Mr Little

In case you didn't see me post this on every other online thing possible...
A portrait of Omar Little from HBO's The Wire - if you've never seen the show before what have you been watching all your life?!

It wasn't quite what I'd had in mind, but I think it actually ended up better than I'd planned.  The picture I had in my head was mainly the multicoloured scratches, which I've got, so I'm happy!

I've been neglecting my blog quite a bit this year.  It's been my own fault for keeping things secret; I've not been sharing progress and processes so as to not spoil any surprises for people.
I can tell you what I'm working on though:

- 2 costume design mini-projects
- a comic strip for my other gentleman half
- pin-up style portraits of my girl friends
- quick designs of my character Andi from my Andona project
- ideas and scripting for a graphic novel (check back with me in 10 years)
- sketching and painting for fun in between
- and then there's the next TV portrait! I've not done a film portrait yet - any suggestions?!

All that on top of working full time and trying to keep up learning languages.  It is tough and slow!
I do love personal challenges though, so I'm enjoying the struggle in a twisted kinda way.
What are all you guys working on?
Do any of you keep things secret until a certain point of completion?

J.x

P.S.  I'm now on Tumblr and Society6

Baddabing baddaboom!

Furio Giunta from HBO's The Sopranos.

I painted this a couple of months ago.  Purely for fun and practise!
My two aims were: achieve a cartoon style; design a pattern.
Like my previous 'Al Swearengen' image I enjoyed using a solely 2D pattern/texture with (very basic) shading giving a sense of 3D.

I've now made this available on my Society6.

If you know any Sopranos fans in need of a very classy and beautifully artistic pillow that's the place to get it ;)

J.x

Work In Progress

Well, I've managed to find someone crazy enough to pay me for something!  Last week I was given a really wonderful job at a local high school to support Year 11 students (and at times, Year 10) in boosting their GCSEs and future prospects.  It's a role that I feel very privileged to have; not quite teacher not quite counsellor...  Helping to make changes to how their school day works to be better for each individual pupil.
As great an opportunity it is, it does mean I will have a lot less time to do any illustration than before, but it will help me to focus and appreciate the time I do have spare.  And, you know, money is always a really really good thing.
So here's what I've worked on the past week or two (or three. I've been taking it pretty easy since uni ended!):

Prep-work pre-composition stages.

A present for a friend.  Hopefully for Christmas (1 of 5)
Tonal values decided before laying down colour.

Something silly and spontaneous!  Based on me and the mister's nicknames (pukebarfpuke).
Thinking of doing a small scruffy comic telling an abstract version of our relationship. 

Vote Delgado

ABC Comedy's Modern Family - Manny Delgado
Photoshop CS6, Genius Graphics Tablet

If there's a TV character you're fond of and would like to see me paint, go ahead and let me know!  Suggested so far are characters from these shows:

The Wire
Due South
Buffy
Justified

It's been a great way for me to learn portraiture and I change my approach with each painting to get the most effective appearance and try new things!
J.x

Life Update

So, I finally handed in all my work for my final year at university after being granted a semester extension. (BREATHE A SIGH OF RELIEF)  I'm really hoping that's the last of it so I can graduate in November with everyone else in my class and look ahead to my life beyond education.  I have my JessicaOnPaper site back up online for one of the university modules.  What a painful few days that was!  When it's graded I can re-build it to get it looking more how I wanted - y'know, less... terrible.

Children of Lír - 'A Family Picnic'
The new Queen transforms the King's children into swans
(Graduate Painting 4 of 8)

I'm now taking a much needed break from the computer after what felt like a very cruel year and summer, where my out-of-the-blue, couldn't-be-more-badly-timed, ill health and workload felt as if they'd never end!  During my new found free time (and restored good health that I'm ridiculously grateful for!) I'm having to remember what it is to do absolutely no work and not feel guilty about it.  I think I was in a state of shock for a couple of days after I sent the last of my work off, but now it's worn off and I can catch up with all the things I've missed out on this year - a lot of reading, countless video games, so many places to visit and, above all, be with my family and friends whom I've neglected for far too long!

Of course, art projects are never too far from my mind.  My main aim for this following year is to develop my character and costume designing abilities, and a few portraits for fun.  I'm also very excited about my graphic novel that is developing quicker than I had imagined (I actually know how the story ends, which has to be a first!), which I'll explain more about in another post.  It's going to take a long time before I can even imagine completion, yet as it's a personal project that I've set for myself it means that no matter what else is happening in my life I can always enjoy working on it.

I find myself torn with how I feel now that my work for university is done.  I wanted it all to be over for so long and yet it's important that I don't try to put the last four years completely behind me.  The rough times I've had whilst at the University made me feel like the unluckiest person in all of Carlisle, often joking that I must be cursed.  Pessimism at it's silliest and I knew it!
Whenever obstacles appeared I was actually lucky enough to have the best support I could have hoped for and always at just the right time, whether they realised it or not, before I felt the lowest I could be.  I have met and known some of the most generous and helpful people through my time at the University of Cumbria; mentors, lecturers, classmates, friends and passing visitors.  Both from the creative world and those outside of it.  People who have given up their spare time to advise me, stayed up all night to keep me going for deadlines, or who have offered me a place to stay.  And I can't forget the illustration opportunities I've been given.  This is what I want to always remember, the support I've been given over four years by so many people, not the big lows I experienced.  A real honour and a big thank you to every one of you.

Awaiting my final grades, I think I'll always feel like I could have done more, despite my improvements in digital painting in general.  I realise now that is simply who I am, no matter how much time I devote myself to my work, but that's the harsh beauty of creativity - to know that you can always do more, or better, because the skills and the ways to apply them are almost limitless.

Now. Give me a job.

J.x

Wilf

I went in to uni this morning to set up for the exhibition evening tonight, and got the sad news that Wilfred Tolan had passed away.  Wilf was a life model at the University for several of the art departments.  He was the most reliable and dedicated model we had, and was always a gentleman.  I can't imagine how many students have drawn his likeness or just how many times.  Sketches of him have lined corridors around campus since before I ever had a class with him.  He had a genuine interest and enthusiasm in the work each student did, enjoying whatever we came out with and always had a friendly conversation for you at the end.  So it was great getting to know him instead of only ever drawing him.

He'll be sorely missed and lovingly remembered.
J.x

Exhibition 2012

The campus arts exhibition officially started today.  Brampton Road Campus in Carlisle has opened its doors for everyone to freely wander through all the art departments to see graduate work from this past year.

For more information visit the uni website here.

As students, we've all looked forward to being able to display the hard work we've been doing.  Not only that, but it's exciting for us to see the noticeable improvements everyone has made within one year.

For me, I really noticed just how different one segment of one of my paintings changed:

February 2012

May 2012

There's loads to see on the campus - photography, graphic design, film, and of course Games Design and Digital Arts ;)

Hope you can make it!

J.x