Fresh start, 2012

Hi all!
The last few days I have been working on my new mailers for 2012, and am happy to tell you that they are ordered, and hopefully on their way soon!

By the way: Spoiler alert, if you are on my list! I'll be posting the images here.

I decided this time to change it up a bit by sending out two different cards, one aiming at children's book publishers, and the other at editorial clients. Had I been able to afford it, I would have printed cards for art licensing and perhaps another editorial example as well. Hopefully 2012 will eventually allow me that! This is still pretty exciting for now.

For the first card (my "editorial" one), I used an image you may recognize, but played with it a bit, and eventually decided to display my hand-lettering abilities at the top. This also created an unexpected and unique composition for the postcard.

"Postcard 2012," Gouache and Digital, 2011-2012.

"Hello Neighbor," Gouache, 2012.

The lettering here was a lot of fun! For Christmas, Kellan got me two amazing books full of lettering samples from the 1940s through '70s, and I spent quite some time pouring over the pages, looking for ideas. For anyone who loves type and lettering, I highly recommend these books! I am in love! (With the books, and with the boy).



The second card was almost entirely new work, although you may recognize the houses below from my collaboration with Seo Kim! I loved them so much, I had to use them again for something. For this card, I knew I needed something that would embody all the different elements of a successful children's book. This is challenging, because those elements usually unfold throughout 32 pages, but I had to represent as many as possible in one image. I feel as though the result was pretty successful, as I attempted to show both animal and child characters, an event taking place, a location, a brighter color palette, while still keeping my stylistic approach to all these things. Hopefully a publisher will feel the same way! We shall see!


"The Best Dream," Gouache and Digital, 2012.

The back of both cards will be the same as my previous one:

(It's hard to see the edges on a white background, huh?)

And in other news, They Draw and Cook is featuring my Superfood Salad on their jumbotron this week! They have been the kindest, most supportive people of my illustration career, and I can't explain enough how thankful I am to have fans in them!

That's all for now, but keep an eye on Square Carousel, because we are starting back up for the New Year!
adios
caitlin

Moving right along

Hey all!
Things are pretty crazy and busy right now, so here's another quick post.
Life update: Kellan and I have moved into our apartment, unpacked and decorated. It looks awesome! Now we just need some house guests... and the internet! I'm bumming off my parents' at the moment.

Here's a couple pictures of my amazing new workspace!

It's in the bedroom, but I divided the space a little with the tapestry.

Big, beautiful window!

Storage and a little personal work on display that you may recognize.


I love hanging art with clothespins! And bulletin boards, as you can see.

The best scanner ever sits on my dresser.

Also, I've started work at Urban Outfitters, although the minimal hours may become an issue by the end of the month. I'm hoping this will change soon though! It is the perfect job for me to couple with freelancing.

Some exciting news: I received an email from Annie Ericsson, an art assistant at Penquin/Putnam saying that she really enjoyed my postcard and posted it on her blog! She enjoys my work a lot, and suggests that I now make more pieces with a continued plot and characters. I'm on it!

Also, I've been getting some responses from other companies from my postcards, but I feel like I shouldn't jinx myself by discussing that too much yet. Baby steps! It's exciting to know that people are seeing my work, though.

The spots I was going to have in the September issue of "What's Up, Annapolis?" Magazine have now been moved to February so they can be larger. Here's to hoping that the next article isn't bumped! I can't wait to see it in print!


"Honey Bee," Gouache and Digital, 2011.

And last, but not least, here we have another post for Square Carousel! You need to go check out the site for yourself, but here's a snippet of my explanation of the piece:

"This quote I found very fitting to my personal life, as well as an interesting fact..."

Go look at the challenge theme! It was a great, and broad idea. So far the interpretations have been really interesting.

That's all for now!
adios
caitlin

Another late progress check

This quarter is so insanely busy! Sorry it took me a while to get back with another update.

First, here's my page on Letter Playground. I've already receieved quite a few "likes!"

Also, because of the SILA competition, we were recognized by the President of SCAD, Paula Wallace, a few weeks ago. It was nice to feel appreciated by the school. Usually our little department keeps to itself.


Kellan and me with Professor Danawi. Click here to check out the SCAD online article on SILA.

Now on to Printmaking! This is my first screen printing assignment (I tried to teach myself how to print on fabric last summer and was mildly successful, but I'm not counting it really). I enjoy how so much faster of a process this is, especially compared to Lithography. I don't have to clean any rollers, mess with any chemicals, and can reuse my screens over and over again! This piece is about not letting other people get you down. Luckily my metaphor was vague enough that my professor was unaware that it primarily was inspired by her rant a few weeks ago. The raindrops are people's opinions and negativity, and I am the cat person, persevering and enjoying myself despite the downpour. I titled it "Monday," implying that this may happen any, or every, day of the week.

"Monday," Screen Print, 2011.

In my Portfolio class, I worked on an editorial piece for a parenting magazine. The imaginary article would be discussing how to support your child in giving up their binky or thumb-sucking. I decided to choose this topic because I know it's a common problem of dependency with children on things like pacifiers. I personally had this issue! My stubborn thumb-sucking lasted until about fourth grade, and because of it, I had to go through some major orthodontics to keep me from resembling a beaver. My parents threatened me with putting lemon juice on my thumb or with completely fictional contraptions with spikes in the roof of my mouth. At one point I wore a mitten, but that didn't work at all. Then it was just soggy. Not even pointing out adults with really awful teeth, saying, "if you don't stop, that will be you someday," worked. Just one day, I decided on my own. Anyway, now you know a little bit about my inspiring childhood. Here's the piece:


"Abandon the Binky" Gouache, 2011.

The colors aren't exactly like the real painting. Sometimes gouache scans perfectly, and other times, it just refuses to cooperate.

I did a mock-up magazine article, but what I referenced to create the page layout was extremely unprofessional. I plan on redoing it, so I'll post that later.

Tomorrow I give an oral presentation on one of my favorite artists, Matte Stephens. His work is what I wish mine looked like! The color, repeating shapes and careful designs are just music to my... eyes. Here is one of my favorites:


©Matte Stephens

That's all for this time. More art soonish!
adios
caitlin

A little late...

Well, the second quarter of my senior year is flying by, and I've been so busy, I haven't even found the time to update you all! This is going to be a very long post, so hang in there.

I started off the quarter with some really exciting news. Two of my pieces from last quarter were entered by the SCAD illustration department into the Society of Illustrators Los Angeles Illustration West 49th show, and were accepted! Kellan also got three works in, and we furiously framed, filled out forms, and sent away our pieces at the beginning of the quarter. The show just ended last week, but we will be on the website gallery, with contact information, for two years! This is such a huge honor, I can't even describe to you how thrilled I was to be a part of a Society of Illustrators event. My work is sitting on the same website as illustrators I have looked at countless times for inspiration. And there's even the opportunity of getting clients from being there, too! Here's a link to my work. I am number 21 and 22 from the bottom.

Also, my "Bunny" piece was finally sent to Hong Kong for SCAD's "Year of the Rabbit" show. I wish I could get a picture of it on the wall there, but I'm not sure how to manage that.

First completed piece for the quarter was in my Photographic and Digital Applications for Printmaking class. We used Solar Plates, which are a much easier, but more expensive, version of Drypoint Etching. Just, instead of scratching the surface with an etching needle, you shoot and develop the plate just as you would in many photo processes. I wanted to create some hand-lettering after my roommate, and fellow illustrator, Cat Fontenot showed me this incredible website called Letter Playground. I think I might actually enter them, and see what happens! Here it is:


"See Eye Tea Why" Solar Plate, 2011

The next work I turned in was for my Portfolio class. I wanted to create a children's book spread that included many images I have been tempted to incorporate into my work lately. This included anthropomorphic characters, buildings, and plants. Peter Brown's "The Curious Garden" was especially inspiring to me for the foliage. I really need to suck it up and just buy that book already! It'll be a great addition to my collection. Some day I'll write a lengthy blog post about my love of books. Anywho, this imaginary book would be about a city frog and a country frog, yes, very much like the story of the mice. I am pretty happy with this piece!


"Urban Frog, Rural Frog," Gouache, 2011.

I decided to create a challenge for myself for my second Portfolio assignment. I was inspired to create a repeat pattern to use in nurseries or children's bedrooms, but I was very unaware of how confusing and challenging creating a pattern in Photoshop can be. I painted each element of my pattern individually in gouache, and then scanned them all into the program. Following a set of specific guidelines of half-drop patterns (they are much more confusing and difficult, but look better because the repetition is less obvious), I worked and re-worked my colors, composition and sizing for my pattern over and over. In the end, I was actually pleasantly surprised with my result, considering I am not exactly the most proficient artist in Photoshop. Creating this was challenging but not frustrating, fun but not lackadaisically so. I even took the time to create mock-ups of this pattern on potential products! Seeing my art this way was very exciting. After our critique, I tweaked a few colors. First is the original:


"Repeat Rabbits" Gouache and Digital, 2011.

And the redo:


"Repeat Rabbits (Redo)" Gouache and Digital, 2011.

Here is my mock-up sheet (which the original pattern was used for). My favourite is the lamp!


"Repeat Rabbit Mock-Ups" Digital, 2011.

Although I thought originally I would talk about my second Printmaking assignment, I might leave that for another day. I do not have the scans for it just yet, and there is quite a lot to say regarding it... Or rather, regarding my Professor's response to it. I think that one deserves a post of its own. Foreshadowing!
That's all for now.
adios,
caitlin

Some Summer Assignments

Hello! Sorry it's been about a month. I would have posted, but I didn't have anything scanned in to show you! One of the frustrations of being away from school and all it's conveniences-- you have to go to Office Max and pay for scans. Anywho, this is what I've been up to:


"GK Chesterton" Gouache, 2010.

I made this piece pretty quickly after getting home from New York. I was feeling really inspired and wanted to add some more hand-lettering to my portfolio. It's something that I have been so interested in lately, but never really had a chance to explore much. Thanks to my wonderful friend Shelley, I actually got to take this piece and my little portfolio booklet to ad agency GSD&M here in Austin. Shelley's aunt Liz works there as a hand-letterer, and she gave us a tour of the office. It seems to be a really fun place to work, and the interior of the building is indicative of that! I ended up leaving behind a few booklets and postcards. The staff there really seemed to like my work. If I want to juggle an in-house job like that while working on my freelance career, I just need to make more pieces that are applicable to advertising. So that's why I switched from Humorous Illustration to Advertising Illustration for the fall! I'll also be taking Introduction to Psychology and Intermediate Lithography.
Speaking of printmaking, here's a lino relief with chine-colle I did for our New York Harper's Magazine assignment. My previously-published article was called "Life on Broadway." There was a specific portion of the article describing bees, but more appropriately, the article begins with a quote comparing the city to a beehive. That's where I drew inspiration for this piece. Unfortunately, when the very nice Office Max man scanned this in for me, he cropped off a portion of the left-hand side. If I get a better one, I'll post it. What's missing is a bee or two, and some buildings like the right side. The work was pretty symmetrical. Ironically, when printing this at the wonderful and amazing Slugfest Studio in Austin (where I plan on having a membership after school! It's just lovely-- they even have cats) I went to brush something off my leg, and low-and-behold- it was a bee, which proceeded to inject it's entire rear end into my thumb. Two days later it's still pregnant with poison. I found it pretty amusing that the subject of my own illustration ended up hurting me!


"Life on Broadway" II. 1/3 Relief Print with Chine-Colle, 2010.

Here it is without the chine colle:


"Life on Broadway" I. 1/4 Relief Print, 2010.

And last, but not least, is my final New York assignment: an additional portfolio piece that takes the constructive feedback from one of the people we visited. I decided to use this as an opportunity to make another children's book example, and made a point to have my character in action, creating more of a narrative. This was based off some advice given to us by Claire Counihan, Holiday House's Director of Art and Design. I had a lot of fun making this, and I think I'm getting into a bit of a good groove here.


"A Very Large Cookie Jar" Gouache and Collage, 2010.

More art on the way! I am currently working on a travel-poster-ish image for Austin, Texas (because I just love this place!) and hopefully I'll get it scanned in soon. Also, keep an eye out for a post about my new little screen print business. If you love cats, you'll love this stuff!
Until next time!
adios,
caitlin