100 Watercolors #76 - Broken Pieces

I managed to spin this theme into another cat illustration.  I guess Webby has really turned me into a cat person!

The next theme: Test

100 Watercolors #75 - Mirror

When this theme came up, I initially thought about an old illustration I did for one of my classes at Pratt, which involved fun-house mirrors.  I thought it would be fun to play with two characters, one who gets squished and one who is stretched.  I decided to reinforce this idea with the stripes in their shirts, which borrow colors from the greatest horizontal-vertical character team of all time.

The next theme: Broken Pieces

100 Watercolors #74 - Are You Challenging Me?

The concept for this one came to me pretty quickly, but I had to do some research to find an animal that had a visually distinct mating ritual.  I decided on the bright red chest of the male Frigatebird, though I don't think I'm using it 100% correctly below.  From what I have read, it seems that is used to attract a mate, not necessarily to scare off competitors.  Sorry if this inaccuracy irks any ornithologists out there!

The next theme: Mirror

100 Watercolors #73 - I Can't

In high school, I was very tall and gangly, with almost no upper body strength.  I couldn't do a pull-up to save my life.  One day in gym we were supposed to climb these giant ropes.  We were not given any instruction and I incorrectly assumed that one did this by pulling oneself up with one's arms.

I was getting more and more frustrated and kept saying "I can't do it!" until my gym teacher finally yelled at me, something like, "Alec, you're so focused on what you can't do, you're not even trying!"  This made me really angry so I tried even harder, and in that moment, instinctually, my feet scissored the bottom of the rope, I was able to get a grip, and I pushed myself up with my legs.  I made it up to the top.

The next theme: Are You Challenging Me?

2015 Spring Cleaning!

Well, I went ahead and updated every section of this, my illustration website.  Generally, I updated the header for this blog and created a repeating background pattern using a drawing I recently made of all my current drawing tools.

More specifically, here are the updates that I made in each section:

• There is a bunch of new work on the Portfolio Page!
• I updated the list of companies I have worked with on my Client Page.
• I created a new Books Page which lists information about the books that I have illustrated and colored - a list that I hope will continue to grow in coming years!
• I updated (and shortened!) the bio on my Bio Page.
• I set up a new email address for the Contact Page.

Click around and check it out!

100 Watercolors #72 - Mischief Managed

When I hear the phrase "Mischief Managed" I think Harry Potter and the Marauder's Map.  I'm not sure how that association led to this idea, but it did influence the hair color of the mischievous neighbor.  George Weasley is out there somewhere, and I'm not sure I'd want to live next to him!

The next theme: I Can't!

100 Watercolors #71 - Obsession

This has got to be the most complicated drawing I have done so far for this project.  In some ways that made it easier to work on, because there were lots of little areas to fill in, instead of larger areas that are easier to mess up with the watercolors.  It sure did take a long time to paint though!

The cats pictured include my current cat Webby, my previous cat Nibs, Liz Prince's two cats Wolfman and Dracula and Nate Beaty's cats Carl and Eva.

The next theme: Mischief Managed!

100 Watercolors #70 - 67%

I liked the idea of this one a lot, even though I hated playing baseball as a kid.  I grew up in Seattle, so I decided to have the pitching side be the Mariners.  I asked one of my old high school buddies who still enjoys baseball who the Mariners' arch-nemesis team was and he said the Oakland As.  This might seem like a contradiction, since they would currently be my home team, but like I said, I don't care about baseball at all, so I wasn't too invested in either of these teams.

The next theme: Obsession!

100 Watercolors #69 - Annoyance

As soon as I saw the word "annoyance," this idea popped into my head.  People using their cell phones during a movie is one of my real pet peeves.  Especially when they make no attempt to lower the brightness of their screen!  AGH!

I very loosely based the composition and colors of this illustration on my favorite Edward Hopper painting, New York Movie.  I was also pretty pleased how the highlights on the jerk's face turned out.

The next theme: 67%!

100 Watercolors #68 - Hero

When this theme came up, I was determined to not draw anything having to do with superheroes.  The end result may be a bit sentimental, but what can I say?  Most of the heroes I've had in my life have been the incredible teachers I was lucky enough to have.  I think the world would be a much better place if we diverted more funding and resources to teachers and the public education system.  Teachers make the world a better place in a very real way!

The next theme: Annoyance!