4 new paintings!

It may seem like I do things in spurts, and maybe I do, but really, it just takes me a while to upload it all to the blog. Here are some paintings that I've finished since the last painting I posted. That isn't to say they were started since then, too. These all stretch back for some time, since I spent the last year focused almost exclusively of children's book writing and illustrating. But now I realize I can do both. My paintings don't have to be heart-wrenching, soul-searching, or deep, just as long as they communicate. If you think that equates to having sold out, well then, boo on you. Anyhoo, having the art studio to work in is a real help also in getting these paintings done. I don't have to put everything neatly away at the end of each and every day, or worry about getting paint on the carpet. And - extra bonus - no embedded cat hair! All this to say, I'm grateful for my situation. I feel like I'm really making some good progress.

You can see these in higher quality (and order cards and prints, heh) at my Fine Art America page: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/julia-collard.html

P.S. I just have to say for my own sanity that the paintings really do look better in person - the colors are more vibrant in real life (especially the sea turtle painting!) Also, since I use a lot of acrylic medium to add depth, there's quite a bit lost in 2D. If you ever want to see them in person or see a side-view photo, let me know. Ok, I feel better now.

more drawings of kids

kids in color

sketches of kids

well, I've really been trying to determine a more illustration-y style for my drawings of kids. humans are a lot harder to draw than animals, because if the locations of features are even the tiniest bit off, the whole thing looks wrong. in other words, it's easier to get away with stuff when one is drawing animals. anyway, here are some kid drawings.

Illustrations of the Week: Echidna

Just for fun, just for practice, just what I can show without giving away my precious ideas....

And by the way, I do realize that I'm not posting an illustration every single week. I'll think about rectifying that, really I will. It's just that I didn't make any New Year's Resolutions this time around, so my level of blog upkeep has not increased proportionately with the time of year.

Prints Now Available!

I signed up on Fine Art America so that interested parties may purchase my original paintings and/or prints of my paintings and illustrations. So, now's your chance to prove that you weren't just saying it - that you meant it when you said, "I want that on my wall!"

Touché!

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/julia-collard.html?tab=artwork

Painting: I Can Has Banana Phone?

I finally delivered this commissioned piece, so I can now post an image on my blog: ta da!

This is HappyCat, the mascot of sorts of icanhascheezburger.com , enjoying the use of his many banana phones. (Don't know what a banana phone is? Search for it in YouTube, and you're welcome in advance for the earworm.)

The piece measures 18" x 24" and is painted using all acrylic paints and mediums. (yes, mediums, not media; it's a personal preference)

Over-worrying: I hope I won't get sued by the now-defunct Russian cat food company that initially used HappyCat in one of their ad campaigns. I definitely managed to add my own twist to it, and it's not like I'm rolling in dough Shepard-Fairey-style.

Enjoy!

Illustration of the Week: Rainy Venice

This one's just for fun. It's based off of an image I liked from the LA Times about the rain storms in Venice, Italy some years back. Thought I'd give it a shot, since I usually avoid leaving so much "blank" space, since light backgrounds usually feel unfinished to me.

Illustration of the Week: A Literary Giraffe

This little dude is slated to be copied onto bookplates for a donation program a friend of a friend is handling. I like to think Giraffy's reading up about knitting turtlenecks or something.
(click on the image to enlarge)

Illustration of the Week: Home, Tweet Home

Whipped this up yesterday as the front of a card for a housewarming party (we're going to one today). The inside of the card reads: "Home, Tweet Home"

It was made by dry-blending colored pencil on plain 8.5" x 11" sketch paper.

I just colored right on top of the original sketch, no transfer. If I had to do it again, there are a few changes I would make, other than the obvious of using real art paper and watercolor and more interesting background and lighting: I'd also make the birds larger, since their expressions are hard to see when the image size is reduced to fit the card. (Click on the image to see it larger)

on vacation...

Sorry for the long delay since my last post. First I was preparing for the SCBWI National Conference, and then, just two days post-conference, we left town for a 10-day trip to the East Coast. No rest for the weary! hah.

As I type, I'm chilling in the "Chauffeur's Cottage" of a historic manor in Bar Harbor, Maine, (pronounced Bah-Hah-Bah), resting after a day of lobster eating and bald eagle spotting. I haven't had a moment still enough for sketching. But that means I'm on the move, filling up my mind to the brim full of ideas to take with me to the drawing table!

For example, who knew there was a nightly Lumberjack Show just outside of town? I sure didn't! Who knew lobsters could grow to be 6 feet long? Prehistoric, man! And I didn't know pitcher plants and cranberries grew side-by-side in bogs, either. And one more: seals take 10-15 second micro-naps by 'bottling' - just sticking their noses out of the water so they could breathe while catching a little shut eye - by bottling, Harbor Seals don't actually have to haul out to sleep (unclear on whether this is specific to this particular sub-species).

Those were just a few of the little factoids that keep me smiling. I'll be back in a week!

Children's Book Illustration Project for Pacific Northwest Children's Book Conference 2009

Those of us in the illustrator's track at the PNWCBC were given a scribbled prompt that an anonymous person in the writer's track had written earlier that day. We had to create a story around the prompt, and then tell the story visually.

My writing prompt:
"The red lady's hair perfectly matched her orange dress and she bobbled along like a giant pumpkin. 'Sweets for Sweetie,' she sang as she rolled into the bakery."

Our first assignment was to create a front and rear view of our character. Here's what I did:


















Then we had to come up with a story using all of the narrative points in the prompt. For me, it all just happened organically. There was all this talk about "No Cutesy-Pie!" being Linda Zuckerman's hard and fast rule, and here I was drawing a big lady going to a bakery...well, I couldn't resist.



On the last day, the illustrators (there were 8 or 9 of us), had to go up in front of the whole conference group and explain our process. I had a pretty good 5-minute walk through of it, but I think it worked most of all because of presentation, not the bizarro interpretation of the prompt. The story, in short: Sweetie's the daughter of Cutesy, the big lady. Sweetie's sick and tired of Cutesy's pie. They've plumbed the depths of their individual psychoses. Sweetie fantasizes about the demise of her mother, ergo: "No More Cutesy-Pie!"

Everyone had a good laugh, and it felt pretty good!

Tank Ewe

(click the image for a closer look)

In advance of the SCBWI Summer Conference, and in response to the Pacific NW Children's Book Conference from which I just returned, I'm planning on making a Thank You card by printing this image on the front, and then you flip it open to read "Tank Ewe."

Silly, but that's the way I like it.

Illustration of the Week: sleeping cats

Ok, here's one before I leave for the conference...sorry it's not a funny one.

I had cats on the brain after doing a cat-related panel for a picture book I'm working on (can't post those), so this came out. It's probably not right for a kid's book, though with some writing in the blank spot, it could possibly be an example title page for my portfolio. Or maybe even a greeting card. Who knows...

So, I'll be gone until July 19th, visiting friends and attending this: http://www.ceed.pdx.edu/children/

This means there will be no illustration next week - be strong!

Bear Taxi

Here is this week's "Inspired by" illo, prompted by Justin uttering the phrase "Bear Taxi."

Click on the pic for a closer view...

I have no idea what Justin was referring to when he said it, except that it had something to do with this show about grizzly bears we watched on the National Geographic channel, which featured Brutus: http://biturl.cc/jl