suddenly brought to life. I can't quite explain the exact sensation other than the cliche, 'click!'. In a whirlwind of paint, paper, gel and brushes I started redoing old projects, looking at old work, rethinking old problems. And transfers... I had forgotten about transfers.

Michelle had suggested I play with transfers, (using gel medium to transfer a toner-based image to another surface) and I started to during that class - but never appreciated the process. Until now.

This week alone I have probably made about 10 various transfer paintings as I experiment with the process and materials. Each one takes about a day to fully complete and each one is a bit of an adventure.

This owl was one of the first experiments. I used an opaque gold acrylic in the background, which falls a bit flat in the scan. The paints for the owl itself needed to be mixed with a bit more gel medium as well, but as an experiment goes - I'm happy with it.

In the end, I guess having a regret isn't always a bad thing. Looking back on the situation and seeing where I fell short was the impetus to stumble into my current position and I'm grateful for that at least. I'll be honing my transfer process for the next few months and am very excited for the images in my head to finally have a home!

Thursday night with old pastels

2011-06-02T23:47:00.000-04:00

I was cleaning out my desk area (again!) and came across a box of pastels I thought I had used up ages ago. I bought this set specifically for a Drawing II project back at MSU and they have followed me around since then. I've gone through sets of better pastels in the meantime, so it was a happy surprise to find this familiar box in the back of my supply closet.

The set had basically been worn down to teeny nibs of color, (except for the black pastel) so it was a challenge to cover the paper with as much thickness as I usually like. This led to a bit more color experimentation than I usually do; "Oh the brick red is gone? I guess I'll try magenta..."
Made for a fun evening regardless :)

Pictures from 'Take a Walk in Her Shoes!'

2011-05-25T03:00:00.000-04:00

This past Thursday I had the honor of participating in the second annual 'Take a Walk in Her Shoes' fashion event. I created 4 large paintings of women as 'guardians' of our world and was pleased with the result.

With just about 2 weeks of working time, I spent nearly every day furiously painting, blasting Florence and The Machine and subsisting on a diet of primarily coffee in attempts to finish the images on time. (On a side note, Lungs is my current favorite painting-soundtrack. Gets my elbows moving!)

I was nothing less than thrilled when I was finally able to sit infront of the finished printed posters without any major art-tastrophies.

At 24 x 36, they are the largest images I have created and it was awesome to be able to donate them to such a fantastic cause.

Below is a picture from the event, with Guardian I up on an easel in an inner room of the show. (I am not sure who the nice folks are in the picture however)

Prints of the paintings are available for purchase through my site :)

New Business cards!

2011-05-14T17:23:00.000-04:00

I returned home this week from our trip out to San Francisco (for Google IO) to find my new business cards were waiting in the mail! I was down to my last 10 cards and ended up handing the rest out at the conference/airport, so I was very pleased to see my stock replenished.

The new cards had been slightly redesigned to match with my new site layout and to include several new images that I felt would translate well to the backs of the cards. This is my third time ordering from moo.com and as always, I was impressed by the quality of the paper and the printing of my images. There's something about the sheen of the card they use that I just cannot find with other printers. The dimensions are a little different from US card sizes (as they are a UK based company) but I don't find the difference off putting at all. I think I enjoy having a *slightly* larger card anyway... more room for the art on the back!

In other news, I am gearing up for a huge art-opportunity this week. I will be showing 4 new pieces (24 x 36 posters) at the 2nd Annual'Take a Walk in her Shoes' fashion event. The event is put on by the Community Partnership for Homeless at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. To say I am excited is a massive understatement. The Biltmore itself is an absolutely breath-taking building and the fashion show is for a wonderful cause. I am so honored to be able to be a part in this fantastic event!

With that being said, I should get back to work :)

The Messenger

2011-04-28T02:53:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy spring.

ChickenBrick is pumping out new projects, we redid my website to include Paypal, I've gotten started on an Etsy store and I've been a *tad* preoccupied with the release of Dragon Age 2 and Portal 2. It's safe to say, coffee has been my best friend for awhile.

In between the excitement of the videogames and the reorganization of my office-area (yet again) I tried to find a bit of time to draw. The Messenger is an image that I had been mulling over for a few weeks prior and was happy to finally have a chance to sketch it out.

Not too long into the sketching process, I realized I needed a refresher course in equine anatomy. I spent the next few days drawing nothing but horse heads, horse legs and horse musculature, it was like 6th grade all over again. (Except far more realistic - I hope)

Once I felt a bit more confident in the horse design, I finished the rest of the image and was fairly pleased with the outcome. The full version can be seen on my site :)

Art request: Fancy Goldfish

2011-02-13T01:00:00.000-05:00

I got a request from a friend earlier this week for a fancy goldfish. I love painting fish so I was onboard immediately. She was interested in a slightly more graphic styled fish as she was hoping to use it as an oversized laptop sticker. I worked with heavy outlines, bright colors and was lucky enough to find a fairly dramatic reference photo. (However, I did make a few tweaks to the fins for added fish-drama).

"Goldfish, 2011" is a mix of watercolor and india ink on heavy bristol board. Hope you like it Kim!

Thane Krios Speed Painting

2011-02-10T22:52:00.000-05:00

I just started playing Mass Effect 2 ( I know, so late to the party) and was inspired by the deadly drell assassin Thane Krios to make a few quick sketches and paintings.

While Thane is very interesting to look at, he was not easy for me to draw. I tended to humanize his alien features subconsciously (excellent example of "drawing what we know") and he looked like a human wearing a Thane costume. After a few more nights sketching his reptilian features I tried another painting.

This time I attacked it quickly, not allowing myself to get caught up in the fine lines (which I would inevitably turn human) and used a reference from the Mass Effect 2 trailer. 45 minutes later I decided to stop and just let it be.

The next Thane image I want to tackle will involve the texturing on his scales. In-game the scales are absolutely gorgeous, distracting even. On many occasions I have found myself circling Thane's head with the camera just watching how the light plays on the scales. Then I realize I have made myself motion-sick and need to go back to chasing down whatever thug I was bringing to justice. (My Shepherd is so Paragon is hurts.)

Bioware did an incredible job with Thane's design and I definitely look forward to sketching more of the assassin.

Christmas Card 2010

2010-12-19T22:58:00.004-05:00

I've had a pretty busy winter thus far, but was thankfully able to set aside some time for one of my favorite Christmas traditions. Coming in right behind cookie making, comes Christmas card making.

I've been designing Christmas cards for my friends and family since highschool, but only recently have had the income to be able to afford professionally printed cards.
This year I got them printed at Moo and am pretty pleased with the results. The painting of the snowglobe was done a few months ago as part of a larger series of holiday-related items which I never ended up using. I snagged the snowglobe, found a vintage-y background and matched it with my favorite-font-of-the-week Campanile and off to the printshop it went.

The cards came about a week and half later and I was able to address them and send them out shortly thereafter. Normally Christmas is not this organized (and I know something will slip through the cracks before everything is over) but I am happy to have been able to at least successfully finish my Christmas cards.

My Favorite Part of Cestos2

2010-11-21T21:50:00.009-05:00

CUSTOMIZATIONS. More specifically, holiday customizations.

As a player I am a sucker for sinking time into achievements, quests and dungeons to emerge in a mega-awesome matching suit of armor. I can clearly recall the joy of getting my first full suit of glass armor in Oblivion (as wacky and unrealistic as glass armor is) and I adore being able to customize characters to the millionth degree (thank you DragonAgeNexus!)

I also had an extreme affinity for the holiday events in World of Warcraft, finding myself eagerly "opening" presents under the WinterVeil tree, right after finishing our own family christmas. Or pining away for the Brewfest (Oktoberfest) Ram mount, imbiding countless Brewfest beverages.

As an artist, I take special pride in being able to combine my two guilty pleasures of videogaming to release special holiday-themed customization packs for Cestos 2. Thus far we have released a Halloween and Thanksgiving pack, complete with themed suits and little trophies to get our players in the holiday spirit.

I also love getting suggestions from the community on items they would like to see in the next update, so if you have an idea send it on over :)

Robo- Fairy : A twist on a fantasy icon

2010-10-11T02:16:00.005-04:00

I just finished playing Mass Effect ( ME 1, haven't started 2 yet) and found myself having an interesting battle of imagery in my head for the next few days. I normally tend to see the images I want to create through a medieval fantasy lens. My settings are rough hewn mountains and great halls, costumes are generally exaggerated arthurian and my go-to weapons are always greatswords. After playing Mass Effect and getting into the meat of the story, I found a lot of this medieval schema shifting.

I started a few paintings in my usual mode and found myself aching to add wires and consoles, segmented armor and detailed computer chip interfaces. I really wanted to factor in an omni-tool somewhere, but that was going a step too far. This dialogue got me thinking about creating a rather iconic image in fantasy art (typical faerie, perched ontop of a mushroom) and gutting it, filling the insides with wires and blinking nodes.

This is the *almost* final image, which attempts to convey the pull of both genres. I would like to go back and tighten up the computer chip innards of the mushroom (which are a bit hard to see) and make the wings a bit more delicate as well, but that will be left for another day.

Control Freak and Control Freak HD on Free App a Day!

2010-09-10T15:59:00.004-04:00

ChickenBrick's Control Freak and Control Freak HD are featured as today's Daily Double on Free App a Day! Only for today you can grab the $4.99 game for free!

Control Freak is a strategy based tower takeover game that challenges the player to move quickly, plan creatively and control the map. There are 24 unique maps with 3 difficulty modes, a custom level creator and access to tons of player-created maps online, so you never get bored!

The game itself came together pretty quickly, and we all had a ton of fun during the testing process. Personally, I CANNOT make it past level 12 on hard - simply not going to happen.

This was also our first game to be optimized for the incredible retina display of the iPhone 4g, resulting in beautiful crisp graphics on the new phone as well as the previous devices. We also adapted it for iPad - which has been a really neat device to play on. (Given the map size/space between towers)

Check it out while it's free today, tomorrow it goes back to full price ;)

Control Freak on the App Store
Control Freak HD on the App Store

Too much time with Photoshop

2010-08-25T20:01:00.003-04:00

I was able to take a very pleasant trip to Orlando FL this weekend with the Sherman ladies. It was a great weekend spent at the waterpark, outlet shopping and eating really delicious italian food.
It also was the first time I realized I may be spending slightly too much time with photoshop.

Since deciding to pursue a degree in Studio Art back in 2003, I have lived the majority of my life with my computer on and photoshop open. I recognized this fairly early in my career and chose that motif as the central aspect behind my poster design for the final, mega-huge portfolio review for our graduating class at MSU.

After graduating, it became such a staple of my environment - I soon knew how to erase a background from an image faster than I could program our toaster to toast. Or, at least had more interest in removing a background than toasting toast.
It has been a constant friend and companion that I have relied on, learned from and grown with. However - this weekend I realized I may need to take a break from my dear old friend.

At the hotel we stayed in, my bed was right next to the air conditioner. Literally, right up against it with no space in between. I also was sleeping on a pull out couch-bed, which apparently do not warrant additional sheets at a hotel. I knew I was going to be freezing and pulled out towels and packed clothing to lay over myself. This however was not enough. I woke up during the middle of the night shivering, grasping at the thin papery sheet I help up around my nose and thought "right click, duplicate layer."

"Right-click, duplicate LAYER"

"Right-click, DUPLICATE LAYER"

(this is the chain of commands one would use in photoshop to copy an entire layer and paste it in a new layer- a very very common task for me)

And was very very upset when my blanket did not 'duplicate' itself as layers do in photoshop. I was very angry and contemplated calling adobe in my sleep-stupor to inform them that something was horribly awry and I was very cold.
After awhile, I think I realized my laughable mistake and fell back asleep. When I awoke the next morning, I had to chuckle.

Looks like I should probably take a step or two away from my computer occasionally.

Control Freak launches for iPhone!

2010-08-10T23:40:00.005-04:00

The control freak sees their constant intervention as beneficial or even necessary; this can be caused by feelings of superiority, believing that others are incapable of handling matters properly, or the fear that things will go wrong if they don't attend to every detail. In other cases, they may simply enjoy the feeling of power it gives them so much that they automatically try to gain control of everything around them.

Control Freak launched for iPhone today! This was a great game to work on - but not an easy game to test. (I have YET to make it past level 14 on hard!) It is a fast-paced strategy game which tests even the nimblest of fingers on their tower control skills.

My favorite aspect of the game is the level creator. We decided to design an entire map builder to guarantee unlimited replays and give the player access to brand new challenges. With this tool the player can create custom maps, share them online and download other custom maps. A few really excellent maps have already been uploaded and I seriously can't wait to see what people come up with!

As tradition requires, we also took part in our "Icon Cake + shots of Sambvca" to celebrate it's release. Launches are delicious!

>> You can check out our newest app on the iTunes store

Ultra-Office

2010-08-06T17:30:00.004-04:00

I made the move to full-time Creative Director for ChickenBrick Studios last week and decided that in honor of the change - I would rearrange my desk area.
My old office layout was great for painting, playing games or surfing the intertubes - but didn't really have that zen work environment that I would probably need to stay on task. It would be way to easy to be distracted with huge maps of Middle Earth, Ferelden, Cyrodill and Azeroth right above my eyes.

After hours of pouring through LifeHackers' featured workspaces I drafted up a great list of things I could use in my redesign. Lightsabers on walls, cables ziptied to a rod screwed into my desk, a glow-in-the-dark cube with a lightbulb inside (how cool!) and got pretty carried away with the "Ultra-Office". Turns out, "Ultra-Office" requires an "Ultra-Budget".

So I just moved my desk sideways.

I think it will work pretty well. It's a change, which is really all I wanted.

New Project Weekend for Chickenbrick!

2010-06-26T23:08:00.004-04:00

ChickenBrick has started a new project! We are always working on something here - but have been tending to updating our prior releases lately. The details of the new venture are just starting to come together - but we have enough down to start my favorite part of the game/app creation: researching and sketching!

BRAINSTORMING the Chickenbrick way:

We do a TON of brainstorming. Ideas are constantly created, dissected, reformed and torn part again as we hash out the details of how we want our creation to look, feel and perform. During this part, we scribble out our thoughts, sketch designs, type up massive lists and begin planning the entire experience.
I do a lot of drawing during this stage - trying to visually display what the guys are thinking and come up with a solid basis to start researching from. For this project, I began sketching some animals that related to our endeavor. The wolf, will be a key feature -- and in order to know how to draw the wolf correctly, I needed to know how I am drawing him wrong.
I started sketching out various wolf features and movements, calling on only prior knowledge of what I thought he might look like. I referenced things like memories of Beauty and the Beast, the wolves in World of Warcraft and the faces of the Wargs from Lord of the Rings.

One can only remember so much - and there are a lot of awkward looking areas in the sketch. However, some of these awkward patches give the animal more character and personality and those are the areas I will develop further.
I love the idea of squaring off the toes of the wolf (as seen in The Lion King and Madagascar) as it gives the foot a lot of weight.
I also think I will keep the extra puffy neck and back fur. A constant state of agitation would be perfect for the wolf's character.

I will need to do a bit more research overall bone structure as well as dental patterns. Nothing kills a sense of reality more than pointy triangle teeth and bad ankles!

It will be an exciting couple of weeks here at the studio as we get further along on the project! Be sure to check out the facebook page or twitter for more updates!

Bored -- Bog Overlord Emerges

2010-06-20T22:39:00.007-04:00

I loved Zangramarsh.
I haven't played World of Warcraft in over 2 years - and still sometimes think about that nifty bio-luminescent region in Outlands. The mushrooms glow, the trees glow, even the bees glow! It was definitely one of my favorite areas in the whole game.
I was a bit bored today, and decided to sit and sketch out one of the inhabitants. The Bog Overlords were these massive mossy beings, partially furled wood and detritus material over glowy wrinkly fat skin. The Overlords weren't very fast but I remember them being incredibly obnoxious when trying to save the poor little baby Sporlings of the area.
They also threw mushrooms, hilarious green smoking mushrooms. These would burst eventually, dealing what I remember to be some pretty heavy damage (which was generally not as hilarious).

This afternoon I set out to make quick sketch honoring my old foe. I used an old calender page as a reference, and exaggerated the growths just a tad. Eventually I'll go back in with color, lighting up his rotting undergrowth and making him super glow-tastic, as to fit in with the rest of the residents of the area.

How do you not love this place?

App Judgment Reviews Project I.N.F

2010-06-18T12:33:00.005-04:00

App Judgment is an awesome resource for mobile app reviews and intel. They release their lengthy and indepth reviews/previews daily and offer a great insight into the ever-expanding world of mobile applications. On Wednesday, they released their 174th episode which just happened to feature a certain multi-player top-down shooter for Android.

Project I.N.F seems to have fared pretty well. It was a solid review and we are all very proud of our little ADC application.

Thanks App Judgment!

The Creepy Basement Troll, is not so Creepy

2010-06-13T22:43:00.006-04:00

He just wants to share his tea!

I did this quick painting this afternoon, after talking to my sister about the farmhouse she is currently occupying. Apparently the basement is pretty dark and creepy and has an especially dark and creepy door which is barred from the outside. My first thought (being the older sister) was to make a remark about some unearthly being inhabiting the space, waiting and watching for some curious soul to open the door.

Instead I saw a quick vision of a kindly little troll.
He is very lonely, never having the pleasure of a visitor to entertain in his humble hovel in the basement.

He takes comfort in his tea and only leaves the basement to steal a bit of sugar from the kitchen for his herbal brews. That is until one day, when a brave tenant of the farmhouse enough decides to knock. The little troll is overcome with excitement, puts a kettle on and timidly opens the door to his long-awaited, very first guest.

Its a bit rough, and definitely a work in progress - but I hope my sister will get a kick out of it. And also not be afraid of the dark basement. (But seriously don't knock on the door Hayley... it may not be a nice troll living in there afterall!)

Unpacking Reveals Ultimate Plasticware Surprise!

2010-06-07T21:27:00.000-04:00

I have no use for cold weather clothes now that we are back from San Francisco and thus, have neglected unpacking for quite a long time now. I got tired of the exploding suitcase wallowing in the corner of the bedroom today - and finally emptied it. A few layers of clothing in, I found a small plastic package and remembered the neato plasticware I swiped from the Google IO lunchroom. Oh the excitement!

This plasticware was awesome. It was so different then any other tableware I have ever seen, that I felt the need to grab a *few* packs. The picture doesn't do it justice at all.
They are heavy, well balanced and nearly pearlescent. The scoop of the spoon is delightfully shallow and yet I feel like I could dig through the manliest of ice cream sundays with this tool. The plastic is smooth and very nice to hold. No hard edges or trailing nubbies from the production line.

I also love that the handle is designed in a manner that doesn't rely on a filled in center and hopefully saves materials. The other great feature of the entire set (which isn't visible in the image) is the text on each piece "COMPOSTABLE". Whether it really is or not, it's a nice change from the blindingly white stiff plastic forks and knives of yesterday. This is the plasticware of the future!

And of course, we find it at Google IO.

Dragon Age Awakening Sketch

2010-06-06T16:41:00.000-04:00

I finally broke down and purchased the expansion for BioWare's epic, DragonAge: Origins this weekend. I was holding off purchasing the game, as I love the original so much and really don't want to "finish" the game. Ever.

However I had this weekend free and was aching for something to play. It was a long week, and it would be nice to mash some darkspawn into oblivion for a bit.

I opened a bottle of wine and set off to Vigils' Keep, excited to wander about Ferelden again.

I didn't get very far before I decided to take a quick sketch break, moved by Alistair's decision to stay at court at Denerim while I (the freaking Queen!) had to go keep the new breed of darkspawn at bay. I had an inkling he wouldn't play a huge part in this expansion- but I am still a tad disappointed that I won't get to hear his hilarious side discussions whilst beheading baddies.

I drew this quick sketch, trying to capture my rogue's reaction when she hears Alistair's soldiers making their way to the keep. I would have imagined her to be excited but as Commander and Queen, cannot really show that vulnerability to her forces.

Regardless of the characters present (and not-present) in the expansion, I look forward to playing more of Awakening -- the soundtrack alone will keep me coming back. (Tavern song when Oghren enters? Perfect!)

ChickenBrick Studios heads to Google IO!

2010-06-03T12:45:00.000-04:00

“The coldest winter I ever experienced, was in San Francisco”

- apparently a very common saying, which I swear I have never heard.

ChickenBrick Studios made our way to San Francisco last week for Google IO and had a phenomenal (however extremely COLD) time in the sessions, meeting other devs and playing with all the neato gadgetry available to the attendees. It was an excellent chance to finally meet up with people we have been in communications with for months, and we were thrilled to be able to randomly meet a few fans as well! I only wish I had packed a few more sweaters….

I spent most of the conference in super note-taking mode, and tried to make my way back to the gummyworms stand as often as possible. ( That’s right - free unlimited gummyworms!) and was able to sketch in the corner every now and then. The atmosphere was great - all kinds of interesting people doing interesting things, endless coffee, pool tables and a HUGE GoogleEarth set-up. One couldn’t help but be inspired by all the creativity.

This was all topped, during the keynote of the second day. We were already in surprise-mode, and sat holding our breath for whatever was in store for the morning. I’m pretty sure I can safely say most (if not all) of us were completely surprised and equally blown away when they announced the HTC EVO as a gift to the attendees. The whole audience seemed to do a collective bounce in their chairs before attempting to be the first to tweet the news (despite the shoddy wireless connections). It was awesome.

We stayed a few extra days in the city to sight-see and meet up with friends and had an absolute blast. Next year however, I will bring gloves. And a scarf. And perhaps a parka.