Dog vs. Cat

This week’s project is a fun little illustration for a chili cook-off fundraiser benefiting local pet rescue groups and shelters. My friends in the feline rescue are teaming up with a newly formed canine rescue group that concentrates its efforts on the “bully” breeds. The concept they gave me was “bully dog vs. refined feline,” and the dog group happens to be led by a local chef.

I felt compelled to play with le fabric scraps on this project, and go all experimental with bleach and burlap and paint and stuff. Later on, I’ll be incorporating the illustration into a poster along with some hand-drawn lettering, and probably a few chili pepper doodles sprinkled hither and thither to nail the concept down visually.

I’m rather pleased with the overall look so far… My favorite parts, of course, are the dog’s “tattoos”.

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New York: a triptych

I created this aptly titled Triptych (pun intended) using bits of ephemera and memorabilia collected during my trip to New York in April. As seen on They Draw and Travel.

[clockwise from top left] Downtown Manhattan: Statue of Liberty, Staten Island ferry (tiny origami boat!); Brooklyn Bridge; Very Large SUV rental & a couple of cabs; Red Hook, Brooklyn: Van Brunt Street, “WHATEVERRRR” crochet-bombed in a chain link fence near the ferry, the big R, Ikea (map/brochure)

Manhattan: Mood Designer Fabrics, as featured on Project Runway (business card); Gaia Italia cafe, panini to die for (business card); Hell’s Kitchen flea Market (paper bag from purchase); Empire State Building (photo claim ticket); Metrocard; Manhattan Bridge; Brooklyn Bridge Park, blue umbrellas at picnic tables lining the East River; weekly food festival called Smorgasburg; Brooklyn Bridge; Adam Yauch Memorial Park, “No Sleep Til*” (ransom letter cutouts)

*The Beastie Boys’ No Sleep Til Brooklyn was our theme song for this trip, as we drove all night—12 hours— to NYC from Charleston, SC, made a stop in Midtown before we checked in at our rental in Brooklyn, where we promptly napped. So, like, it kind of literally HAD TO BE our song, right?!

(wheatpasted poster flaking) Big Gay Ice Cream Shop (business card); Central Park; Manhattan Bridge; “Yes” and owl drawn from photos of murals in Dumbo; (backside of wheatpasted poster with rust spots); and me & my friends sitting on the rocks by the Manhattan Bridge.

Other materials used include photocopies of antique city maps, oil paint, ink, vellum, and various papers. And now I have to figure out where to hang it…

The gardenkeeper

My dad was a landscape artist. He created a lovely natural oasis in the backyard complete with fish ponds, waterfalls, and brick-lined paths. There was a covered swing, and birdfeeders, and lots and lots of daylillies. I draw bears whenever I miss him, because he was very much like a bear. He was shaped like one, and he could be gruff when hungry or irritated, and downright fierce if his family was threatened. He also had a soft side–a warm and tender and cuddly, huggy side, and a very big heart.

This is my final project for Eccentric Illustration; the theme was “Evoking Emotion.” The timing was uncanny, falling around the first anniversary of losing my dad.

11.26.54 — 12.13.12

 

IF :: Farewell

Angie Brown © 2013

Goodbye, Penelope. Welcome, Thomas! Illustration Friday has had a change in management, but will continue on. This week’s topic is farewell. I did this little drawing last week as a mother’s day gift for my stepmom. It’s a bit of a family portrait really– the bear, of course, is my dad– note the blue slippers. Over on my other blog  (a blog about a book about a dog), I’ve posted it as a coloring page, in case any little kiddos out there want to make something nice for mom this year.

Thanks for popping in!

all the king’s men

Angie Brown | All the King’s Men

This week the topic posted on Illustration Friday is egg. I’m pulling one from the archives, since I just moved to a new apartment and have no idea where any of my supplies are, I’m exhausted and there are still boxes EVERYWHERE. So instead of a fresh and newly hatched artwork, you get this finely aged piece of dimensional collage, entitled All the King’s Men, which incorporates actual eggshells (that crumbly texture on the right.) It was done during my poured acrylic drippy phase, circa 2010-ish. I believe the crackle texture in the top right happened when I painted acrylic over semi-dry raw egg ooze. It’s a bit of a dark take on the ol’ Humpty Dumpty thing, but you probably figured that out already from the context clues, didn’t ya? Yeah, you’re smart, that’s why I like you. And you have great taste in blogs. 😉

As always, thanks for stopping by, commenting and following. I try to at least take a quick peek at everybody who leaves their mark here, and even if I don’t get a chance to respond, it’s very much appreciated. I’m very glad you’re here.

Mermaids Communicate Via Shell Phone

Angie Brown | Mermaids Communicate Via Shell Phone

I’ve been meaning to post this one for a while– and conveniently, this weeks Illustration Friday is swim. So viola!

Mermaids Communicate Via Shell Phone    48″ x 24″ oil on canvas.

This is a commission that I completed last month. It posed an interesting challenge, of how to paint a naked mermaid without exposing or drawing attention to her nakedness. So I gave her something to do– and solved the problem with a pun. Like all teenagers, she’s practically glued to her mobile device.

Her face looks better when it’s zoomed in a bit. Go ahead, click on it. It’s not the best photo in the world, my apologies.

In other news, sheesh, have I been busy, or what? I am putting together a portfolio to try to get into an upper level illustration class at an online art school. But more about that another day. Among other things, I’ve also been working steadily on the two children’s books, Square Dog, Round World and Annabelle & the Bear, and I’m blogging my little heart out for Illustration Friday. My next post will go live at 9:00 a.m. EST tomorrow. That’s generally the time slot I’ve adopted for my weekly artist feature. I’m still sort of random here  and the Square Dog blog, because that’s how I generally roll.

Questions? Comments? Accolades? I’d love to hear ’em. Go ahead– poke me in the comments. 🙂

illofri: whisper

This week’s Illustration Friday topic is whisper. I didn’t want to be too literal, so I sketched up a moment where one might be inclined to whisper instead of depicting the action outright. This is a scene from one of the children’s books I’m working on called Annabelle and the Bear.

One day I’m going to get to the part where I do something that actually looks finished. And when I do, I promise I’ll scan it in properly instead of photographing it with my iphone.

But right now, I’m still roughing out the general look, technique and process. I’m rather fond of the tree on the left, and the albino squirrel that lives in it.

I’m also rather fond of the bear, who reminds me of my dad. Generally, all bears do.

illofri: wool

do the Harlem Shake!

This week for Illustration Friday, the topic is “wool.” I’m pretty sure everybody’s going to draw  sheep, and there will no doubt be several wolves in sheep’s clothing, so I thought I’d throw in a third cliche/meme and do something really (un)expected: the Harlem Shake. Wheeeee!

Thanks for stopping by, everybody. I really appreciate all the likes and comments and follows. You guys rock!

 

illofri: wheels

Two birds, one stone, for this week’s Illustration Friday topic: wheels. I’m way overdue on a progress report for the children’s book I’m working on, so here’s our protagonist, Lou, puttin’ the wheee! in “wheels.”

This is loosely based on a true story. Lou attempted to skateboard at least once that I know of, but it did not go so well. That dog on the internet makes it look easy. But it’s hard.

Like, really hard n’ stuff.

Thanks for stopping by!

illofri: wings

I’m happy to have an excuse to draw these cute little owls for this week’s Illustration Friday challenge.

I drew them out first in ink, and then took a low-res photo with my phone and emailed it to myself. Then I took that into Illustrator and manipulated the Live Trace settings to get the right balance of woobly line and clarity of detail.

I made a few changes here and there (compare the digitally colored version with the scan of the original drawing below.)

I tried a few color schemes, including a brown/orange/grey one that made perfect sense, but wasn’t as interesting as the lime/cyan/yellow.

And then it seemed that the happy fellow on the top needed a reason to be so happy. So I gave him a yellow pork pie hat. He’s pretty stoked about it.

I’ve been playing with vector textures lately to get that sweet vintage look. I was thinking of maybe taking a  screenprinting class sometime this year, and this would make a great first print.

My Society6 store is up-and-running now, but so far there’s just this one print… Must bump that up on le to-do list. If you’d like to see more of my work, check out my portfolio site, or my other blog about a book about a dog.

And hey– thanks for stopping by!

angie brown | owlstack– the prequel