Firenze

Firenze, acrylic ink & graphite on watercolor paper, 20 x 24", 2012.

On Sunday I went to the Capo D'Opera art gala in Montclair, NJ. This was my illustration of Florence for the gala. All of the art was Italian themed, and the food was delicious. Thank you to Rob Jelinski for curating the event. If you'd like to see photos of the gala visit Edward Chan Photography's blog; the photo below is courtesy Edward Chan Photography.

Edward Chan Photography

If you are interested in purchasing the original artwork, please contact Trattoria Rustica.

Preview: Capo D'Opera

Oops! I haven't posted for over a month!!! I have been working on all sorts of things; I'll try to post most of them up this month for you.

This is a little peek at my drawing for the Capo D'Opera Art Gala at Trattoria Rustica. This photo was taken when it was still a work in progress; if you'd like to be one of the first people to see the whole finished drawing, come out on Sunday night. The whole event is put together by Rob Jelinski, and there will be wonderful Italian food, art, and music. Click on the picture below for more info:

designed by Rob Jelinski

Sketchbook Project: Inside Cover & 1st Page

Inside Cover, acrylic ink, micron pen & gold marker on cardboard, 7 x 10", 2012.

It was sooo hot in Philadelphia today, so I just stayed inside and worked on my Sketchbook Project. My 2013 sketchbook will be a travelogue about Venice.

The horses on the inside cover are the four bronze horse statues on the roof of Basilica San Marco.

 

I really like the way the gold paint picks up light. I went over the whole cover with a gloss varnish to protect it.

Inside Cover & First Page

 I rebound the sketchbook with a cream colored Rives BFK, so the pages would be strong enough to hold paint. The first page is a drawing of an entrance way into Piazza San Marco. My boyfriend, Zack is saying "andiamo" which means "let's go!" in Italian. He's been to Venice twice with me, and he's a great travel companion/ tour guide.

Andiamo, watercolor, acrylic ink & micron pen on Rives BFK, 5 x 7", 2012.

 Here's a close-up of the first page.

And, here's a look at the front cover with the cut-out speech bubble.

I have LOTS more pages to fill, but it definitely fells good to get the first page done. Did you sign up for the 2013 Sketchbook Project? What is your theme? If you didn't, you really should!

5 Blogs You Should Be Reading: Sketchbook Project Edition!

I've reached 85 posts for this blog, so I'm sharing another "5 Blogs You Should Be Reading" post with my readers!

This time I'm featuring five of the thousands of artists who have participated in the Sketchbook Project. Most of them are from Rob Jelinski's Read List... take a look at his site to see all 25 featured artists. The Sketchbook Project is currently touring the world; if you'd like to see some of the great sketchbooks in person stop by the ArtHouse Co-op site to see when they'll be in your city!

1. Vin Ganapathy

Vin Ganapathy is an illustrator from Brooklyn. I'm very excited to feature Vin's work; he's currently one of my very favorite illustrators. I absolutely love how he draws people. His 2012 Sketchbook Project (the first image) is titled "I Remember You" and is full of tiny ink figures. It's amazing how clean his work is,  and you'll swear you recognize some of the people in his book... they could be your neighbors!
Links! Website * Blog * Art House Co-op * Facebook * Flickr * Twitter

2. Charlotte Vallance

Charlotte Vallance is an illustrator from the UK. She draws beautiful buildings and travel scenes in her Sketchbook Projects; the first image is from her Limited Edition Sketchbook project. I love her sweet style. She also draws and designs beautiful stationary on sale in her etsy store. If you see her 2012 Sketchbook Project in person be sure to read the last page!
Links! Blog * Sketchbook Blog * Art House Co-op * Facebook * Twitter * Etsy

3. Koosje Koene

Koosje Koene is an illustrator from Amsterdam. I got to meet her in person at the Sketchbook Project 2012 opening; she is awesome! Her sketchbook (the first image) is titled "Millie's Marvelous Monsters" and reads like a children's book. It's really well done and adorable. The second image is from the Art-House Co-op 4 x 6 Exchange... I love this crowd drawing! Check out Koosje's blog for lots of drawings and Illustration Fridays.
Links! Blog * Art House Co-op * Facebook * Twitter * Etsy

4. Hazel Ang

Hazel Ang is an illustrator who currently resides in Germany. Her blog, Paintblotch is full of beautiful renderings of girls and animals. If you get a chance to see her Sketchbook Project in person, do it! It's a beautifully painted treehouse in an accordian folded book... the picture above doesn't do it justice! If you'd like to see her in action there's a video of her drawing here.
Links! Blog * Arthouse Co-op * Google+ * Twitter * Ustream

5. Anil Singh

 Anil Singh is an artist from Toronto. I am always extremely jealous of people with lettering skills, so I'm extra, extra jealous of Anil. His Sketchbook Project 2012 and Limited Edition sketchbook are full of wonderful hand-lettering. His blog explores all things artistic: drawing, screenprinting, lettering, and everything in between, as well as impressive food and yoga posts.
Links! Blog * Website* Art House Co-op * Twitter


There you have it! Go to their blogs and hit the follow button, or subscribe to their RSS feeds... you won't be sorry! While you're at it go ahead and visit all of the other links.You won't be disappointed.
 There are so many great Sketchbook Project artists, and that made it super hard to decided on just 5 for this post. I have a feeling that the next post like this will feature more fabulous people from the Sketchbook Project.

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, pen & ink on Rives BFK, 11 x 14", 2012.

I finished my Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds illustration. I love the Beatles!

I was inspired by posters of the 60s, especially the Fillmore concert posters

Illustration Friday: Shiny

Preliminary Drawing, graphite & colored pencil on bristol board, 11 x 14", 2012.

What is shiny?

Stars are shiny.
Diamonds are shiny.

Can you guess what this drawing illustrates? Hint: It's a song.

Hopefully I'll have a final version posted soon!

Sketchbook Project: The Cover

Cover, acrylic & micron pen on cardboard, 7 x 10", 2012.

I started on this year's Sketchbook Project. I decided my theme would be a visual travelogue of Venice, one of my favorite places ever. Like last year, the first thing I did was to take the whole thing apart and work on the cover. I'm going to rebind it with heavier paper so I can use paint.

The drawing on the cover is the Piazza San Marco. I figured it was appropriate because it's one of the most recognizable spots in Venice.

Has anyone else started this year's project? Which theme did you choose?