Adani Fruit Poster tribute - in progress

This is a quick preview of the painting that I am working on. This is the illustrated part (WIP) of a mock-vintage Italian wine poster that I am putting together. More to come...



Taken with my phone camera.
Oh, and watercolor on Strathmore illustration board.

Antique Guns

I have been really into antique guns lately after seeing them at the Cleveland Museum of art. I think that they are fantastic and super fun to draw. When these intricate guns were created, they were extremely expensive to own so those purchasers who could afford them would have them custom made and extravagantly decorated. They were more of a status symbol than for practical use.

These are just a few drawings from my sketchbook that I made during my lunch break one day. Yup, I am that weird co-worker that has pictures of guns on her desktop when everyone else comes back in from lunch. That's me. yep.

These sketches are not all of those never-used guns, but when they look this pretty, it is really hard for me to imagine that they are dangerous items that were created to kill.



I got a book from the library on the subject (unfortunate it was meant for collectors so the pictures are so-so) and I am looking forward to learning more about them.

A few more fruit plates

Here is the finished under glazing on the pomegranate, fig, and plum plates. ... I am so in love with them, I am not entirely sure that I really want to sell them. I guess I will decide when they come out of the kiln.








These are tiles that I painted a bit earlier and am going to make into coasters. I was really inspired by this tile book that I got at the library. Tile is one of those mediums that is often overlooked, but there is some pretty incredible stuff out there! I have been especially into it ever since I figured out that tile is a lot easier to paint on and a hell of a lot easier to make than the thrown pots. Since painting has been more of my focus lately, this is a good thing.




Coolio, glazing is done on these 8 pieces! So, the next step in the process is to put clear glaze over the underglaze. I dab the glaze on first with a sponge because the dark colors, like my dark brown outline, can smear if you just dunk the item in without some padding. I screwed up a bit on the goat tile because I didn't stir the glaze enough before dipping it in, so hopefully the clear glaze will live up to its forgiving reputation. As anyone who works with pottery knows, this is often not the case with most glazes and they can also be unpredictable, so we shall see!



Btw, these are the squeeze bottles that I mentioned in my last post. I ordered them directly from Amaco, and they are a godsend! (And a relatively affordable one too).



You just have to make sure you clean them carefully after use cause they clog easily. I like to store mine with a pin in the needle tip to keep the paints flowing. I also keep a small funnel on hand to fill them.

Everything went into the kiln room today, so check back next week for the finishes! Hopefully they will be done by Thursday when I have class.... Joan, if you read this, that means load the kiln please? Pretty Please??? ;)

Fruit Plates in Progress

Ok... so here are images of my fruit plates as I glaze them. These photos were taken with a camera phone, so I apologize for the quality!

First, using my original sketches as a guide, I drew the image in adobe illustrator. This way, I can work out any compositional kinks before I transfer the image onto the plate. I will post the illustrator images later, but they are not too drastically different from those first sketches.

Next, using underglazes, I brush on the colors for my background, and use a squeeze bottle filled with underglaze to paint the yellow rim and to start on the leaves. This will be the plum plate when finished



Then I paint the main event - the fruit itself - using a combo of brushes and squeeze bottle. It is a little nerve wracking not knowing how the colors will turn out at the end, so keep your fingers crossed! This is the pomegranate plate.



The last step in my underglazing process is to outline the images to make it pop, in this case with a dark brown. The lines are not exactly straight or even on purpose. I use a squeeze bottle with a 16 gauge needle tip for those fine lines. This the the grape plate.



After this, I will dab on a clear glaze so that the colors don't smear and then pour more clear glaze on top of that. The bottoms will be unglazed so the tile doesn't stick to the kiln. Then we fire these babies!

Lately flat items have been warping during the glaze firing, so I am kinda holding my breath. Wish me luck!

Tropical Patterns

Still tweaking this one, but it is fun to learn a new skill (in this case, repeating patterns!).

I think I like the one with the darker background better. Maybe it needs some texture behind it? What do you think?






When this is finally right, I am thinking on slapping it on all sorts of things and selling it at the Art Yard Sale in June... we shall see!

Fruit Plates

These are the sketches for my fruit dessert plates for the Tuscany show. I can't wait to start painting them! I brought all of my under glazes home, so all I need is some free time (which is admittedly hard to come by these days).














I hope these sell! Well, if not, I will have a fabulous gift to give ;)
Look for the finished product in a few weeks!

Tuscany Speed Paintings

These are a couple of speed color comps for paintings for the Tuscany Show at Bay Arts in Cleveland.
Adobe Photoshop.









I have never really done landscapes before - I am all about the people - so this is going to be a new type of challenge for me. Doing the comps was surprisingly relaxing though, and I think that it will be fun to try them in oil!
Wish me Luck!!

IF: Poise

A Doubtful Snack

My entry for Bay arts' "Artistic By Nature" juried show.
Wish me luck!! :)



Edit: I got in!! Hooray!

The weekly monsters

A Christmas Carol... the Musical!!

Spa Pirates!

Some illustrator samples:

Erin's Dream Job!

I am extremely proud to announce that I have accepted a position as staff illustrator for Darice, Corp. in Stongsville, Ohio. I will be designing and illustrating arts and crafts products for kids! I am so thrilled to have such a great opportunity and can't wait to start on July 1st.

site updates

I updated my site! There are a lot more drawings in the sketchbook section, as well as more process peices in the portfolio part. Also, I finally have an editorial section! Go check it out!

the Birthmark

Older illustrations from the short story "The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne that I finally got around to scanning. It is a great story and a quick read. Click the link if you want to check it out, it's well worth it.

My best friend Becky posed for this image.

new book pictures

Hello!
Here are some photos of my book! Hooray!

character sketch

Been very very busy getting my portfolio together so I haven't had much time to make new work lately. Just for an update, here is a semseter-old photoshop sketch that I like:

Feelings book

I'm making a board book for toddlers. Exciting stuff right? Right!

This is the cover : )

More Wolves

A few more sketches of wolves from photos for a red riding hood project.

Fashion doll!

I have been working on a paper doll for my fashion history class. We have to do a fashion journal for our final project, illustrating one look from each era. I chose to kill two birds and supplement my illustration portfolio by doing a series that would fit with the rest of my work. I am having a blast, but I have to admit that I may have taken on a bit too much! I have waaayyyy too much to do. Oh well. I love ones that I finished. Here are a few:

My "naked" doll. There was no way I was going to do a typical fashion illustration model. I like my girls with curves :)



A few pieces from the empire era - around the time Napoleon came to power in France. I did several more parts to this, but I love the simplicity of just the dress and poke bonnet.



The ridiculous "romantic" look. This was right with England's Queen Victoria started to reign at age 16 and her innocence inspired fashion for a while. The crazy hair style is called an "Apollo's knot".

Trip to the Zoo!

Yesterday I went to the zoo with my friend Sean to do some drawing. Unfortunately, it started to rain, so we didn't get to do as much sketching as we hoped, but I had a great time and got at least some good drawing in. I don't get many opportunities draw realistically, so this was a nice treat and a reminder of how much I love it. :)

Swans that sat still right in front of us:



YAKS! They think they're sooo cool:



Bighorn Sheep: (while I was drawing this super cute little boy toddled all around where I was sitting. I was very tempted to stop drawing the sheep and start drawing him, but I didn't know what his mom would think! So ...sheep it is :) )




Wolf: (This one is actually from a photograph. The real thing wouldn't sit still!)




Finally, here is another emotion painting from my series. The rest can be found here. Happy:

Syracuse Poster Project

The Syracuse Poster Project website is finally up! Scroll down to see my digital painting as well as other beautiful works by my friends and professors. Hooray!!!

By next week, you should be able to use the website to purchase prints of my piece to help support the program.

sketches

A few older drawings that I still love. I put up a few of these on the site as well here

erinillustrates.com is up and running!

My beautiful website is finally up and I couldn't be happier! It is so exciting and super official - it kinda seems like at this moment my career is really starting.

wow.

anyway, the address is erinillustrates.com
please visit often!

lot of love,
Erin