Collaborations and Complications

A quick doodle of me, Raul and Tito. 

My part on Kubo and The Two Strings is now complete. What started as a three month temp position stretched into a year's worth of crazy fun times - wrapping up with my department's Academy Award win! I have now rolled directly onto the next film.

I had to take a week off though right at the end of January due to sciatica. For those of you not familiar with it...please continue avoiding it if you can. Take care of your body. Hydrate with water. Be mindful of what you eat. Don't skimp on stretch breaks. Stand as much as you sit and sit with good posture. Yoga and hiking are awesome. You do have time for these kinds of things. This might sound a little lecture-y, but seriously SCIATICA IS EVIL. 

Post-CTN I was approached by fellow Oatley Academy students to participate in a unique collaboration opportunity. Jessie Kate Patterson, Maria Kercher, Blythe Russo, and Gwyn Conaway Bennison are my partners in crime for this crazy costume adventure! I look forward to sharing more about that project later. ;)

Another thing greatly occupying my mind of late is a different kind of collaboration. Last year Raul Ramos proposed on my birthday and of course I said yes. After debating it we've set our ideal date a year from now and are in planning mode. My dress has been purchased. Venues are narrowed down for tours and will be hopefully booked by the end of the month. And the invite list is more or less finished...provided people stop dying. :(

We have also been discussing the issue of "co-branding." This would obviously apply to the big event, but include other events where we display or attend as a unit - such as our shared table at CTN. With our different areas of interest and specialty, it would visually make sense of us together as a unit. If we showing separately then we wouldn't need to pack everything along - we'd still have our own self-branded things. Raul's been working especially hard to streamline his presentation lately. But mine is another matter entirely.

This upcoming status change brings the chance to really do some necessary tweaking - starting with my name. For as long as I could write, my name has been a problem. When small I never dreamed of the various details involved with fancy weddings and such...I dreamed of ditching my needlessly complicated name for something simple or at least less likely to be butchered by everyone and their "standardized" software. But now that I've gotten traction - my first movie credit for one - should I change it? The arguments for and against are sometimes heated and I'm not looking externally for answers - this is definitely a personal decision I trust others to respect once I've made it - but it is certainly something I've been struggling with more than I thought I ever would.

Can we just fast forward to the part when I get to leave for the honeymoon please??

Another Miss Julia

My dear friend Britt had a character named Julia long before I did. (Incidentally, I named my Julia after my Grandma - and sisters Rosalyn and Emilia after my great aunts Emily and Rose - no other real resemblances known or intended) For Britt's Birthday and Christmas this year I decided since I had already done a picture of her character Gabriel (My unofficial boyfriend from back in the day), that I would now do a puppet of his wife - the second Julia.

Beyond the challenge of blonde hair (a variety of yarn, not embroidery floss) and matching a different artistic style (I tried to make her appear more like how Brit draws her), I also had the interesting task of late 1800s fashion. How is it so different than the first Julia??? Oh, the difference 10 years can make. The early-mid 1870s of Great Britain saw much more bustle - a different silhouette on top of much more draping - than the early 1860s of Holland.

Check out more of this Julia's story on Britt's blog HERE. 

Biggest lesson of all on this puppet - Brocade is even more of a pain to work with at a smaller scale. Time for more in-depth researching on fabric types!

Voila!

 Finished! Here stands Miss Julia, the "Beauty" in this little beastly tale of love and understanding.

The first few pictures are in-process shots of the costuming process. That lower lace is also embroidery floss - took me the better part of an hour to get it behaving and it was a nice stretching of my back-stitching skills.

The pages below are:

1. A quick summary of the building process.

2. The finished sculpture.

3. The initial design/development page for the sculpture.

4. Explorations in costumes and personality.

I have one more page in mind for presentation purposes, but I am taking a small break from her to develop the surrounding characters - I've started sketching one sister and research/thumb nailing the "Beast" called Oni-san - our second prominent figure who I also hope to complete a sculpture of before CTN in November.

 Of course I had intended to post yesterday evening, but I had the opportunity to attend a talk by Jon Schindehette encompassing the 10 Ways to Kill Your Career (And How to Avoid Them). It was quite good. He is a very smart, charismatic gentleman with years of experience as an Art Director and Artist. He writes the ArtOrder blog which everyone should now go look at for more inspiration and insight. : )

Adding Some Soul

DOUBLE UPDATE! :D This is for two reasons:

1. A certain company that I'd LOVE to work for has posted up their next round of internships for the summer. Since this personal project is one that I'd envisioned done for/by this studio - I figured it'd be great to get more of it out there sooner - maaaybe get an internship too? *Rubs lucky ears*

2. She LIVES. I literally just finished her, so I won't be behind next week when I leave for this weekend and can easily do a double post this time AND next time - so the final will be posted next week!

So. The top image is of the acrylic painting process (Sneak peak in the background of the design sketch) and then they are followed by two in-process hair shots. I opted for embroidery floss - as opposed to my actual hair - which was a smart move considering how much my glue gun decided to melt stuff and smoke randomly. Though I burned myself considerably less this time than the last crafty project.
Leveling up with the glue gun! :)
The embroidery floss also allowed for more strand colors and lock thickness variation. (Much easier to braid and fray than Scuply) Overall I think this was my favorite part.

The last four pics are a turn around of the finished hair. Hope you enjoy and stay tuned for corsets, lace and all the skirts!

Tall, Dark and British...

My dear lady friend Miss Britt has been working very hard to get her first novel finished. I fondly remember reading through an old, unfinished draft and I am STOKED to read the next finished draft soon. I don't do fan art very often, but I think the occasion called for something special. So I present for you: Gabriel Arevale, Lord of Derringham!

We joked for about 3 years that I was dating Gabriel as I spent so much time staring at the fancy portraits she did of him. What can I say? I dig the tortured souls. lol I even got this fantastic birthday comic: http://terrizae.deviantart.com/art/Gift-for-Zenuva-150665656 which he was so gracious enough to participate in for me. Fun times indeed.

It's a fantastic story that's historical, romantic, mysterious, and thrilling! So definitely check out her blog for updates and beg her for more teasers: http://authorerinlounsbury.blogspot.com/

Renewed Attempts

 

Incorporating more of my research...I'm taking yet another approach to this character. I still have much more development needed, but I feel like I'm getting much closer with this page. The finished "page" for her will probably be several pages long. XP
 

I had been close to finished on another important piece for a while, but then I had a break through (On a Sunday evening no less, so very hard getting myself to go to sleep for work the next morning after that epiphany) and scrapped it. Now the redraw is super close to finished and I feel super energized about it, so the painting will go speedy fast!! :) (Teaser below)
Then I should get back to that Fancy Bear...and some trees...lol 

Christmas Sketches and Commissions

The week just before Christmas I was working on a commission piece (Not pictured here) which turned out well, all in pastels no less! Then I flew home to Montana for Christmas (Kiiiiinda stressful since there are not so many flights headed that way anymore, for about an hour I thought Raul would see my parents and I'd wouldn't) and slept for about a week. Also rubbed my sister's tummy, got kicked, ate birthday cake and saw 47 Ronin. Seriously, that's about it besides sleeping. I did somehow manage to sketch the above fancy bear in the meantime (The additional non-bear sketch is a month or so old, but I realized I may not have posted it then because I was coloring it) for catching back up with my Magic Box lessons. Working on another piece I hope to have ready for posting on Monday - and then I've got to really hunker down and start a project due in March. Hint: Ducklings. ;) 

I hope everyone had a good holiday. I'm very much looking forward to an exciting year with fingers crossed that everything goes at least half-way according to plan. lol 

Reference 1860-1865

I've been doing a fair bit of research (also a commission unrelated to this - don't know if I can post it yet) and while I didn't intend to post any of these sketches, Raul told me to and many people have found it helpful on DA. So I'm posting it here as well. In case it's not super obvious what I'm focusing on, it's the years 1860-1865 and comparisons between Japan and generalized Western countries. Dozo...

This and That

The Bar Tender. Who *spoilers* dies and causes Lola to become an alcoholic. After drawing so many girlies, it was a bit challenging, but also fun. Surprisingly so I might add.

Most of the working weekend was actually spent sewing.

Yeah, sewing. I shrank an existing pattern I had waaaaay down and attempted to make a miniature corset. It's been a little while since I was able to do such a project and I enjoyed it immensely. I think it shows that I'm a bit rusty, but I'll post the in progress photos...so you have an idea of how tiny I'm talking. lol

Also at the bottom is the progress on the face-sculpt I had started a while back. The character design has and is still evolving so I've stopped working on it for now - until I settle on something that works. 

Anyways, that's all for now! Going to do some Magic Box homework, so that will be fun. ; )

Saints, Sinners and Survivors - Mourning 3

While not quite as intellectually impressive as wives 1 and 2, Jane was a skilled artist - an avid embroiderer. Fairly conservative, she was far more concerned with decorum than political maneuvering - perhaps discouraged by the fate of her predecessor. 

She was betrothed to Henry one day after Anne (A distant cousin) was beheaded and the only of his wives to be buried as a Queen of England, earning the final resting place beside Henry, but never actually crowned queen. 

She proved compassionate when reconciling Mary with her Father, and even achieved her goal of restoring Mary to the royal succession. She died in childbirth - the only wife to give Henry what he wanted - a male heir - Edward VI. Many remembered her fondly, some used her to further leverage themselves in court - such as her two brothers who both met rather dismal ends. 

I noticed rather quickly that the actress who played Jane in the Tudors was switched out in between seasons - but was rather surprised when my mother didn't notice this. Guess it goes to show how thoroughly they covered their tracks when starting up that third season. 

I feel like that was a type of bonding we did when I was younger - watch various shows and movies and make the connections almost like a game - "Oh yes, she was also in this and this where he also co-stared, etc." I suppose this is why some people think I am a walking IMDB. lol 

In regards to Jane herself, I do imagine she was quite the epitome of grace and prudence...but maybe a bit dull otherwise. 

 

Welp, that's all folks! Henry VIII did not in fact have VIII wives, only six. Thank you for joining me on this mini history lesson. For more information on these ladies you can watch the Tudors - not 100% accurate, but oh so entertaining! Now I am moving on to other projects, other times, other places...to be revealed shortly! Exciting times!! :)

Saints, Sinners and Survivors - Disarming 2

 

 

Daughter of Thomas Boleyn and Elizabeth Howard, Anne was educated in the Netherlands and France. Plans for her first marriage (to a cousin) fell through and so she became a lady-in-waiting to then Queen Catherine of Aragon. She was sent home by Cardinal Wolsey after a second betrothal (to a gentleman at court) failed. Third time was a charm though - she attracted the attention of Henry and the chase began. 

As her older sister Mary had been Henry's mistress before her, Anne refused to be so easily used. She held her ground and became so great a desire to him, Henry took control of the English Church and annulled his previous marriage 5 days before wedding Anne. Their first and only surviving child was Elizabeth - afterwards known as Elizabeth I. After three more miscarriages, Henry had moved on to courting Jane Seymour. Anyone sensing a pattern?? 

In April 1536 Henry had her investigated for high treason - the charges of Adultery, Incest, and Witchcraft tenuous at best. None-the-less she was found guilty and beheaded on May 19th of that year. During her daughter's long reign, she was honored as "the most influential and important queen consort England has ever had" due to her involvement in the English Reformation. And she is still quite the controversial figure. 

I'm not sure I feel quite as bad for Anne as for Catherine Howard. Catherine seemed to be young, careless and not terribly bright to begin with while Anne was well educated, exacting and indulgent. It was again amusing to watch my boyfriend react to Anne in the Tudor series because of her abruptness (See reaction to finding Henry and Jane together towards the end of the second season or the overly paranoid Mary-could-be-Queen scene in the first/second season) and "creepy mouse mouth." Obviously as we are both fans of Catherine, we are a bit biased against Anne. But I tried not to let that come across too strongly since she is my own sister's favorite.

This one goes out to you G! : )

Saints, Sinners and Survivors - Not Interested in 4

 

 

As their marriage - lastingly only 6 months - was never consummated,
Anne of Cleeves was never technically a Queen of England. Born in Germany,
she came to England and married Henry on January 6th, 1540. Both she
and her younger sister were in consideration for the position of wife number
four. 

Having no formal education or aptitude for cultural adaption, Anne was
just as displeased with Henry as he was with her - readily agreeing to
a divorce and the distinction of being the King's "Beloved Sister." She

never remarried and enjoyed managing the households gifted to her by
Henry - one of which once belonged to Anne Boleyn. 

She outlived Henry (And Catherine Parr, the only other wife to do so)
and lived to see Lady Mary crowned Queen. The Lady Elizabeth was
also a favorite, being included in her last will. 

There's a bit about her learning to play cards - and getting very good at it -
in the Tudors. Cards were one of her hobbies, so that is her designated
activity in this sketch. 

I often feel like this Anne is overlooked. Though it was tempting to skim
over her (She's not my favorite) I actually spent a great deal of time
trying to do her a little justice. I scrapped 5 earlier versions and am content
with this one. Her silhouette is still a bit dull - but it's hard to do much with
billowy skirts. : / 

 

I was going to originally wait to post this until Sunday or Monday BUT in the
holiday spirit...ta da!! Have a Happy and Safe Halloween! : )

Saints, Sinner and Survivors - Lamenting 6

 

Is it irony that Henry's last wife was named after his first? Catherine Parr's 

mother was a close friend and attendant to Catherine of Aragon - which 

also explains why Parr sought to befriend the Lady Mary, becoming a
member of her household before accepting the king's invitation to marriage.
(That friendship lasted until Parr remarried after Henry died - very controversial) 

 

Henry and Catherine were married on July 12th 1543. Parr had been married twice before,

with no children from either marriage - unless counting step children. 

She had no children with Henry either - her only child (Mary) was with her fourth
husband, Thomas Seymour (brother of Jane Seymour). Parr died much in
the same vein as Jane - from complications after childbirth. 

It is probable that she was a reformist - judging by her book Lamentation of a Sinner
among other habits - but she managed to dodge most trouble by being clever and
lucky. I believe she was a rather good fit for Henry in his later life. 

 Go watch the last few episodes of the Tudors that have Joley Richardson as Parr. It is my opinion that she was a wonderful pick for the role. Other than that...no particular
inspirations to go along with this one. : /



Saints, Sinners and Survivors - Marry Me 5

A "Rose without a Thorn," daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and first cousin (once removed?) of Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard married Henry Tudor on July 28th, 1540 at the age of 19 (Henry was 49) becoming his 5th wife. She rekindled his enthusiasm for life after much torment from losing Jane Seymour and divorcing Anne of Cleeves (to whom she served as lady-in-waiting). She enjoyed dancing and other such courtly indulgences.

 

But having a reputation before her marriage in terms of numerous lovers (including music teacher Henry Mannox) and a vivacious nature that called her fidelity into question, she was accused in November 1541 of treason/adultery. Her accomplices, Thomas Culpeper (a distant cousin) and Francis Dereham, were executed in December of that year while she was placed in the Tower and finally beheaded on the 13th of February, 1542. Happy Valentine's Day, Henry.

 

A bit of inspiration to go along with this post - the song Marry Me by Emilie Autumn on the album Opheliac relates Catherine's perspective in what I like to think is an entirely plausible tone - both grimly hopeless and fluffy minded. Understandable teenage behavior, and since she was after all very young in the scheme of things, well...she is certainly not amongst my favorite of Henry's queens, I do have a bit of sympathy for the girl. A good reminder that things can spiral out of control quickly if you aren't conscious of your decisions and refuse responsibility for your actions and are generally promiscuous. Also of note is Claire Hummel's Historically Accurate Disney Princesses. Delightful revisions of the classical fairytale ladies. While I wasn't exactly aiming for the level of historical accuracy that Claire was - I did fancy the style. Combined with what I've been learning in the Oatley Academy (Which I need to catch up on ><) I think I've made great improvement! : D More to come soon!!

Onisan Update

Two more pages of Onisan content: Julia's family and the Yosei who is disguised for most of the narrative as a house servant named Moriko. Still hoping I can at least get Oni ready by the CTN portfolio deadline this Oct. 13th. Had plans for two additional illustrations, but one they wouldn't get done and two...my brain exploded.

 

Why?

 

Linchpin by Seth Godin.

 

Chris Oatley recommended I read it and it kind blew my mind. I realized that with Onisan I had finally made a push with a personal project that was closer to being personal, but I could still push it further. It made me realize a lot of other things too - mainly though was this notion of giving/sharing and being genuine - being truly indispensable. So I started sketching...

 

 

These were mainly from photographs of when I spent a summer (2007) in Japan with YFU. It was absolutely brilliant. I'm now trying to figure out the best way to share this experience - utilizing my abilities and passion. Who knows, maybe when I finish I'll do a New Zealand follow up??

 

Seriously, go read Linchpin. Or get the audiobook and listen to it while you're drawing. Good stuff!: )



Onisan

Update to the Onisan Project! : ) Much happier with her this go and had fun with the prop design - not normally something I do, but enjoyable. Might be making a tropical pit stop before I continue with Oni himself, which I plan to combine with the Magic Box Month 3 lesson. Learning ALL the things. Drawing ALL the things. Not sleeping much...a fair trade in my eyes...not for the people I work with. lol

Character Sketches

Working on a new character, not "new" new, but new enough? Actually starting to get frustrated with her. I'm NOT a fan of the early Victorian hairstyles in Europe because they make everyone look old, manly and snobbish, so I fudged the historical accuracy hoping it would help make her look younger and a bit more feminine. (Aiming for a sophisticated early twenties) Trying to "stretch" her more and loosen her up since I imagine her as an animated character, but that too is proving hard since the further I try to push her, the further off model or awkward she starts looking. I was told that of the 6 drawings (3 of which I decided to scrap on account of said frustration) all of them looked like different people and were done in a completely different style. No suggestion was given as to how that could be remedied. A turn around was recommended to nail her features in place and give her a standard silhouette, but the first attempt (Not posted here) looked soooooo dead stiff that I felt it in my bad knee, took a pain killer and went to bed early. >< (Yesterday was kind of a nightmare anyway, so it was like...crowning achievement of FAIL)

Magic Box Fancy Miss Punky

 A bit late, but here none the less! This is what I am working on now - a fancy Miss Punky. For those who don't know - Miss Punky is my boss's PomChi (Pomeranian + Chihuahua) who likes to eat your foods and have her tummy rubbed. She's surprisingly quiet; she'll sit and watch you until you pet or feed her. If she's really hungry she'll do a little dance. Her winter hair cut makes her look like Simba from The Lion King. She's a sweetheart.

The painting above was done by George Romney. I chose it for this project for a variety of reasons, but mostly because of her hat. I felt like Miss Punky needed a ridiculous hat.

This is part one of four (I think), so hopefully before the next assignment comes out I'll at least have part two or three posted.
So far this project has been enjoyable, if not amusing to my boyfriend. : )

In other news, my prints and new business cards arrived for the art market this Saturday and they are looking mighty nice. Well, the business cards are a little off, but all the information is readable which is the important part. The image itself isn't cut off either. And I only ordered 100, so if they go half as fast as they did at DCC I don't anticipate leftovers for CTNX. So the next order should come out better. But the prints themselves are BEAUTIFUL and FOR SALE.

Said boyfriend will also be there at the art market. He will be doing a live painting "demo" of a creature...which from what I've seen of the prep work he's been doing...will certainly be interesting. I won't say more than that since everybody should come check it out!

Post CTN Surge

So. CTN was awesome. I saw many familiar faces, had the opportunity to speak with more artists that I admire (And purchase their lovely books and prints), sat in on many informative/amusing panels (Glen Keane's talk was totally worth the two hour wait in the rain and following cold), got a lot of promising feedback on my portfolio, and a few job leads - which means a portfolio revamp!

And thus...the above came into being.
Basically, I wanted to explore a character I had already created - still arguably the strongest in my existing portfolio - and give her the long awaited companion she's always blubbering about: Silvio!  (There is a specific sound that accompanies this piece in my head...something along the lines of a horse's whinny...because I think they are that deranged). The idea of Clarice and Silvio in the Comedia Del Arte "A Servant of Two Masters" is that they are more in love with the idea of being in love than with each other. It is a young, idealized love that makes them rather foolish and prone to extreme reactions (My favorite lines in the play being Silvio: I love you with all my heart! Clarice: Yeah? Well, I hate you with all my...SPLEEN) and other riddiculous-ness-es. Here I pictured them falling head over heels in their remedial love. Fun times.

More exciting stuff to come soon!! : )

More From Kit's Class

Another spare moment to post so here are the first two projects from Kit's Character Design Class: The Historical Costumes and the Yourself as a Super Villain. One might recognize Konstantin and Yelizaveta from a previous post - though with some modifications. In regards to the Evil Me, I thought about habits I would NEVER have (EWW SMOKING >P) and sought out a period of time and space in which I would have fun researching after the last project. My evil power is related to xenoglossy and clairaudience - I can speak in tongues or any other language and don't have to speak aloud to be heard - I get into your head and muck things up basically. My minions/victims are basically reduced to schizophrenia or other dissociative disorders and I get a good laugh out of how fun it is. I thought in that time of great excess I would delight in going over the top. 

Anyways, I hope to get around to coloring these in the next couple weeks when I get the chance. We'll see if time allows.