Saturday, December 15, 2012

End of Semester Post

Just wrapped up my fall semester at Ringling.  Definitely looking forward to a bit of a break.

In my computer illustration class, I created train posters (advertising Amtrak routes).  I was inspired by the amazing American and British railway posters of the 1920s and 30s.  I used Illustrator and Photoshop.






















And so far my Winter Break has included frequent trips to my favorite bookstore and cafe.  It's good to be home!






Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Caitlins, a Forest, and the LA Zoo

Thought it was about time I showed you guys what I've been up to!  It's been busy, but I'm not sure I would really have it any other way...

My good friend Caitlin was the lovely model for this portrait.  This was our last assignment solely using Illustrator in my computer illustration class.


Next in computer illustration, we moved on to Photoshop.  I was inspired by Caitlin and some of the colors I used in her portrait for this character design.  Her name is Josey and she is a painfully shy, strawberry and book-loving high schooler.




In illustration, I tried to work on a story beat that could perhaps be used in an animated film.  I was also playing around with mood and lighting.  This one is also Photoshop.


a more detailed look...




And I was trying to organize my room a bit, and I found a bunch of animal sketches I did over the summer at the LA Zoo!  The drawings reminded me of all those wonderful visits I made with my CDA friends! <3





Friday, September 14, 2012

Back at Ringling

Hey all!  The fall semester at Ringling has started and it's moving fast!  It's good to be back and what I learned this summer has really been helpful.

I'm taking a computer illustration class and we've started with Illustrator.  Illustrator and I have a love-hate relationship, but I can't really complain about this assignment because the reference photos made me so happy.  The assignment was general (create an "icon" that fits in a series of three), so when in doubt, I turn to food for inspiration.





















I'm also taking a concept design class towards my visual development minor.  We've been playing around with the idea of abstract silhouettes and then finding the characters through the shape language. These guys were all inspired by shadows and textures I found walking about Ringling campus.


Thursday, August 9, 2012

Characters

These are my final character designs for the "Scrooge" assignment we had in my Character Design class with David Colman.  The assignment was to design 3 characters from A Christmas Carol: a ghost, Scrooge, and a third character of our choice.  But the ghost had to be an animal (mine's a panda) and Scrooge had to be a woman.  Definitely a challenging assignment.




On top of my work at CDA, I had a commission!  I did a portrait of a friend's dog!  It was nice to take a break from working digitally and get my hands messy with some good ol' fashion acrylic paint.  This portrait ended up being 15"x15".


Sunday, July 15, 2012

Design Sketches: Mountains and a Chef

Mountains and a chef.  (That could be an animated film, right?  I would watch it.)  Here are a few more digital sketches I did in my Environment Design class.  We've been playing with color for the past couple weeks.  These were some earlier explorations with color.





This is my favorite design so far I created for my Character Design class.  We were given the words "stable, rule-oriented, routine" and told to create a chef.



Thursday, June 21, 2012

Concept Design Academy

This summer I'm studying at the Concept Design Academy (http://www.conceptdesignacad.com/) in Pasadena, CA.  It's an incredibly awesome opportunity and each class is eye-opening and mind-blowing.

Here's some stuff I've been working on...

Environment Design with James Paick (http://scribblejames.blogspot.com/)  It's great to finally be in a class that focuses on cinematic environment design!  It's pretty much like landscape painting with robots and spaceships and stuff like that.  Here are a few of my favorite thumbnail digital paintings I've worked on.
























Digital Painting with Jason Scheier (http://d3capmode.blogspot.com/)  This class is helping me get over my fear of digital painting.  This is a still-life we started in class.



Figure Invention with Rad Sechrist (http://radfordsechrist.blogspot.com/)  In this class we've been breaking down human anatomy as well as cartoon anatomy.  This is an exercise we did where you take a character, break it down into basic shapes, and then create a new pose.  I chose to do a study of Tigger.




Character Design with David Colman (http://davidcolman.blogspot.com/) It's very exciting to be in this class.  I've followed David Colman's work for a while and it's a dream come true to have him as a teacher!  We have to do cafe sketches every week, but instead of focusing on capturing a likeness, we have to think about character and design.  The goal is to try to capture a personality.  It's a lot of fun, but very challenging.  Here are some recent designs from various cafes around Pasadena.







Stay tuned!  We'll be adding color to the mix in Environment Design and doing some bigger character projects in Character Design!

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Wine Labels

Just finished my latest illustration project.  The assignment was to create wine labels. Surprisingly, it was one of my favorite assignments we have done all year!  (Who knew I would love designing wine labels!?)  I was inspired by the Hawaiian gods.  Pele is the goddess of the volcano, destruction, and fire.  She is incredibly awesome.  Kane is her brother and the god of the forest.  He's much more calm compared to his fiery sister, but I think they complement each other.  I created these by inking the line work and then digitally adding color, which was a small victory.  I'm planning on doing more digital work in the future.


Sunday, March 18, 2012

Sketchbook

I've been meaning to show you guys my latest Farmer's Market and cafe sketches!  I've been playing around with pen and watercolor.  Sketching at the Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings remains a highlight to my week!




These are some process pieces from my sketchbook.  I used them as initial studies for larger projects.  The tiger is watercolor and the girl is colored pencil.


Friday, March 2, 2012

Landscape

Yesterday in class, I made some changes to my landscape painting.  I think it sparkles a bit more now.  (And I'm convinced that the key to getting a landscape painting to behave is wearing bug spray.)

Monday, February 27, 2012

Spring Work

I think everything I make is in some way dedicated to someone.  Be it one of my gods--Peter de Seve, Norman Rockwell, Paul Felix--or my family and friends; the wonderful people who surround me influence and inspire me.  I don't think I'd be here without them and I'm very thankful.

In particular, I had a very specific person in mind for this piece.  This bike girl is for Isobel.  I hope you are doing well and I wish you the best!



In my painting class, we've been working on landscape and interiors.  The first was done at the Ringling Museum.  The second is the view outside my dorm window.