by Gail Buschman

So I have one recurring complaint every year: November is the month filled with all the cool challenges like NaNoWriMo and PiBoIdMo, etc, etc. It is ALSO the height of rush season at work and the most likely time I have to put in overtime and cut back on artwork time. So I'm initiating an art challenge for myself and anyone who also wants to particpate can join in: February Faces! Draw one face every day for the entire month. Big faces, small faces, stick faces, ALL faces! 

To get the creative juices flowing, here are some starter ideas:

• Draw adults
• draw children (and beef up your children's illustration portfolio)
• draw animal faces
• draw inanimate objects with faces
• Look at people in a public place for 10 seconds then look away and draw them, making up the stuff you can't remember
• Take a page from the previous post from Suzy Engleman Block and draw many cat faces
• faces you see in clouds or other abstract patterns
• faces built of simple shapes
• for those commuters, look at the backs of the cars on the road and figure out what personalities these cars would have then create a character with that personality.

I will be posting my sketches on my personal blog every day and I hope other people join in and post their sketches on their blogs too!

UPDATE: I updated the logo because the pixelation was bothering me and I also forgot to put my hashtag for this event when I share on twitter: #FebruaryFaces

by Diane Browning

At this month's meeting Carol Heyer spoke of her Pinterest site, and why she found it a valuable tool as an artist--as well as being a fun and addictive pastime.  I was intrigued, not having understood the possibilities of Pinterest as another means of promoting our work and creating our personal "brand".  Carol's site is a wonderful way to enjoy a large selection of her work.  The images in her many Pinterest categories such as People and Portraits, Still Life and Textures, Fun, and Art That Inspires are now favorites of mine.

As usual, I have taken the old-fashioned non-techie path and have a great fondness for the artist's inspiration (or vision) board which I can see from my art table.  In keeping with this post's theme, both Pinterest and an inspiration board can be described as a "Feast for the Eye"!

The value of an illustrator's board is different from Pinterest, but also is fun and has been helpful when working on book or magazine illustrations.  When I was working on my picture book about a girl folk artist in early America, I gathered voluminous files of research images of the period.  Having some of the favorite images always in front of me as I worked kept me immersed in my subject and helped me keep focused and excited about my vision of the book.

Now, let's see...Pinterest...  If I can figure out how to navigate it, it really does look like fun!

Be sure and check out Carol's Pinterest site:  fantastic and intriguing and beautifully planned out!

By Paul Burrows

Yesterday I went to Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra to see their current show by the artists who create the World of Warcraft video game, I've not really a fan of this particular video game, but I like video games and I love good art and there was a lot of great art in this show. They are also selling prints and a expencive, but its very good quality and a huge book for $79.99 Gallery Nucleus features a lot of Disney, Dreamworks and Pixar artists http://www.gallerynucleus.com/

Upcoming Gallery Nucleus Events:
http://www.gallerynucleus.com/

Visual Storytelling: Lessons from Back to the
  Future
January 26, 2013
Opening Reception / Jan 26,
1:00PM - 5:00PM


Gallery 1988:
This is a pop culture influenced gallery with galleries in Melrose and Venice 
http://nineteeneightyeight.com/ 
http://g1988.tumblr.com/

GALLERY 1988:
VENICE

"The
Humorist"
a tribute to one of the big screen's funniest
directors (Woody Allen)
Opening Reception: Friday, Jan 11,
7-10PM January 11 - February 2, 2013

Gallery 1988:
Melrose

Young Adult: An Art Show Celebrating your favorite childhood novels
Opening Reception: Friday, February 2nd, 7 - 10pm February 2nd - 23rd



Peperdine University:

Illustrating Modern Life:
The Golden Age of American Illustration from the Kelly
Collection
January 12–March 31, 2013
The period from the 1890s through the 1930s was the Golden Age of
American Illustration. The rapid rise of popular magazines created a new
audience for art—the American public—and a new demand for illustrations. The nation's most talented artists responded by turning illustration into a
sophisticated art form that gave visual life to our nation's dreams and ideals.
Drawn from one of the country's premier collections of historic American
illustration, this exhibition features original paintings by legendary artists
such as Howard Pyle, N. C. Wyeth, J. C. Leyendecker, and Norman Rockwell.
Open Tuesday - Sunday, 11 AM to 5
PM, and one hour
prior to most performances through intermission. Please
call 310.506.4851 for
more information.



Oh and fyi I updated my portfolio
http://paulburrows.carbonmade.com/

I'm always looking for ways to improve my skills via classes,
videos and on-line blogs and websites and I've found The Temple of the Seven  Golden Camels to be a very valuable asset. It’s written by a Disney Feature  Animation Storyboard Artist and he gives helpful tips on Storyboarding,  Character Design, Composition, Story Telling, and many other artistic things. I highly recommend it! http://sevencamels.blogspot.com/

   Here I am, at our last meeting, sharing with Siri clay models of characters I created in Sculpey clay.  This is the first time I've used clay to help with character development.  In the foreground you'll see the two models I created for a manuscript I'm writing.  For this story,  I had two issues I needed help with.  The first was how to light the rat in the different settings throughout the book and second, I needed to see how he would carry the ice skater ornament around with him. Having the models has helped tremendously. Seeing the ornament laying on the ground, carried on the rats back or propped against a wall in 3D, makes my 2D drawings of their  movements  more consistent throughout.  I really like the size relationship of the two characters as well.  Next I'll be lighting them and sketching in different settings.   I'm definitely going to be using this technique in the future.

I write this post while eating dinner after leaving my day job early to deal with a family issue and shortly before we head out to visit a friend we just saw at New Years who is now in the ICU. Right now I need balance. My life recently has been too interesting, and not in a just-signed-a-picturebook-contract sort of way. 

I haven't created a lot of art recently, but that's ok. One of the ways I'm trying to find balance is in the only New Years resolution I wanted to make this year: to have fun with my art and not guilt. No thoughts of "I'm not doing enough" or "I suck" or "why am I reading a book instead of drawing?", because when you peel away the layers of emotion and guilt, there probably IS logical reason behind all those things.

"I'm not doing enough"
Compared to what? Compared to someone who works twice as fast?Correct. twice as slow? Incorrect--unless of course, they have over twice as much time to work as I do. Compared to a full-time freelance illustrator? Correct. It's all relative. I created more art last year than I ever have in one year, but since I illustrate AFTER putting in 40+ hours a week on another job, I don't create as much as other people may. I have plans to do more with my art this year than I did last year. Progress is progress.

"I suck"
I can't say this because I don't feel this way anymore. individual drawings may suck, I may be grumpy about something else that I'm taking out on my artwork, I may be envious of someone else's talent, but my artwork is good. I still have much to learn, but the moment I stop trying to learn, I should stop making art anyway.

"Why am I reading a book instead of working on art?"
Two answers for this. One, a favorite author just released a new novel. Two, I'm stressed. I know for a fact that I've been using books of the SF/F genre as a coping mechanism for most of my life. The characters have problems, but they are not MY problems, and many have cool magical powers to help them deal with their issues. So jealous. If I am doing nothing but rereading a 14 book series at the height of my work's busy season AND the end-of-year holidays WHILE trying to help inlaws, I probably need the downtime. The art will still be there; I love it too much to lose it completely.

No more guilt.