Tag Archives: Illustrations

The Bankrupt Circus and Other Misadventures

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The Bankrupt Circus and Other Misadventures by J. Bradley Minnick has been published! You can buy a copy through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Bookshop.org.

The book is a compilation of short stories “Together, the stories form a portrait of America at its edges-where working-class rituals, childhood games, and neighborhood legends are transformed into metaphors for endurance.”

I worked on five of the story cover illustrations including “Notes from Tennis Camp,” “Fly Stand, Inquire Herein,” “Innocently to Amuse the Imagination in this Dream of Life is Wisdom,” “The Twisted S,” “The Last Telegraph,” and the dedication. Some of the stories that have links, you can read on East of the Web website.

I was working on story illustrations for J. Bradley Minnick prior to this project. His publisher suggested we collaborate on more, and that I be added to the book. I worked on these for about two months to meet the publication deadline. It was a very exciting time.

Here are a few studio pictures of the project!

“Notes from Tennis Camp” was a really fun illustration because it was interactive. We purchased a tennis racket and tennis balls to get a feel for the story. The kids got to play tennis and we ended up with a really nice image on that one because of it.

“Fly Stand, Inquire Herein” was the grossest illustration to work on because of the pictures of flies and rats. I was trying to look without looking while I was painting.

“Innocently to Amuse the Imagination in this Dream of Life is Wisdom” was a bit of a puzzle for me because I wanted it to look very classic. There are a lot of writers referenced in this story, and at first I was thinking of making their portraits, but landed on their head busts instead to further accentuate the old wisdom in literature. I also had to ask my mom to send me the title in her fancy cursive. I think she liked helping on this one.

“The Twisted S” was a seemingly simple illustration, but all of the components had to fit together just right for this one to work well. I got E.K. to model this one for me because she was the most flexible of the kids.

“The Last Telegraph” illustration was very much finished in my imagination after reading the story, so it was only a matter of painting all of the pieces. This small sketch is what I sent J. Bradley Minnick, so you can see that he’s very trusting of my imagination!

The Dedication illustration was inspired from my own family portraits wall.

I’m so thankful I got to work on this great project.

Art Show at Midtown Carnegie Branch Library

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When we first moved back to Springfield in June last year, I approached the reference librarian at Midtown Carnegie Branch Library, who also happened to book the art shows. I sent her the usual and appropriate materials via email and she liked what I sent. We booked a show for September 2017. I went and took pictures of the space to decide what show and sizes would work well.

I decided that the “Family Life Illustration” series at 11×14″ in 16×20″ frames would work well in this community space visually and conceptually. M helped me carry in all of the work and art hanging supplies. I set the pieces against the wall to decide on placement.

Gallery Gal showed up to help me hang the work.

We measured, hammered, and hung. When finished hanging, we leveled, placed the exhibition labels next to each piece, and put up the artist statement. I have a “The Process of Hanging an Art Show” post to reference of more specific show hanging details.



The “Family Life Illustrations” exhibit will be at the Midtown Carnegie Branch Library through the end of November 2017.

 

Family Life Illustration Series

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I completed the “Family Life Illustration” series using Inktense pencils, Micron ink pens, and Canson Illustration 11×14″ 150lb art pad. There are 15 illustrations in the series (that is how many pieces of paper were in the art pad) of my current family life and inspirations for 2016-2017.

This work is narrative in content and uses color in a monochromatic way accentuating one part of each drawing. These fun and quirky illustrations are a reflection of the current joy and activities I was able to experience through starting a family with a newborn through toddler. Each piece has its own story, blog post, and details.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15 Illustrations: Getting Ready

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I am working with Inktense pencils, Micron ink pens, and Canson Illustration 11×14″ 150lb art pad to create 15 illustrations (that is how many pieces of paper are in the art pad) of my current family life and inspirations.


This work is narrative in content and uses color in a monochromatic way accentuating one part of each drawing. These fun and quirky illustrations are a reflection of the current joy and activities I have been experiencing.

“Getting Ready” is the first and last drawing in the series. I drew it at the beginning of the series and it’s a bit of a “nesting” time before E was born. I wanted to discover during this series how our lives would change socially and in our community once we had a baby. After finishing the drawing, I decided to color each pendant from each of the drawings in the series (which made this drawing technically the last one completed). The colors would eventually represent all of our adventures together, but in the drawing it would just be my daydream.

Before, with no color

The colors used are Inktense pencils: Sun Yellow, Leaf Green and Teal Green blended, Carmine Pink and Tangerine blended, Carmine Pink, Spring Green, Fuchsia, Iris Blue and Mauve blended, Mustard, Saddle Brown, Poppy Red, Cadmium Orange and Tangerine blended, Leaf Green, and Mauve and Violet blended.

My favorite things about this drawing are the crayon books and snail bookends,



the new mom, dad, and dog sister waiting for baby,

 

the embroidery and flowers.

and the completed embroidery.



 

 

15 Illustrations: Exploring the Japanese Stroll Garden

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I am working with Inktense pencils, Micron ink pens, and Canson Illustration 11×14″ 150lb art pad to create 15 illustrations (that is how many pieces of paper are in the art pad) of my current family life and inspirations.


This work is narrative in content and uses color in a monochromatic way accentuating one part of each drawing. These fun and quirky illustrations are a reflection of the current joy and activities I have been experiencing.

“Exploring the Japanese Stroll Garden” is just one of many times we have been to the Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden in Springfield, MO. We all love to walk around and explore what the different seasons have to offer in the garden. It is such a relaxing and calm place to be. I used Inktense pencils Mauve and Violet blended for the purple blooming trees.

My favorite things about this drawing are the bridge and Micah and E looking off of the bridge,

all of the nature textures – the pebbled ground, trees, and bushes,



the rock pathway and log edging along the water,

and Ein and I watching the ducks.

Inspiration for this drawing