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50 Shades of Black

Published February 17, 2014 experience , illustration , portrait 1 Comment
Tags: 50 Shades, art, characters, Cole, color, concept, design, dog, drawing, figurative, fine art, graphic, illustration, journal experience, painting, pastel, pastels, pencil, photography, portrait, progress, sketch, update

Finally my household is recovering from being ill. Nothing like having a small child that shares any and every bug with the whole family. The good news is I am finally getting back to work. The baby is slowly figuring out her own schedule… yeah for sleeping. Still not there but working towards it. Cole is beginning to pop with contrasts. Since I am starting to lay in the black. It always amazes me how many shades of black are in a black dog and this one is no exception. In fact he has some rather unique fur. Hoping I am bringing out those details (not the best photo). What do you think?

Don’t Give Me Those Puppy Dog Eyes.

Published January 4, 2014 experience , illustration , journal , portrait 2 Comments
Tags: art, characters, Cole, color, concept, dog, drawing, eyes, figurative, fine art, graphic, illustration, journal experience, labrador, light, meaning, new, painting, pastel, pastels, pencil, portrait, progress, puppy, sharpei, sketch book

I love the expression on Cole’s face. He is just so sweet… reminds me of a lap dog or puppy, though he is really pretty big dog. I have started working in the shadows and highlights. Its a bit tricky to figure out some of the texture. Soon I should be able to start working in some of the background to give his position more context.

“Cole”, portrait update 4 ©2013 alecia goodman to present

New Set Up in Search of Gold

Published January 2, 2014 experience , illustration , journal , portrait Leave a Comment
Tags: black, Cole, dog, drawing, gold, labrador, mix, new, painting, pastel, portrait, sharpei

This is my new project, a portrait of Cole. Just started of course so I am a bit anxious. I have a new table and set up. It took a while to get everything back into working order. Very excited to see how he turns out. I am looking forward to gold, the beauty at the finish. Hopefully this brings a smile to his mama’s face.

Houdini explained, Hello 2014

Published January 2, 2014 illustration , journal 2 Comments
Tags: 2013, baby, colors, cowtown, fairy, fairy coats, houdini, jaime peterman, newborn, patterns, sew, sewing

Hello everyone its been a while I know. This last year, 2013, was an emotional roller coaster ride of really good and really bad.

We welcomed our new baby girl, Imogen. It has been quite the ride with a newborn. Trying to learn her schedule, she is so different from our first.

Imogen Newborn, photography by Baby Bloom Photography

Sadly though we had to say good bye to a very dear friend, of whom I went to college with, Jaime Peterman. My heart has been thoroughly shattered. My friend taught me how to sew. We took on making our own fairy coats, one of my first projects. Being inspired by Katwise and Enlightened Platypus, very beautiful coats from recycled sweaters. Ours were done with Goodwill sweaters/coats and fleece. I should clarify that we did not follow any pattern and came up with our coats on our own. Jaime was an amazing color wizard. She had the most colorful sparkling spirit and I miss her so much.

Steampunk Day (Cowtown photography), Wichita Kansas

Being in an emotional funk I took a break from creating and focused on being healthy, taking care of myself and my family. It was hard to want to create when I was just sad or overwhelmed with emotion. Luckily this pregnancy went so much better than the first. No high blood pressure and no pre-eclampsia, and she wasn’t full breech either. My swelling was normal not to the extreme either.

Jaime’s Butterfly Fairy Coat, photography by Alecia Goodman

Alecia’s Woodland Fairy Coat, photography by Jaime Peterman

I hope that 2014 holds many wonderful surprises for me and my family.

IF – Glow, “Glowing Spirit”

Published December 28, 2012 experience , illustration , journal , portrait 5 Comments
Tags: art, arts, beauty, characters, dog, drawing, fine art, graphic, illustration, Illustration Friday, journal experience, light, painting, pastel, pastels, pencil, portrait, progress, Rudie, sketch, sketch book, smile, space, style

I am always amazed when I come to the close of a portrait. The spirit or personality of a piece takes life and well to put it simply, glows. This is Rudie, and if my client agrees I do believe our journey together through shadows is over. What do you think?

Warm grey Canson Mi Tientes, Pastel Pencils…

Chimpanzee #2, the cute face

Published May 20, 2012 experience , illustration , journal , portrait 2 Comments
Tags: art, baby, black and white drawing, characters, charcoal, chimp, chimpanzee, chimpanzee drawing, concept, design, drawing, drawings, fairy, figurative, fine art, graphic, illustration, journal experience, light, myth, pan, pencil, portrait, progress, sketch, sketch book, smile, soul, soulful, space

The Genus for a Chimpanzee is Pan. Which is also the name for the mythic faerie figure who protects nature most often pictured playing a flute.

I am making some progress. His personality is really starting to come through.

Headache After Headache….

Published February 27, 2012 experience , illustration , journal , portrait 2 Comments
Tags: art, cat, characters, design, doctor who, drawing, figurative, fine art, ginger, graphic, illustration, journal experience, light, painting, pastel, pastels, pencil, portrait, sketch book, space, tabby

I apologize if this comes across as a complaint or whining. I have been dealing with headache after headache, due to the weather and some muscle issue. One of these days I will hunker down and illustrate how a migraine feels visually. I have had a frustrating week progress wise. Any ways Friday was supposed to be a work day, but due to a headache and faulty lighting in my studio, I didn’t make much progress. Sadly my lighting woes won’t improve for about a week or so. My back up bulbs, apparently were already being used. And of course they are special and had to be ordered. So reinforcing the idea to check supplies and make sure I am prepared. This time I hope I have learned my lesson.

Cats don’t like water, diving in anyways

Published February 23, 2012 experience , illustration , portrait 10 Comments
Tags: art, cat, color, concept, design, drawing, drawings, figurative, fine art, graphic, head, illustration, journal experience, light, painting, pastel, pastels, pencil, progress, short hair, tabby

Making some progress today, I dove in head first and just ran with it. Here is update #2 on the latest portrait project. I am really liking the direction of the eyes. Having some difficulty with keeping my pencils sharp for the detail. I really hate it when my pencils keep breaking down in the sharpener. I am sure this won’t be the last and it isn’t the first either. No worries I still like the new sharpener, I think its the pencil this time. I still wonder if this is going faster than the larger drawings, which I have to admit, I prefer working larger. If I can hit the mark on this one I will have to try more smaller projects, especially if it takes less time.

Meow!

Published February 21, 2012 experience , illustration , journal , portrait 1 Comment
Tags: art, cat, characters, color, concept, design, drawing, drawings, figurative, fine art, meow. kitty, new, painting, pastel, pastels, pencil, progress, sketch, sketch book, space

I meant to get this on here this weekend. Its funny how free time gets filled so very quickly. The weather finally cooperated so I delivered Dakota and cleaned up my studio. I have started work on a kitty. This is one of the smallest ones I have done in a while. Will have to see if this goes faster due to the size and if I am able to keep the detail at a smaller scale. Here’s the initial sketch.

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.

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alecia goodman blog

Archive for the 'journal' Category

50 Shades of Black

Don’t Give Me Those Puppy Dog Eyes.

New Set Up in Search of Gold

Houdini explained, Hello 2014

IF – Glow, “Glowing Spirit”

Chimpanzee #2, the cute face

Headache After Headache….

Cats don’t like water, diving in anyways

Meow!

A Light Goes Out, With a TWIRL.

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