Artist at Work

Another shorter post for today. Since I'm working on bigger projects right now, my blog posts may be small for awhile. Or I might take a week or two off; haven't decided about that yet.

Anyway, this is a quick sketch from last year of a character whose story I'd like to tell some day. ^_^

onward and upward,

Bethany

Collage experiment

Short post for today. After a loooong hiatus from collage, I broke out all my magazine scrapes and made this little tree. I've been wanting to play around with collage and watercolor in a more illustrative manner and this seemed like a good place to start! Over all, I really like how it turned out! ^_^

onward and upward,

Bethany

Abstract painting

I'm going to share something a bit different today. I've been developing several story projects, which is very exciting, but very draining on creative energies. To combat that brain drain, I've found myself being drawn to forms of abstract painting. For me, abstract painting is about the act of guiding the paint rather than controlling it. There are still some decisions to make, but allowing the colors to mix and spread on their own is my main focus. And when you're knee deep in decisions about character, story structure, themes, and the like, it feels wonderful to sit back and let the paint do its thing.

(Watercolor washes I used for a project)

I have this huge canvas from college that I painted over and started working on. Right now, it sort of reminds me of a cluster of plants or flowers, but that might change.

I love the paths that oil paint takes when it's thinned down. It's like dozens of tiny rivers, all meandering and mixing together.

Abstract painting is kind of a subjective topic and I don't pretend to be an expert on it. These paintings may not mean much to other people, nor will they ever be grand and important masterpieces. But that's ok. For me, they are an act of letting go, of sitting back and observing, of embracing happy accidents. And if that's all they end up being, that's enough.

onward and upward,
Bethany

Character design studies: Little Crocagator

I've been doing a lot of story development lately, so I thought it would be fun to show some studies for a character I'm working on. He's a little Crocagator (Jon made up the word; it refers to anything resembling a Crocodile or Alligator). This character needs to be both cute and a bit mischievous/dangerous looking, which is a hard balance to strike.

I started off with some character doodles, got frustrated and did some reference studies, then went back to character doodles. 

I still have a ways to go with this character, but the process of getting to that final design is just as interesting as the final product. (Or so I keep telling myself to fend off frustration and impatience! ;-))

Onward and upward,

Bethany