In Progress: Fairies

I recently started getting my stuff together, and I'm ready to start working on a whole new portfolio.

Here are my goals...

• Illustrate three to four pages each from four stories
• Illustrate several spreads and several single pages, including text
• Limit theme to little hidden folk and fairy tales

My first project is a spread from the tale, "The Ivory Cups", which appears in the book The Hidden Folk by Lise Lunge-Larsen.

I started by selecting a good section of the story to illustrate. Next, I quickly sketched out a few thumbnails.

Then I did some practice with grass, oak leaves, mushrooms and fairies! So much fun...

Finally, I moved on to a full size sketch and transferred it to watercolor paper using a light box, scanned it in and added text.

I am so excited to start painting this scene! So here we go again, adventure waiting ahead...

Arabian Nights

I recently completed a new portfolio piece, based on The Arabian Nights. This was part of an exercise for my watercolor class. I painted the scene three times, making tweaks and adjustments along the way. It wasn't easy, but I am so happy with the results!

My first version used a limited palatte, and while I liked it, I wanted it to have more movement and darker values. I also wanted the bird and the tree to stand out a bit more. 

I tweaked colors and composition, but the result wasn't working. The foreground stands out more, but the colors look off and the window scene still feels too distant.

Finally I changed the perspective a bit, and shifted things around. I had fun with the sweeping water, too. And I arrived at the final piece! 

 

I never put much stock in re-doing things before. But being forced through this exercise really opened my eyes to the value of making subtle tweaks and approaching the same scene from new angles.  I think it was a valuable lesson!

I'm So Excited...

Due to lay-offs, my current office job will be ending in two weeks.

What does that mean?  I get to spend the summer working on my illustration portfolio!  I am really excited...

Last month, I went the the SCBWI South San Francisco conference at Asilomar and got a portfolio review from the famous Dan Yaccarino.  He encouraged me to write my own stories and build my portfolio based on my own imaginative ideas.  

All of this being said, I've been doing a lot of thinking, a lot of planning, even some writing, but not a lot of artwork.  I am processing so much advice that I've needed some time to digest.  Now I feel on the verge of a creative explosion. I have a list of ideas, and my mind is filling up with colors, characters and stories.  Now I'm looking at a gazillion hours of time to do nothing but art....

Watch out, world!