Paper Wings

great scott!!

2012-02-02T21:23:00.001-08:00

Happy (very) Belated Birthday Jess!

2012-01-25T19:27:00.000-08:00

question:

answer:

It all started with a quick doodle in my sketchbook, which transformed into a promised (but unfinished) birthday present for my sister, whose painting approach transformed after I flipped through a few John Singer Sargent books, (and whose color scheme changed after peeing in a grayed cerulean blue bathroom stall with my black coat and dark beige colored bag hanging on the door), which finally led to the finished (and very belated) birthday gift above (sorry Jess). Personally I'm pretty happy with it. Hopefully it was worth the long wait.

Snow Day

2012-01-08T00:09:00.000-08:00

This morning I woke up to snow on the ground, which generally isn't a happy surprise for someone like me -- but today was different. The snow covered everything so beautifully, how could I not be in an awesome mood? Of course I'm sure that sleeping in until 10:00 AM, eating homemade crumpets with honey butter for breakfast, enjoying some quality time in the studio and spending the day with my better half didn't hurt my good mood either... Whatever the case may be, I'll take it.

Happy (belated) Halloween everyone!

2011-11-01T13:56:00.000-07:00

The Wedded Dead from Marika Photo on Vimeo.

I realize it is no longer October 31st...but I just have to share this with you! This is a video that my husband, my friends/wedding photographers Claire & Andy and I put together. It was so much fun to put this together. Thank you Claire, Andy & Emily (our outstanding make-up artist).

PS -- Yes, I did indeed tie the knot recently. I blame both wedding planning and mononucleosis for my rather long absence from the blogging world -- but I'm back and drawing away. More to come.

the birds

2011-07-29T17:23:00.000-07:00

Once I was sitting on a beach in Seattle, when all of a sudden a flock of seagulls flew over my head and, while my head was turned, a seagull dropped a bomb right on my ankle...which also splattered on my pants and purse.

Gross.

I still like birds though. This piece proves it! It's a gift for my sister and still a work in progress but should be done soon.

brainstorming is hard work

2011-06-28T21:49:00.000-07:00

sunshine and cough drops

2011-06-14T22:06:00.000-07:00

How is it June already? More importantly, how is it that I have a cold when it's 80 degrees outside? Not ok; not ok at all. At least I can still draw.

Fighting boredom one drawing at a time

2011-05-10T21:54:00.000-07:00

The other day I was bored, but instead of twiddling my thumbs and staring blankly into space, I pulled a few dying Prismacolor and Sharpie markers out of my bulging pencil case and went to work. It was really fun, especially the hair and shirt -- oh man, I love drawing hair and any sort of pattern. And aren't the colors pretty? That green is quite possibly one of my favorite colors around.

Excited, excited!

2011-05-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share the thumbnails for a few pieces I'm working on and am really excited about. They're not my usual subjects...I think Mother's Day being around the corner had something to do with it. Soon they should be done and ready for your viewing pleasure. Until then, use your imaginations.

Breaking in the sketchbook

2011-04-28T21:22:00.000-07:00

New sketchbooks are intimidating strangers. Their covers are smooth and pages blank, daring you to make that very first mark. Unlike those sketchbooks that are faithful companions for months, new sketchbooks don't hold any of your experiences, successes or frustrations. New sketchbooks are waiting to have their character decided by you. Intimidating.

Or maybe I just think too much.

Either way, I finished my old sketchbook and bought a new one. As usual it's taken me a while to get going in it. For whatever reason the first few pages of my new sketchbooks get me into a rather frustrating "sketchbook block." Hopefully that ends soon.

These are a the first few pages of my new sketchbook and a few of the last pages from my old one, listed newest-oldest.

Wacom tablets are F-U-N

2011-04-13T13:08:00.000-07:00

Last week I made an important purchase: I BOUGHT A WACOM TABLET! Hooray for technology! I've been wanting one for a while now and finally bit the bullet. Let me just say that bullet has been well worth it.

To celebrate, I drew the silly images above. They're a bit different than my normal style but I figured what the heck, why not branch out a bit? My personal favorite is the elephant. I couldn't help but giggle as I drew him.

Vote vote vote!!

2011-04-12T19:15:00.000-07:00

Ok everyone. It's down to the last week of Round 2 for the Choose the Cover of the Rolling Stone Magazine contest, which means that FICTIONIST NEEDS YOUR VOTES! No idea what I'm talking about? Learn more here in a past blog post.

To vote, simply:

1. vote above or visit the Rolling Stone Contest website
2. listen to Fictionist's music and/or watch a couple of their music videos (my personal favorite is the last one listed on the video reel)
3. click on the number of stars you feel they deserve
4. like them on facebook and tweet about them

Easy right? Right. Now hop to it.

Painting party at my house

2011-04-05T20:46:00.000-07:00

I have been procrastinating today for quite some time. This is mostly because, well, I simply haven't wanted to do the things that were on today's to-do list. What was today you ask? The answer is STUDIO HOUSEWORK DAY! Hooray...? This means that I:

1. Budgeted the studio monies.

This is by far the worst thing about studio housework day. It simply takes much longer than it should to budget and plan monetary stuff when your right-brain has engulfed most of your already rather feeble left-brain.

2. Designed promotional mailers.

Honestly I rather like doing this, it just takes time away from what I love most, which is painting/drawing. But thanks to self-discipline, you'll be seeing them soon Mr. Postman (or Ms. Postlady)

3. Worked on the new design for my currently rather simple, but functional, website.

This also isn't really a terrible task; in fact it's rather satisfying to take something that already works and make it even better. I'm just so much more partial to working with my hands than a screen that the thought of designing for an extended period of time makes me feel a bit anxious.

4. Went to the gym.....

Wait; that's not technically studio housework...but let me just say that running 3 miles was very much necessary for the preservation of my already rather fragile sanity, especially after crunching numbers and sitting in front of a computer all day.

Today's outcome: Success, most definitely.

My reward: a yummy apple fritter from my favorite local bakery + a "paint whatever I want" party. Happy studio housework day, Leslie. (It wasn't so bad.)

New Irrational Fear: Urban Bears

2011-03-31T23:32:00.000-07:00

Urban bears?!! *gasp!* Visit the Irrational Fears Blog for the complete version...

Print Sale! 4 days left...

2011-03-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

Looking for some snazzy artwork to spice up those bare walls? Look no further. I recently opened up a print shop online and am offering 20% off prints through Saturday the 26th! The current prints are shown below.

If you see something you like, simply:

1. go to my etsy shop

2. choose a print

3. use coupon code OPENYAY3261 at checkout

Easy beasy! If there's a piece that isn't up there that you'd like a print of (maybe you saw it on my blog or website), then just email me at leslie@lesliedukeart.com and I'll get it up there in a jiffy.

Drawing a cow really isn't that hard.

2011-03-20T17:52:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I got to hang out with my little cousin Lexi. Every time she visits Lexi wants to break out the paper and colored pencils so we can draw and color together, which I personally think is fantastic.

First Lexi taught me how to draw a cow. Can you tell which one is hers and which one is mine? Apparently drawing a cow is one of the easiest things ever to draw (or so I was told). Thanks to Lexi I am now a qualified cow-drawing teacher, so if anyone needs lessons just let me know.

After drawing a couple of cows, we moved on to paints. Lexi wanted to make a birthday present for her mom and I needed to work on an illustration for the Folio Society, so it worked out quite well. We set up my "special paints" (acrylics), found some "hard paper" (illustration board), grabbed my palettes (styrofoam plates) and spent the next hour making pretty pictures together. Lexi really got into her painting and discovered that she loves mixing colors (a girl after my own heart). It was so fun to watch her concentrate on mixing and painting.

Her painting turned out really well, don't you think? Needless to say, her mom loved the painting. I loved spending time with her and wish she could be my studio buddy. Too bad she has to go to school every day.

Why yes I am a color enthusiast

2011-03-18T06:47:00.000-07:00

Earlier I mentioned going to a 3-day intensive color theory workshop with Bill Perkins and it was AWESOME. Bill talked about color and value and edges and all sorts of other nerdy goodness. The workshop was based on situations with live models, NOT color chips (oh man those things are boring). We painted for 8 hours each day and by the end of the 3 days, we had over 20 paintings to show for it -- needless to say my feet were super sore by the end of Saturday (being the practical person I am, I most definitely wore cute flats each day isn't of shoes that had more, um, foot support; can you blame me?).

So here is a smattering of what I did. Each image was meant as "color sketch" instead of a "painting," so there wasn't much stress placed on the drawing. As I painted I tried to match blocks of color/value, as well as paying attention to my edges.

Just a note, those scratch marks on the paintings aren't intentional. I thought they were dry and stacked them....and well, they weren't completely dry. Sad day, but still happy color sketches.

Studio Days

2011-03-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

A few people have asked if painting in a studio all day gets lonely. The answer is yes, actually, it does. At times I've found myself talking...heaven forbid...to myself. But that's why you share studio space. Then when you start talking, someone is there and even if they're not actually listening or you're not actually speaking directly to them, you don't feel completely crazy.

This is my studio buddy, Bri. She sleeps on the chair, I paint at the desk; she sits on my lap and critiques my work, I throw her favorite toy back and forth. It works out well.

Prints, Prints, Prints for Sale!

2011-03-16T01:13:00.000-07:00

Recently I've had a few requests to purchase prints of my work. Well my friends, thanks to the wonders of technology (and my recent use of the ever-popular world wide inter-web) you may now purchase prints online! Just follow these 3 simple steps:

1. Go to my etsy shop.
2. Peruse through the images.
3. If you see something you like, order it!

Easy right?

Ready for the best part? Now through Saturday, March 26th receive 20% OFF on any print! Just enter the coupon code: OPENYAY3261 at checkout.

Isn't technology the greatest?

ps - If there's an image that you'd like a print of but don't see up there, then just send me an email at leslie@lesliedukeart.com and I'll get it up there in a jiffy.

Another one bites the dust (almost)

2011-03-12T16:53:00.000-08:00

I've been doing a lot of drawing this week in my little Moleskine sketchbook. So much in fact that I only have two pages left. TWO PAGES PEOPLE.

Sketchbooks are interesting creatures. Their pages hold very specific memories for me, to the point where I feel more like I'm keeping a "visual journal" than a mere sketchbook. Each one is filled with notes, thoughts, places I've been, people I know, emotions I felt and situations I laughed at. They also mark artistic turning points and the birth of new ideas, as well as the death of bad ideas. So when the time comes to fill those last pages it's rather bittersweet, and I actually find myself delaying filling them just so I can carry that specific sketchbook around with me for just a bit longer.

What a strange, nerdy person I am. This is what happens when you draw all day long all by yourself. Your drawings really do become your friends.

New Irrational Fear!

2011-03-11T22:00:00.000-08:00

Today I painted the day away in the Hue and Hum studio with the very talented Caitlin Connolly. It's amazing how having someone in the room with you not only keeps you motivated, but also keeps you from going completely insane from loneliness. What a lovely and productive day!

One product of the day is a new piece for the Irrational Fears blog. Make sure to check it out! This fear is actually Caitlin's; it seems rather fitting that I painted it from start to finish in her studio.

Babies Everywhere

2011-03-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

One of my good friends is having a baby girl!! Crazy. Crazy exciting. We threw a little baby shower for her this past weekend. Here's the image I whipped up for the invites.

Speaking of this past weekend, I spent a good 24 hours of it in a color theory workshop taught by the one and only Bill Perkins. Yes I realize how nerdy a color theory workshop sounds, but let me just point out that color theory is actually quite awesome and intriguing. (Ok, so I'm a nerd.) The workshop was totally hands-on, meaning he had us paint all day instead of focusing on color chips (which are incredibly boring, believe me). By the end of the three days I had over 20 paintings on my hands, tired feet from standing and tons of valuable knowledge in my brain. I'll put a few up here once they're dry.

Good Music Anyone?

2011-03-02T14:24:00.000-08:00

A few friends of mine are in a pretty rad Utah-based band named Fictionist. They're competing against 15 other bands in a contest sponsored by Rolling Stone Magazine. The winner gets to be on the cover of Rolling Stone + a recording contract with Atlantic Records. Pretty cool, eh? Well yes it is.

The contest is voter-based which means they need YOUR vote. So if you have a minute, listen to a song or two and vote. You don't have to love them, you don't even have to like them; simply vote how you feel. That's what this contest is all about.

Today is the final day for Round 1! They may be needing your help in the future, depending on how this round goes...

PS- Make sure to check out their music video. Super cool.

Paint-a-Sketch

2011-02-25T08:01:00.000-08:00

My brother and I love to go to thrift/glorified junk stores. A while back we found a few really cool old books and decided to use them for "painting sketchbooks." We bought them, gessoed their pages and then...they sat on our bookshelves. The other day I was rifling through my stack of sketchbooks and stumbled across my nearly forgotten painting sketchbook. Remembering my past ambition, I finally opened it up, grabbed my paints and did a quick paint-sketch.

That's the long story for: I did a quick paint-sketch. It was fun.

2011-02-21T19:42:00.000-08:00

This past week has been slightly crazy -- good, but rather insane (hence the second drawing down). It left me absolutely exhausted and between lengthy evening naps and night sleepy-time, I may or may not have slept approximately 13 hours in the past 24 hours...wow. I just realized how much sleep that is...glorious, glorious sleep.

What are YOU afraid of, eh?

2011-02-14T23:54:00.000-08:00

My newest illustration blog! Check it out here.

This blog is dedicated to illustrating the rather ridiculous nature of irrational fears. Fears like sharks coming out of walls and "urban bears" chasing you down crowded streets. Every week I'll be posting a new illustration that depicts an irrational fear. Each fear will be completely genuine, which means I need people like you to send me your irrational fears. Email me your fear at leslie@lesliedukeart.com. If your fear is chosen you'll see it posted online and receive a free print. Consider it a thank you from me.

So what are you afraid of? It's time to get those irrational fears out in the open!

Pay what you want prints?? Yes please!

2011-02-09T10:42:00.001-08:00

My friend Caitlin Connolly is a very talented artist and has two new gorgeous prints for sale, just in time for Valentine's Day. The prints are pay what you want, so if you love one (or even both) of her pieces you won't have to think twice about purchasing one. I think the second one is my favorite.

Also, make sure to check out the musical workings of Caitlin's ever-so musically gifted husband, Robbie. You won't regret it.

I drew stuff

2011-02-02T18:40:00.001-08:00

I think that my subconscious is fascinated with people and hair. The other day I was flipping through my sketchbook and noticed that most of my little sketches are of, well, people and hair. The images below are my most recent creations, and are proof to my subconscious' obsession. However, this week I'm diversifying! The theme for the week is beaches. Now if only I could afford a weeklong vacation to one, strictly for drawing purposes of course...

My dad is afraid of bears...

2011-01-24T21:19:00.000-08:00

....but I'm not.

New Year, New Doodles

2011-01-12T13:00:00.001-08:00

Happy belated New Year! The holidays weren't quite as visually productive as I would have liked. Between moving, working and lots of holiday family time (which I loved), I'm afraid that my sketchbook felt a bit neglected (don't worry; we've worked things out since). But I still managed to produce a few decent doodles. More to come!

Silhouettes

2010-12-16T15:00:00.000-08:00

A simple image for a book of memoirs my grandma put together:

drawing is almost as addicting as chocolate covered cinnamon bears

2010-12-01T12:19:00.000-08:00

I haven't eaten a chocolate covered cinnamon bear since August, which is really out of character for me. Maybe it's a good move health-wise, especially since I used to go through an unmentionable amount of them every week...

Lately I've been glued to my sketchbook, but for some reason haven't taken the time to post anything. Well guess what? That changes right now. Here are a few of my favorite recent-ish sketches. Enjoy. More to come.

images from the not-so-far-distant-past

2010-09-27T21:28:00.000-07:00

It's been a while...I promise the drawing didn't stop, just the posting. Here's a smattering of drawings since my last post, with many more to come at a non-disclosed date:

Brad & I saw MGMT. The whole crowd near us
mainly consisted of baby-stoners....

....and super baby-skanks.

Went to Zions. There were a lot of Amish-looking
people wandering around the day we hiked the Narrows.

Sometimes it's easier to stay in your bathrobe.

Cramming everything from one room onto one page.

Gandalf's doppleganger speaking words of wisdom.

There is a soft spot in my heart for bald men.

Fail

2010-07-20T23:24:00.001-07:00

Recently I scanned a few sketchbook pages and saved the images on my thumb-drive. My plan was to scan then, post later. Well, it's later now, but sadly my thumb-drive has wandered off somewhere...which makes me panic just a little inside. So much for posting anything visual other than words tonight.

Mumblegrumblemumbletumblemumblemumblemumble

2010-06-15T00:58:00.000-07:00

It's terribly late. Am I sleepy? Yes! Can I sleep? No. Instead I am drawing and blogging.

Lately, ideas seem to be pouring into my head faster than I can scribble them in my sketchbook, which has been fantastic! Too bad I've been so busy that often the idea slips away because I couldn't get to my sketchbook fast enough.

Today a lot of ideas were flooding my mind, which sometimes made it difficult to communicate coherently with the people around me. Ridiculous? Yes. Frustrating? Yes. Normal? Yes.

Storms of creativity tend to put me in what my brother and I call "art moods," which is the technical term for embracing anti-social or introverted tendencies. Art moods make a person more quiet, calm, distracted, forgetful and - unfortunately - awkward. Talking becomes a bit more difficult during these periods, and often one will find their mind going blank and coherent conversation being rather difficult, even painful (for both parties involved). These moods cause one to embrace their medium and create like crazy. I can feel one of these moods coming on. Hmmmm, bittersweet.

Newness

2010-05-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

Something new: the poster for BYU's fall opera The Magic Flute. I actually liked the drawing a lot better than the finished product. Also, I discovered a newish look while going through the process of this one. I'm going to experiment; exciting.

Work it, work it, RE-work it

2010-04-18T00:22:00.000-07:00

I gave this one a face-lift. Why? Because it needed one...and because I may or may not be a perfectionist.

Moldy-Oldies

2010-04-17T23:34:00.000-07:00

The other day I went through my monstrous stack of old and not-so-old sketchbooks. It was crazy how so many of those sketches brought back such specific memories, and I couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic while looking through them all. Here are few of them, in no particular order:

plein air painters in Central Park

Lombard Street--while I was sketching some guy told me
"nowadays they have these things called cameras..."

China Town -- Rachel got a weird drink there

Pier 39--it was chilly, a soccer game was on in a bar and we ate delicious fish

Carnegie Hall and my bus-ride to the Manhattan 8th ward

the stories behind these characters are pretty ridiculous...

gesture drawing, boredom during class and Henry's puffy coat

One reason I didn't go to a beach house for the weekend

2010-04-02T14:06:00.000-07:00

Another theater poster; the play is called the Mysteries of Monster Grove. It was a fun piece. But was it as fun as spending the weekend at a beach house? Hmmm, I guess that doesn't really matter.

this is a post for no one

2010-03-22T20:31:00.000-07:00

Drawing. Painting. Thumbnailing. Sketching. Running. Framing. Fooding. Searching. Doodling. Photographing. Laughing. Applying. Musaking. Sleeping. Flying. That sums up my life as of late.

Know your onion

2010-03-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

Here are a few recent drawing studies. I've been trying to improve the personality of my line. And yes, I have a fetish for drawing onions. They're just so pretty when the light hits them, they sort of glow. Oh and pears, they glow too.

(I like this one the best)

Why stop a good thing?

2010-03-09T15:59:00.000-08:00

I can't stop listening to Patrick Watson. The layers of sound he gets are so clear and seemingly simple, and the effect is beautiful. I don't know why, but his music makes me feel like I'm swimming.

I can't seem to stop listening to a voice that tells me to eat dark chocolate after my morning run. Yum. Double endorphins for the day. Triple endorphins with Patrick Watson playing in the background.

I can't stop looking at Travelocity's low-fares everyday, hoping for a good deal to one of my favorite places (yes New York City, I mean you).

I can't stop spacing out and daydreaming. It must be the morning dose of chocolate.

I can't stop looking at new sketchbooks. But I still haven't broken that promise I made to myself a while back that I will fill my 3 empty sketchbooks before buying another.

I can't stop going to D.I. to look for treasures. For boxes to make dioramas in, for ancient jars to put my paintbrushes in, for cool books to gesso & use for sketchbooks (but no, I have to fill the others first...), for collage-worthy old magazines, for old picture frames to re-finish, for fun skirts and a garden gnome. I have yet to find a garden gnome. Guess I'd best not stop looking.

And a new sound is calling my name...

2010-03-04T00:17:00.001-08:00

That sound is GRADUATION! Bringing a new level of reality, ambiguity, freedom, responsibility and adventure.

Hallelujah.

Aaaaas Yoooou Wiiiish!

2010-02-25T16:19:00.000-08:00

Here's a new one. It's for the play As You Like It by William Shakespeare. Whenever I hear/say/read "as you like it," an echo-y version of Wesley's voice yells "aaaas yooooou wiiiiiish!" in my head. Strange.

The director of the play is taking a different spin on Shakespeare's original. It's more of a contemporary/refugee/Russian-esch non-romanticized theme. In the play, Rosalind, the protagonist, dresses up as a man to hide her identity. I tried to convey that Rosalind has two identities in the illustration.

I used a completely different process on this piece, one inspired by my idol Sterling Hundley. First I bought plastic packing tape, put a layer down on masonite board, painted on top of it, placed another layer down, painted on top of it and continued the process until I was satisfied. Then I peeled layers of the tape off using my handy-dandy utility knife and sandpaper. Then I painted on top of the whole thing, leaving sections I liked alone and occaissionally peeling off more packing tape or adding on another piece. Talk about liberating, scary and WAY FUN.

Mawrriage Theatewr Postewr

2010-02-03T18:25:00.000-08:00

Here's a recent illustration for BYU's production of Blood Wedding. The lace on the dress was my favorite part to do, probably because it's a pattern and it just so happens that I love patterns. Go figure.

Just Because

2010-01-30T14:57:00.001-08:00

Building a decent portfolio is tricky business, mainly because there's this part of my brain that is so focused on achieving that ever-so allusive amazingly, shockingly beautiful portfolio of my dreams. That portfolio is rather, well as I said, allusive at the moment. In fact, I'm pretty sure that portfolio will always be about fifty steps ahead of me, which means I have to get myself to be a little more practical without squelching any creativity, motivation or aspiration.

Anyway, I'm giving a few old pieces face-lifts. This one was great the way it was, but it didn't mesh with the current look of my portfolio, so I changed it a wee bit:

Here's the old one:

Why Beauty Matters

2010-01-26T22:24:00.000-08:00

This is a super interesting documentary the BBC did a few months ago. It focuses on one of the issues the art-world has been debating since the birth of Modern Art: can art really be considered "art" simply because of its concept? or is art "art" because of its beauty?

The title of the program may give away the program's opinion...even so, it's definitely worth watching. I won't tell you my opinion just yet, you have to watch it first: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65YpzZrwKI4&feature=PlayList&p=71A4A928111A6006&index=0&playnext=1

Now This is Real Life

2009-12-15T16:18:00.000-08:00

It's finally come, the end of my final (real) semester as an undergrad. I say (real) because next semester I'm only taking 6 credits, which are bookbinding and frame-building. Brutal, I know. So basically, I'm free of (real) school! I'm actually graduating and becoming a real person, what a lovely thought. All I can say is it's about time.

Here are a few pieces from the my last (real) undergrad semester EVER:

piece for "A Thousand Cranes" poster

piece for "Tartuffe" poster
(wasn't actually used; oh well, at least it can go into my portfolio)

The Past Few Months of My Life

2009-12-07T14:53:00.000-08:00

This semester I worked like mad on my BFA show. The idea for the project started winter semester 2007 when a couple of us decided to pull some grant money together and head out to New York City that summer for internships. This then evolved into a mentoring project that included two other illustration students plus our professor as a mentor. We stayed in New York City and interned with illustrators for a month and a half. Ten of those days were spent with our professor going around the city gathering influences by sketchbooking, painting, taking photographs, going to museums and visiting illustrators. These pieces are the final product of that experience, and the actual exhibit includes work done by each participant.

In this series I focused on food and the people that eat it in the city. One of my main goals for this series was to push my process and further develop my style. I experimented A LOT throughout this series with color, texture, line, media and painterlyness. Overall, I feel like something is working. I'm really excited to keep going down this vein and developing things even further, oh it's been so much fun!

Right now I only have two pieces photographed, and the other two are currently hanging in the exhibit so I won't be able to post them until later next week. If you're in Provo and want to drop by the exhibit, it will be up through December 14th in the HFAC B.F. Larsen Gallery (the main floor) at BYU.

"Lunch at Cha Cha's"

"News for Company"

"Lunchtime Mechanics"

Brandon, this one is for you

2009-12-01T08:13:00.000-08:00

Here are a few oldish/recentish/this semesterish head paintings. The first two are of my friend Brandon, who ever so kindly took the time to pose a couple of hours for me, and who has been waiting patiently to see these, and who doesn't actually have a lazy eye...I just painted it that way...I don't know what happened.

The third painting was done in-class. Usually I see my colors too hot, so this time I decided to help my colors come out cooler by thinking of really cold thoughts while painting--like Antartica, streaking during a blizzard and pistachio ice cream...mmmmm, pistachio ice cream. Apparently I should think colder thoughts more often, because it worked.

If I'd have know you were coming, I'd have baked you 44 cupcakes

2009-11-11T00:18:00.000-08:00

I like to bake, especially when I'm stressed out and need distracting. When I work at home my growing mass of recipes are as good a distraction as any. Tonight I left the studio early and, yes, I got distracted to a ridiculous degree when I entered my apartment. I've made 20 gluten-free chocolate cupcakes, 24 cherry-chocolate cupcakes and I have yet to make the almond-flavored cream cheese frosting to put on top. This is why I don't work at home; the potential of gaining approximately fifty gazillion fat rolls in one week is not worth the risk. Guess I'll be taking a plethora of lovely cupcakes to the studio tomorrow. Happy days for all.

Sleep is Overrated

2009-11-03T21:12:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I'm so tired that I don't want to paint or draw anymore and all I want is sleep, so I sleep. Sometimes I'm so tired but all I want is to paint and draw all night, even if I could go to bed on time, so I stay up ridiculously late. I love those nights, and tonight is one of them. Lovely.

All You Need is Love, and Art

2009-10-29T22:38:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days that made me love being an artist. I was painting a piece for my senior show when I suddenly got this crazy-excited feeling inside about art; about experimenting, and developing, and peddling my art skills to publishers, and new inks, and the smell of watercolors, and the blinding hue of cadmium orange, and the feeling of my quill pen on illustration board, and the sound of my palette knife against my board, and the way paint covers my hands and cements itself underneath my fingernails (which is why I painted my nails today...), and the progress I see in my work, and the possibilities I see for it to progress even more. Basically, I absolutely love being an artist.

Here are a few recent pieces. Most are from my head painting class (wait, they all are...). I'd put up some work for my BFA show, but I want that to be a surprise come December.

My friend Brandon, who entertained me for 2 hours while I drew him.

Usually I don't draw people smiling, so I gave it a try.

In-class drawing

You know a true friend when they model for you at least 5 times; Amy has surpassed that number by at least 50. What a pal. One day I'll make it up to her in Sour Patch Kids.

Life as of Late

2009-09-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

This semester is full of drawing and painting bliss. I've loved it so far, even though I'm still trying to figure out the whole balance thing. Between class, homework, BFA/senior projectness and work, there doesn't seem to be much time left for other things I enjoy, like sleeping, eating, socializing and running. Such is life. I'm taking a yoga class though, maybe it will help me achieve some sort of balance in my life while centering my chi twice a week.

p.s. I love drawing in ball-point pen.

Sketchbook Stuff:

Not Sketchbook Stuff:

La Fin

2009-09-26T13:29:00.000-07:00

The opera poster is finished. Good feelings for the most part.

2009-08-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

I was recently commissioned to do a piece of the Christ child and Mary. They wanted it to look along the same lines as some of Da Vinci's "unfinished" drawings. It was a fun experiment involving graphite, gouache, ink and my cousin and her baby as models. Good times.

Dabbling in Opera

2009-06-23T14:34:00.000-07:00

I'm in the middle of a project for an upcoming BYU opera, The Tales of Hoffmann. It's still a work in progress but I should start painting this week, hooray! Here's a comp and color study.

When the Road Runs Out

2009-06-05T19:32:00.001-07:00

Life is an interesting thing. Sometimes it guides you down well-lit streets with signs directing your path; other times it shoves you down roads that may be a little bumpy and unfamiliar, even roads that may seem like dead ends. The beauty about these untraveled paths is that they spurt (or maybe force) new levels of growth, deeper sensitivity and greater appreciation for life's beautiful things. It's no wonder that when our paved roads turn to gravel, we have to slow down a bit and watch our footing. I suppose my current slow-traveling time down rough roads may explain why I've been extra slow at producing artwork, but possibly might also explain why I feel as if I am on the verge of something incredible; new ideas are born and creativity is inspired on these roads where we are forced to slow down just a bit and see life for what it really is. That being said, I have nothing to post for now other than that thought. I do feel like creating something awesome though, so here I go. I'll keep you posted.

Winter Craziness

2009-05-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

Here are a few illustrations from this past winter semester, both new and reworked. I feel like the semester was overall fairly successful, especially since I have started experimenting with a look and process that I'm excited about. The piece for A Little Princess is another experiment done in basically the same process as the piece from the last post. It's mixed media again, with acrylic, ink, gesso and charcoal. There's something about mixing media that makes me happy inside. I almost feel as if I'm reconnecting with my childhood when I would mix fingerpaints, playdough and crayons together to create something awesome.

Rapunzel

Book cover for A Little Princess

yoga magazine article

magazine article

New Stuff

2009-04-16T20:53:00.000-07:00

Here's a recent experiment. I kind of like it, a lot actually. It was fun to do and a direction that I'm going to look into.

Escapage from Burn-Outage

2009-03-29T17:21:00.001-07:00

Here I am only weeks away from scholastic freedom and--bad news--I can feel myself burning out. This tends to happen from time-to-time; usually I blame late nights, mounds of projects and not enough power in caffeine. This time the main problem seems to be a lack of confidence and satisfaction in my work. That is the problem with being a perfectionist I suppose. Often I tend to be far too critical of myself and have a hard time seeing anything good in my work, which leads to a dangerous level of burn-outage called "I quit for no good reason other than this is hard and I can't do it perfectly right now." Pretty lame eh?

Lately I have felt myself reaching this stage and have, for the second time in my life, seriously considered dropping out and becoming a beach bum, or at least bumming at my parents' house and dipping my feet in the kiddie pool from time-to-time. Fortunately for both me and my parents, it didn't take long for me to scrap that idea. Instead of pooping out, I have decided the only way to fight through this pathetic burn-out stage is to do exactly what I don't want to do right now: work harder, work smarter and love every minute of it (or at least every 30 minutes or so). This means I need to spend more quality time with my art, which, whether I like it or not, I seem to have a little more time in my life to do just that. So hello to finals and peace out to burn-outage! It's time to take it like a man...er...a strong woman.

Sketchy

2009-02-23T23:32:00.000-08:00

I splurged on some new pens the other day and it was pretty much the best decision of my life...or at least the best decision of the week. Here are a few pages from my sketchbook.

Recent Developments

2009-02-11T22:31:00.001-08:00

The past few days have been crazy-busy and fairly sleepless (big thanks to my mad procrastination skills). It seems as if some good came out of them though.

These are both illustration assignments, the first Rapunzel and the second a nappin' cowboy. I used acrylic ink with acrylic paint on both illustrations, and on the cowboy also added a touch of goauche (pronounced "gwuash," took me forever to figure that one out...).

This acrylic ink stuff is fantastic. I just bought the sepia-colored acrylic ink and LOVE it like the child I don't have. Everything I've touched in the past week has been covered with the stuff because I can't keep my hands off of it. The inks come in lots of different colors, which means I will be buying many more bottles of this beautiful stuff. I think the cadmium red is first on my list...

Figures

2009-02-11T22:12:00.001-08:00

I was looking through some of my figure drawings and found a few to share. They're fairly recent, meaning the oldest date back to this past summer.

20 minute pose

3 hour pose

Head study

Another One Bites the Dust

2008-12-26T10:18:00.000-08:00

So fall semester is officially over. Crazy. It was without question one of the busiest, craziest, strangest and most stressful semesters of my life. Ironically, the work that came out of it was the most promising so far. I say "promising" because my work still has a long way to go before it reaches the level I'd like it to be, but it's getting closer.

One of my focuses this past semester was developing a personal style. I experimented a lot with pattern, solid shapes, line and washes. Some of the pieces came out all right while others are better off as firewood. Overall, I like the direction my work has taken and am really excited to develop it further next semester.

These are just a few of my pieces from the semester. I still need to do a little quality-control on them, which is my project over the break. Even though they're not perfect I still wanted to put them up here. I'll post the completely "finished" versions up here once they're, well, finished.

Plein Aire Maddness

2008-11-22T15:49:00.000-08:00

I've really been liking my plein aire class. There's something about painting outside that is so relaxing, minus the times my painting makes me feel like smashing my pallette and pulling out all my hair. Anyway. Here's the most recent piece. We went down to the Provo River Trail for a few days and then I finished it up in the studio.

Yet Another Awkward Stage of Life...

2008-11-03T22:20:00.000-08:00

Well here I am a senior, and halfway through fall semester already. It's a rather surreal feeling. In less than a year and a half I will be graduating. The student life I have known since kindergarten will abruptly end, throwing me into the cold, heartless world with only my skills and wee portfolio as weapons. Sounds like an incredible adventure if you ask me.

In my very first class my professor told us that we would each be adapting the class assignments to fit our individual market direction. Not a bad idea eh? The only problem is that I want to do everything from books to set design to editorial to gallery work. Each market has a different feel to it, meaning that your style should as well. The trick is adapting to these markets without losing your personal identity. This leads to another problem: I haven't settled into my style niche yet. Not having found my "artistic niche" kind of makes me feel like I'm going through another awkward stage, only this time I'm 21, I have straight teeth and I can talk to boys without feeling nauseated.

That being said, here is a sampling of work from the semester thus far:

Big Bad Wolf as Grandma for my "portfolio development" class

Four hour head study

Landscape from my plein aire painting class

Two hour head study

Four hour head study

Two hour head study.

Two hour head study

Thoughts on Failure

2008-10-07T22:06:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine that I hadn't seen in forever recently asked me what I am doing with my life. He knew that I was studying illustration already, so my reply was simply "I am trying to find my style." How do you find your style/voice? From what I hear, it is all about trial and error.

Yesterday in class we had a critique. Near the end, my professor surprised me by emphasizing the importance of trial and error. He told us not to focus on creating masterpieces in school, but to take this time to experiment, to go out on a limb and to fail. This, he said, is how we will succeed. We have to fail so we can understand how to do something correctly. Sometimes our experiments will succeed and we can implement them into our work, but usually they will fail. Failure, however, is not necessarily a negative thing. Failure gives us the opportunity to pick ourselves up, clean up the scrapes and try something different.

I think that way too often I focus on perfection instead of the progress made by trial and error. From the first thumbnails, to the color studies, to the finishing touches, I am trying to create an amazing illustration that will knock the illustration world off their feet. This attitude usually cripples me. Instead of experimenting I cautiously color in the lines that I'm comfortable with. I'm not saying that having an optimist attitude about my work and working towards something beautiful are bad things, in fact I think they're both fantastic. What I'm getting at is that it is time for me to take that optimism and work, and point it in the direction of progress, not instant perfection.

My goal is to progress--not only in art, but in making paper airplanes, cooking edible rice, living life--even if that means falling on my back (or even my face), picking myself up, learning from my mistakes and trying something different. Basically what I'm trying to say here is that failure is not the enemy, it's the fear of failure that we have to run from.

Wallpaper my world

2008-07-30T20:54:00.000-07:00

I just finished a couple of editorial illustrations for BYU's Center for Teaching and Learning. They're putting out a magazine called Inspire next month for BYU professors. Both of the illustrations are done in acrylic and colored pencil. The article titles are "Syllabus Builder" and "Podcasts."

The lady/Syllabus Builder was my favorite to do simply because I am obsessed with old wallpaper patterns. There is just something about their patterns and colors that make me feel so inspired. I especially love William Morris' wallpaper and fabric designs. In fact, while I was interning in New York last month I bought a fantastic book full of his designs. He was around during both the Arts and Crafts Movement and Art Nouveau, which are two of my very favorite periods. The artwork that was born during those years is absolutely gorgeous! I love the organic quality of the line work, the brilliant colors and the combination of modeled and flat objects. Basically what I am trying to say here is that I love wallpaper, William Morris, the Arts and Crafts Movement and Art Nouveau. Oh and I love peanut butter, but that doesn't really have anything to do with anything...

New York I Love You

2008-05-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

I'm in New York City interning with an amazing illustrator named Natalie Asencious (if you don't know who she is look her up NOW; she's incredible). For the next five weeks I will be learning the ways of the illustrator. I'll be working three or four days a week archiving, stretching paper, observing, asking lots of questions, filing, preparing canvases, doing puppetry, making coffee, etc. The idea is that by the time I get back I just might have a better idea of where I want to go with my career and how I'm going to get there. Basically, I'm trying to figure out what to do with my life and an internship seems like a pretty good place to start.

My first week here has already come and gone, which is craaaazy. I've played the part of tourist, student, artist, art connoisseur, guide, lost tourist and new arrival trying not to look like one. I've seen Times Square, walked along Broadway, fallen in love with Brooklyn, peered off the Empire State Building, waved at the Statue of Liberty, feasted at the Met, visited Soho, hung out in Union Square, picked up a subway map at Grand Central Station, walked through China Town, gotten lost in Harlem (haha...), mastered (well sort of) the subway system, walked down the aisle at Saint Patrick's Cathedral, eaten delicious food in Little Italy, looked for celebrities at Rockefeller Plaza, shopped on 5th avenue, strolled through Central Park and have been sketching like crazy. All in all it has been a fantastic week!

New York is incredible. It took me approximately 2 hours to fall in love with the city, and then only 22 more to decide that this is where I'm moving after graduation. There is some about the sea of people, the constant energy, the noises, the smells (minus the occasional wiffs of the sewer that is), the diversity, the food, the people, the architecture, the markets and everything about New York that has a charm--a grimy charm--to it.

So that's it. I love New York and I love that I'm going to be here for 5 weeks learning from an amazing illustrator. Life is good.

The Winter Stuff

2008-05-18T18:46:00.000-07:00

Here are a few illustrations from last semester. It was the season of acrylic paints, so they're all done mainly in acrylic. To switch things up a bit I used a little india ink in a couple of them as well.

Conceptual assignment: take a symbol and depict it unstereotypically (is that a even a word?). I chose a timeless symbol: the door.

Meet Alice. She's in a place called Wonderland.

This was an article titled "Rape victim sentenced to 200 lashes."

We had to do a portrait of a famous person. Guess who it is. (Hint: he's a pretty famous artist and you might even think that a four year old could do what he did, but you would be wrong of course)

This was an article on Putin and how corrupt he is. The illustration isn't quite finished....but he will be soon. I've decided to completely "finish" him this summer and possibly put him in my portfolio, corruption and all.

i heart art

2008-02-14T09:37:00.001-08:00

In the spirit of Valentine's Day I am finally posting some more art on this thing. Most of these paintings were done in my head painting class last semester. It was a fantastic class! We painted heads with oil on canvas (not on bald men's heads, much to my disappointment). Every month we had 12 out-of-class paintings to do and every class we painted from live models. The theory was that if you painted a bizillion heads you might learn how to paint them. My first head paintings were possibly the UGLIEST things I've ever done (no offense to the models). Fortunately for my future artistic career I improved dramatically, but I still have quite a ways to go. That's one thing I love about art. As you work hard you'll feel yourself improve and gain confidence, but it's a constant process. There's always more room for developing your style, learning new techniques and "perfecting" what you do (if there is such a thing as perfection that is).

This is my little sister. I used super cool colors on her.

On this one I tried to use really bright colors instead of toning them down.

In this one I focused on the blocks of color other than his features.

This one was really fun to do. She had red and green lights on her instead of just white light.

Speaking of art....

2008-02-12T20:58:00.000-08:00

This past week has been an interesting one. Lots of things happened all at once that made me question a lot of different things, including the humanity of mankind. Last week, right in the height of the drama, my Italian professor assigned my class to read this poem. When I saw the title I knew I was going to connect with Gaspara's poem, and I totally did. It pretty much sums up the past couple of years and is pretty much on-target when it comes to how I was feeling last week. The poem is beautiful. (Actually, I've read a few more of her poems since this one and all of them are absolutely gorgeous. If you like poetry, and even if you don't, look her up.) Read it and weep.

Dura è la stella mia
Gaspara Stampa

Dura è la stella mia, maggior durezza
è quella del mio conte: egli mi fugge,
i' seguo lui; altri per me si strugge,
i' non posso mirar altra bellezza.

Odio chi m'ama, ed amo chi mi sprezza:
verso chi m'è umile il mio cor rugge,
e son umil con chi mia speme adugge;
a così strano cibo ho l'alma avezza.

Egli ognor dà cagione a novo sdegno,
essi mi cercan dar conforto e pace:
i'lasso questi, ed a quell'un m'attegno.

Così ne la tua scuola, Amor, si face
sempre il contrario di quel ch'egli è ; degno:
l'umil si sprezza, e l'empio si compiace.

(dalle Rime, 1554)

Post Numero Uno

2007-12-08T20:13:00.000-08:00

Here is my first blog post ever. I have to admit up front that I feel a little strange writing about myself and posting my artwork on this thing. Why am I even starting a blog? Well I guess it all began with a little peer pressure, curiosity and boredom. Now I'm here, and why not? It's a free spot to post my artwork and write whatever my heart desires, as well as an entertaining time waster--er--filler.
This is an old watercolor of a woman's head. I did it from a black and white photograph. It was originally part of a painting but I ended up cropping it off. Sadly the painting didn't turn out so hot, but I like how she turned out.