Impossible Assignment

Our last assignment for Style and Substance involved the whole class giving each student a word that would be most challenging for him or her to depict.  I got the word "gritty."  I had some trouble really defining the term "gritty" and what made an image or situation "gritty."  It got pretty frustrating, but in the end I decided to loosen up and just have fun with it.

Here is my gritty dentist:

This was my smallest print edition yet (only two)!

All Summer in a Day Book Cover

An assignment to illustrate Ray Bradbury's "All Summer in a Day."  Such a great story; I hadn't read it since middle school.

Early ideas:

Final Sketch:

Final:

No Doubt

Another editorial assignment for a Rolling Stone magazine-esque illustration of a band.  I had No Doubt - Push and Shove.

Sketches:

Final:

Best of the Best

An assignment for my editorial class with the theme of "Best of the Best."

 Sketches:

Final: 

Sketch Dump

Some work from my sketchbook to post up!

African Grey.  Gouache, using a live model!

Hot Dog wolves

Random ladies

referencing poses

My Halloween costume (really late) - Miyazaki's Kiki

Doodle of Korra

The Little Merman

I had previously tried and struggled to design a composition for Little Merman, and was really excited by Kelly Murphy's suggestion to play with the setting of the story and to find inspiration in the forms of the environment.  I was trying to choose between a tropical and arctic setting and decided the arctic setting would be a good chance to try a more muted palette.

I also recounted the wonderful collection of Inuit art at the National Gallery of Canada during my visit to Ottawa. I was really inspired by the abstracted and playful shapes they used to describe their world.

Sketches:

Final Sketch + Color Study

Beau and the Beast

The next fairy tale in my series covered Beauty and the Beast.

Thumbnail sketches

I decided to refine this idea:

Sketches

Final sketch + color study:

Final: