January | 2012 | alecia goodman blog

Archive for January, 2012

Keep Moving “Forward”…. IF

Published January 31, 2012 illustration , portrait 6 Comments
Tags: art, concept, Disney, dog, drawings, fine art, forward, Grace, illustration, Illustration Friday, journal experience, meet the robinsons, painting, pastel, pastels, pencil, progress, schnauzer, sketch, sketch book

Illustration Friday’s topic this week is “Forward”. Ever since I saw the Disney film, “Meet the Robinson’s“, I have really liked that motto “Keep Moving Forward”. I was a little nervous about the new portrait I started this weekend, Dakota. The portrait is a bit complicated and challenging as it will end up hanging next to her sister “Grace”. First I had to get sizing correct and approved. The paper had to be the same, which I found after searching since Grace had been done a bit ago. Luckily everything seems to be working so far. Hoping I will be able to finish the portrait this week, but we’ll see just how far I can get… especially since Dakota has a lot of fur.

Here are the initial sketches and beginning of the drawing for Dakota.

Hands 2 Serve — Design

Published January 29, 2012 illustration 1 Comment
Tags: 2, art, color, concept, design, graphic, graphic design, hands, illustration, logo, logo design, ministry, new, pencil, progress, serve, sketch, sketch book, space, trademark

Original Hands 2 Serve Logo ©alecia goodman

(Color) Hands 2 Serve Logo ©alecia goodman

This logo was designed for the Hands 2 Serve Project. Essentially very similar to the Hope In Action Ministry. Members of the project work to improve houses for those in need and are unable to do the work themselves. Like the Hope In Action Ministry all of the work is completed by volunteers (NO they are not paid, but paid through doing a good deed for someone). Design – It was felt that the logo needed to make a bold statement through graphics and color. It would be used both in print and web… and on t-shirts via silkscreen. For the T-shirt, another graphic needed to be designed that would work complimentary with the original.

2nd Graphic Color Hands 2 Serve ©alecia goodman

IF you are interested in volunteering or need further information please Matt Rivers via email mattrivers19@hotmail.com

Original Sketch Hands 2 Serve Logo ©alecia goodman

Here are some additional sketches from the beginning of the project, a glimpse of my design process.

Winnie Tattooh and his friends =)

Published January 26, 2012 illustration 3 Comments
Tags: art, cartoon, Disney, eeyore, illustration, ink, piglet, sketch, tattoo, tattooh, Tigger, winnie the pooh

I have decided to start highlighting unique design, illustrations or art while I am in between projects. I had hoped to be able to do 1 or 2 of my own twists on characters like a Disney Princess or maybe even Rainbow Brite. I will be starting on another dog portrait tomorrow “Dakota”, Grace’s adopted sister.

This is so twisted. I love it. A unique twist on lovable icons. I would love to see all of the doodles the artists went through to get to this point. Enjoy! The drawings are created by GRAPHEART, a freelance studio located in Paris.

source: Winnie Tattooh and his friends =), http://blog.thaeger.com/2012/01/20/winnie-tattooh/

A Light Goes Out, With a TWIRL.

Published January 22, 2012 experience , journal , portrait 13 Comments
Tags: art, boxer, characters, color, concept, design, dog, drawing, figurative, fine art, graphic, illustration, Illustration Friday, journal experience, light, painting, pastels, pencil, photography, progress, sketch, sketch book, twirl

I know its a bit of a stretch for Illustration Friday’s “Twirl”… Still if I think about the idea twirl, I think of how many times I have twirled pencils to continually create a sharp point. I overcame a lighting issue in my studio. Frustrating how reliant I am on bulbs etc. This beautiful dog, Zeus is now completed… YEAH!!! Of course I am still awaiting approval from the client. Let me know what you think everyone.

The portrait was approved… Now I am definitely “TWIRLING” in a happy dance.

Almost There…The Sistine Chapel

Published January 12, 2012 experience , illustration , journal , portrait 2 Comments
Tags: art, boxer, ceiling, challenge, chapel, characters, concept, dog, drawing, figurative, fine art, illustration, italy, journal experience, michelangelo, nervous, new, painting, pastel, photography, progress, rome, sistine, sistine chapel, sketch book, space, zeus

source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistine_Chapel_ceiling

As I get closer on this portrait to the finish, I keep thinking, I wonder how Michelangelo felt as he tackled the Sistine Chapel. My current portrait is an 11″ x 14″ pastel drawing (no where near the level of difficulty or scope of Michelangelo, a master). His canvas was a ceiling of an entire chapel (take a virtual tour). I just imagine his relief and wonder at what he was able to accomplish. It would be interesting to ask him questions at the beginning, middle and the end… how much would those answers of changed. Just a thought.

Here is my update of Zeus. He is coming together beautifully. I am still tackling his wrinkles, so much detail in blacks and grays. Its a challenge and yes, at times I get a bit nervous (am I doing it right?)… I think the end results will speak for themselves. Hoping to deliver by Wednesday of next week.

2011 in review

Published January 9, 2012 artist profile , experience , illustration , journal Leave a Comment
Tags: 2011, annual, annual report, crochet, drawings, illustration, progress, report, review, statistics, summary

Happy New Year!!! The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,800 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 30 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Updating Zeus

Published January 9, 2012 experience , illustration , journal , portrait 1 Comment
Tags: color, detail, drawing, pastels, portrait, progress, update

A good work day. Started to progress more with blacks and grays. There is quite alot of detail in the folds around his mouth. With my new pencil sharpener the drawing is moving much better. I love the needle-like points its giving me. Hoping to continue in my groove and keep going.

My Ever-Sharpening Quest

Published January 9, 2012 illustration Leave a Comment
Tags: electric, electric sharpener, Office Depot, pastels, pencils, portraits, sharp, sharpeners, Staples

If you know my drawing style then you realize that I am always looking for a pencil sharpener to fall in love with. The amount of detail I try to achieve just calls for the sharpest point I can get my hands on. Its been an ongoing quest and its taken many many years of trial and error. Here’s just the short of the journey.

You would think that electric would be the answer. Yes, it saves my hand, especially since doing too much with hand since my car accident hurts. Electric sharpeners can be wonderful when they work, but are not always reliable or may not work for pastel and charcoal pencils. I have tried a Boston Electric (I will have to check the model), sadly it just ate my pencils.

Via email I chatted with Katherine Tyrrell who has written several articles about pencil sharpeners. At first she suggested a Jakar 5151 mains powered electric pencil sharpener, except one problem its available in the UK, so over expensive shipping was out of the question; for more information. Though from her description and pictures its worth the cost if you can afford it. Her next suggestion was a battery powered Staples® Slimline Battery Operated Pencil Sharpener. It worked really well for 3.25 projects… I believe it died, earlier this week. I don’t live near a Staples and keep kicking myself for not buying a back up at the same time. Still I wanted to make sure it worked first.

So my husband and I tried to research online for sharpeners. I have to say the information provided under product information is severely lacking. The one thing that Katherine suggested was that the sharpener needed to have helical blades. The only one I have found so far is the one through Staples that specifically states this.

As a back up and bandaid to my work gap, I had thought that a manual sharpener with a turning arm might work. It would be less stress on my hand, which trying to use the simple hand sharpeners just was making it hurt even worse. So a trip to Office Depot and my husband picked up a Stanley® Bostitch® Manual Pencil Sharpener. It clamps to your work surface. I tried to turn the arm with my left hand, the pencils weren’t sharpening. So I decided to change it up and use my right hand to do it.

YEAH!!! I have beautiful sharpened pencils and can work. I love this sharpener, its not electric, but the points I have are amazing. I think I may just need to try one of the electric ones for this brand. I will definitely be picking up a back up.

Zeus, Craziness, Debuts…

Published January 3, 2012 illustration Leave a Comment

I know its been a bit since my last update, its just been that time of year with the holidays, illness, and craziness. The good news is we made it through the insanity of the holidays. We have all dealt with being sick this past week. I am starting to think illness goes hand and hand with the holidays. I have had so much going on, the quick run down… free lance graphic design projects, craft shows, and portraits. I will do more posts highlighting recent projects. I am also working on a new portfolio site since sadly my current site is not available due to the host discontinuing their service. So look for my Facebook page or website to be making a new debut here soon.

I am so excited to be working on a new dog portrait… Zeus was a beautiful boxer. I will continue to document the process from sketch to finished drawing.