i love you back

amazinglittleelephant asked: oh my god i'm in love with you

 an illustrated reply to a kind tumblr follower of mine.

come out, come out, and let me go in

here are a few pieces from my show in December. a few originals are still available (along with prints) in my shop!

you are everyone in your dreams, colored pencil & graphite on 9"x9" bristol

get back to nature, graphite & colored pencil on 9"x9" bristol

keep me close, ink and colored pencil on 5"x5" bristol

i usually work with ink, so switching to colored pencils for these pieces was a bit intimidating for me- my main worry was that i wouldn't be able to blend the colors as easily, which ended up being a valid concern.

filling in the skull was daunting. although i was left with sore/useless fingers, i really enjoyed layering colors to sew the separate sections of bone together.

warmth/winter,

m

the wedding: bridal shower invitations!

as previously mentioned, my big sister is getting married this april and has left me in charge of all wedding-related paper goods. in a few weeks my mother and i will be hosting her bridal shower- i've yet to make decorations, pick out a cake, or decide on seating arrangements, but i HAVE made (and sent out!) the invitations. hopefully she isn't reading this and having a conniption.

pen & watercolor illustration

the drawings for this invitation were inspired by the flora at her wedding (dahlias, daisies, and bamboo), and my love of scientific illustrations. i could probably (definitely) draw scientific illustrations for the rest of my life and be quite happy.

The Wilderness and All Things After

my show at The Downtown (with the young/talented/chiseled Brian Wrensen) opened on December 14, but i've just begun scanning all of my pieces to share with you. i know, i'll work on my turnaround time. ..promise. it was the most wonderful time with lots of family and friends- thank you to everyone who came out and showed their support!

me and kristen lee!

two of my pieces for this show were on wood-- it was my first time painting on wood, and it was an absolute dream. i was amazed at how smoothly the paint went on (like lipstick on mirror) and the way inks retained their vibrancy against the natural grain. these two pieces are named after the Bennet sisters in Pride & Prejudice. i've one left to do in this series--Jane--so if you'd like to reserve it, just shoot me a message.

 

Elizabeth / acrylic and ink on a 6"x8" wood piece

 

Kitty & Lydia / acrylic and ink on a 9"x11" wood slab

new jersey is covered with ice and weariness. 

i hope you are all well and somewhere else.

m

KEEP CALM & MARRY HARRY

i suppose this is the weekend of “making things that make me happy.” this one was inspired by my sister and is filled with magic and spells and wizardry, the sister to “keep calm and expecto patronum!”

marry him, won’t you?

i will be lucky for you.

i have a full-time job, which means any illustration work i do is done after i come home each day. as those of you who are in the same situation (or worse!) know, this can be extremely frustrating at times- i often feel as if i simply do not have enough time to get everything done, or to devote towards bettering my work.

this sounds silly for an illustrator to say, but as someone with a fixed amount of time, i’m so busy doing things that have a concrete end result (commissions, editorial work, taking photographs) that i rarely sit down and doodle anymore. this is both a sad and terrible realization.

yesterday was one of those stormy days. this time, though, i did something i don’t normally do: i drew to make myself feel better.

this is oliver. he made me happy. a limited edition of 20 prints are in my shop (only $6!) so you can have a little happiness and luck, too.

IF I WAS YOU!

this week i had the privilege of being a part of Sandra Dieckmann’s (previously mentioned here) IF I WAS YOU project:

every week, an artist is invited to create an illustration based on the previous week’s illustrator. my piece was on the lovely Heidi Burton, who creates whimsical little characters that are easily coveted.

i drew Heidi as the elephant queen:

to see the whole illustration as well as a gaggle of other pretty pieces, head on over here!

le petit prince & the sound of bells

my pretty cupcake-muffin-butterscotch-sweet sister

my beautiful big sister is getting married this spring, (yay!) and we just finished sending out her save the dates. in order to salvage a little money/sanity and make sure they came out exactly the way she wanted, i illustrated (inspired by The Little Prince!) & printed the cards at home. we then mounted them on card stock, tied them with raffia, and sent them on their way.

 

 

il faut chercher le avec coeur (one must look with the heart)

i'm illustrating a lot of the paper items for her wedding- i'll be posting her bridal shower invitations soon. as always, i'd love to hear what you think!

xx,

m

Waster, Inc. & the pursuit of music/art meshes

i’ve recently become a contributing illustrator for The Waster, an incredibly well-written music site that features interviews and reviews of some pretty sick (Black Keys, Silversun Pickups, The Roots) artists.

Waster held a NYE event in NYC with Anders Osborne, a Swedish musician/hitchhiker, and i had the priviledge of illustrating the review.

below is a screen shot— read the full article here!

this illustration was entirely too enjoyable for me- in 2011, i’m hoping to illustrate more musicians.

<3

m 

you are worth hundreds of sparrows

a revised version of my sparrows illustration which was on display at my show at The Downtown this past December.

 

the original was sold, but prints are available in my shop! these birdies are printed on a gorgeously textured, thick, and iridescent paper- pretty enough for your loved one, i hope.

<3

m

felled bears & URBAN OUTFITTERS!

my chopped-down, tree-sprouting bears were scooped up by Urban Outfitters a few days ago, and are now available through the Urban Outfitters print shop! as someone who spends a lot of time pawing through the sales section for something affordable, this was a very exciting discovery for me.