Illustration Friday: SLITHER

Sleepy Snakes. This is a sketch I did last year, it was meant to be the follow-up piece to my Sleepy Bears (that will be traveling to the CPSA International Exhibition in a few weeks). I really liked how it was developing, but I think I got hung up on that fact that snakes doesn't have eyelids - so while they're sleeping underground, they won't LOOK like they're sleeping. Anyway, this is my rough of the layout. I got as far as the final sketch, but haven't been able to get past the eyelid issue. Thoughts? Should I keep going?

I am SO bad at keeping up with my blog. This is a desperate attempt to post anything, as opposed to something good, since I've been so… distracted lately.
Of course, distracted is an understatement. Crazy big events going on here, for me. Work, travel, packing, travel, work, work, and more travel. Then… moving? ;) More on that soon.

Update Masterworks: It's Official!

I received the 1st Place award for miniature art in the colored pencil category from Masterworks. All three of my pieces were accepted into the show for New Mexico artists. I'm relatively new to miniature art, but it's right up my ally because I love detail. I'm so honored to have received this award - and to top it off, I SOLD one of the pieces (see the little red dot in photo below). I look forward to entering in other categories next year as well (possibly graphite/pen & ink).

Masterworks Update

I got the call yesterday, all three of my colored pencil miniature submissions have been accepted. Yay! While I was not officially notified of having been awarded anything, I was told that I MUST attend the reception on Friday evening.
Meanwhile, I heard through the grapevine that I've been awarded first in the colored pencil category. :)

New Work: Masterworks Miniatures

I'm submitting three pieces to the Masterworks Miniatures show this year and I've just finished the last one - so here they are to share with the world. If you'll remember, last year I submitted just one, but I was awarded 3rd prize in the colored pencil category. I'm going for 1st this year - do you think one of these could manage it?

The frames are being cut & joined now and I'll pick them up and fit the artwork myself on Saturday - I'll try to photograph & update the completed pieces here before the drop-off on Sunday afternoon!

Enchanted. 2" x 3.25" On Arches, 120lb. Hotpress, mounted to museum board.

Pueblo. 2.25" x 2.4375" On sandpaper.

Bandelier. 2.75" x 3.75" On Arches, 120lb. Hotpress.

These are the pieces matted (it is TOUGH to cut mats this small!).

UPDATE: 3/29/2010
Framed Pieces…

New Work: Bella Sara SUNFLOWERS

I know it seems like lately all I do is Bella Sara, all the time. It's not, it's just that Bella Sara releases their product lines with nice defined schedules… unlike several of my other clients. ;) I'm particularly proud of the work I did on this set, not only because I got to work on the title character, but I also got to experiment & have quite a bit of fun - designing pendants and crowns, as well as a grass-green, iridescent horse!

FEATURED: Bella Sara Fan Magazine (France)

I'm so excited to share that my artwork for the new Bella Sara Series, Bella's Ball, was recently featured on the cover of the French Bella Sara Fan Magazine (above). To top it off, they decided to follow-up with an interview article with me in the newest issue (below).

I feel so exotic being in a foreign language magazine! To be honest, I was really impressed with these magazines - when they contacted me I thought the magazine must be a small matte paper/ pamphlet-like thing, but these issues are full-on glossy magazines filled with Bella Sara characters, artwork, fans and various articles! I think I might have loved this kind of thing when I was that age!

The interview was conducted via email and while I don't have the actual translation of the edited down version featured in the magazine, I can share my original answers in full here:

Why and how did you become a visual artist?
When I was a toddler in day care, a teacher came to my parents concerned that I was constantly drawing horses, only horses. My parents were more impressed with the fact that I was drawing recognizeable horses at the age of two. I think having such supportive & encouraging parents has played a major part in my development as an artist. I always loved to draw, in fact I found myself drawing more often than taking notes, in school. That’s a lot of practice! I basically just kept going, until I found some people willing to pay me for it.

Can you tell us a bit about your career?
I sold my first painting when I was 13. It had been an art class project, the object was to illustrate a word acting out it’s definition. I chose the word camping and I painted the letters of the word, sitting around a camp fire on a starry night, in a forest clearing with tents in the background. It was on display at my school and someone that passed by had an immediate emotional connection to it and asked the school if she could buy it. It was a very exciting moment for me, realizing I could earn money doing something I love to do.
I’ve always been attracted to fantasy worlds and fantastical creatures, naturally I thought children’s books where the way to go for me. I started focusing on that direction for my career, but it usually takes time to break into that industry (it involves a lot of hard work, dedication, and more than a little luck), so in the meantime I needed to find a regular job that would help me pay my rent and my college loans! I was lucky to get a staff position after college, designing & illustrating stickers in the scrapbook industry. I got to travel all over the United States for market research, visit manufacturers in Taiwan and China, I even went to big trade shows in places like New York City, Hong Kong, and Paris. It was an amazing job and I learned lot during my seven years with that company.
I left that position two years ago to work as a freelance illustrator and designer. Now there is a lot more variety in my work - and one of my newest clients is Bella Sara! I have to say, the projects I do for them is among the most fun I have - and I already have a pretty fun job. :)

What is your creative process? Do you get specific guidelines before starting a project? How do you proceed?
Bella Sara does send specific guidelines for each character they assign. They always include a few reference images along with a detailed written description to get the artist started, but they are also open to the ideas and suggestions of the artist. Most clients just send a theme or idea and I have to create a visual concept for it. I always like to start out by researching any special attributes, such a a particular horse breed. I use various internet searching techniques to gather information and imagery that inspires me, and that help add on to the ideas I’ve already started to formulate in my head. Once that’s done, I start sketching. These days, I do a lot of different sketches, scan them into my computer, then take the best parts and layer them together digitally. Once I have the sketch just the way I want it, I submit it to my client for review. They either approve it as is, or come back with a few changes for me to make. Sometimes I make the changes and submit it again, sometimes I can make the changes as part of the final color artwork.

What/who inspires you?
Just about everything I see inspires me. I am an admitted design geek - I love Ikea and all things considered “designy”. Books and movies are a huge source of inspiration for me also (for example the Narnia books or anything by Neil Gaiman, or the ending credits artwork from the Lemony Snicket movie). Whenever & wherever I am, I usually have a book, along with a moleskin sketchbook just in case I read something that inspires a visual image in my head that I just have to put on paper. I read and collect picture books as well - I would still love to work on one, they’re simply the best avenue for an artist to really showcase their ideas and artwork. The internet as opened up a lot of options for finding new and interesting things to inspire me. Some specific artists that are constantly inspiring me are Danny Gregory, James Jean, Jennifer Meyer, Kelly Murphy, Mary GrandPre, and my brother, Sean Beavers. There’s really too many to list.

Do you work digitally, or do you still pull out the ol’ paint and brushes?
I actually favor colored pencils. I’m a signature member of the Colored Pencil Society of America (www.CPSA.org). My work has been accepted into their international juried show 4 times, and I’ve had the honor of receiving two awards. It’s a great medium, but it’s a little on the slow side, so I’ve only gotten to do one of my Bella Sara pieces in colored pencil (Harmony, from the Treasures series). The rest have been a combination of traditional graphite drawing and digital coloring. I like to use a lot of textures in my digital paintings as well. More often than not, it’s just a paper texture, so the digital art has a slightly more organic feel. I also love photography, and I never leave my house without a digital camera, so just as often as I stop to take a picture of a beautiful sunset, I’ll stop to take a picture of an interesting marble, granite, or stone surface. (Suffice to say, I’m always carrying around a really big, really full, bag)

New Work: More Sticker Samples

Okay it's been a long, long time… again. I'm really bad with the updates these days. I feel like I've been adding too much to my plate for the last few months on one hand, but feel I always work best when super-busy. That being said, I still have the problem of all-work, no-play and not much I can really share, as so much of my current work is confidential until released.
So, what's new? Well, here are some more stickers I've worked on that were release earlier this year. I always get a kick out of seeing these in production. I do fairly detailed product concept sketches, that are then interpreted in various materials (paper, fabric, epoxy, mylar, you name it). I do a LOT of these and it's usually pretty fun. These two themes are something of a departure for me. I'm really not down with the hunting and fishing - but it's kinda fun to explore themes you're not familiar with.
Sometimes I'm amazed at how closely they follow the sketch - I mean look at the camo pattern on the hat - it's almost an exact translation! Ha!