Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Bookplate Design


So I'm going to begin moving my services and business more toward graphic design, primarily for advertising...so business cards, letterhead, brochures, flyers, mailers, that kind of thing. It's like a repackaging of myself. That being said, I need to create some examples of this stuff, and here's my first shot at something, a bookplate! :-D. Bookplates can be really complex or really simple, so I went for the more simple approach, with some vintagey finishes and colors. Bookplates are normally black and white, but why not make some fun stuff in color? The nice thing about this little morning project, too, is that it is all vectors, so it's doing double-duty as an example on my website and also a stock illustration on my vector site. It's all about building that portfolio, right? :-D

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Quincineras





This weekend I attended a Qincineras and it was awesome.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Why I Love My Job...

Gathering reference and having fun at the same time! I visited the Northern California Renaissance Faire this past weekend (AKA Casa de Renfaire), and guested with St. Bride's, a guild who had commissioned me to paint the guildleader's wife and prettylittle baby.


For the first time this faire season I got to walk around, shop, and enjoy the faire. I actually bought stuff, which is a rare occurance for me, but I was so enchanted with the totally different things that this faire had to offer that you just don't see at the others.

I also got to chat with the Knights of Avalon, and look through their photographer's proofbooks and pick out beautiful photographs to work up their paintings from. I also took some of my own, and was all set to actually get to go out on the field o' battle with them to shoot reference, but the proofs I looked at were way better than anything I could have shot, so I ended up staying off the stomping grounds, though now I'm sortof wishing I'd had that experience of being on the field with five knights :-).

All in all, a really nice day, and I even got to wear a new dress, tee hee :-).
And who can argue with this guy? I mean, really!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

A Little Painty Painty


Just a practice painting. I didn't use my usual oil-painting brush on this one, just a round brush with pressure sensitivity. It's all about the lamp...that lamp gives it some kind of impressionist feel...but it's too overworked to be impressionist. I should work on that....

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Knights of Avalon - Blue Knight WIP


Knights of A painting #2. I like the composition of this one a bit better, and the nice color contrast between the blonde of the Belgian and the dark green background.

Knights of Avalon


Here's the finish on the Knights of Avalon painting. It's kindof a weird little painting...a-symmetrical, with the horse coming into the frame, without showing the back leg. The palette is very neutral and blue-gray. It will look lovely as a postcard, I think!

Monday, September 15, 2008

Knights of Avalon - WIP


I'm doing up some paintings for The Knights of Avalon, our most beloved jousting troupe. Here's a work-in-prog. You can see the parts I've rendered and what I haven't gotten to yet. This one has about a day's work left in it before I call it finished. I like the broken color and loose feeling of this style of painting, and I don't want to overdo it. I will probably just finish out Bil's face, touch up a few more edges and forms, and call it done. Then on to the next one!