IF: Freeze

New IF! This weeks topic was freeze so I decided to make an illustration based on Hans Christian Anderson's story The Snow Queen. This actually turned out better than I expected, but I want more water color practice, so I may make some more illustrations for this story in the future. 

IF: Carry

Here is this weeks new Illustration Friday submission, this weeks topic was "carry" and I originally planned to make an elephant procession, but got too caught up in the design to the point where I couldn't fit anymore animals or people in without them blocking the view of the architecture, but I'm happy with how it turned out nonetheless. 

IF: Lost

Yay! My Illustration Friday entry is up early this week! This weeks topic is "lost", and although I originally intended to draw someone lost in the woods, it actually came out looking more like someone "lost in thought" in the woods, which works too. But Ughhh! I really need to work on my figures!

IF: Suspend

While discussing possible ideas for this weeks theme (that wouldn't be such a literal interpretation of the topic) with my sister, she suggested the idea of "suspending time", and the first image that jumped into my head, was the Picture of Dorian Grey, seeing as Dorian Grey wishes to remain forever youthful, while his portrait grows old and ugly instead of him.

IF: Faded

Now that spring semester is finished, I'm trying to get back into the habit of doing a weekly Illustration Friday (even though for me it's more like every other week!) This weeks theme is Faded, which made me think of vintage photographs (maybe it's because of my new obsession of the early 20th century...or maybe it's because I went antique shopping last weekend) , either way I'm pretty happy with the results. 

IF: Heights (sort of...)

This week's Illustration Friday topic is "Heights", I began working on this illustration last week when I was trying to find something to take out my midterm stress on, so really I wasn't thinking about the topic. But I suppose the bird perched atop the the temple works with the theme.

IF:Swamp

The theme for this weeks IF is swamp and I interpreted the topic pretty literally and decided to make an old shack in the middle of a swamp. I wish I could of spent more time on his because looking at it now some things appear a little "wonky" (for lack of a better word ), but for the most part, I am satisfied. :) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIKmSwJkNJs 00:54-1:56 was my inspiration :P )

IF: Shades

I actually started this before I knew what this weeks topic was, but I think it works because of the various shades of color used to make the reflections on the ground. I only realized after I scanned it that the umbrella looks a little too large but oh well, maybe it's a golf umbrella :P

IF: Fluid

The word fluid makes me think of water and motion, so I created a composition that combined those two ideas, and naturally I felt that watercolor would be the perfect medium for this weeks topic. I haven't painted anything in a while so I was getting a little frustrated, and at one point was going to throw it away! But after working with it for a while, I managed to pull through and make something that I'm happy with :) . Also Happy late year of the dragon!

IF: Stripes

Here's my new Illustration for this week. The theme was "Stripes", and well since I have already drawn a zebra, I figured I would make a tiger for this week. Oh and don't worry he's a friendly tiger : P

IF:Scary

Happy Halloween Everyone!  Here is my Illustration Friday entry for the theme "Scary". I've been playing with PrismaColor markers a lot lately, I love how neat and even the pen strokes look :) Well except for the background you can clearly see my pen strokes but oh well, it ties in with the atmosphere. Oh yes and I did get the idea for the lady sitting on the tombstone from the "stretching" portraits in the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland : P

IF + Figure Drawing

Time for my monthly update! I'm kind of hoping that I'll get to the point where I will have a weekly update, but for now here is an entry I made for Illustration Friday (Yeah I forgot to upload it again whoops!) Anyway the topic was "Mesmerized" and well...I went a little pattern crazy!

Also I've started practicing figure drawing from a web site that my sister recommended to me, so here are a few 10 minute studies (hopefully I will get faster at it): 

IF: Obsession

     Wow I am really not doing a very good job of updating this blog! Also I haven't drawn anything for Illustration Friday in quite a while, so since I had the time now that summer session is over I decided I would give this weeks topic a shot, and am very happy with the results :). 

     This weeks topic was obsession, and because I have had Egypt on the brain all week, I drew Osiris and Isis sharing a moment together while Set spies on the two filled with hate and desire. Although I think this may be better described as jealousy, I would say that jealousy is a form of obsession. 

     Materials: Bic Pen, and Prismacolor. 

IF: Cultivate

"Cultivating a Friendship"
I decided to make it my mission over spring break to try out some new mediums and techniques, so for this weeks submission I chose to play around with water color. This was challenging as I feel that I have only just become comfortable with using a pencil, and now I'm trying to learn how to deal with the unpredictability of a paint brush! However even though my first try turned out to be a messy experiment, I'm determined to master this new medium!
Also there is an exhibit at the Legion of Honor featuring the work of Arthur Szyk, which further inspired me to improve :)

IF:Stir

Yay! I'm finally posting my first Real Illustration Friday entry!

When I heard that this weeks topic was "stir" the first thing I thought of was stirring coffee or cake batter, so wanting to make something a little more out of the box, I then came up with the idea of Poseidon stirring the ocean with his trident. However when I began developing my composition, I began to think of other element that I could add to make the image more interesting, so because the horse is one of Poseidon't attributes, my whole idea changed into a young Poseidon going for a "joy ride", and recklessly stirring up waves with his trident.