Self Portrait

Hey everyone,
Sorry I haven't been on much lately, I've been doing a ton of overtime which has taken away from art and blog time. Happily, though,I have tomorrow off! Hooray!!! I totally understand what Cat said about coming home from a long day at work and just wanting to eat dinner and relax. So far, I have my piece on board, it's just a matter of painting it. I'm doing the technique I used for the fortune teller piece since that's my favorite piece from the Academy. I'm hoping to finish it by Monday so that I can start the young'uns assignment ASAP. Let me know what you guys think of things so far.

Catnap

Here is the finished painting. I tried to fix most of the things ya'll said, and I think they helped. I couldn't fix the tangent thing (on the pillow) or any of the major pillow colors, because they're thick with like three layers of collage that came from tons of mistakes and trying to figure out what I'm doing. I agree with the pillow on the top left though...it's just hits her in a little of a strange place. I'll just have to keep tangents in mind for next time.....it's weird how all the stuff we learned keeps coming back in little snipets. I'm ready to start something new!

P.S. I'm having trouble getting the actual image up here to look right....I think because I'm just using my digital camera for now balanced on my knee. The colors in the actual painting are a little more rich.

Painter of scams

Our good friend Kinkade got busted for fraud.... click here for the article! what a douche.

sketch

Here is my near-final sketch for the self portrait. My nose is too big (David said "I wouldn't be dating you if you had a honker like that!") - I honestly couldn't tell... i don't see myself from the side often so I don't have anything to compare it to, I guess. So the plan is to use this as a business card... you can kind of see where I had written my name into the hair. My next step is to finalize that script and probably to write "illustrator" underneath of it. My contact info and another drawing can be on the other side of the card, or perhaps I'll find a way for it to all fit on the front. We'll see.

The "concept" is 2 things rolled into one: emerging from darkness into lightness, as in new talent entering the market, and also that I am emerging from the ground and growing and developing. I don't know how well you can see it in the sketch but the left half will be a little darker and then the right half will be lighter (sterling style) and then the pattern in teh background (on the right side) is cala lilies, which are my favorite flower (andrea style).

I spent most of today trying to find car insurance and health insurance and all sorts of other crap... I hope I can get this drawing all done by Thursday :) I will probably post it at like 11:59 pm.

any comments would be greatly appreciated... Oh by the way, I gave my dad this web address because he wondered what happened to my old art blog (I got rid of it cause now i post my stuff here). Sarah, he really liked your illustration!

Hey everyone,
So this is my (kinda) finished self-portrait. It's called cat-nap, it's me and an orange version of my kitty Luna. I posted it early, because I feel really stuck with it. I used both collage and pastel on this one (both of which I hadn't really used before...and collage I might not use again), and it's been a stuggle the whole way. It's supposed to be a children's book type of image.
I feel really uncomfortable with it right now... it's pretty damn bright.
Let me know what you think, any suggestions, etc. Be honest, I can take it!

Upcoming Show posters WIP

I have recently been comissioned to do some work for the band STONE LUCY (www.stonelucy.com) I am working on posters for upcoming shows right now and will later be doing some merchandise and album work. here are two sketches i have done for upcoming september shows.

S.P. W.I.P.

here are a couple photos of the portrait. rough right now. got a concept. well see. now the painting. i got new glasses 350 bux later!

cello, finish

here is my final cello piece. Sterling gave it his blessing (on the Illustration Academy forum) so I feel good about it!

What's up with you guys? It's been quiet. I feel like a blog hog. Heather, have you started school? How are the self portraits coming along? I just started sketches on mine today... it's going to be sterling & andrea-esque. i will probably post my sketch before i proceed to final.

I miss you guys! I hope everyone is happy!

to yorke or not to yorke

here is the Thom Yorke painting after a little bit of work. I scanned it in pieces and did the Photomerge thing, which worked pretty well. The only thing that didn't work is the light from the scanner reflecting off the stupid acrylic paint. The image above doesn't look exactly the same as the actual piece, but it also doesn't look insanely different. My question is whether or not you guys think I should include it on my website. It's pretty different from my other pieces.

Also, speaking of scanners, I have some advice: Buy them at Best Buy and spend 10 bucks on the 2 year warranty they offer. Even if you lose the piece of paper with the warranty info, they have it stored in their computers under your phone number or the credit card you bought the scanner with. Within 2 years you can bring in your scanner (no box or software or anything) and you can exchange it for a brand new scanner. My old scanner, purchased a year and a half ago, broke during the move so I just unplugged it and dragged it in, got 100 bucks for it and bought a scanner that was 99 (Epson 3490 Photo) - then bought another 2 year warranty for 10 bucks. So basically I got a brand new scanner for 10 bucks. I don't think you get full price for the old scanner, cause i think I spent 120 bucks on it when I got it, but still, not too shabby considering I had the thing so long.

but back to my post topic... what should I do with this Thom Yorke painting from hell? Be honest :)

Thumbnails

Hey guys,

Here are some thumbnails for the self portrait assignment. I'm making this pretty straight forward and simple. So, let me know what you think. Hopefully this will get me back in the art groove.

I got in!!

I am officially a Ringling student, I am very excited and a little scared that I will never graduate. But RIT was definitely not the right fit. I'm looking forward to this self-portrait, I have an orientation week and will hopefully get it done during then. I hope to god I'm not spending that whole week with squealing high schoolers trying to convince me to buy them booze... anyway, I have also been asked to design my aunt's movie poster, flyers, and postcards yay! miss you all

cello

I did a thumbnail sketch for the last assignment that was of my dad playing the cello. I decided to go through with it for him. Here is the value study and sketch... what do you guys think? (By the way: Cellos are really really hard to draw)

Oh and I updated my website and set up a new domain name. CatScottArt.com - check it out!

Im back.

here are some random samples of sketches i did while heavily intoxicated in the middle of the atlantic.








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Just got back in this evening from the Caribbean. DId a little sketching but had some trouble seeing since i lost a lense of my glasses. working on getting more work. once i get the coloring book back i will let you see it. and i will scan and post pages of my new sketchbook tomorrow.

Possible Blog Assignments

I've been thinking about possible assignments for us to do on here. One would be a self portrait (because I need to do one for the wall at the office) and another could be a Christmas/Holiday Card. I remember Andrea and a couple other teachers talking about Holiday themed mailers, this could be a test run. Also, if we are happy with our end result, we would have plenty of time to get them printed. Let me know what you guys think.
As to due dates; I think every two weeks it a good time frame.

First Week of Work

Vuinnardenkornlish
So far work has been going well, most of the week has been filled with orientations, paper work, and coloring in Photoshop. Although, I did work on an actual job on Friday -- something that wasn't supposed to happen for another two weeks. We were on a tight deadline and half the art department is on vacation so they gave the rookie a go. They asked me to come back on Monday, so I'm taking that as a good sign.
The only thing that's gotten on my nerves is my manager's constant speech about how editorial illustration isn't what I truly want to do and that Root should be my passion. I know he's saying this to prevent me from leaving soon, but it's annoying. Right now, I smile and say something ambiguous while lengthening the list of illustrations I want to do.
That's the scoop so far, I'll keep you posted.

Little Miss Sunshine

Hey everyone,
This isn't really an art related post (it's artsty fartsty because it's film). But I saw a really really good movie last night, it's called: Little Miss Sunshine. I won't say what it's about, because I'm really good at giving away movies, but I thought it was very inspiring and really really hilarious! You guys should all see it, or rent it later when it comes out. (It would be a good one to pause and draw from!)

Update in Highpocket's Life

So I got a full-time receptionist job through Kelly Services (the temp agency) for the month of August. I work nights at TCBY (yum!) So I'm making money!!! But also am too tired to do any art... I have done some things in my sketchbook but nothing major. School starts soon and I applied to Ringling!! I'll let you know if I got in or not; if I didn't I'm just going to take some time off because RIT was not for me. I miss everyone a lot and I notice myself bringing up the Illustration Academy in every conversation I have no matter what.

stupid question

Hey dudes. First of all, this blog is really taking off and I love it. I can't believe I doubted it. It is a really great place for a small group of us to post stupid questions like the following:

I am trying to set up lighting in my little studio, but it seems that no matter what I do, there is a reflection off the surface of my paint. Do I just need to keep the lights far away but bright? Would multiple lights from different angles help somehow? Maybe I should just stick to painting in the daylight, my studio gets AWESOME sunlight all day long, I'm very fortunate!

Here is the original critique version of Thom York, on my easel, with the glare.

I'm going to try to fix Thom Yorke's neck. I just keep hearing Sterling's voice... "I hate skinny necks like that." ouch that hurt!

Are you guys going to fix any old projects or are you looking to create new ones? I thought we could have a once a week or once every 2 week assignment (obviously not mandatory) that I could post up here on the blog. There was talk of people chosing alphabet pieces to work on, that's 26 illustration projects as it is! Or we could all chose to participate in Illustration Friday (see the link over to the right). What do you all think?

Oh and pick up the August Issue of HOW - it's a special issue devoted to Illustration. The best article (and cover story) is how journaling is such a great thing.

Hello from Toledo!

Hey everybody,

How are you guys? I miss you all and the academy so much, although Cat's pictures brought back some good memories from that last night at the Sports Page. ;)
Sorry I haven't been in touch lately, things have been insane. The big news is that I got the job at Root Learning as a junior concept artist, but I only had about two weeks to find an apartment, move out of my place in Columbus and set up house in Toledo. Thank god for Adam Levene who came to help pack up the van in Columbus. It's hard to believe that I left Columbus a week ago and only got into my apartment Tuesday morning. I actually unpacked the last box this morning and now have a fully functional studio so I can get back to making art. I've also found a few coffee shops and book stores where I've been working in my sketchbook during my breaks from packing. So, things are going well. I start work on Tuesday, so I'm really nervous and excited, I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Sorry if this seems a bit flighty and short, but I'm still a bit disoriented from the speed of the move. Hopefully I'll get some scans of my sketches up soon. Take care, I'll be in touch.

Erika

I gotta job!

Hey everyone. I miss you guys all a lot! I just got hired as a muralist for this austin company. It's only 4 days a week, so I still have time to work on my own painting and drawing stuff, but they are actually going to pay me decently so I can eat and stuff! I get different jobs about every week or so. Once I actually finish a whole mural I'll show ya'll. Me and Aaron also have a place to live now, so if anyone wants to visit Austin, you have a place to stay. I miss being around all you art people, let me know how everyone is doing.