How do you feel about technology in art education?

Teaching Art & Technology

Do Not Disturb, Artist in the Zone by Pascal Campion

During this Covid-19 pandemic, I have never been more appreciative of the value of teaching students about art and technology. While our society is reconstructing itself during this quarantine, teaching students a multiple of STEAM lessons through zoom has been eye opening.

While materials being available for all our students is something teachers still and will continue to struggle with, the possibility of what we can teach our students has been wide open. From digital drawing, painting, animation, film and 3D sculpture, and game design, technology has allowed art educators to expand their area of teaching from classical art forms to contemporary modes of creative art.

While as a freelance illustrator, I am aware of the technology that are necessary for my field of work, I was less aware of free programs and good lesson plans for my students. Having taken a class in art & technology in art education, has helped me greatly feel prepared to teach students relevant skills and knowledge content.

A New Perspective From Artist Liena Vayzman

Self Reflection for Artist

https://www.lienavayzman.org/

In a lecture with Liena Vayzman, it became apparent to me the value of self-reflection. Most of her work, like “13 Ways of Looking at Liena” is composed of photographic self-portraits like seen above and a poem about the name Liena. The poem is inspired by Wallace Stevens 1954 poem “13 Ways to Look at a Blackbird.” I personally found the poem not only reflective of the artist herself but also my own experience with my own name…and the “13 Ways to look at Yan.” In some ways it reminded me of the book Chrysanthemum, by Kevin Henkes. In the book Chrysanthemum is teased about her unusual name. But what is unusual? when is something consider usual? This is something that children are all exploring as they grow up and something Liena Vayzman explores in her own art.

https://kevinhenkes.com/

In Ms. Vayzman’s other work, “Gaps & Fills” she explores in a series of photographs the beauty of glitches, and how our human response is to correct the “mistakes” and “make sense” of a photo by what we believe to be true. But there is beauty and a new perspective to be learned from our mistakes. This is something children and adults struggles with. Not only realizing “our mistakes“ but also learning something from those mistakes.

It is important to allow our selves as well as our students to be self-reflective and observe the world instead of only being told about it. As artist, in order for us to be creative, we must be allowed to explore our world and have reflections about it rather than conclusions.

What I learned From Dr. Kylie Peppler

STEAM & Critical Thinking

“You don’t simply remember a solution that is familiar enough to guide you. For example, solving a complex physics problem by applying a learnt concept or algorithm isn’t critical thinking. Devising a new algorithm is critical thinking. ”

— Willingham, D.T. (2007). Critical Thinking: Why is it so hard to teach? Education al Policy Review 109(4), 21-32

During our Technology and Arts class, we had a guest lecturer, Dr. Kylie Peppler talk to us about different aspects of STEAM curriculum. I found it very interesting when she referred to how students often lack concrete exploration of math in real world situations. She has found that teaching students fiber (sewing, knitting, weaving, and crocheting) craft activities allows students to be in touch with math. These activities require the use of counting, multiplication, division and geometry as they create. This could explain why I never had trouble in math in school, as I love to do all these fiber activities and was taught them by members of my own family. As a little girl I learned to cook & bake with my mother. I learned fractions before I was taught them in school!  A basic of the art core standards is that students have to actively do art and create. Based on my own experience and that of Dr. Kylie Peppler, the more activity based curriculum you offer your students, the more knowledge they gain, whether they know it or not. A lot of the time your students will teach you something as well.

Here are pictures of two places where creation takes place in my home: The Kitchen and the Studio

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My Philosophy

Based on readings from my SVA classes, like that of Willingham, Piaget, and Peppler, I am leaning toward a teaching approach that employs material learning in order to help students gain more cognitive skills and ultimately, to be able to think more critically. I was exposed throughout my elementary years to  many kinds of “domains” even if I’ve not mastered all of them. But the exposure helped me to learn to think critically as it provided me with the basics to build upon.

“The ability to think critically (to actually do what the metacognitive strategy calls for) depends on the domain knowledge and practice.
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— Willingham, D.T. (2007). Critical Thinking: Why is it so hard to teach? Education al Policy Review 109(4), 21-32

What Challenges does integrating STEAM into your curriculum create?

“The promise of STEAM approaches is that, by coupling STEM and the arts, new understandings and artifacts emerge that transcend either discipline. ”

— Peppler, K. & Wohlwend, K. (August, 2017). Theorizing the nexus of STEAM practice. Arts Education Policy Review.

General map of my STEAM Lesson plan makerspace room

Planning a STEAM Lesson

As an art teacher there are many things to think about when incorporating a STEAM lesson into your curriculum. One major challenge is how well are students and teachers comfortable with: science, technology, engineering and math. For me, the main challenge when creating a STEAM lesson is related to the materials:

• What are the materials I need in order to teach the lesson well?

• What materials will the students be able to handle?

• Does my teacher budget cover the cost of these materials?

One of my STEAM lesson plans I designed for my students deals with a makerspace component. In that makerspace, I mapped out the table sections by the concepts I want the students to explore. Since I have yet to create my own model, I uncertain of all the specific materials needed for the best results regarding this lesson.

When I was creating this STEAM lesson plan I knew the umbrella I wanted it to fall under…smart textile (which combines fiber with technology). But there are many things to explore about the world of smart textile. Figuring out what aspect I wanted to explore was one challenge, and another was breaking it down into simple steps. Since STEAM lessons integrate two or more disciplines, figuring out how to teach those disciplines well enough so that students feel comfortable enough to explore on their own is tricky. All of these STEAM lessons, like all lesson plans will have to be adjusted to the needs of the students and their abilities to academically and environmentally meet the challenges presented. The success of incorporating STEAM is not only dependent on human capabilities but the financial realities of a school’s budget and their buy-in to STEAM’s value.

https://www.instructables.com/

“This mix of tools, materials, techniques, and concepts brings contemporary artist in touch with a number of traditional design, product design, arts, crafts, textile design, game design, media design, interaction design, architecture and interior design as well as a number of traditional technology domains, including science, mechatronics, electrical engineering, wireless technology, and nanotechnology, among others. ”

— Peppler, K. & Wohlwend, K. (August, 2017). Theorizing the nexus of STEAM practice. Arts Education Policy Review.

Computers in School

This week I was able to do my first observation at a public elementary school. The school I observed had shared laptops for students in each regular classroom teacher. But I notice there was no designated laptops for the art classroom.

A lot of the STEAM activities we have been learning require the use of the computer. This becomes a necessary material. It seems laptop are a major tool outside a technology class now. When I was in middle school we had computer class as a separate class. This class dealt with students being familiar with the basics of computer technology… mainly typing. Now children are growing up with computers since birth and the need to teach beyond typing is fundamental. Having enough laptops for students has become a school budget concern as a whole in the digital age.

Illustrator worker by Philip Nordström

Online Classes…What does that mean for the Future of Teaching?

During the coronavirus teachers K-12 for the first time had transfer their lessons online. This being a lot of questions of how our education system will run from now on.

• Will students ever have snow days again?

• How will teachers have to structure their lessons plans in order for it to also work online?

• How do we teach young students through the computer and keep them focused?

• How will we make sure students have the materials (art supplies, microscopes etc..) they need to learn?

The answers to these questions are still unknown, but maybe the use of integrated lessons like STEAM will be at the foreground of learning. Instead of teaching one subject as one discipline by itself, teachers will have to integrate multiple subjects and allow for more self exploration with their students then ever before. Hopefully this will be the pathways for future learning… than more static measurements i.e. more tests.

“Taken together, there is a distinct need for future evaluation and research on the ever-increasing proliferation of new tools and environments to determine their efficacy for teaching and learning, as well as a need to develop new tools and materials that are equally expressive as the tools currently used in the arts classroom. These are but a few of the questions and challenges facing our administrators and policy makers today in the emerging STEAM landscape.”

— Peppler, K. & Wohlwend, K. (August, 2017). Theorizing the nexus of STEAM practice. Arts Education Policy Review.

An Illustrators Reflection on Digital Materiality as a Source for Art Making

“Expressive ideas and themes emerge in actions on the materials. ”

— Max Hafeli

Art & Technology

Chronicle history of illustration style as a result of printing technology: John Tenniel (1865) Pen & Ink, Arthur Rackham (1907) Watercolor & Ink, Jessie Willcox Smith (1917-1933) Watercolor, JC Leyendecker (1920 -1930) Oil Painting

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The history of illustration has always been linked to print technology, beginning with the use of engraving and lithography. The invention of chromolithography introduced the rise of the Golden Age of Illustration. More colors could be used and more prints could be made more cheaply. After working for ten years, Arthur Rackham’s career finally took off once multiple colors could be printed separately and his work was able to be mass-produced.

As illustrators, most of our work is also reproduced, necessitating illustrators to have a close relationship with print technology. Like Arthur Rackham, the style and medium of one’s illustration is effected by the ability of the technology in use. This changes how we create and teach art.

“Historically, expanded materiality is central to art education (e.g., Lowenfeld & Brittain, 1987), because learning comes from relational actions with materials —doing knowing. ”

— Justice, Sean. (2017). Material Leaning in Action: Building an arts-based researched community. Art Education.

Digital Medium

Now, in the digital age, the use of digital material/medium has once again changed an illustrators' relationship with technology. Originally, the dialogue was between physical mediums (ink, watercolor, gouache, and oil paint) and print mediums (engraving & chromolithography). The dialogue now is between the physical medium and digital mediums (computers & digital printers).

As illustrators, we have to think about where the piece will mainly “live.” Will it live in cyberspace, a book or magazine, or someone’s home? The answer to this question will determine what material or medium an illustrator will choose to use. For example, if I was designing a web banner, I would choose to do the piece digitally as it is easier to create a digital piece that lives in the digital world. For children’s books or editorial illustration, I’ve moved to digital mixed media, where I incorporate aspects of the physical medium and overlay them with the digital medium. Finally, for portraits or fine art pieces, I would choose paper art.

“Important to building connections are the physical and virtual spaces that are used to support communities of practice. ”

— Patton, R. & Knochel, A. (2017). Meaningful makers: Stuff, sharing, and connections in STREAM curriculum. Art Education, 70(1), 36-43

An Illustrator’s Studio

The same style of art, simple line drawing with limited coloring. Using physical materials to digital materials: pen/ink and watercolor v.s. digital line drawing & watercolor collage v.s. digital painting.

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In my studio, I have a range of physical materials and digital materials. Some of the physical materials I use for illustrations are pen/ink, watercolors, gouache, color pencils, and color card stock paper. I also have a range of craft materials like felt, yarn, embroidery thread, beads, and wire. When I create physical pieces of art like handmade gift cards or a piece to live in someone’s home, I like to collage with a range of materials.

The digital materials/technologies I keep in my studio include Mac desktop, Cintiq tablet, Silhouette die cutter, Epson Surecolor printer, Leaser black & white printer, laminator and Canon SLR camera. Almost all my work now has to go through a digital process. About fifty percent is done using digital material or a combination of both. I loved to do a lot of pen & ink work. Now, most of that work is done digitally. I have found that working digitally has created a sharpness to my lines and color schemes that I was not able to create with other mediums.

Another aspect I love about digital material is the use of light in my illustrations. When I was painting, the light was created by using the method of color blending and contrast. Now in digital painting, light is created using gradients and opacities. As a result, it has expanded my artmaking and art style.

“Creating with computational objects may appear to be a new form of material play in the art classroom: however, DIY subcultures have historically played with electronic and mechanical equipment in inventive ways.”

— Patton, R. & Knochel, A. (2017). Meaningful makers: Stuff, sharing, and connections in STREAM curriculum. Art Education, 70(1), 36-43

Is the Art Room and Makerspace the same thing?

“Without struggle there is no progress”

— Fredrick Douglas

Here is a big ink drawing I did for my drawing class (undergrad) that I’m coloring with pastels. The subject of the drawing is grapes which is common in classical drawing and paintings.

The Art Room

For a long time, the art room was known as the room where children learned to create. However, teaching arts was grounded on principles that "we must learn from the “masters” before we become “masters” ourselves. This principle has been instilled in us since the founding of art schools during the Renaissance which also gave us the apprenticeship system as well. This is especially true for schools and programs that focus on classical traditional fine arts.

I had one art teacher that told me that I would not become an artist until I hit middle age because that would give me the time to become a master. This is a rigid definition of what an artist is and not one I pass on to my own students.

This model has left some children feeling like the art room is another academic space rather than a space to explore and just create. Art includes a wide range of experiences including art processes, aesthetics, and visual literacy. So, an art room can have a makerspace component to it, but it is not always the focus of a particular lesson or a reflection of a teacher’s philosophy.

“Many educators are unaware of — or don’t trust — the methodology or process of children learning without being directly and explicitly told what it is they are supposed to be learning.”

— Bilkstein, P., Martinez, S.L., & Pang, H.A. (N.D.) Meaningful Making: projects and inspirations for fab labs and makerspaces.

Project I had the children in a Harlem Shelter do: College from scrape paper the meaning of their name.

The Craft Room

Craft rooms have a reputation as a hobby room. Often they are considered below classical art by some in the art community, even though crafts been around just as long. Craft based classes and a craft mentality serves as a bridge between traditional art rooms and contemporary makerspace rooms.

Many of the crafts I’ve learned have been taught to me at an early age by members of my own family made up of Italian immigrants. My great grandmother earned money through crafts: making lace, embroidery, sewing, knitting, and crocheting. The men like my grandfather used his carpentry skills to support his growing family. All of these skills were passed down to some of the grandchildren, including me.

I myself love to do paper crafts and make handmade greeting cards and calendars. My carpentry skill has mostly been used to fix things around the house. I would love to get back into fibers and start sewing & embroidering again.

Although the Guild system of the middle ages emphasized fine craftsmanship, the focus was on the medium and the process and not on craftsmen as artists. Thus, the craft room feels more inviting and safer for exploration rather than the art room. Craft communities are also more open to sharing their methods and knowledge more often than other areas of the art community. Through social media there are more DIY craft videos allowing more people to enjoy making (and creating their own craft space") then just learners in a classroom. This has enlarged the crafting community to homemakers and self-taught artisans.

“Learning is social and the classroom should be a social environment where ideas and knowledge are constructed and shared as a community could be the mantra of any modern-day makerspace and for age groups”

— Bilkstein, P., Martinez, S.L., & Pang, H.A. (N.D.) Meaningful Making: projects and inspirations for fab labs and makerspaces.

The Makerspace

The makerspace is a new term and a space that focuses on creating i.e. “making” in multiple fields. It is not necessarily linked to art, though its focus is linked to the design research principle.

Makerspaces use tools and supplies that are found in an art room as well as incorporating new things, like technology. It focuses on free exploration rather than directed (step by step) lesson plans.

During our art integration class, we were asked to create a paper sculpture. It was only later that we were asked to add light. I tried multiple lights from my cellphone to tea lights to get the best effect. The teacher provided us with a list of forms that can be made from paper. He also instructed us to add light.

The arts integration was based on free exploration. It was during exploration that one makes a connection to other subjects, like language, math, science, and social studies. Successful art integration necessitates a makerspace that allows for students to do the work and learn from it without being so dependent on specific instructions. The teacher then becomes the “bone” of the assignment/lesson, not the “flesh”.

“The makerspace attracts those kinds of teachers willing to take a risk in teaching old content in a new way.”

— Bilkstein, P., Martinez, S.L., & Pang, H.A. (N.D.) Meaningful Making: projects and inspirations for fab labs and makerspaces.

Design Research & The Launch Cycle

“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try”
-Dr. Seuss (1975)”

How do you use Design Research in your everyday life?

A good design always involves good research. Something in my daily life that utilizes the principle of Design Research is interior/exterior design.

Coming back home after college (undergrad), I needed studio space in order to get my freelance work done. Living in a small apartment in New York City with my family, this space also had to function as my bedroom.

My first design of the space was based on functionality, and mainly two needs: storage space, and surface space for sleep and work. With this in mind, I bought three main items: a shelving unit with drawers, a loft bed, and a work table. The shelving unit doubles as a drawer for clothes, and shelves for art supplies. The loft bed as a bed up top and workspace down below. Shown above are the first sketch designs of my studio space on Moleskin grid paper.

Working and interacting in the space gave me additional data on how the space functions in realtime, which allowed me to make revisions to the original design.

Currently, I’m working on designing the garden (exterior space) at my family's summer house. Shown above are some design sketches I did on Indesign. In the sketches, you can see I have not only the shape of the space but also where the sun rises and sets. This data will allow me to make informed decisions about where to place plants based on how much sunlight they need.

Simple Graphic of the Design Thinking Method

How would you use Design Research in the classroom?

“Typically, design thinking follows the pattern of empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. However, we’ve added a few stages, including a phase for inquiry and a final phase for launching your creation to the world...We use the acronym LAUNCH to describe the cycle. ”

— Spencer, J. & Juliani, A.J. (2016). Launch: Using design thinking to boost creativity and bring out the maker in every student. San Diego, CA: Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc.

Spencer, J. & Juliani, A.J. (2016). Launch: Using design thinking to boost creativity and bring out the maker in every student. San Diego, CA: Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc.

Design Research can be used to design curriculum as well as student projects using the principle of The Launch Cycle.

When I was in elementary school, my 5th-grade teacher allowed us to redesign the classroom space halfway through the school year. She asked us: what we like about the space and what we didn’t like about the space? Does the space work…what parts don’t work? Then as a class, we had to design the space to our liking and then break into teams to rearrange the room…”Launch it!”.

“As young people are given the opportunity to systematically design and make through a process of exploration, ideation, experimentation, and evolution, they become active learners who find voice, agency, and influence in the learning work they pursue.” (Design Thinking for Educators n.d.).”

— Socol, I., Moran, P., Ratliff, C. (2018). Timeless Learning. New York, NY: Jossey-Bass.

In my middle school group work was the dominant model for learning. It was hoped that we would teach each other, unfortunately, this led to a tension between the “academically gifted” vs “non-academically gifted.” As a result, due to the lack of a launch cycle, students were not motivated to show or explore their own individual talents and skills. Some students were left feeling inadequate while others felt burdened.

Hopefully, we can bring more design research models into the classroom so every student feels their voice is heard and valued, and ultimately become active learners.

Playing with Some Apps New and Old

Animation & Drawing Apps

Most of my digital art has been done on Photoshop using a Cintiq tablet connected to the computer. But in order to teach children digital painting, it would be helpful to know about free apps they can easily access than pay for Adobe Cloud.

While the Photoshop program on the computer allows you to buy or create your own brushes, the Adobe Sketch is every limited and not as varied in brush choices. Brushes Redux, on the other hand, has surprisingly a great range of brushes you can use for digital painting.

The computer interface for Photoshop allows for animation, but the app does not. Yet, Flip A Clip is a nice easy program that allows you to create short 2D animations. It also allows you to link to youtube to show your animations.

However, all these new apps would work much better on a tablet rather than a phone. Drawing with my finger on the iPhone is just not the same due to a lack of surface space and less control. Unfortunately, my apple tablet is from 2013, which does not work with these new apps. So, I’m in the market for a new tablet. In the meantime, I am playing with the apps on my phone to test them out.

Extended Reality (XR) Apps

AR and VR programs have been in development since the ’90s. Some programs are designed better than others. The Acute app was not a great interface and felt glitchy in some areas. The Activator was a better interface and overall worked better as an app. The XR App should enable the user to feel immersed in a virtual reality. However, I did not experience complete immersion. I did find the Just A line, which also uses AR technology much more immersive mainly because it is more playful, allowing you to doodle “in outer space.”

The only other AR app that I have been immersed in is Pokemon Go which is one of the AR apps that have gone viral. Even though Pokemon has a huge fan base on its own, and was a popular game before the AR version, the AR version took the game to another level. It also helped that the structure of the Pokemon games was suited for AR. But XR is still in development, and more and more companies are developing their own programs. Whether these programs will be demonstrating great technology or great design is yet to be seen.

2D Animation, Animatics and Stop Motion

How was it to Animate on Photoshop?

I forgot how long it takes to animate something. This 5-second animation took me two days to create!!! :b

Most of my initial time was spent troubleshooting and getting used to the interface. I have done 2D animation in the past. I’ve done hand-drawn animation, flash (which is awful to work with) and animatics on Storyboard Pro.

Animation using Photoshop based on a previous illustration.

With Photoshop working with the video keyframe was difficult since you have to pre-draw all the transitions in order for the animation to move smoothly. Also, the human body is always so difficult since there are so many parts that have to move in sync.

I ended up doing this short animation frame by frame so that I could be more in control of how long an image would be seen. This is also similar to how I worked when creating my Stop-Motion Animation. Also, I drew each body part on a separate layer as well as the backgrounds. That way I could work with multiple layers and move each one separately.

What I may try another time is to create all the body parts on a separate layer so I can move them like puppets before tracing and drawing them on the video keyframe layer. This may help the animation to be more smooth. The other thing I want to try is to create the whole animation in a painterly way, closer to the original illustration.

This is an animatic I did on Storyboard Pro, called Josie and the Pheonix Feather (based on the Grimm Brothers’ story Jorinda and Jorindel. FYI this animatic still took me a month to do from sketch concept to the final.

The one thing that I have yet to figure out is how to have a camera frame on Photoshop. On Storyboard Pro, you have the camera frame, which controls how one views the incoming image or moves with the character as needed. Sometimes you can create the illusion of movement by moving the camera and not the image.

Is 2D Animation more difficult than Stop-Motion?

The one thing with 2D animation is that you have to draw each moment as its own drawing. This takes a considerable amount of time and pre-planning. Here is a simple object Stop Motion I did in undergrad using the program Dragon Frame. What makes this animation easier is that the object is already formed and moves in a particular way. This form of Stop Motion allows you to create a story with movements already in place, instead of having to build characters as well as its movement.

Finally, finding the right soundtrack is very important in telling the story as well.

Technology and Art in the Classroom

How do you feel about technology integration in the art room?

Technology (digital media) is now a major form of art in today’s world. I feel it is important to teach students different ways it can be used and used well.

Lev Manovich wrote in his book, Cultural Data: Possibilities and Limitations of the Digital Data Universe, how digital media is it’s own culture and is not always a reflection of the physical culture world. With that principle in mind, I would say the same can be said about digital art vs traditional or classical forms of art-making.

SVA MAT students creating a simple stop motion animation using the phone app Stop Motion.

Growing up I learned all the forms of classical art i.e. drawing, painting, sculpting, darkroom photography, sewing and jewelry making, in school & after school programs. I was only introduced to Photoshop at Fiorello LaGuardia Highschool in my senior year.

It was in college at the Maryland Institute College of Art where I was immersed in new technology art. But understanding the fundamental principles of classical art forms, learning digital art and technology, was not scary or hard. I was able to combine the two as well as going back and forth between them.

In my first experience of teaching digital mixed media (digital painting) with students in a summer program, I found that most of the students had a good grasp of computers and were self-taught artists using social media. They were less versed in physical or traditional art forms and shied away from them, choosing to focus on their digital art. But, because of their preference, they see digital media as a “high art form” knowing its possibilities but not its limitations.

For my future lesson planning with students, I’ve learned that it helps to go from traditional to digital, as digital art is created in response to traditional forms of art.

The Stop Motion exercise we did (see above) was a good way for students to see the fusion of the two. Both collage & video partners in this artform.

"Star-Crossed" a Shinning Little Star

“When we were discussing the concept for this jacket, we wanted to convey a sense of the Romeo and Juliet play and themes that are explored throughout the story, while showcasing Mattie and Gemma and their relationship. Rather than hiring a “traditional” illustrator,  our art director, Karin Paprocki, reached out to a cut-paper artist, Yan Gabriella. Once we gave her the concept, she sent along an initial layout of how the cut paper would set, along with paper samples so we could see what colors she was thinking. Once she got the green light on concept and palette, she literally cut hundreds of pieces of paper to form the gorgeous end result that you see here. Karin and I are reminded of stained glass when we looked at the final product, and we adore it!””

— Alyson Heller, Editor at Aladdin, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing

When I first got the synopsis for this book, I was wowed!

As a pre-teen who has gone through moments of confusing feels for my female and male friends, I wish I had some help sorting out these feelings. For any young person who has experience a crushed on either girl or boy or both, Star-Crossed is invaluable to young readers struggling to sort our these feelings.

Thank you Karin and Alyson for this great opportunity to work on this project. It was a treat to work with all of you. And thank you Barbara for writing this great story.

Sailor Moon & The Silver Millennium

This piece was created in response to a call for artists for the Silver Millennium Masquerade Ball at Saratoga Spa State Park in New York.

I decided to illustrate Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon based on one of my favorite moments from the Sailor Moon Anime, in which Sailor Moon and Chibi Moon come down from the sky after having defeated Queen Nehellenia.

The final piece was created with paper and gouache.

Before I start on the paper cut, I like to make color thumbnails to figure out my color palette. I went through multiple color palettes for the environment. I decided on the blues, because ultimately, it seemed most fitting.

Before making the color palette, I begin with a template / final sketch of the illustration. This enables me to work digitally or in paper.

Inktober...Finding Another Style

As of October I've been diligently doing an piece for Inktober. In doing so, I stumbled on an new style. Using line work and black with just a bit of grey wash.

Been keeping with the October theme, I been doodling a witch and her kitty and their daily day doings.

Sometimes the witch and the kitty would be doing things most people are doing in October.

I been to trying to be more fun with my characters and play with body and facial expressions.

Digital Painting Childrens

In addition to doing paper art, I am enhancing my digital skills, by working in a more painterly style.

Here I use a blur effect to give the piece more depth.

Here is an impressionist look at nature. 

I'm always trying to bring light into my pieces. Its something I love about digital art.

Princess Tales

Here are some digital illustrations based on another favorite book of mine... The Fairy's Mistake and Other Princess Tales by Gail Carson Levine. I've always found Ms. Levine's writing to be so whimsical and witty.

The book is an anthology of six stories. This is a tile page for the first story about a Fairy's spell gone wrong on twin sisters. I chose to do portraits of the main characters in each story. I love just doing grayscale pieces once in a while.

This map of the Kingdom of Biddle is the environment in which all the stories take place. I had fun trying to "map out" all the locations in the stories. 

This illustration was created for The Fairy's Mistake and the second is for The Princess Test. I had great time using gradients to capture light.

Animal Lover on Etsy

 These pieces were conceived at the time I decided to open my Etsy shop. They are simple graphic animals created out of paper.

I've always loved the gracefulness of birds but I find that other creatures are appealing in different ways. Whether it be the sensualness of an otter, the sweetness of a bear, or the elegance of a tiger, each has its own magical charm. Colors against a black background are very appealing to the eye, especially when the designs are simple and graphic.

Creating an Awesome Sketchbook

A personal goal of mine is to have better sketchbook habits. At MICA I admired the sketchbooks of my peers. Mine on the other hand was more a notebook than anything else, with chicken scratch thumbnails. 

So, in June I got this black sketchbook to experiment with. I chose it because starting off with white paper can be very intimidating. 

I began to include paper cut art in my sketchbook as well. Different from a planned piece, the work in the sketchbook does not begin with preliminary drawings. I collage from scrap pieces of paper I have left over from previous projects and build the piece as I go. 

I've always wanted to experiment with paint. I love how it looks as an accent to the paper.  I'm finding however, that I can also work in the reverse and have the paper be the accent to the paint.

These early works have been created from my imagination. Since a sketchbook is meant to travel with you, I've started to take this little black book with me to Sketch Night at the Society of Illustrators and create works based on the costumed models.

With these sketches, I'm less concerned with trying to create a realistic or even accurate depiction of what I see but aim to create an interesting piece of work inspired from what I see. 

The models' poses last for 5 or 10 minutes. It takes me about 20 minutes to finish one piece. Sometimes I capture bits and pieces of the pose from the previous moment.

The Society of Illustrators provides artists with folding trays to work on. I bring along a mini cutting mat measuring 8"x10", an x-acto knife and scissors, my travel gouache set and an extra-large ziplock bag with scrap pieces of paper. 

Emily Windsnap: Tells Her "Tail"

Every once in a while, I like to design cover illustrations for some of my favorite books. I did these two illustrations for the whimsical series, Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler. I fell in love with mermaids after watching Disney's The Little Mermaid. The idea of being able to have both legs and fins like Emily would be great fun!

In addition to paper cut art, I also enjoy doing digital painting. I like to base my digital work on color and shapes but the one thing I like the most about working digitally is the play between light and texture.

I then like to add type and graphics to see what the piece would look like if use as a product. Adding typography to the illustrations gives them a completed look...like when you frame a piece of art work. It brings the piece to another level.

"The Flair of Mary Blair"

This portrait of Mary Blair was created for the Society of Illustrators' Artist Illustrating Artist Show (Spring 2015). She is one of my idols!!! Her work has a great sense of color, charm and appeal that just pops off the page.

Mary Blair is best known for her paintings for the Walt Disney Animation Studio. She worked on classic films like Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, and Peter Pan.

Although Mary Blair worked mostly in gouache she also did paper cut art. So in honor of her I decided to use both paper and gouache in my portrait of her.

The whole piece measured 16"x 20". As part of it I made mini paper cuts of some of her classic pieces all measuring 2" x 3". This one is from Peter Pan. 

I had a lot of fun trying to adapt a painting to paper cut. I found it tricky when some paintings are so gestural versus paper cut art which is best done using major colors and shapes. On the left is my adaptation of the original painting she created for Cinderella.  

Alice in Wonderland is one of Blair's most beloved works. Also, "The Art and Flair of Mary Blair" by the amazing animator John Canemaker, is a must have on any artist's book self.

The Making of Once Upon a Night Sky

This is a self portrait. It was also shown at the Society of Illustrators at the New Vision Show (Summer of 2015) and also at the Interchurch Center Gallery for The Enchanted Universe of Children's Book Illustrators (Winter of 2016)

When making a template for my paper cut pieces, there is still room for change as the piece come to life. I aim for clean lines in my drawing and sometimes will do a color mock, which tends to be very saturated.  I still can change my mind based on what paper colors I have and what looks right.

When I have an idea, I sometimes scribble it on a post -it note before sketching it on paper. Then I'll scan it into the computer and draw it digitally so I have clean lines to work from.