Assignment #2 with Make It In Design's summer school

This week's beginner's track assignment for Make It In Design's summer school was to create a pattern focusing on tribal shapes. I was thrilled. I've never worked in a style like this, but I did work as the assistant to the incredible Emma Amos back in the 90s. She had an immense and beautiful collection of kente cloth that she used in her paintings, and this exercise brought back great memories.

I decided to try a geometric spin on my favorite subject right now, the bird. I created several watercolor sketches, scanned my favorite, and brought it in to Illustrator to assemble into a pattern. I was initially going for a more purple/pastel color scheme, but when I saw this black and green variation, I loved the glow-y, peacock-y feel, and I went with it.

Immediately below is my submitted piece, followed by a summery variation of the pattern, as well as the watercolor sketch that these were created from. As always, your comments are welcome!

Summer school with Make It In Design

The free summer school course with makeitindesign.com has begun! I chose the Beginner's Track, which includes three portfolio-building assignments, informative briefs and tips, and access to a large Facebook group, where we can view other people's work, ask for feedback on our own, get answers to any questions, etc. All for free. It's really a win-win.

The first assignment was to create a pattern with a tropical and/or summer holiday theme.

I started by researching tropical plants and birds. Though I'd always thought of flamingos as a comical and kitschy bird, I realized that I find them extremely beautiful, and I decided to focus on them. I sketched and painted several flamingos and tropical plants, and then I brought them into illustrator to create my pattern. My submitted pattern is immediately below, followed by other ideas, sketches and paintings. You can also check out the full gallery of beginner submissions here. Stay tuned for assignment #2!

Collaboration, blue warblers and 'no the yes'

Last night, before the sun went down and my five year old came home from his kickball game, I realized I had a few minutes to make some art. I currently have my watercolor tray out, so I looked around for any scraps of thick paper.

I love to collaborate with my kid, and we often paint and draw over each other's work, so I quickly chose one of my son's drawings that I've been holding onto. I grabbed my reference book about birds, and this is what I ended up with.

"You, the Magician"

"Observe your performance, your daily routine.
You make yourself up to teach yourself things."
—You, the Magician

This little excerpt is from the upcoming book that I've been illustrating, "You, the Magician." Written by husband and wife team, Jodi and Josh Carothers, this children's book has an incredible message that I think both kids and parents will enjoy and benefit from. I can't wait for people to read it.

Though I'm unsure of the release date (they are still looking at publishing options – suggestions welcome!), they now have a Facebook page that you can Like for more information and updates. Follow them here!

Last submission for MATS Bootcamp

Today was the deadline for my last submission in Lilla Rogers' MATS Bootcamp class. The initial mini-assignment and the overall focus was on our Favorite Beverage. The final piece should be something to give to a dear friend, or something that we'd put on our bedroom wall.

What was very different this month, was that we were asked not to post our works-in-progress on the MATS Facebook group. This prevented us from being influenced (and/or intimidated) by our classmates' work, and from seeking the opinions of others to make our own decisions. I needed to ask myself if I liked my final work and not be concerned with anyone else. Seeking approval can be a big challenge for me, and I loved this exercise.

I worked on my project up to the last minute, wavering between two very different directions. One was more editorial-ish; the other, very personal. I went with the personal one below. As I thought of my favorite drink, I thought more about memories of drinks and mealtimes. I thought of drinking juice in the morning at my Grandma Erma's farm, out of little, glass jelly jars. I thought of the lighting when I would sit down for breakfast, the window to my right, the expansive grass out the window, the big farm sink to my left. And I also thought of my Grandpa Iver, and how much I'd have liked to have him sit down with me for some juice and buttered toast. I used watercolor and graphite paper drawings to create this collage.

Part of me wanted to go with a more obvious Favorite Beverage theme, though, and I created many variations of the collage below. It was based on my coffee cup drawings, and I wanted it to seem soothing, like she was drinking a morning elixir.

As always, your feedback, comments and suggestions as welcome!

A quick watercolor sketch of Grandpa Iver

For an assignment I am currently working on, I have been thinking about who I'd like to have my morning cup of coffee with. Anyone. Who would I want to talk to, ask some questions, smile at, look around, pour another cup...?  My beloved grandfather Iver, whom I've never met and only have heard about, came to mind.

As I looked at old pictures of him today, I decided to sketch him. He was an eel farmer, a restauranteur, and a furniture maker (amongst many other things). He loved classical music, as I do. He was a tall and notoriously kind and patient man. He left such an impression on my mother that I named my son, Archer, after him (in Swedish, Iver = the bowman, the archer). Here's my quick watercolor of him. I love him so!

An artist date to see Neil Gaiman at Carnegie Hall

As I've mentioned in a couple of my very first blog posts, I try to take myself out on artist dates as often as possible. My most recent artist date was to see Neil Gaiman at Carnegie Hall. The performance opened with a few songs by FourPlay String Quartet (amazing!), then Neil came out and read his version of Hansel and Gretel. After a brief intermission, Neil read from his new book, The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains. FourPlay String Quartet performed as he read, and illustrations by artist Eddie Campbell were projected on the wall behind them. It was exactly as I had hoped -- moody, mysterious, exciting and extremely memorable. I loved it.

Here's a quick sketch I made during the performance. You can see the overall set up, as well as Neil's awesome, floppy hair...

Here's my ticket and my pre-show Cabernet:

To find out more about this event, check out this fantastic interview/preview with Neil at hearandnow.wbur.org.