07 Sep 2011
by Caseyin Artwork, Kids!, Sculpey
Hello September! Time to start back up with the blog and a new schedule. This week my son started preschool Tuesdays and Wednesdays, which means I have 6 hours two days a week where I can work during the day. So far I have just done some cleaning and catching up. There were many emails that had lingered in my inbox for weeks and papers had gathered since I had design work that took up the last two weeks of August.
August was a strange month with new plans for moving forward. One of my directions is writing YA. I am not surprised this has poured out of me, I have always read YA and been inspired by the authors I have heard speak on the subject. Another direction is making full illustrations with sculpey. My first approach is very detailed models of my current characters, the three boys. Here are pictures of them so far.
After the first character I was asked to take pictures of the process. Here are three pictures of the process for boy 2.
When I had reached this point with boy 2 I lost part of my vision. I can see but my right eye is very blurred to the extent of causing mild double vision. I am able to work but it makes small details frustrating. Thankfully my left eye is unharmed. My right eye problems are due to a chalayzion which, should go away with time. For now it is causing an astigmatism. My next appointment is Tuesday to see where I am at and if I will need glasses. No matter what happens my vision should be fully restored soon. I am looking forward to working with both eyes again.
I did finish boy 2 during the eye problems; it doesn’t keep me from working.
However, I did take a break from creating more illustrations. Two weeks of design work showed up just as my eye was reaching a peak in blurriness and it gave me a good chance to rest my eye to help it heal.
Now that my eye is on the mend and I have new time I am picking up where I left off. The third part of my plans from August was to fully explore the three methods I use to illustrate, trying out all the lanes and picking one. Whatever I pick will help me build a new portfolio. I am excited to see how my art grows from this exercise.
Quote Quiz: “You are always preparing, just go!”
currently reading: friend’s manuscript
currently watching: Mad Men: Season 2 ep. 4
10 Aug 2011
by Caseyin Kids!
While at the LASCBWI conference I was having loads of story ideas. Some crept up as character sketches others as written passages. I have started to focus on writing after this conference. I love it! During the morning I follow Laurie Halse Anderson’s 15 minutes a day and by night Bria Quinlan’s #Aug1k1hr.
Yesterday during my morning 15 minutes I got down half of a first draft for Silent Boy. That title will probably change but it is my current name for him. He will probably recognize himself if he looks at my blog. Write from what we know right? I think not only that but what we love/care about. Otherwise how is our heart going to be present?
Currently reading: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Quote for points:
“Sir!, It’s Tomato Soup!”
03 Aug 2011
by Caseyin Artwork, Kids!
It’s long overdue that I added some black and white art to my portfolio. I have been trying to get to a couple of black and white follow up pieces to my cover of The Dark is Rising from the NESCBWI Poster Showcase, since May. Any repeat viewers notice a change to my cover? I finally got two down. Although, I am probably going to make a quick change to the image of the rider, hopefully tomorrow before I fly to LA. (If you see my portfolio page after 3pm tomorrow the change is most likely made.)
Drawing in black & white turns out to be a source of joy. I had so much fun working on this that I lost all track of time and stayed awake much too late. I point the finger at the brush pen for opening up this new love. Once I am back from LA I am planning to draw more.
Yes I am going to the SCBWI National LA conference. I can’t believe it, I am so nervous. Well, I’m not nervous of being there. I am looking forward to being at a conference just as myself and not responsible for planning or presenters. This is not a complaint about working a conference, I do love that too. However, for this big conference I appreciate not having that added pressure. So, the nervousness I am wrangling is my travel anxiety. I don’t know if others of you out there get this but, I get it bad. I had a terrible time eating dinner and that was a full 24 hours before I even leave to get on my flight. I’m not afraid of flying; I worry about missing my flight or delays or the general discomfort of being too much in other people’s space for hours. I wouldn’t want to miss out on the grand adventure of LA so, I do what I can to get past it. Hopefully as I continue to challenge myself by traveling it will get better and better.
LA should be a blast! I love that a meet and greet is planned with us all in comfy pajamas. I am looking forward to meeting all the people I have only spoken with online. Be sure to come up and say hi!
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I feel like mixing things up! I always loved playing the quote game (guess what movie this quote is from) in the car with my Dad on car trips. We watched a lot of movies so it was fun trying to find the most obscure quote possible to try to stump each other. I still love to play so I’m bringing it to the blog. For the people that come back regularly. Over the course of a season, every three months, you can earn points via a guessing game. I will leave a movie quote at the end of my blog posts and whoever leaves a comment with the correct movie title first gets 5pts. After three months I will tally the points and whoever has the most gets a free print. First quote:
“Why are you wearing these clothes?”
“Because I’ve lost my clothes”
“But why are you wearing these clothes?”
“Because I just went gay all of a sudden!”
Currently Reading: Standard Hero Behavior by John David Anderson
Currently Watching: Season 3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
27 Jul 2011
by Caseyin Kids!
I managed to finish this up last night just before I turned into a pumpkin. Well not a pumpkin but a feverish-swollen-throated lump. I was hoping today would be super productive since plans were at a minimum however, I have had to rest and stay in bed all day. At least my sketchbook and computer can travel here with me.
Fingers crossed for tomorrow so I can continue beefing up my portfolio for the LA SCBWI National Conference. Looking forward to meeting folks out there and show off my new work.
26 Jul 2011
by Caseyin Kids!
Sometimes you have to draw something again. Kelly Light has recently blogged about this in a super humorous way. Her point is very true statement.
I just went through a number of bad drawings and I’m still not sure I have achieved a final I love. If you remember my first idea didn’t work, the boys with the mirror, it was a departure from the story. Starting over, I sketched the new idea many times and then finished it as a full color illustration. However, it looked terrible, the faces were all wrong, their expressions didn’t quite make sense, and the coloring was overworked. I could have argued that the piece was passable, but not anymore. I sketched all the boys again working on their expressions and then I finished it again.
I think I may still be going back to it again.
It’s important to make mistakes, how else do you learn? Check out this awesome video that is all about how much you grow when you accept mistakes.
Happy drawing bad drawings; free yourself and let yourself make bad art.
12 Jul 2011
by Caseyin Artwork, Kids!
I am working on a new promo piece. I finished the final image for the front and I started a sketch for the back of the card. The back of the card unfortunately really doesn’t match the front or story. But, why else have a blog! To show the failures that are still fun.
And here is the final for the front:
06 Jul 2011
by Caseyin Kids!
Well today was beyond a level of heat that I could work in so I haven’t gotten more done on my kids image. I can show work in progress. This isn’t the current stage of this piece, it is one of the first stages of how I illustrate:
I am pretty disappointed that I didn’t get to illustrate during the day. It wasn’t slacking off, I rearranged my responsibilities to work during the cooler hours. If it had been client work I would have pushed through. When work is personal, the heat and other more time sensitive responsibilities are addressed first. I’m sure this is understood when it comes to work that is just for the blog.
29 Jun 2011
by Caseyin Kids!
I’m pretty sure I made a decision and said it on my blog that I was going to start drawing kids for Wednesday instead of animals. Here we go!
These are three characters for the dummy I am working on. Them in a group and then facial studies of each of them. Making faces at myself to figure out how to draw each one was silly. I am not solid on their names yet but these are my first thoughts. What do you think?
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