April 22, 2009

Here's a recent project I completed for an art assignment. The task was to create a taxonomy or cosmology...in other words, show something organized by categories. I chose to diagram my room, and here's the result:

March 13, 2009

It's time for my final evaluation for a drawing class I'm taking, so I've printed out a handful of drawings (like the one above) to show everyone. Today I cut up some foam boards to back the drawings and hang them on the wall for my final presentation. I don't usually print or hang my art, so it's a cool experience to see them in a large format like this.

Meanwhile, I've reworked my portfolio website to make it much jazzier and better looking. I'm love the way it turned out, and I hope to keep adding to it in the future. Here are some screenshots of the new design:



I've been thinking about what I'm going to do with my art over the next few years, especially in terms of finding a creative career. I'm currently choosing between three different grad schools, so I have a lot to think about...

March 11, 2009

I'm working on a final project for my drawing class. It's going to include lots of simple scenes like this one, colored and printed onto large paper. It should be a cool project once everything comes together.

March 10, 2009

This piece is called "Ant Colony," and it's currently on display in a gallery, as part of a fun student art show called "Please Remove Me From Your Mailing List" here on campus. This drawing looked kind of strange surrounded by artsy paintings and photographs, but I enjoyed making the piece and getting it ready for the show. I've never put my work in a gallery before...I have to say, everything looks nicer when it's printed big and posted neatly on a white wall.

March 1, 2009

You may have noticed that the blog has a new look for March. This is part of a larger web design project, which I'm sure you'll get a better look at soon.

Meanwhile, here's a recent piece I did for a drawing class. I wanted to try experimenting with heavy blacks, and these are the results...



These are done with Sharpie on sketchpad paper, framed with black posterboard. About as low-tech as you can get.

February 25, 2009

Today I finished a children's book I'd been working on. It's called Mariam and Noor's Very Own Bedtime Story. Still waiting on the final edits, but for now, I love the way it turned out.


The story is about two girls getting ready for bed. The author got in touch with me by email asking if I could illustrate the story, as a present for his kids. Really fun assignment.

February 21, 2009

Kazu Kibuishi isn’t actually new to me, since I’ve been following his work for years. But it’s been awhile since I checked out his latest drawings, and I was pleasantly surprised to find a bunch of new pieces that made me think about my own artistic process.

Kazu’s work stands out to me because of the obvious effort that goes into creating each piece. In fact, his website offers detailed blog entries and Photoshop tutorials that describe how he creates a cartoon from the ground up (plus descriptions of the many sleepless nights that go into each graphic novel). I follow my own process when I create art – I have a specific protocol when I scan, color, and optimize each image – but my process is not nearly as streamlined or advanced as Kazu’s. I would love to have the confidence to venture into new techniques, like trying out new pens until I settle on an absolute favorite, or playing with new color palettes until I know exactly which ones to start with.