Post-SPX!

QUITE the belated post here, but I just wanted to say a giant THANK YOU to everyone who stopped by and said hello (or bought something!) during SPX. It was lovely meeting you all face to face! I had such an amazing time that weekend and every single person I met—both exhibitors & attendees— was so kind, welcoming, and excited! It was a giant hotel full of talented awesome people! I feel lucky that my first exhibiting experience was so positive, I know Sam and I are definitely going to do it again.

I’ve been inside a maelstrom of work ever since I got back, (sorry about the lack of updates), but I have some posts on the horizon & will be putting the remaining samurai shirts up for sale soon!

I was so caught-up in SPX fun that I totally forgot to take any photos (nooooo!) So big thanks to Burton Durand for the lovely shot of Sam & I’s table, & Russ Creech for the full-length photo!

I need your help!

Hey guys! This year my friends and I have 2 tables at SPX— Sam & I are sharing one, and our talented pals Andrea & Jimmy are sharing the one right next to us!

 I’m going to primarily be selling prints this year, and I need your help to figure out which prints I should bring!
Of the prints above, please let me know what your top 5 favorites are. Which would you wanna buy? (and for those of you who have already given me your picks on tumblr or twitter, thanks so much for your help!)

 Also, for anyone who won’t be attending SPX, these prints are also available from my inPRNT shop, and there’s a Labor Day sale today!

Star Gazer

Many months back I started and neeeeearly finished this piece, for fun, between work. I have been (and am currently) in a long busy stretch, so I didn't get the chance to put the finishing touches on it until last week!

This all started as a composition exercise. I was reading the wonderful Creative Illustration by Andrew Loomis (out of print, but free pdfs available online) and he has a great section about informal subdivision as a compositional tool. Informal subdivision is a process Loomis created, where you divide your image space unequally (and somewhat randomly!) by drawing a series of horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines. As he shows it in the book:

Once you create this dynamic linear plan for your image, you let it suggest your composition for whatever subject you have in mind. Here's the subdivision I made:

I didn't have a particular subject in mind, I just wanted to draw a lady. So I kind of just let myself meander a bit with the drawing.

I settled on the lady in the chair, who I made into a space lady (one of the best kinds of lady) who maybe got herself into some sort of a sticky situation.

Here's the final lined up with my informal subdivision.

It's a pretty fun exercise! It might be a little tricky to use if you need to have a specific sort of layout, but it's great for suggesting ideas. Try your own! Composition for all!

The Power of Mom!

Right on the heels of my last piece are two more illustrations for this past weekend's Boston Globe magazine! This time I was honored to be illustrating the cover again, as well as an accompanying page inside.

The theme of both illustrations was the power that moms wield through online networking (the cover is focused on the power, and the inside illo is focused on the connectivity). It's easier than ever for moms to connect and share tips, info, advice, and warnings on a variety of sites, blogs, and forums that are catered to them. From the article, "While a mom’s opinions once only stretched so far — to her local play group or over the backyard fence — now they are amplified and shot around the world with a keystroke. And if you make a mom mad, the power of her network is a force to be reckoned with." You can read the rest of the article here!

The cover I made is a deliberate riff on Eugene Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People. I remembered the painting from my college art history class partly because it was the first time I learned about triangular compositions!

The revolutionary spirit also seemed to fit the article, though the editorial staff didn't want any moms with mean faces, so my ladies are a little more lighthearted instead of murderous.

There was limited time for both illustrations so the inside illo is more simplified out of necessity, but because the colors for both are all in the same families I think they fit together, and I enjoyed working in both styles.
Thanks again to my great AD Ryan Huddle for the assignment, and the fun layout he created inside!

Sketches for the cover:

Sketches for the inside illo:

Swifter, Higher, Stronger...Sexier?

An illustration in this past weekend's Boston Globe Magazine about the uniforms for female Olympians. Some sport leaders want to create "a more female aesthetic", i.e. sex appeal, to draw in more crowds and attention for female sports--but this can come at the cost of athlete practicality and performance. This year boxing and badminton started requiring all female competitors to wear skirts, but later dropped the rule after bad press and complaints from athletes. Female beach volleyball players have always been required to wear bikinis (and some feel most comfortable in them), but the association recently changed their dress code to allow for shorts and t-shirts too.

Yes, aesthetics can have a powerful effect--drawing a bikini'd butt will almost certainly direct attention to the article-- but I think the article's writer, Shira Springer, sums up the issue nicely "The Games should showcase the world’s best athletes at the peak of their abilities, and that means team uniforms should be about practicality and performance, not eye candy."
Hear hear!

Sketches:

Thanks again to AD Ryan Huddle! You can read the rest of Shira's article here.

Education Week

Illustration for an article in Education Week about the decline of the teaching profession and how policy makers can revive it. The process of revival outlined in the article involves an increased focus on Professional Capital--valuing high quality teachers and teaching. I wanted to put a positive spin on things and show the goal of the revival: a teacher growing and flourishing. I really like how this one came out (interesting environment, stylish lady? Yes please!), and as a teacher myself it was a really interesting article to read. Thanks to AD Vanessa Solis, who also happens to be a fellow MICA alum!

Sketches:

Fitness nuts!

I kept forgetting to post this one--this was a quick job from the Boston Globe a few months back. The article in question was about how so many Bostonians are so into fitness--you'll see people running and cycling all over the place! Thanks again to AD Ryan Huddle & editor Francis Storr!
I'm thinking about starting a running program myself...getting out of shape is easy when you're home drawing on the computer all day!

The article specifically mentioned all the neon sweat wicking outfits you see whizzing by, so I wanted to get that colorfulness in the final.
I don't often use color for sketches, but sometimes it's more helpful on a clarity level if things are getting too jumbled in greyscale: