Local Illustrator Receives Writer's Residency in NM

Taos, New Mexico has been known for years as a destination that appeals to artists and writers alike.  Cincinnati based artist and illustrator Amy Bogard has been taking students to Taos as part of her Illuminated Travel Journal workshop each summer.  While there this past June, Amy applied for and was granted a residency opportunity to return to Taos next winter to work on some of her own projects outside of teaching.

It's been a life long goal of Amy's to create children's picture books for publication and this Writer-In-Residence opportunity at the historic Mabel Dodge Luhan House will afford her the time and space to focus on two book ideas she has had brewing for some time.  Amy's intrepid traveling hamster character Ginger Small has had a small but devoted fan base for some time and these weeks in Taos will help pull years of images and ideas into a solid story.

The other story features some of Amy's whimsical sheep and a small rabbit who counts them.

Amy is accepting donations to help offset the cost of the trip.  Lodging and a small stipend have been graciously offered by the folks at the Mabel Dodge House, but New Mexico is a far away place!  You can read more about Amy's plans and see more of her work at her website: www.amybogard.com 

Sketches of Biblical Disproportions

It's hard for me to find work I can share on the blogosphere, but today I've posted a series of sketches on my blog from a ongoing project for a faith-based publisher.

There's some brief text about the challenges of treating Biblical subjects in cartoon form and why studying the Old Masters is not always helpful.

Beth Akers: First post and recent work

Hi everyone! I've recently been added to this blog, and this will be my first work share post. I just graduated from the University of Cincinnati last weekend (majoring in Fine Art), and now I'm very excited to share my work with all of you. Any comments or constructive criticism is of course welcome.

Also, time for a shameless plug: I've been illustrating for an online graphic novel/literary journal called The Catalina Project. Please check it out if you have the time!

The Catalina Project main website
The Catalina Project facebook page

That's all for now! I should be able to start coming to the illustrator's lunches soon, so hopefully I'll see some of you there.

-Beth

Gators and Tikis

This summer, I had the unique opportunity to design a trademark logo for a local restaurant. There were a lot of changes in direction along the way, and my earliest and kitsch-iest sketches weren't used, but I'm happy to say that I did take the project to completion and I hope to show the final logo in a future post. For now, I thought some of you might enjoy some of the sillier unused designs

there are a few more on my blog:

http://chuckrekow.blogspot.com/

Cool Illustration Blogs and the Process of Making Illustrations

I do not know if anyone has checked this out yet, but it really is cool:

http://muddycolors.blogspot.com/

I know it has mostly fantasy art, but it is cool to see the process from thumb to finish. It is kind of a group version of James Gurney's blog.

I admit, I never really scan or post my thumbnails-I usually throw them away. My studio is a sea of paper as it is. Do you guys archive your whole process?

Here is a sketch from my earlier painting post:

And here are some unused cartoon concepts for an aspect to a book I am painting now (the rest of the art is realistic):

Dr. Sketchy's Halloween

Here are some selections from Dr. Sketchy's, October edition :P The latter half was more inspiring than the first, but it was all pretty sweet :)

Just Some Stuff...

I just wanted to share some of my quick sketches from observation. Mostly when I sketch like this, I know I don't have much time, so I focus less on complete accuracy (though the desire to be accurate is there and I still seek to achieve it) but on maintaining the essence of what I am looking at. I think alot about continuous line drawing when I do these. If I have time I will worry more about exact relationships and refine the drawing more as I go until I am finished. These, however, are mostly just quick sketches while out at restaurants or coffee houses.

I'm always sure to carry a pen with me, whether that's a Micron or a ballpoint or some other permanent ink tool. In these cases I like to make myself take my time. I sit there and closely observe everything I am looking at and do my best to make every line count. each one should say something the best way it can, since I can't erase it (but this is only the case when I want to achieve as much of an accurate result, when compared to nature, as I can). I closely observe the shadows and light areas, doing my best to think how to simplify some of them while choosing others to help me accentuate certain areas or help support the focal point. Since I haven't been to the meetings recently, this is some of what I've been up to...