Illustration Friday: Contagious

Upcoming show: Sredni Vashtar

(click to see the bigger image / clic pour voir l'image en plus grand)

In my last post I mentioned that I'm working on a show so here's a sneak peak... I just finished designing the promo materials and I'm doing my best to ignore the matting board and stack of frames that are waiting for me. Bleh.

VF: Bon, comme j'ai dit l'autre jour, j'ai une expo qui arrive alors voici un petit aperçu, vu que je viens de finir les maquettes de mes cartons de promo. Là tout de suite faudrait que je me mette à encadrer... je vais aller finir le Nutella pour me donner du courage, tiens...

Illustration Friday: Hierarchy

My upcoming show is approaching way too fast and I'm racing against the clock to finish things up, so I didn't have time to make something new for IF this week. I think this one fits the theme nicely though; no doubt this little girl knows her place in the pecking order.

VF: Mon expo arrive à grands pas et je ne suis pas vraiment en avance sur ce qu'il me reste à faire; alors excusez m'sieurs dames, cette semaine je ressors un vieux machin du placard à barbouille au lieu d'en faire un tout neuf. Je pense qu'il ne colle pas mal au thème; aucune ambiguité question hiérarchie, mon petit personnage sait très exactement où elle se place.

Illustration Friday: Theater

This has to be the fastest I've whipped up an illustration in a long time! I actually scribbled a little pencil doodle while on hold with tech support this afternoon, then I scanned it in and painted it in Photoshop after dinner. I'm still pretty new to digital painting and can't imagine going 100% digital, but it's fun to try and I think it's growing on me.

Illustration Friday: Talisman

Pink bunny or lucky underwear: never go to a job interview without your talisman.

Illustration Friday: Poise

I don't think it shows too much, but I'm trying my hand at slightly different things... I wanted to try and paint faster and a bit more spontaneously than usual, so I drew this one directly on illustration board with acrylic, then did a bit of digital doodling. Usually I sketch and plan meticulously, and hardly do anything other than trim in Photoshop.I think I'll continue working on it, add more highlights on the face, and maybe redo the background to make the pattern stand out some more.

Anyway, I'm not sure if she's poised or just uncomfortable :)

Illustration Friday: Subtract

I made this for I.F.. I think I'll probably rework it, I'm not so happy about the contrasts; especially the stuffed animal's face, which blends too much in the background.

V.F.: Je viens de faire ça pour Illustration Friday, je suis à moitié contente du truc; les contrastes ne sont pas formidables, en particulier le visage de la peluche qui ne se détache pas bien du fond.

Three's a charm? / Et de trois...

Still plugging away at my new series, and this one has been giving me a bit of trouble; I'm on the third iteration, no less. I think this last one's finally a keeper, although it still needs some work. Note to self: stop attempting to paint without music. #3, brought to you by Deerhunter's Cryptograms and Microcastle...

VF: Lentement mais sûrement(?), je continue d'avancer sur ma nouvelle série. Je coinçais méchamment sur cette image, il a fallu que je la refasse 3 fois, rien que ça. Je crois que je vais garder le troisième jet, mais y'a encore du boulot pour que ce soit présentable. Enfin bon, comme quoi peindre sans musique, ben ça marche pô pour moi. On dit merci aux grands garçons de Deerhunter qui ont réussi a me décoller la pulpe avec Cryptograms et Microcastle...

Progress shot

Nibbling my way through my next series... I usually work on one painting at a time and finish it before starting on the next one. For some reason this time I can't focus and have several in various stages of undoneness. The June deadline still seems pretty far away, but I just know it will creep up on me... (Yes, I know, my studio desk looks, um, "lived in"...)

Weekend means doodle time

I envy people who keep a tidy desk when they work. At any given time, mine looks like some deranged muse threw up crayons all over it. Oh well.

Anyway, I'm back to being elbow-deep in muse puke; after a month's break, I've started plugging away at my next show. I've chosen to finally illustrate a short story that has been on my mind for a long, long time; I've never illustrated a story start to finish, so this is an interesting exercise.

I've read that story many times over the years, so I'm illustrating from memory rather than following the text. I started by trying to follow the text, but I found this method works better for me - helps me sift the key elements and focus on transcribing the atmosphere. But for all I know this is how illustrators work... so much for my big self-discovery!