Illustration Friday: Toy

ViewMaster, graphite, watercolor & acrylic on paper, 9 x 12", 2011.

I really liked this Illustration Friday topic.  It was fun to draw!

Here's a close-up (I still need to work on my camera skills...)

Illustration Friday: Cultivate

Cultivate, acrylic & graphite on bristol, 7 x 14", 2011.

As soon as I saw the theme for this week's Illustration Friday I couldn't stop thinking about second grade.  I had a teacher, Miss Drew, who would take my class outside to work in a garden.  It was fantastic!  I always wanted to use the cultivator;  I'm not sure why... We planted daffodil bulbs in front of the school.  Miss Drew was one of the best teachers I ever had.

I've been thinking a lot about teachers lately; especially since they've seem to be verbally attacked by politicians and news anchors.  My sister's a teacher, and so are some of my cousins and friends.  They work harder than most people I know.

I was never the best student, but I am very thankful for all of the work my teachers did for me every day.
Teachers are important.
Public schools are important.
Education funding is important.

This drawing ended up looking far more retro than I intended...

Corinne Bailey Rae

Corinne Bailey Rae, pen, watercolor & acrylic on watercolor paper, 10 x 14", 2011.

I've decided to try to submit art to a new site.  Illustration Rally is a site that calls for illustrated work on a specific theme; if you submit to them, and they accept it, they post your stuff on their site.  This month is a portrait rally.  The first week was ideal dinner guests, the second was science fiction, and the last week is British music.

I drew for the British music week.  I wanted to portray someone who wasn't as obvious as any of the Beatles (although I love them).  Originally I thought about Lily Allen, but she looked completely different in every picture!  I really like Corinne Bailey Rae; her voice is so emotional and beautiful.

You may be wondering why there's coral and fish all over.  Her last album was called "The Sea", but, honestly, it has nothing to do with fish... I just wanted to draw them.  My plan in the beginning was to make the coral super detailed, but there's already too much going on here.

Hopefully you'll see this up on Illustration Rally too; cross your fingers for me!

Here's a close-up:

 PS:  Illustration Rally also has a great appeal and art sale going on for Japan.  You should take a look!

Illustration Friday: Stir

Coffee Stirrer, pen, watercolor & colored pencil on watercolor paper, 10 x 11", 2011.

 I thought those little red straw things were called coffee stirs.  My boyfriend, Zack, told me I was wrong and they're called coffee stirrers.  I googled it; he was right.  It's still close enough to the topic, right?

I haven't done a self portrait in a loooong time.  I learned some things from it:
1. I need a hair cut
2. Drawing with pen takes forever!  I think I prefer pencil; it has a "messier" look that I like.

Now I'll have a picture to put in my "About" section!

Here's a close-up:

Pests III: Chicory & Snails

Here's my third submission for the Art of the Garden exhibition at Haverford Public Library.

Pests III : Chicory & Snails, watercolor, acrylic & graphite on wood, 12 x 12", 2011.

Pests II: Clover Flower & Japanese Beetles

This is my second submission for the Art of the Garden exhibition at Haverford Public Library.  A percentage of all artwork sales goes to library funding.

Pests II : Clover Flower and Japanese Beetles, watercolor, acrylic & graphite on wood, 12 x 12", 2011.

The theme of this whole project for me is to make something that is often overlooked or even hated seem beautiful.   I really liked the way the wood stained on this one, so I left a lot of empty space for it to show through.

Vespertina - Promotional Art

Vespertina, watercolor & graphite on paper, 30 x 17.5", 2011.

Early last month I worked on a project for Vespertina.  Vespertina is a new Philadelphia/New York based band featuring the talents of Stoupe The Enemy of Mankind and Lorrie Doriza.  Oh yeah, and some other guy.  I forget his name....
Just kidding! z.gillespie!

This drawing was originally intended for use as a website background, but they ended up going for a more minimal design.  Their website is up, and everyone should put their e-mail address in for updates!  You'll be thankful you did!  Go here: http://www.vespertinamusic.com/

It is in a super wide format so it could be cropped and adapted for different uses like a background of their website, flyers, etc.  The blank rectangle on the bottom leaves space to put photos of the album, merchandise, the release date, or gig dates.