Life is funny. The very weekend that my work is having a huge sales event centered around a ‘cruise’ theme – where all employees were to dress in apparel such as Hawaiian shirts, beach shorts, and flip-flops and local restaurants were going to set up booths with either food or coupons – yes, this very weekend is the subject of our very own winter storm. Six (and maybe more) inches. This area hasn’t seen that much snowfall in six or seven years.
Needless to say, backyard is literally swarming with birds. We have, literally, twelve birdfeeders. The only possible end result during this snowfall is a feeding frenzy (kitty has never been happier, taking up a permanent perch next to the kitchen window). I swear I can hear each of them chirping “HAY GURL HAY” over the saxophone of the weather channel. It’s too bad this snow couldn’t have been here for, say, Christmas. Of course, snow isn’t the only belated Christmas-related event in my life.
… I’m referring to presents, of course. Fortunately, I have patient friends.
I’d found an unfinished jewelry box-thing at goodwill; the surface had been partially primed, but there was some damage in a few places. I had to sand down a portion of the top, but other than that it was practically begging to be altered. I decided upon the image of the Windfish because the recipient (as well as myself) has a fondness for Link’s Awakening. The underpainting, if you will, is all prismacolor markers; the color palette was chosen because, really… that’s all the colors I have at the moment (hahaha). On each of the sides, I’m going to put Link & the Owl and then Marin & a seagull. It’s weird, because I haven’t done any fanart in well over two years (the stuff in the previous post is old), so I’ve been feeling particularly nostalgic and meta about it as a result.
The prime reason for the lack of fanart other than growing up, lol, because I’m SO MATURE is because of mah comic. Yeah, I’ve been working on a draft or whatnot for a little while now. No, I’m not quite ready to show it to the whole wide world (I’m shy!). But here’s a collage of some of it, vague enough to feel safe but still able to showcase some drawings:
The story isn’t quite a fantasy (at least how I would define fantasy), but neither is it a historical work of fiction… or anything nearly as ambitious. If I had to classify it as something, it would be an adventure story set in a made-up world. I BET YOU’VE NEVER SEEN THAT BEFORE, HAVE YOU? The comic itself is a recent development, but I’ve been playing with the characters and the world, on and off, for approximately eight years. Hope it’s worth it, eh? Speaking of longevity, I expect it will run around 28 – 34 chapters at the rate it’s currently going. Yeesh. I’ll be at this for a long time, especially considering that these are only rough pages.
(omg, babar is on. love)
Filed under: fanart, illustration, painting | Leave a Comment
Tags: comic, figure, helindor, link's awakening, presents, windfish
It’s like you all assume I have some important topic to discuss, or something.
Well, in fact, I do. The following, for example.
I am insulted that the spellcheck in firefox wants me to change the word to “bookie”. WHAT, firefox, WHAT. You would desecrate my mother’s commission?
Yes. That’s right. That was my mother’s idea. For those of you who chuckle because you know, I grin as well. For the rest of the internet, eh. A long time ago, in a kitchen downstairs and to the left, she said unto me, “You know, Sarah, you’ve spoken of this ‘fanart’ phenomenon, and all I have to say is that the best fanart ever would feature Legolas proudly assuming his rightful role as the mother of a baby Wookie.” And I said, “Ah, mother, we shall see.”
Of course, such a thing as the ‘best fanart ever’ is quite a subjective and otherwise speculatory field of investigation. Mmm, yes, yes. What is the best fanart ever? Dare I even venture my own opinion? NOT TODAY, it seems.
You know, the first thing I ever drew was a picture of Littlefoot and his dying mother, age two. I don’t have the drawing anywhere on hand, but I think it looked something like this:
… Okay, I’m going to go sob into my pillow nao. bye
Filed under: dinosaur, drawing, fanart, random, sketches | 2 Comments
Tags: death, legolas, littlefoot, mommy, wookie
a story before bed
This calls for some giddy internet babbling… but I’ll spare the lot of you. I can officially call myself a ‘professional’ now (so why is it I feel more noobish than ever?) for I have been published in one form or another! Watch out, guys; I’m serious business. Okay, here’s the scoop.
Recently, I had the privilege of participating alongside other artists in a project with Jenny Lam of Jackson Fish Market, and now that love baby has finally been born. A Story Before Bed is a website that combines modern technological capabilities with old-timey, homey storybook reading. Kind of like webcomics, only it’s interactive. …Seriously, just go there and check for yourself.
Anyway. Last December, I was one of three students from Wesleyan College who were offered the opportunity to board this ship by my professor, Lindy Burnett, who herself was working, both with her Portfolio Center students and Jenny, in order to pull this together on the illustrator’s end. So, for the next few months, we plotted and planned and finally executed the final illustrations.
My role in this endeavor was in illustrating Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll. (I’ve had some of the spreads up on my gallery here for a while, but I’ve been waiting to talk about them until now.)
The paintings are mixed media–specifically watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil on some really awesome paper heavy Strathmore paper. The procedure incorporated multiple layers of paint, fixative, and matte medium.
My idea was to approach the poem from a sort-of-literal-but-taking-liberties-as-my-artistic-license-permits angle, which seemed to me to be the essence of the poem anyway. The main character is a woman instead of a boy, and the Jabberwock is (I think) beautiful instead of burbling. The poem is English in structure, but the imagery is Asian-inspired. The words are jibberish, but a story still manages to unfold. Ha ha.
I send out my congrats to both Amanda and Betty! Your books came out great. Also: Frances and Lindy — thank you so much for kicking my you-know-what into gear. And Jenny, it was awesome working with you.
One final round of links, and this entry is done.
Jabberwocky
A Story Before Bed
Jackson Fish Market
All images © Jackson Fish Market.
Filed under: books, illustration, jackson fish, painting, school | 2 Comments
Tags: a story before bed, children's books, happy, illustration, jabberwocky
character line-up
Work comes in spurts. I sat down the other day and drew these in one go, which more than makes up for the inactivity that has recently become a common element in my life. The image below is a sloppy photoshop composite of five sketches depicting different characters from my personal project. Hands, feet, and inanimate objects may or may not be present in full completion, leaving the end result nothing but ambiguous. Oh my! Perhaps my characters are amputees?
There are about eight more characters left to draw; I’m going in order of their ‘creation’. I’m attempting to keep things relatively simple regarding detail and design, considering that these characters will be redrawn thousands of times. (Let’s not try to picture that…) Of course, there’s one design in there that breaks this rule—but, then again, I’ve always made exceptions for her. Though, still, she manages to be far simpler than certain current character design trends…
Filed under: characters, design, drawing, sketches | 1 Comment
Tags: comic, figure, helindor, inactivity, line-up, pondering
my website on temporary hiatus
I’ve decided to place my personal website, blurryobjects, under a temporary hiatus. Why? I’ve been a terrible mother, neglecting it and otherwise never updating it. Poor thing. There are many things I want to do with it, but I’ll have to chip away at it over the next few weeks or so.
So, until then, I’ll be resting here at wordpress. I have, however, configured the settings so that all emails sent to the blurryobjects.net address will be additionally forwarded to my own personal address (my apologies to those who had sent me emails and never received a reply! Long story short: I was having trouble accessing my web portal, but that’s all resolved now).
Anyway, in terms of art: I’ve been saving a project to disclose, so expect an update in the near future.
Filed under: website | Leave a Comment
Tags: blurryobjects, hiatus, website
more school?
Liberal Arts Education? Mission accomplished.
But what I would really like to do is continue my education in an art school. I desperately want to explore the world beyond my hometown (ever-growing as it may be) and pursue a career in art. I’ve always loved to draw and paint, connecting such activities with my love of story-telling, but I always wondered if I really was capable of competing with scores of talented and successful artists for art-related jobs… especially when met with the ‘blank stare’ after informing the curious that I am, indeed, interested in pursuing art.
Then, I thought: what the hell. I’d be a lame ‘tard for not trying.
I’m currently looking at the Portfolio Center in Atlanta, largely because living expenses would not be quite as painful as in other large cities, and also because I like the school’s emphasis on job-placement rather than on lofty academia (my apologies, you … lofty academics!). It doesn’t hurt that I have some contacts there already. I haven’t ruled out other schools, either, such as the School of Visual Arts in New York (particularly their “Illustration as Visual Essay” graduate program, speaking of ‘lofty academics’) or the Academy of Art University (a master’s in video game design!) in San Francisco.
Fortunately, I’ve got time on my side. Somewhat. I just need a ‘real-world job’ at the moment.
Filed under: design, illustration, school | 2 Comments
Tags: blank face, ramble, school
beginning post
And the LORD saith unto thee: “This shall be an art blog, in the spirit of many other art blogs, wherein art is shared and discussed, rants are raved, and many dead horses are beaten.”
Well, that sounds about right.
I always sketch the same things. Sometimes, I wish I would sketch baby dinosaurs instead, but alas, it must be these people.
Welcome to my crib.
Filed under: characters, dinosaur, drawing, random, sketches | Leave a Comment
Tags: figure, first post, ramble
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