Archive for January, 2010
IF theme: "clumsy"
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
I’ve recently decided to start participating in Illustration Friday.
This week’s illustration theme is “clumsy.” Here’s mine~
Now it’s probably difficult to see the detail at this size, so I made some closeups. This guy is in a bit of a panic, maybe he caused the accident:
And the doddering old butler is not pleased with the turn of events…
It suddenly strikes me how much the shapes on the rug look like croissants.
I actually had the idea for this last Saturday. I made the following sketch. To be honest pretty much every illustration starts out a horrible scribble like this…
Fishes
Sunday, January 24th, 2010
Fishes. Because really, why not? I think that happy yellow guy on the right side is my fav.
Another greeting card
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
This one a new idea. This is how it might be from the front:
And then like this on the inside:
I’m not sure on my textured background. It was originally green, which was also a nice color. Maybe it would be better to have a different color or texture on the inside of the card? Anyway I’m experimenting with it at the moment. And as for text, there I’m completely lost… I imagine it would be a sort of general greeting card. Any ideas or suggestions?
Here’s the green version. Which do you prefer?
greeting cards
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
I’ve been wanting to make some greeting card designs, and this one has been on the back burner for a long time. I had a whole series of these dinosaur Christmas cards, but never did anything with them. The stripes are a new addition. They liven things up a bit, I think!
doodle
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
I actually made this way back in November, while I was visiting family in Tucson. It just resurfaced in a pile of papers today.
The tattoo
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
In Ainu culture, women traditionally adorned their mouths with tattoos. The tattoo artists were always female, and usually older relatives. The marks were started with a dot on the upper lip, and slowly extended until the woman reached maturity. They were meant to ward off evil spirits and keep them from entering the body, among other things. The arms and hands were also often tattooed with beautiful woven patterns.
The practice was banned by the Japanese, who considered it “mutilation.” Japanese culture associated tattooing with crime, and didn’t understand the cultural significance for the Ainu. The Ainu evaded the laws as best they could, because the tattooing was very important for them to enter marriage and, eventually, the afterlife.
I found a lot of this out from the wonderful website of Lars Krutak, an anthropologist specializing in tattoo traditions around the world. His article has lots of interesting info—read all about it here:
http://www.larskrutak.com/articles/Ainu/index.html
Some of the patterns in this watercolor are actually taken from Ainu designs, especially the clothing. I really admire their designs.
The Bear God
Friday, January 15th, 2010
To the Ainu, every creature was also a god, and shape-shifting was commonplace. The Bear God, “Chira-Mante-Kamui,” was considered the head of the mountain gods. The Ainu would capture bears, and nurture them before finally sacrificing and eating them. The Ainu believed that the bear’s flesh was his offering to the people. When he was killed, he would simply transform into his heavenly state instead of his earthly one.
Something I did today
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
The first painting of 2010, I believe!
This one’s just watercolor, with a tiny touch of white gouache in there because it makes a nice creamy grey color. (For example, the mast in the foreground.) Also a bit of pencil, I suppose. Those cables are too thin for a brush.
A New Year, and calendars
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
I realize that 2010 has been here for a few days now, but hey, there are still 360 days to go! I’m grateful that the print shop did such a nice job with the color, I didn’t have to alter anything at all.
I have put some here on my brand-spanking-new Etsy Shop. Click the link or the photo.
And happy new year to all! 2010 is going to be a good year, I can feel it.