Ah, the innocence of youth...

If there was footage of me as a child... here it is:

Illustration Friday: Sweater

With a recent trend in ugly sweaters being cool, years of teasing could have been erased from my memory! I still really dig the horrible sweaters I had when I was a kid.

Ahoy! Another Painting Demo

Here's another painting demo from last semester. This one is on watercolor paper, with watercolors, some colored pencils and gamsol, and then some oils on top. Mixed media is one word for it! Then to bump up some of the dark, I monkeyed with it in the ol' p-shop. Finally got around to finishing it months after class.

I have no idea what it means.

Tough Day At The Office

Yup, caught sleeping on the job. Cats make THE WORST employees.

Actually, it's been fairly chilly in the ol' house, and I refuse to give National Grid all of my munmuns, so Mama found the warmest place she could.

MINDBLOWING!! GoogleArtProject Insanity

Ok, maybe I am the last person to check this out, but holy cow... GoogleArtProject is amazing, and I've blown the better par of an evening getting close to the world's treasures. Now, it's one thing to finally be in these museums, but being able to see the art THIS close is amazing. Art Project is an online compilation of high-resolution images of artworks from galleries worldwide, as well as a virtual tour of the galleries in which they are housed.

Check it out!

Marie-Antoinette's lookin' balls are GINORMOUS!

Rogue Ales: Yellow Snow IPA

FINALLY! A chance to prove my parents wrong. I CAN have yellow snow, and like it! Actually, that's really gross and you should never eat yellow snow. Any color snow in fact.

BUT, let me share the joy that Rogue Ales Yellow Snow has provided me this winter! Like most IPA's, a light kick upon first taste that then improves with each sip. I was introduced to this little fella not too long ago and order it whenever I hear its name. Let me give you some more info!

Rogue Ales is an American craft brewery founded in 1988 in Ashland, Oregon. The following year the company opened their second brewpub in Newport, Oregon where they are now headquartered. They operate brewpubs in Oregon, Washington, and California. Rogue exports throughout the US and internationally. Rogue Ales have been described as "invariably fun and full flavored".The company has also expanded into distilling as well, with micro distilleries in Newport and Portland.

CEO Jack Joyce has described the company's goals as, "We try to do four things - keep making great product, keep trying to make our packaging great, keep trying to integrate ourselves in our communities, and keep creating unique thunder (in promotions)...". Rogue maintains a company manifesto that expands on their values. The company gives back to its community in a variety of ways, for example helping the City of Newport celebrate its 125th anniversary with the issue of a limited edition Newport Anniversary Ale, whose historical label pays tribute to the Yaquina Brewery, Newport's first. Rogue also donates ongoing proceeds of a specialty brew series to the Oregon Coast Aquarium (past beers have included Spiny Lumpsucker Ale, Wolf Eel Ale, Shark Tooth Ale and Sea Otter Amber). One (Whale Ale) was even crafted in honor of Keiko, the orca, the Aquariums most celebrated resident and star of the movie Free Willy before his release into open waters. Heh heh... I love Free Willy Yo Mama jokes. In addition there are ongoing sponsored activities like the annual surfing event "The Gathering Longboard Classic" on Newport's South Beach.

I love that on their website, they have spec cards for each beer. Here's Yellow Snow's!

They also list that Yellow Snow IPA was originally introduced for the 2000 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. It is Rogue’s tribute to winter sports everywhere—downhill skiing, snowboarding, cross country, ice hockey, ice fishing, snowmobiling, and even curling. I might add that it's a chance for timid rebels like myself to go against those tried and true warning my parents gave me about my affection for snow. Take that! And getch yoself a pint of the Yellow Snow when you hear it on tap. You'll love the zing!

Ps.) With all that Oregon talk, it totally remind me of this:

You can put a bird on anything, and call it ART!

The End of the Tang Dynasty... well the Tang Project

I've just completed the fourth installment for the four part series I've been doing for Cricket. The first and second installments are out for January and February, and I think they printed nicely! So now I'll pack up my lavish silks and glittering gold for another project.

Nathaniel Fludd: Beastologist Web Launch!

I am more than excited to announce the launch of the official Nathaniel Fludd: Beastologist website! It's been a bit in the making, and will continuously have more content added; including more tidbits about Nate family, newer entries into the Book of Beasts, and a downloadable section for teachers and librarians. It's roughly two months before the fourth book's release, The Unicorn's Tale, so keep checking in!!

A special thanks goes out to Antoine Revoy, for his coding mastery, R.L. LaFevers for her wonderful words and creation of such a fun series, and Kate O'Sullivan, editor genius!

They're Dancin' Fools!

All work and no play makes Kelly drink no beer.
Beer post coming dang soon, peoples!

Here's a sneak peek to what's being finished on the ol' desk!

ps) it's currently 0˚F here. I kinda like it. I won't like the bill from the gas company in 2 weeks time though.

Beastologist Teaser

So, Shybird's been hard at work creating a special project for R.L. LaFever's chapter novel series, Nathaniel Fludd: Beastologist. We hope to be unveiling it in the next few weeks, but here's a slight teaser!

The Oceanliner Era

A project I've been working on has allowed me to research the golden age of the Transatlantic ocean-liners. There's something memorizing, yet frightening about the shear size of the ships. Looking at pictures of their construction, and imagining the craftsmen who built them is amazing.

Looking at some of the old pictures gives me the feeling of how cold these ships mght have been in the winter, or how the smell of the cleaning solutions might have been. I grew up hearing stories of when my grandparents came over from Ireland, and how the whole upper deck was covered in ice. About ten years after, the ship that brought them over, the Lancastria, was bombed and sunk off St. Nazaire, France. While lying at anchor in the Charpentier Roads, five enemy German planes dive bombed the ship which sank in twenty minutes taking the lives of nearly 3,000 troops and over 1,000 civilians. The Lancastria had been converted into a troopship and set sail from Liverpool on June 14th. to assist in the evacuation of British troops and refugees from France.

The Last of The Golden Fish

I kinda really enjoying some of the sketch quality of pencil! Hmmmm, time to start experimenting again! Wencheng was a blast to research. I am in love with the design sense of the Tang Dynasty. Awesome stuff.

Illustrated Classics... PHEW!

Wow, I know it doesn't look like much in the finish, but for some reason the size and detail level on this puppy took a LONG time! It was fun to paint this cover for Usborne, but I have to admit... I'm not a one hair brush kinda gal! I would love to be but it's just not in the cards!

I do like the detail of their version of Wizard of Oz. I had to stick fairly close to the interior's art of the stories, but it was fun to paint regardless!

Ring Out The Old!

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
~Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1850

This year's theme? A bevie I've had a bit too much of! Blessed eggnog (and a healthy dose of rum).

The origins, etymology, and the ingredients used to make the
original eggnog drink are debated. Eggnog may have originated in East Anglia, England. The "nog" part of its name may stem from the word "noggin", a Middle English term used to describe a small, carved wooden mug used to serve alcohol. The drink crossed the Atlantic to the English colonies during the 18th century. Since brandy and wine were heavily taxed, rum from the Triangular Trade with the Caribbean was a cost-effective substitute. The inexpensive liquor, coupled with plentiful farm and dairy products, helped the drink become very popular in America.

The Captain’s Nog

2/3 part Eggnog
1/3 part Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum
Sprinkle Cinnamon on top to finish. Serve in a champagne flute. Tchin tchin!

Cheers et Bonne Santé pour 2011!

Last Few Paintings of 2010

Trying to cram in as many finishes before the end of the year! It's tricky, since so many people are out of the office. AND I still have to make my New Years card. I have an idea, just have to fabricate. Eggnog and Rum shall be my fuel!

Nothing Says Happy Birthday like...

...an anatomical human heart made out of cake?


This was a recent commission, and truthfully... was a BLAST to make! It's frosted with buttercream, and then covered with rolled fondant. When asked to make this cake, I was only told it was for a sixteen year old's birthday party. I decided not to ask anymore questions!

YOWZA!

Wencheng, Again...

Almost done!

Illustrators 53

I'm super excited to announce that Antoine Revoy and I will be included into the Society of Illustrators 53rd Annual. The collaborative illustration “The Lodge” was selected by The Society of Illustrators during the course of its illustrator competition. The original will be presented at the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators in 2011. We're on cloud nine!

Too Steamy?

Creating art for juveniles can be interesting. Most times, I can pretty much instinctively know what is crossing the line. I guess with a recent assignment, my meter was off. I think I might have gotten TOO much into the story.

Here's my G rated sketch instead.
I still think the first dude is hunkier.

The Adventures of AMAZINGNESS!

Much like any other nerd out there, I've recently seen the second to last Harry Potter movie. I'm not about to say it was the most amazing piece of theatrical genius out there, but I will say it was mighty entertaining. What I WILL say is that within the movie was an animated three minute section, called "The Three Brothers". It was gorgeous and so well directed that I had to do a bit of research. Directed by Ben Hibon and created by Framestore, we learn of the story of the Three Brothers and their encounter with Death.


Sorry about the youtube poor quality clip.

Sequence supervisor at Framestore Dale Newton tells us,
"We tried a few things to get a gritty and hand-made feel. The inspiration was the way Lotte Reiniger had the childlike-ness for her animation, but we didn't necessarily want it to look like a stop-motion piece of animation. Because of the camera moves, we couldn't always split things down on twos. So we couldn't rely on any sort of technological roughing of the edges. The one thing we were keenly aware of at all times was the silhouettes which enabled us to play on a certain theatricality. The hands do so much of the talking - Death's hands for example are almost as expressive as his face is.

When we designed the characters, we tried to purposely design puppets. So we didn't give the characters, for instance, whites in their eyes. You didn't want to read them through, say, traditional blend shapes on their heads. It all had to be told throughout their entire pose. We were very conscious that the attitude of the characters at that point had to be read through their entire pose. This forced us into thinking theatrically, and we should feel like we're watching a very clever puppet show, not a traditional character-animated movie."

It's totally stunning, and in case you haven't seen "The Adventures of Prince Achmed", by Lotte Reiniger... YOU MUST. It is the oldest surviving animated feature film (two earlier ones were made in Argentina by Quirino Cristiani, but they are considered lost), and it featured a silhouette animation technique Reiniger had invented which involved manipulated cutouts made from cardboard and thin sheets of lead under a camera. The technique she used for the camera is similar to Wayang shadow puppets (though hers were animated frame by frame, not manipulated in live action). The original prints featured color tinting. The story is based on the elements taken from the collection 1001 Arabian Nights, specifically The Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Paribanou featured in Andrew Lang's The Blue Fairy Book. With the assistance of Aladdin, the Witch of the Fiery Mountain, and a magic horse, the title character reclaims the magic lamp and conquers the African sorcerer. The culminating scene in the film is the battle between die Hexe (the witch) and die africanische Zauberer (the African sorcerer), in which those characters undergo fabulous transformations. All is well in the end: Aladdin marries Dinarsade (Achmed's sister and daughter of the Caliph); Achmed marries Pari Banu; the African sorcerer is defeated; and the foursome return to the Caliph's kingdom.



And last but not least, just a moment of extreme praise for YellowShed, the duo of Todd Hemker's and Soyeon Kim's work. I think it's on the same level of kickassitude that the previous clips have had.

GODS! All of them Gods for me to worship!