thumbnails for Seasons

So about a week ago I messed around with a cool online drawing tool and came up with some loose thumbnails for a set of illustrations that I have been thinking about for some time now, inspired by Alphonse Mucha drawings.

Here are the more developed thumbnails from the original loose first drafts. I plan to take these to a larger size, figure out the details and then paint them in watercolor. (I think...) One of the goals in the next step is to make sure the four seasons look like the same person. I also feel the faces and bodies are slightly too on the cartoon side; I would prefer them to look more realistic, even though these are clearly fantasy. The other goal I have is to flesh out the details in the branches and flowers, and also tighten up the borders so they are all about the same size and loosely rectangular in shape. I'll post the next steps when I finish them...if I ever have the time between work and errands and chaos!

I also might consider covering the bodies in tattoos. My intent, with perhaps the exception of "Summer" is NOT to express sexiness, rather express something more impish and spirit like. I might mess around some more and see if I can come up with alternative versions of these thumbnails, after seeing them up there on the big computer screen.

Here is another anniversary desktop I did for Electronic Arts/Pogo featuring Tex Carter.

Venitian Glass Blowing

I recently visited my Dad and step mom Susan up in Washington. I was there because my boyfriend Jamie Baker and friends Derek Thompson, Ted Mathot, and Jeff Pidgeon had booths at the Emerald Con Comic Book Convention. It was a successful show for the guys. The last day of the convention, I snuck off to the Tacoma Glass Blowing Museum with my Dad and Susan for one day, and wow was it cool! Actually, a more accurate term would be HOT.

The museum houses a glass blowing studio, a "hot box", where interns and experienced glass blowers who were trained at the Pilchuck School, can go to practice their craft, a school Dale Chihuly helped found in 1971. If you aren't familiar with Dale Chihuly, you might have seen his work on the ceiling of the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

We watched a fascinating demonstration on the centuries old Venetian glass blowing technique, perfected in Venice during the Renaissance. Amazing!

The museum also hold several pieces from internationally recognized glass artists. I did not write down the names of the artists, unfortunately. Regardless, the beauty they channel is stronger than words:

I know it is cool to talk about avant guard art from the 20th century as totally bunk. However, when I look at many of these pieces, I see nothing that adheres to the classical realist tradition that I so love. And yet, these pieces are undeniably beautiful.

Thumbnails on the Web

I am working on a series of watercolor illustrations of the four seasons, inspired by the enduring works of Alphonse Mucha. A friend on Facebook posted this great online tool, so I thought I'd give it a try. I love the results!

Here is the web link to Harmony, a procedural drawing tool web page. Just select at the top which brush you'd like to use and then start drawing in the white area.

http://mrdoob.com/lab/javascript/harmony/#shaded

SPRING

SUMMER

FALL

WINTER

and a Redo of my pink daisy girl sketch