The waterfall

Here is a quick study (really quick!) of the waterfall and Drake's treehouse.

I did this in Photoshop... AND I have a confession... As much as I LOVE Illustrator, there are just some things that make me want to use Photoshop.  I feel like a traitor!  There is a freedom that comes with Photoshop that I just can't get with Illustrator.  If I'm working in Illustrator, I need to have a finalized drawing (I don't know if anyone else is like that- it might just be my style and technique).  With digital painting, I can start with a rough thumbnail and dive right into the piece with no restrictions.  There's no way I could have made this illustration in Illustrator as quick as I did.  And for that, Photoshop is slowly creeping back onto my favorites list... however, Illustrator will always be #1 to me!!

My apologies to my non-illustration friends, who are probably completely clueless about this Photoshop vs. Illustrator rant.

Sneak Peek

I'm still working on this piece.  This is Drake's hideout/ tree house.  It's been about a year since I've painted in photoshop.  Man was I rusty!  

Here is a page of my thumbnails.  I was working out the area around Drake's treehouse and his home.  Not all ideas will make the cut, but I'll probably be posting a couple more illustrations from this batch.  

In case you wanted some of the story: Drake is 10 years old and lives right on Loch Ness.  His tree house is located in a cove of the loch, which is about a 1/2 mile (that's .8 km to Drake, in case you were wondering) from his home.   The cove is Drake and Sadie's favorite hangout.  Sadie is his Newfoundland dog.  Together, they have the best time.  Sometimes their friend, Claire, (a human girl) plays with them too.  To be continued!

More Drake

I added some color to Drake.  If you've looked through some of my work, you might have noticed that I don't usually use olive green... EVER.  The neutral tones are a little too plain for me.  Chances are that I will be revamping his color palette within the next couple days (mainly because this is apart of a huge project due in one week)... so stay tuned for more!!

My website

My website has finally started looking decent.

Here's the sneak peak.... go check it out!

alayart.com

Coasters

Recently I was given the assignment to design a self-promotional piece.  It was to be a quarterly mailer that advertises you (well, advertises me).  I wanted to design something that was fun and functional.  Since September, I've been working in the office (for those of you that don't know...  I've worked for the Dollries Group (interior design/space planning) for 3.5 years now and mostly remotely).  Now that I am in the office, the only thing that I really need is a coaster.  I tend to use a spare piece of 3-Form or a stack of Post-Its.  Either way, I use coasters daily.  Another handy thing for me is a calendar.

So what do you get when you combine a coaster and a calendar?  Well you get my awesomely handy coaster with a calendar on it.  In order to show off my skills and wittiness, I decided to make it a little more interesting by highlighting an odd-ball holiday for each month (ie- National Yo-Yo Day is in June). On one side of the coaster, I created a calendar and illustrated the special holiday.  And on the back there is a description of the holiday and my business info.  

So far I only have May, June and July.  But there will be more! 

Here are a couple iPhone images of the mockup.  And my business card too!

Drake

Drake is the main character in my Loch Ness story.  The story takes place circa 1930.  Below, are the beginnings of some model sheets.  I used a non-photo ink blue to rough out his clothes, then I used microns pens on vellum for the final ink drawings.  I will be adding color, texture and pattern to them next... so check in soon for those!

Presentation day

aka... draw your classmates day!

Here are some quick sketches of my classmates during class presentations yesterday.  And when I say quick, I mean QUICK!  They never held one pose for very long.  I'll keep at it, and we all can watch my progress!

Oh and I drew this little guy on my sketchbook too...

Figure Drawing

This semester I have a figure drawing class... aka I draw naked people.  I still remember my first class ever at CCAD.  It was a figure drawing class... aka naked people drawing class (but I didn't get the memo).  I was an eager student.  I got there early and watched as everyone arrived.  Then a naked woman sat on a stool, and we were told to draw her.  With my 2b in hand, I attempted to draw this woman... mind you, I was in complete shock and felt slightly uncomfortable.  Nowadays, staring at the human figure for three hours is normal.  It's strictly business.  


As much as I love drawing, I'm getting a little burnt out drawing because I have two drawing classes this semester.  12 hours of drawing class gets old after awhile, which is why I decided to have a little fun with today's assignment (as pictured).  Its not my best work... but I enjoy it.  It makes me chuckle and reminds me of The Simpsons.  The technique is fun.. using pastels on black paper, but next time I'll stay away from yellow.    Enjoy!

My new site!

Hey y'all!  My new website is up and running.  Here's a screenshot of my homepage.  Make sure you check out alayart.com to get the full experience!

Snapped Branch

For one of my classes, I have to create a story and illustrate it with character concepts and scenes.  Here is my first scene.  I used pastels on black paper, unfortunately I had a limited color choice... but you get the gist.   The story is about a boy who encounters the Loch Ness monster.  The monster is subject to change.