Bears & whales & squirrels & Brackleys, oh my!

As of this moment, I have exactly TWO projects left to work on for this first semester at OCAD. FANCY. I was up until all hours last night getting my final drawing assignment done. It was to be a 12-frame storyboard, but, being the keenest keener, I convinced my prof to let me create the thing in grpahic-novel mode. It ended up being six pages of painstaking drawing/inking/watercolouring and took me an obscenely long time (sequential art - it's tough, guys!) but I'm pretty happy with the result:



To the left is the envelope/cover I made by hand (at 1 a.m. Somehow the folds and flaps all lined up despite the lateness) and to the right is the establishing shot/first image of the story. When I get it back I think I'll scan everything and post the entire project here - the story I ended up creating is pretty entertaining (maybe someday I'll even continue it).

Between final assignments, I found time to photograph and work on some personal painting. First off, a better shot of my huge curiosity cabinet piece, plus a cephalopodian close-up:




Then, some whale-details. First, the point at which I realized everything looks terrifying without pupils, a.k.a. BELUGA WHALE OF DOOM:



And some more comforting shots of non-possessed cetateans:




I also managed to finally get my main character's face down on paper (she has been eluding me for months), and got her background wash done to boot. It is with great pleasure that I introduce the one, the only R.W. BRACKLEY!!




I'm looking forward to getting some paint on the lady, as then her character will really come out.

So that's that - school is almost done, which means I'll soon be able to devote all of my spare time to getting the rest of my pieces/smaller illustrations done for the show (I'm quite behind, but have hope I'll get it all in order). Onwards!

Late Night Inspiration

I'm currently working on a school project that's being exceptionally difficult and causing me acres of hair-tearing, huge-sigh-inducing frustration. Since pleading with Illustrator to just make the layout WORK already is not helping, I decided that it was time to watch some inspiring things on the Internet (in the hopes that some of the brilliance would rub off on me).

My favourite two selections from this jaunt:

#1: An absolutely stunning music video. I...I don't even know what to say. It's hypnotizing and gorgeous and somehow very sad.

Bubble from Elliot Dear on Vimeo.

#2: I'm sure I've made clear how much I love cephalopods. This video has many (and is darkly wonderful).

OCTOPUS from Mari Kanstad Johnsen on Vimeo.

Own-Art Progress

Guys. GUYS.

I have finally made some time in which to work on my own art (seeing as I have that show coming up in, oh, 2.5 months). This time is found between the hours of 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. Good thing my brain is productive at night.

As per usual, here are some crappy photobooth shots of one finished piece and one in-progress one. On the bright side, I found my camera. Now I just need to find some batteries.

First off, I finished the whales!



I also had the time, post cetacean-painting, to lay in some more colour on this lovely lady:



Her story shall be revealed as soon as she's finished. It's a doozy, I promise you.

I also promise that all of my new pieces will soon be reposted with much better photos and detail shots (as soon as my batteries emerge from the box in which they are hiding).