Cindercrow

And then the clock struck twelve...

Happy Halloween! This is my submission for the studio blog. The theme this week was "Scarecrow." I happened to be working on mine during the trick or treat activity they had, with the cute little girls dressed as princess parading past our office. So... yeah. That's where it came from.

Tribute

For Richard Hull, brilliant illustrator and beloved professor, who retired this past semester.

I'm sorry for all you students who won't have the privilege of learning from him... I am much luckier than you.

Thanks for everything, Brother Hull. I hope you enjoy the plein-air painting!

Unlikely Friends

For Heather.

And no, he's not going to eat the bird.

After Hours

I've been inspired by the amazing Anthony Holden this week to try and keep a better sketchbook. Anthony has some of the funnest "doodles" I've seen in a long time. These are nothing like those. But, my goal is to have more fun when I draw. I've decided to start small and do a memory sketch of someone I see every day.

You might notice that the key criteria of who I choose is largely based on: hair, patterns, and color. All things I enjoy sketch-painting.






The above guy was on my bus this afternoon and had the most spectacular hair I couldn't even do it justice.

For some reason I don't get around to doing these sketches until like 11 at night, which is unfortunate because I then do not want to go to sleep.

(Confession: One of these is not a memory sketch. It's from a book. Yes, I cheated.)

Xyrichtys

I got a new watercolor sketchbook, and to initiate it I decided to paint my old standby: the betta fish.

This is Xyrichtys, who lives in a bowl on my desk and has kept me company through many an all-nighter.



He was named by my good friends Nikki and Natalie, who gifted him to me after the betta I bought for my birthday passed away, tragically, a mere three days after his purchase. Ric, however, I've kept alive for nearly ten months. He's a survivor.

Did you know? I love painting fish.I was excited to get a betta so I could paint him from life. An idea that works much better in theory than practice, I've found. Every time I'm think, "Hey Ric, I'm going to paint your picture!" He's like, "Umm, no thanks," and swims behind his decorative greek columns. And then I use the internet.

Lu'au Fanart

Last week was the BYU Lu'au. I danced in the Hawaii and New Zealand sections. I am not a very good dancer... lack of coordination and consistent stage fright do not combine favorably. But I had a lot of fun anyways. Even if I can't do it well, I really enjoy hula. It's just so... pretty. And actually quite spiritual, the way it tells a story. It makes me happy in my heart, to watch or dance. Or draw, in this case. I mean, can you find better material for gestures anywhere?

So today after a frustrating battle with the perspective monster, I decided to do some sketches of our dance, which I have been meaning to do since last week. And then a watercolor. I love watercolor.



It was a pretty good afternoon, all in all.

Stowaway Magazine

A few months ago I did some spot illustrations for the winter issue of BYU's travel magazine Stowaway.

Mmm. I love travel. Possibly one of my favorite topics.




You can read the articles online here and here, or flip through the magazine in it's entirety here. My friend Karen has some excellent illustrations in there as well.

Happy Valentine's Day!

In honor of my mom, who is amazing, and loves turtles. And my dad, who is wonderful, and doesn't mind living with said reptiles.

I love you guys.