Student Interview

Recently, a student asked me to answer some questions for her class about being a local artist here in Austin. I thought I'd share the questions and answers. It was fun!

1. What is it like being an artist in Austin, where is there an abundance of great artists? Do they inspire you or create competition? I have been in Austin for a little over ten years and was a very shy person at first. I didn't really share with many that I loved art and that I have been drawing ever since I was little. I was afraid of the judgement, or critique, rather. However, being here has introduced to me many creative and wonderful people that have inspired me along the way to really embrace being who I am. Being an artist here has really been life changing. 

I am not sure if there is a right or wrong to answer the question of where to go about finding an abundance of great artists. I say this because, really, they're all around! We live in a city of artists of many mediums and I find them all to be incredibly inspiring. I don't think of competition when I meet any artists - quite the opposite, actually. They're a part of your community as an artist and you can benefit from learning from them and vise-versa. Networking and being present amongst the art community is an important aspect of being an artist. 

2. How did you first begin to develop your style? I have always been inspired by old fairy tale illustrations and ornate book covers. I have a love for drawing and line that was able to be expressed when I learned intaglio printmaking. More specifically, engraving. There is a beauty to the feel of pushing a tool through metal to create fine, undulating lines that is reminiscent old illustrated fairy tales. Indeed, many old illustrations were created by either etching or engraving. Although I have not engraved or etched in a while - whether it be ink or pencil -I still create work that is inspired by the line quality of intalgio. 

As far as content goes, I grew up watching an abundance of Jim Henson and horror movies. As a child, I gravitated to the dark, fantastical allegorical tales of the Brothers Grimm. There is a strong belief by both Maurice Sendak and Jim Henson (and many others like, Edward Gorey) that children should not shielded from macabre or horror in writing or art. It is a forever present fact of life. Why sugar-coat it? The Brother's Grimm stories are a good example of this. To end my mini rant, I can just say that I am happy that these images and stories weren't hidden from me as a child because of their deep impact on how I work and dream.

3. Where did you find your artistic voice? Hm, that's a tough one. Although one feels that they've had their artistic voice since day one of life, I can delve deeper and say that printmaking had a lot to do with it. I was in a place of being unsure if what I did was considered art. I went through many periods of having people tell me what I did wasn't art. Hearing that at the time was a bit shattering to me until I took a printmaking class. There was something all-encompassing about the print community that shook me out of feeling alienated. Defining art is such a broad and bumpy road sometimes; it is, in a way, in a constant state of change with no bounds. You have to remember to let whatever is coming out of you be your own voice, and not what everyone else says it should be. It took a medium to coax it out of me.

4. What inspires you? What does your art mean to you? I am inspired daily by many things! I may go on a tangent here and list many things! However, to be more specific, as mentioned in a previous answer, oddities, old books - even the smell of old books, nightmares, old ghost stories, children's books, a crackly record playing in the background, The Twilight Zone, nursery rhymes, cold weather, old scientific illustration ... so many things. More importantly, David Bowie (the many phases of him) and Jim Henson were a huge inspiration growing up. They still are.

I feel that without my art, I'd be even more of a socially awkward person. It frees my brain of my beautiful chaos and overflow of dreamy nonsense. I get to channel all these things into characters, worlds and little narratives. 

5. What element of your art do you feel is most important? Line. Line is king to me. There is nothing more entrancing when making (and looking) at art than lines done "right". The variations of widths, lengths and curves is very alluring to me. You can feel a sense of energy with line work. It can be really powerful.

The Bear and His Catch

 I haven't been able to update for a while, but I can say I have a good excuse or two. Recently, I have had the pleasure of reuniting with a friend and meeting new ones. So many awesome things are taking place and I could not be happier at the moment.

One of the people I have met is also a fellow artist and writer, Neeka Allsup (http://neekaallsup.com/home.html). Her brain has very similar workings of mine, and it has been fantastic to work with her on a current book project I am going to share a little bit about with you all titled, The Bear and His Catch.

I used to be really hesitant on collaborating with others. I felt that I would clash too much with someone else's vision or maybe even just the way they went about it. This isn't an alien feeling, though. I think many of us feel this way. On the other hand, when you find someone who meshes well with you, it is well worth diving in and taking the opportunity. I feel very lucky to have made such a connection and I can say that it has been a really enjoyable experience.

Her story is a beautifully haunting allegorical tale that I feel explores emotional dualities and the nature of ownership. It is so wonderfully written and multidimensional that it is relatable not only for children, but readers of all ages. What is love and what is abuse? It would seem as though this is an easy question to answer, but often it isn't. It can be verbal, psychological, emotional, physical and so forth. What is addressed in this story, is that we can all become enraptured in the stronghold of something disguised as love and endure harmful relationships. It is, however, important to begin to distinguish the two and recognize our self-worth and intrinsic value as an individual. Although easier said than done in some cases, it is equally important to draw the line and cut ties with such toxic associations. I think that her story is an excellent parable of those relationships - knowing and recognizing the nature of abuse and walking away. Like many great stories, it holds a moral and lesson that one can only discern through their personal experiences and relationships. It will surely be a treasure to have once it is completed.

It has been really wonderful to work alongside Neeka, and I cannot wait to share more as this project comes to a close in the future. Please refer to the link above to see her work. You definitely will not regret it :)

And now, I leave you with a sneak peek at the progress of one of the pages we have worked on:

"The Brothers Gruesome"

This post is starting a bit later than I intended. Had a bit of a hiccup this week with getting some personal things done, but you don't wanna hear all that now, do ya?

So, a few months back I stumbled across a children's book in the random heap of books in at a local thrift store. I immediately went for it because of the amazing illustration on the cover. The style was in a way like mine. It looked like pen and ink with some cross-hatching on it. I had to have it. It was only a dollar, but I would have paid more, of course. What was this book? Welp, I'm about to tell you all about it. Keep in mind that I am in no way a book reviewer nor do I know how to do such a thing. I'll try my best, though.

Book title: The Brothers Gruesome
Author: Susan Elgar
Illustrator: Drahos Zak
Published by: Houghton Mifflin Company
Released in 2000
Printed by: Sino Publishing House in Hong Kong

The basic synopsis of the book is that these three brothers go about committing utter destruction by eating and stuffing their face with all that lay in their path. This includes their mother, gardens, trees, shoes, pots and pans, bats - well you get the idea. Everything. I love that it's not a typical cutesie (is that a proper word to use?) type of children's book. It's a bit different. The word "gruesome" in the title explains it well, because they are in fact just that. It's pretty great.

Here is one of my favorite lines with the illustration from the book:

"In the town of their birth they were loathed and feared,
But in the depths of hell they were worshipped and cheered."

 

 

The little devils are just the coolest with their sharp, pointy noses and flickering black snake-like tongues. I also really admire the colors used in these illustrations. The coloring also varies in some pages which also makes it very appealing to me. There is a page in which the gruesome three are traipsing about a forest on their quest to devour all that they can. I enjoy the blues and how the brothers are left to be illustrated only a sepia color with the bright moon lighting the way. It's just really wonderful - and look at that face peering through the left! I just love it.

 

 

 



 

I shouldn't go too far into the story since you should just find it and give it a looksee for yourself. This little book really does inspire me to work harder. The in-rhyme style even makes me want to write and illustrate my own book since it is related to something I would write. I see books like this from time to time and I always fall in love with them. In a way, it makes me think of Edward Gorey and his style of writing. It even reminds me of Grimm's Fairy Tales a bit as well, albeit less gruesome.

People often think of children's books as being only about learning the morals, tying shoes or taking ol' Spot out on a doggy adventure - and there's nothing wrong with those - but there's a whole world of different types of children's books that people don't know about. Having said that, the moral of this story is likely greed, but a fun way to go about it nonetheless.That is what has always drawn me to children's books. The imagination is boundless and the possibilities are endless. Did I mention that they don't necessarily have to exclusively for children? Of course not! There are no rules to reading and no one should limit their child-like wonder to their age. That's just no fun.

Remember at the beginning when I said that I wasn't a professional book reviewer of any kind? Now you see.

I should end this with links to buy this incredible book if you're interested. So, here is what I found on the information superhighway:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Brothers-Gruesome-Susan-Elgar/dp/0618005153

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/brothers-gruesome-drahos-zak/1003581060?ean=9780618005154

Till next time.

Nudging My Way Into the World of Illustration

It is 9:41am and my coffee is brewing. Good morning. I'd like to ramble about my goals and what I have been learning lately as I have been trying to achieve them. Let's get straight to the point here - I really want to make a living as an illustrator. I mean, I sort of do now, but I mean, I want to work for a publisher(s), to do editorials, to illustrate my own book - I want to drown in work and love what I do (doesn't everyone?). So, I have been slowly nudging my way into that world.

I have been drawing nonstop ever since I graduated. Yep, art degree. I hear it all the time, "what are you going to do with that?" I used to think to myself that I'd probably work some random job and do art on the side - which I wouldn't have any problems with at all. I just know how I am and how my brain works. I'd get too comfortable with the routine and slowly but surely get out of the my drawing habits. Or maybe not. I don't know. I do get that itch to pick my pencil a lot, so maybe that would never go away. Here I go rambling again, sorry.

Anyway, I am in no way bashing my education, but as I am trying to make my way into the business of illustration, I am also teaching myself so many things that I wish I had the opportunity to learn while I was in college. For example, writing up a contract, copyright, usage, the ethics of charging and pricing for work. Oh and a tear sheet? What the hell is that? I know these things now of course, but topics like that were definitely never discussed or offered in any class available to art students. I really think that should change. No matter what "type" of artist you become, that sort of information is really important to have. I just have these moments every now and then when I am submitting things or just curiously reading about other artists where I am saying to myself, "I had no idea I needed to do that." or, "Damnit, I should have done that." No, I am not whining about not knowing. It happens. That's how we learn - from mistakes. I am just consuming as much information as I can to get things rolling a bit faster. There is nothing more that gives me such great anxiety as not being prepared.

Despite the hurdles and the let downs that have happened in my journey, I am making some headway. Recently, as I may have mentioned in a previous post, I was hired by an author to illustrator their book covers for a series. I joined the SCBWI and now have a portfolio up in their site. I applied for a grant in order to afford packets to send to publishers. I have submitted to a few magazines. I have typed-up my own contract. I built a new website. And hey, I am keeping up with a blog for once! Things are happening and I am excited about what's to come no matter how long it takes me. I mean, hey, I didn't rack up a crazy student debt for nothing ;)

It's now 10:08am. Pause for coffee refill.

Moving on ....

Next time, I think I am going to talk about this children's book I snagged at a thrift store a few months back called, The Brothers Gruesome by Susan Elgar and illustrated by Drahos Zak. It's by far one of the best things I have found lately. More about that next time, though.

For now, as per usual, I leave with you a sketch in progress from the ol' sketchbook. This is one of the many that I wish I would have started on good paper since I really want to add some ink washes.

Sleepy Super Sunday

Perfect day for rain. Well, it's always a perfect day for rain for me, but today was even better. I'll tell you why.

Welp, so, I have failed to mention this so far, but I have been hired by an author to illustrate the covers for her upcoming book series. It's my first job doing book illustrations of any sort, so it is extra exciting for me. I have always wanted to work with books. Illustrating them or writing them. Or both.

So, aside from spending small portion of the day getting things done - like grocery shopping and the like - I've been scanning some sketchbook pages and working on ideas for the book cover. I won't share any of the cover ideas quite yet because I'd like to keep that between the author and I for now. 

I also joined the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators yesterday afternoon, so that is pretty damn cool to me considering I really need to make connections with others and need to gain more knowledge about the industry (aside from reading their book). 

Upon becoming a member of SCBWI, I decided to go ahead and apply for an illustration grant that would help me fund sending examples of my work to publishers. I've been talking about doing this forever it seems, but I need to stop procrastinating and just take the plunge. What's the worst thing that could happen? They say no or nothing at all. Then, on to the next, right? The only other thing that has been holding me back is the money to produce packets to send them - and yes, most publishers I have read about only accept these things by snail mail. Today was the first day to be able to apply for the grant and I didn't waste a second. Again, the worst thing that could happen is that I get turned down, but ohhhh man, the money from the grant would surely help - tremendously.

I've been rambling on and on, but the point is, is um ... well, none I guess. Just a perfect rainy day.

And now, since this blog is also for drawings, I'll end this with some random, freshly scanned sketchbook pages. 

Character idea I had for a book. I may revisit this one day.