August 11, 2010 | Posted By: Chris
Filed Under Chris, History of Redemption, Our Artwork
Some more pics of the most recent drawings for The History of Redemption book, mostly pencil, some ink here and there, all piled for the eyes of ye faithful.
I started posting previews of recently completed illustrations (or in progress) on Dribbble, so follow along if you’d like to see what’s the latest.
As I mentioned before, alot of the inspiration for some of the illustrations are after older works of art, by lots of different old masters from different eras. It’s sort of like a sacred art remix, and it’s a blast (you art historians might notice Bosch, Velazquez, etc)… I’m really excited about everything.
About 50 illustrations… full pages, two-page spreads… this thing is going to be a monster. I’ll post more completed illustrations soon!
July 31, 2010 | Posted By: Chris
Filed Under Chris, History of Redemption, Our Artwork
A neatly shuffled pile of drawings for the History of Redemption book… I’m going to be cranking out the rest of the illustrations over the next month, I’ll post more, I promise…
For all the illustrations, I’m painting/priming transparent poly sheets, then drawing pencil right on. Gets this great subtle brushstroke texture, and super silky to draw on. Scans easy. Yeeeeeeah… then comes the heavy duty Photoshop mess. Fun stuff.
July 30, 2010 | Posted By: Chris
Filed Under Chris, Friends + Family, Life, Our Artwork, Portraits
As Annie already mentioned, I recently got back from Comic-Con 2010, and I’m still recovering. To say it was overwhelming and overstimulating is an understatement. But I’m already looking forward to next year. Met so many great new friends, artists I’ve long admired… good times.
After getting back home, I started and finished a portrait commission for a certain Nick, a surprise birthday present from his awesomely thoughtful wife. Nick loves icons and he makes the benediction gesture a lot (really). Yay for me: I recently picked up a fantastic old book full of giant color reproductions of icons, MAJOR inspiration as of late, so this commission was such a blast. I can’t wait to hear about his reaction…. YAY
Some pics of the finished piece, some showing the glossy coats of varnish. I’ll probably post some in-progress pictures after this so you can see the various stages.
July 1, 2010 | Posted By: Annie
Filed Under Annie, Life, Our Artwork
When Chris and I were first married (almost five years), one night when I was returning from work reeking of coffee, he surprised me with a tiny black pouf of a kitten. Which was very gracious and generous of him, he had slight allergies to them. . . but he knew I had always had a cat or two around my entire life, I suppose he wanted the brownie points. This little kitten was so funny and darling, but unfortunately he grew into a very overly sensitive cat who couldn’t handle the jealousy from the addition of another cat and a new baby . . . so piles of cat puke later, we do not have him anymore. But I still have fond memories of him and this little painting was one of my first attempts at acrylic, and I have to say its a favorite despite my stacks of past experiments that still make me cringe. It had fallen out of its frame and I just fixed it so I thought I might show you despite it being old work.
That said, a friend on the Indie Craft Parade jury, Kevin, asked if I was going to try any new subject matter. . .to which I hesitatingly told him I was considering cats. Hesitating because I don’t want to be a pet portrait painter, you know what I mean, and also not wanting to offend Kent in my hesitance toward the subject matter (who was sitting next to me) because he is one of those rare artists who actually render cats in wonderfully legitimate way. But, I think I might just try it, one, because this one turned out well, even when I was a younger artists, two, I really really love my cats and I like to keep my subject matter mainly familiar, three, the main reason, I love the similarities they have with owls, their movements and behaviors. I’d love to mix the two in paintings and see what happens. Actually we almost called Charlie “Owl” because it was Marsh’s only word other than Momma, and Marshall used to think Bill was an owl when he would sit outside on the window sill in the dark, his pair bright eyes the only thing you could see at night.
So there, I think I have convinced myself its ok. . . I think, now if only I could get Bill to sit still long enough. . .
June 29, 2010 | Posted By: Annie
Filed Under Our Artwork
My latest work in progress, they wait for varnish and then the walls of a classy home theater company for an informal show. Return to pomegranates and cedar waxwings. Couldn’t resist glittering geometry in the botany mix, eventually all of them will be sparkling.
June 28, 2010 | Posted By: Chris
Filed Under Chris, History of Redemption, Our Artwork
Hey everyone, remember me? My name’s Chris, I’m actually the husband of the amazing woman who runs this blog nowadays, since she’s been posting such amazing stuff the past year or so I kind of gave up on the idea of doing any posts, since Annie does such a fine job at it. Her posts are like poetry. What could I possibly add to this beautiful slice-of-life blog of hers that makes our artsy lives look so freaking interesting? (wink wink)
But hey, I’m still around, eyebags and all, drawing stuff for people in our hot and humid studio while blasting music over the hum of the fans, and I’m especially excited about my current illustration project… a set of about 50 pieces for an upcoming book called The History of Redemption. It’s going to be a really special book and I can’t wait to share more over the next few weeks and months, but for now here are some of the pieces, some in-progress photos of the original drawings and the finished illos as they’ll (likely) appear in the book…
I’m really excited about the direction these are going in (and I’m ecstatic that all my thumbnail sketches are approved already), I feel like I’m finally arriving at a style that feels personal, honest, and fun for me, and appropriate to the subject matter…
June 24, 2010 | Posted By: Annie
Filed Under Our Artwork
Actually, this was partly a clock kit. . . you know, the usual thrift redemption with a few extras. . .
another Egon striped girl tribute I guess. . .
June 15, 2010 | Posted By: Annie
Filed Under Annie, Art Shows, For Sale, Our Artwork
Today, packed a suitcase full of objects and rushed them into setups at the studio for my paintings, new ones and some from the last White Whale show. Here are some sneak peeks, I’m sure you’ve already seen these here before, but in other environments. Given my affection for antique stores and the like I thought I might attempt to style just such a background for these little ones. Still not quite happy with the lighting. . .
You’ll see these come up in the shop over the next few days. . .
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