Goings-on

Wanted to share some of the things I've seen this term...

Went to the UCSC Natural History Collections to pick up a grasshopper and to photograph some butterflies.  You'll see those blue butterflies in an upcoming piece, as well as the grasshopper.

While I was visiting the collections I had a lot of time to kill...so I looked through more of the insect collections and found this super awesome box of blue beetles.  Wish I could tell you what it was, but alas, I forgot to find that out, however, in attempting to identify this bug, I discovered the futility of Google Image searching "blue beetle."

A couple days later, I decided to venture down to Asilomar State Beach in search of a specific type of buckwheat that I hoped would be in bloom.  Sadly, the buckwheat was nowhere to be found, but I did meet this lovely deer in the dunes.

Inside this glass jar are two paper straws.  Why do I keep a glass jar with paper straws on my dresser?  Because those paper straws are filled with over-wintering Osmia aglaia bees, of course!  This pair of paper straws was sent to me by a wonderful researcher at the University of Utah, who studies these bees extensively and was only-to-happy to send some live bees to a science illustrator in California who has the crazy idea that she wants to illustrate them along with their plant of choice for an upcoming assignment in Botanical illustration.  They should emerge from their cocoons inside the straws in about a week, after which time I will take 2-3 and freeze them so I can study them for my painting.  The rest will be set free upon Marina, but don't worry, they are native to Central California, so it's okay.

Anyway, that's what I've been up to so far this term...that and getting ready for our show, Illustrating Nature which opens 3 weeks from today.  You can find out more about the show here: www.scienceillustration.org.  

After our show, there will be only 4 weeks left of classes!  After which I will return home for a little less than two weeks before I leave for Denver for two and a half months!

Be back soon when I've got some artwork to share...

Spring Term

Time sure does fly right on by, doesn't it?

I'm almost done with the first week of my last term and before the end goes rushing past I wanted to at least catch you up to the middle...

So I'm sure I mentioned at least once or twice how crazy things were last term.  I didn't really have time to do much besides schoolwork (which I'll share more of below).  I have reason to believe that this term will be much different.  Today, for example, I decided to head to Carmel-by-the-Sea after class and found a charming and beautiful little community that I can't wait to visit again; on my way home I made a wrong turn when trying to find a my way to Trader Joe's and discovered a whole new part of Monterey that was also lovely and made me wish I could stay and explore.  It's made me realize just how little of the area I've seen (and how unlike the peninsula is the area that I have seen).  Don't get me wrong, though, I love how affordable Marina is, and I thoroughly enjoy living just steps from the Monterey Bay dunes and the beach (and just 10 minutes from class).

We'll be making a few visits to Santa Cruz again this term (once for a "party" and then again to visit the Arboretum).  I'll tell you more about the party later, and I'm sure I'll post pics of the Arboretum visit (eventually).  Oh and I'll get some visitors during the middle of the term when our exhibit opens next month.

But on to the good stuff...
In order of completion:

The Natural Roots of Urban Landscapes, Illustrator and Photoshop

So this piece was done for our "conceptual/editorial" assignment.  It is commonplace for an illustrator to be assigned a topic that is very difficult to portray directly, either because the subject is ambiguous by nature, can't be easily depicted with a simple illustration, or is too socially delicate for a direct visual representation.  We had to come up with our own titles (as for an article) and then had to create the illustration for it in the medium of our choice (see the title directly below the illustration and imagine this occurring alongside an article of the same name and you'll get the idea).

Tromp l'oeil of a "Hebe study," Watercolor and Gouache

This piece was for an assignment called, "tromp l'oeil," which is French for "fool the eye."  This painting was done so that all objects depicted are lifesize, thus creating the illusion, in person, that you can actually reach out and grab the objects.  If you get the chance to see it in person someday, it'll make more sense.  I chose to depict the study of Hebe (the name of the flower you see), which is a well known botanical export from New Zealand.

For one of our finals, we chose an article of interest to us (everyone did something different) and then illustrated it.  The illustrations were done in acrylic and watercolor and the layout was done in InDesign. 

My last final (and most anticipated assignment):

 Agapanthus sp., Watercolor and graphite

By far my favorite piece of the year term, probably because it is a plant portrait in the most classical style.  I've never done one of these before and while it was very difficult and time consuming, I felt in the end like it was all worthwhile -- a good first attempt at a botanical portrait.  I hope it is the first of many, many more.

This term we are taking Zoological Illustration, Botanical Illustration (yay!), Interactivity and Information Graphics (computer), and Applied Illustration.  I'm really excited about all of the classes and hope to get some nice portfolio pieces before the end.

I'll tell you a little more about what's coming in my next post, and I still have one more illustration to show you, it was done earlier in the winter term, but needs a few edits and I just haven't gotten around to it yet.  

:)

And the work continues...

Unfortunately, I haven't much pleasant news to share about the past couple of weeks, the most pleasant part is that they are indeed past.  However, there were a few highlights...

After the urging of two of my teachers and one of my friends I finally made my foray into the world of books on tape.  It's meant to be something to do while working on a painting or drawing.  I'm usually happy to put on old movies in the background while I work, but I'm getting a little tired of my regulars, and seeing as how there is so much I'd like to read, but never have the time, I decided to try it out.

My first is a fairly obvious choice for me -- a British novel set sometime in the mid-to-late 1800's -- Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte.  I must say I'm thoroughly enjoying it, and it aided greatly in my work on Wednesday night as I stayed up the entire night to get a piece finished on time (yep, didn't go to bed Wednesday night, and didn't sleep until 3:00pm Thursday when my teacher graciously sent me home early).  After Jane Eyre, I have 5 other books that I've purchased and am anxiously awaiting "reading" - a trilogy by CS Lewis that I have never before heard of (referred to as The Space Trilogy) - can't wait because I love everything I've ever read of his; then I have The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan - sort of a follow up book to The Joy Luck Club, which I really enjoyed; and last, but definitely not least, I downloaded a highly rated, dramatized reading of The Bible - something like 90+ hours of listening.  That should last me for quite awhile and I can't wait to hear it...  :)

In other highlights I went out to dinner and bowling with friends to celebrate a birthday last week!  It was so much fun I almost forgot about school for a few hours.  And not that I mean to make it like school is so terrible, but it's utterly consuming and terribly exhausting this term - I would enjoy it a whole lot more if only I could take a real break now and then or get reliable and decent sleep on a regular basis, but it'll be over soon - only 4 more weeks of this term.

But enough talking and on to the good stuff, right?  I've got some of my recent work scanned in and ready to share (in order of completion):

 Salt Creek Pupfish Cyprinodon salinus, watercolor

So for whatever reason, I've long wanted to paint a fish ID (which is what this is).  I chose the pupfish (which is found in shallow, salty pools in Death Valley) because of it's lovely color, and the good reference material I could find of it.  It proved difficult for many reasons and effectively dissuaded me from taking on a larger project of an aquatic scene.  I don't think fish will ever be my "thing" but I wouldn't mind doing more IDs of this sort - after some time away from it, I'm starting to like it...  :)

 

 

Bear Grass Xerophyllum tenax, acrylic

This painting was done for an assignment requiring a "full scene" to be rendered in acrylic.  The topic could be anything of our choosing and I decided to do this flower, the flower part of which I had never seen before despite being quite familiar with it's leaves from use at the flower shop.  It was my intention to push the palette in this paining beyond what was strictly "natural" and though I succeeded at that, I believe the results have forced me to relegate this painting to the "fine art" pile rather than the "scientific illustration" pile.  It's still pretty, just not what I had originally in mind and therefore, unfortunately, not terribly successful.

And lastly (and most recently):

 "Microhabitat" of allium, colored pencil on ivory paper

This was a somewhat unusual version of our latest assignment.  We were asked to create and then render a "micro-habitat," which is really what it sounds like, but as you can see, I've done a collection of garlic, onions, and shallots -- not really a "habitat" per se, but it achieved the other aims of the assignment and therefore satisfied the requirements.  I was up all night on Wednesday night finishing this piece, but at least I can say that I'm very happy with it, and I'm finally feeling much more comfortable with colored pencils.

Though it cost me sleep, I'm happy to end the week and this post on that piece... I have one other assignment that I completed early this week that I have yet to share with you, but it needs a few finishing touches before I can post it.  I'll try to get to those this weekend, but might not as I have another assignment to work on that's due next week. 

I hope to make at least one more post before the end of the term, so be on the look-out.  :) 

 

 

How does your garden grow?

A recent, large, assignment.

This one was for a "special view" in which we were tasked with creating an illustration of something you can't photograph.  It pretty much explains itself...

It's a mixture of acrylic and watercolor painting, with Photoshop.  Mostly acrylic painting though.

More to come soon.

Of sea and sky...

I've completed a couple more pieces since last we parted...  Both are a bit experimental for me in different ways and therefore out of my comfort zone.  But I'll just post them and then explain.

Urchin test (test is the name of the "shell"), Photoshop and Illustrator

So this one was very experimental for me... I've never done a rendering entirely in digital media.  Up till now I've only colored in drawings that I scanned in.  This however, was done in Photoshop almost start to finish, I say "almost" because I did the line work that I used in the initial drawing in Illustrator.  The assignment was to light an object with 3 different light sources; this style emphasizes volume and gives a lot of "drama."    I'm generally happy with the outcome.

Then we had the final colored pencil piece:

Treron calva (African Green Pigeon) on Ficus sansibarica, Colored pencil on Duralene

This was an interesting and difficult endeavor, much more so than I anticipated.  We were tasked with doing a "spot" illustration that was meant to fit a quarter page and that might theoretically sit in the corner of a page of text.  So the bottom right sort of comes to a "corner" of sorts and that's why.  It's a bird I was introduced to when researching articles for an upcoming project and I fell in love with him because of the gorgeous blue-greens covering most of his body.  It was difficult because I decided to go with a very "idealized" kind of positioning of the bird, and no photo is an "ideal" so I had to create it.  I put this guy together from 6 different photos sources, after studying as many images and videos as I could find (it helps too that it's a pigeon and we are fairly familiar with how they look and move).  So I'm glad that ultimately he looks "natural" while still having that sort of "idealized" look about him.

I've made some modifications to the image since having critique today and I'm much happier with it now, though oddly, not as much as I'd anticipated.  Oh well, it works and since I have to move on to the next thing I can't spend too much time dwelling.

This post is kinda odd though... those two images together -- one a completely digital rendering and the other attempting to evoke an 1800's aesthetic approach to a bird portrait (albeit with colored pencil).  It's kinda strange.  

Anyway, back to work.

Fancy that!

Another blog post so soon, you ask?

Well, we've been SUPER busy this first two weeks and I wanted to prove it by showing how many things we've done so far.  Mind you, all this work has left me stupidly tired and in much need of rest tonight, but I'm trying to stay up until dinner so I can eat and then go to sleep.  Since I needed something simple to do in the meantime I decided to get a head start on scanning the artwork and posting it.

I'm going to try to keep up with stuff this term (like now) so you can see it as I finish it, but that might not happen so don't be surprised if it doesn't.  :)

In order of completion:

Green Turbo Shell, colored pencil on white paper

 Green Turbo Shell, colored pencil on toned paper

We did another replica piece, this time in acrylic...

 

This is the original from one of John Dawson's Nature of America stamps 

(he works in acrylic so it was a natural choice for this assignment)

Here's my copy (my original is 3"x3" - took me ~10 hours)

Blue Gum eucalyptus, acrylic (tromp l'oeil style)

And last but not least... (a third colored pencil piece)

Leucadendron in colored pencil on Duralene

(yes it really does look this vibrant and that is due entirely to the Duralene

surface we had to use for this last assignment, I will most definitely be using this stuff again)

So that's what I've been up to these first two weeks of class, kinda crazy right?

Right now I'm working on a final spot illustration in colored pencil (on Duralene of course), a 3-point lighting illustration in Photoshop (it's essentially a small spot illustration but with really dramatic lighting), and a "special-view" illustration of how rock type and structure in Zion National Park creates the Zion "hanging gardens" (you'll see when it's done in a couple weeks - in the planning and sketching phase for that one right now).

Also in the works, an acrylic painting in which I'll be rendering a full scene (as opposed to just a single specimen in a white background).  

Fun stuff.  Please excuse me while I pass out now.

Final, final

I almost forgot, I never shared my final from the Intro to Natural Science Illustration class (our primary techniques class from last term, where we did everything in black and white mediums).

So here is my scratchboard final:

Cactus wren on ocotillo (don't forget to click to enlarge)

 Now I really am caught up from last term.  And... back to work.  :)