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.

Illustration Friday: Layer

Coffee Break, graphite & marker on bristol, 12 x 19", 2011.

Nothing keeps you warmer than dressing in lots of layers and having coffee (or hot chocolate!) with friends.  This one was fun to draw!

This illustration was inspired by the photos in street-style blogs.  My very favorite blogger is Garance Dore (I don't know how to make the accent over the e...).  She's hilarious, and she's also an illustrator; her illustrations are a lot of fun!

I had a hard time photographing this one; details are hard to see, so here's a close-up:

Pests I : Dandelion & Rabbits

This is one of three paintings I'm going to submit for the "Art of the Garden" exhibition at Haverford Public Library.

Pests I : Dandelion and Rabbits, watercolor, acrylic & graphite on wood, 12 x 12", 2011.

 The exhibition is a fundraiser for the library which is such a great idea because libraries definitely need extra funding!

If you're interested in being in a juried show and helping libraries out go here for information.  It looks like the deadline's been moved to March 10th.

Illustration Friday: Sweater

"The best time to wear a striped sweater is all the time!"

Knitter, watercolor, marker, & graphite on watercolor paper, 10 x 14", 2011.

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that the topic for this week's Illustration Friday was my suggestion! 

I've had this idea in my head for a while, so it was nice to get it down on paper even if it is a little rough.  I'm probably going to revisit it some time in the future with a larger format, more detail, and maybe acrylics... hmmmm...

PS:  If you know what the quote in the beginning of the post is (without googling it... cheaters!) you're my new best friend!

Illustration Friday: Reverse

Pink Skunks, pen & marker on marker paper, 9 x 12", 2011.

Why are the skunks pink?  Just because.

I had a bad drawing day today;  nothing turned out how I wanted.  My original idea had to do with zebras, but they wouldn't cooperate.

Illustration Friday: Surrender

Salt Girl Surrender, pen & marker, 8 x 12", 2011.

Everyone loves the Morton Salt Girl; well, almost everyone...

I got a late start on this one...

I'm obviously in a very silly mood.