Farewell Blogger

Latest piece, a commission for author Alison Cherry of a scene from her new novel Red.

And... And I've just realized that last time I updated this blog was in June, I think it's time I officially retired it. You can follow my work at siminiblocker.tumblr.com. Also I am also almost annoying present on twitter.

See you round the inter-webs, friends.

Happy Father's Day!

Movie night with dad... circa early 90's. I've always really loved watching movies with my dad, because of how much I could tell he enjoyed them. Like, he genuinely laughs out loud at the funny parts, even when we were little and it was a constant fare of kid shows. I remember him truly loving Babe. It wasn't something I noticed in other adults. When Netflix became a thing I always looked forward to hanging out with my dad and watching whatever had come in the mail. It's still an activity I look forward to when I go home. 

Anyways. Happy Father's Day to all the fathers. Especially to mine- I love you! and I miss you. 

(Also, apologies to Charlotte and Cameron who are not in this picture. I originally planned to paint only me and Dad, and then decided it needed more people so Dalton and Landen snuck in... but I'd already painted me at an age where you didn't exist yet. oops. So.... next time...)

Read!

I have an illustration in this month's Friend magazine! Text was about encouraging reading, and, well, you know what a fan I am of books, so I was pretty thrilled to get this assignment. Thank you AD Mark Robison.

Read! It’s the best!

Hangin' Out

I did another Eleanor & Park piece. I just really love this book and these characters. And I wanted to push myself to do an interior, even if just a partial interior. So, win win. 

Eleanor

Eleanor from Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell.

Because I loved this book. And also music.

Warm-ups

Been awhile since I've posted here... so here's a couple warm-up from my tumblr. Projects are in the works! It's going to be a busy month.

Les Mis

"There's a grief  that can't be spoken."

Sketch inspired by seeing Les Mis last week. Eponine and Fantine are my favorites.

Feelings Beast

My head is an animal.

Inspired by one of my favorite bands, Of Monsters and Men, a bit of a take off of their tour motif. I wanted to do something to loosen up a bit and it was rather cathartic. Perhaps I shall do more...

Karou

Karou, from Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. Because I can never paint enough blue-flowy-haired girls. And I'm going through story withdrawals. 

Squid Girl

A bit of nonsense, originally a warm-up sketch from a day I was particularly wishing for blue hair. Or something.  

The Boy Who Lived

Two of my very best friends had beautiful baby boys this week. I, on the other hand, painted a picture of baby Harry while listening to HP audiobooks. So. Not the same thing at all.

But welcome to the world, new babies. It's a magical place.

In the Trees

When I was growing up we used to hang out quite often in the tree in our front yard. We built blanket forts and hauled up picnics, or played with our American Girl dolls (they were always running away to the woods to have adventures). Sometimes we just sat in the branches, impractical as it was, and made a pretense of doing homework. I always thought it would be fun to have a treehouse, which of course would then have paper lanterns. And really what good is illustration, if not for painting up places you wish existed?

Subway Surfing

A warm-up sketch from this week. I'll be honest, the subway system was pretty high up on my list of reasons to move to NYC. Being able to read or sketch while traveling makes even the packed rush hour cars worth it. Though I have more than once gotten so engrossed I've missed my stop. Oops.

The Yanos

Had the privilege this past week of being commissioned to do an illustrated family portrait. It was a fun challenge and I very much enjoyed it!

If you're interested commissioning something like this, please contact me at siminib@gmail.com.

New York Sketchbook

Well, I've been officially living in NYC now for over a week! To be honest, it's a little overwhelming. There's so much here. So much to see! So many people! And such a very excellent place for sketchbook-ing. Everywhere you go you are surrounded by interesting subjects and stories. I love it.

Many more sketches to come, I'm sure. Though I will probably be posting the majority on my Tumblr.

Alrighty. Now to figure out what comes next...

Stars

Experimenting with making a simple GIF. Also... I like painting starry skies.

Merida

Some Brave fanart. If the previews are any indication, I will love this movie no matter what the story is,  because Merida is adorable.

Updated

I did this paint-over of an old piece- the result of compiling a new portfolio and realizing how very out of date everything from the old one is. This would probably be quite different if I'd started from scratch, but it was a fun excercise. I think I've improved over the last year and a half. Though I'm still often overwhelmed by how I wish I could be better. Am trying to be better.

Also, since I haven't mentioned it on this blog, I'm moving to New York July 1st! Hooray!! I'm terribly excited. It'll be an adventure.

Lady

I've been experimenting this week...

Harry Potter

Some Harry Potter spots...

It appears I may never grow out of my Harry Potter fanart phase. I also feel compelled to say that I DO paint/draw things that are not fanart. But I find it takes me a a lot longer to finish them and let them out into the world (unless I have a deadline of course... I'm pretty good at deadlines :D), so in the meantime, fanart. Plus I wanted to try my hand taking some piece to a finish in black and white. It's been a while.