Island of the Blue Dolphins - cove

Another in my series of illustrations for Island of the Blue Dolphins. For references I looked at lot of photos of caves with water, like this one:

image source

Here's my original thumbnail, which is literally about the size of a thumbnail:

And here is my preliminary color comp:

At first I really liked this scene, but as I kept working, I began to feel like it was missing something. Whenever I feel stuck, I consult with my classmate Young Kim. He used his concept art experience to take my little scene to a grander level, by suggesting that I zoom out and make more interesting silhouettes with the rock.

I had to finish this in a hurry, so it isn't quite as polished as some of my other pieces. But I still like it a lot.

What do you want to do?

Today I discovered this article called "10 Things They Didn't Teach You at Design School." Although I am very happy with my art school, there is still a lot of valuable advice in this article that graduating artists need to hear. My favorite quote is at the end:

"My main advice for art college students today would be to really think about the type of work they want to be doing," says Jonathan Woodward. "To think about the type of commissions they really want - rather than what they think they should be doing - and then create a career and portfolio that reflects this."

Lately I've been lurking around an illustration forum, where often struggling artists post about how they can't seem to get their careers started. When I visit their online portfolios, they're usually a jumble of logo designs, watercolor paintings, little doodles of dragons and still life paintings.

It's become increasingly clear to me that the question they should be asking themselves is not "what should I do" but "what do I want to do?" I get the feeling that a lot of these frustrated artists don't really know what they want. As Noah Bradley once put it, they just have vague notions of wanting to "do art."

So I keep trying to repeat the advice from Woodward above:

1. Decide what you want to do.
2. Research the market.
3. Create a relevant portfolio.

It all begins with the simple step of deciding what you want!

Island of the Blue Dolphins - Octopus

In the Island of the Blue Dolphins, the main character relieves her loneliness by making friends with animals on the island, gradually coming to see them as companions rather than food sources. She tames a wild dog, raises birds and helps a wounded sea otter.

But then she sees this giant octopus lurking in the water and decides that she is definitely going to kill that thing. Just to show that she can.

I just wanted the chance to draw a giant octopus.

This was my first color comp. The colors are very pretty but they don't really give the feeling of the octopus being underwater.

Here I began to make the colors and values more convincing, and began to tighten up the linework. I realized that there were some problems with the girl's anatomy, however, so I reluctantly got off my butt to take a photo reference. My husband/photography assistant wasn't at home at the time, so this was the best angle I got:

Pretty lazy of me, but it still helped the drawing a lot. I adjusted the dog's pose several times, trying to figure out what looked the most natural. I studied a lot of pictures of canoes and reflections in order to get the look of water to be convincing. I blurred the parts of the octopus that were supposed to be deeper underwater, and used the smudge tool to create ripple-like distortions.

I think I nailed it, because I occasionally found myself searching for the "water" layer on my Photoshop file, as if there was an actual layer of water above the octopus!

Academy of Art Spring Show 2013

Four of my pieces were selected for inclusion in this year's AAU Spring Show. I also got to participate in the pre-show portfolio review. I sat next to my super-talented friend Yongqian, who was in my very first art class two years ago. Awww! Don't we look like a pair of hopeful and earnest little artists.

In the downtimes I doodled a picture of myself soaring through the treetops in a chariot drawn by squirrels. I signed this picture and gave it to Yongqian. I'm sure he'll treasure it forever.

You can see three of my pieces in a group on the right....at the bottom of the wall....near the floor.

These pictures were taken early in the morning, before the show had opened to the public. By the evening, hundreds of people were lined up outside waiting for the doors to open. Once open, the entire building was packed with people.

This is just a fraction of the line of people waiting to get in. I was pretty impressed with the popularity of the show! If you're interested, the show will be open at the Palace of Fine Arts until June 5.

Watch this bunny

Just watch it.

Island of the Blue Dolphins - cover

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell was one of my favorite books when I was a kid. In general I loved (and still love) stories about people being stranded on islands.

For my perspective class, I had to create five finished illustrations for a story. Somehow Island of the Blue Dolphins popped into my head. I read it in about a week, and it was still as fresh and engrossing as the first time I read it. I highly recommend it.

Anyway, this is my idea for the cover. I'm not a graphic designer, but I still enjoy putting type on my book cover designs. It helps me imagine them on the shelves of a bookstore.

Do you know of any other good books about people being stranded on islands, besides Robinson Crusoe and The Swiss Family Robinson? Please tell me, I need more!

Mother's Arms

I created this drawing a few days ago, and it just now occurred to me that it was appropriate for mother's day. I was trying out a more linear, graphic style in this illustration.

Today is the last day of class for the semester, so I gotta get going!

Art as Fencing

"To one who fences or has used the broad sword a feeling for oppositional line should come as second nature. A long sweeping stroke must be parried or opposed frankly; the riposte must also be parried. A bout is a picturesque composition of two men and two minds in which unity of the whole and of the parts is preserved by the balance of opposed measures. The analogy is appropriate. The artist stands off brush in hand and fights his subject to a finish, the force of one stroke neutralizing and parrying another." 

- Henry Rankin Poore, Pictorial Composition and the Critical Judgement of Pictures

It's A Kelley!

"Remembrance" by Jinyoung Park

Last week I went to my friend Jinyoung's solo show, "Rebirth." This portrait of myself was part of a series of paintings featuring young women holding white flowers, as "pure images, like goddesses," Jinyoung says. All I can say is finally someone recognizes me for the goddess I am. I mean jeez, it's about time.

That's Jinyoung in the middle, surrounded by her "models."

If you want to see the rest of the series, check out Jinyoung's website. She had a very lovely show and I look forward to seeing more work from her in the future.

Nightingale - Book Cover

Ta-da, the final piece of the Nightingale section of my thesis. This is a wraparound book cover. I tried to incorporate elements of all the interior paintings, which you can see here if you haven't already:

Nightingale - Part 1
Nightingale - Part 2
Nightingale - Part 3
Nightingale - Part 4

Interview with Chaos Magazine

Lookit me, I have an interview just published in Chaos Magazine, an online art and fashion magazine. I had a one-hour Skype session with the author, Adriana Scott, and she asked me a lot about my influences and childhood. It was fun, and made me think more about my own artwork.

One of the first things Adriana said to me was that my work doesn't really have a dark edge to it. "It's very whimsical," she said. I laughed, because it's true. Perhaps because I had a very happy childhood, I just don't really feel a need to express any inner angst through art. How very un-artist-y of me, right?

At the same time, I don't want to draw all sparkly butterflies and rainbows all the time. (Although, yes, that's basically what I did when I was little.) I want my illustrations to generally feel charming and inviting, but also grown-up enough to be intriguing and unique. Never cliche or expected. That's my goal, anyway.