SMARTY PLANTS

Light Grey Art Lab in Minneapolis have another great show opening this Friday that has been curated by Amy Ng of Pikaland! SMART featured a call for art that is clever, subtle, and thoughtful. Only a slightly daunting task....

I decided to apply figuring it would be a good challenge if I was accepted into the show (and also because Amy is awesome). I then proceeded to agonize over what I'd illustrate for weeks after being accepted into the show. Everything I thought of just seemed so contrived because I was thinking about it so hard. After flipping through some old sketchbooks I was finally inspired by a doodle I had done years ago. 

If you live in/near the Twin Cities, the opening reception is this Friday at 7! Prints are now available in their online shop.

I have to thank Lilly for the clever title of this illustration. Pun master.

Also, here is a silly doodle of how I imagine most participants in this show to have felt when they heard they made the cut...

FEBRUARY MIX

Whipped up this illustration the other night to accompany my February mix on my other blog. You can listen right here if you feel so inclined.

UH OH, IT'S MAGIC

Any project where I can count this video as legitimate research is a good project.

I was psyched to participate in the second Harry Potter swap on Ten Paces and Draw this week! I got this fantastic sketch from Alyssa.

And here is my sketch contribution that Alyssa finished up so nicely. The grrimmmmmmmmm.......

A few Malfoy outtakes from my sketchbook. 

And, y'know, a reference shot. Thank you Lilly for letting me hug you awkwardly in the name of research.

HOT PARTY INTERVIEW

The fine folks at Light Grey Art Lab asked me a few questions about art, cake, and parties for their current show, Hot Party! You can read it right here and see the rest of the art from the exhibition in their online gallery. They're also selling some prints of my cakes through their online shop if you're interested!

THE FIRST BOOK OF CONGRESS

If vintage children's books were a drug, Mallory would be my dealer. Her etsy shop, Elwood & Eloise, is a frequent internet stop of mine and I always find something good. One of my more recent purchases was this book. Written by Harold Coy and illustrated by Helen Borten, it was published in 1956. I love the simple colour palette of the illustrations as well as reading through and finding all of the anachronistic sentences....because I'm a nerd ("The Senate, or upper house, consists of 96 Senators, two from each state.") It's kind of the same joy I get from listening to people speculating in old podcasts and thinking, "You have no idea! That's a real thing now!"

Mallory also shares illustrations from her vintage book collection (including the ones for sale in her shop) on her aptly named blog My Vintage Book Collection (in Blog Form).

WHAT MAKES AN ORCHESTRA

This book was an amazing find that I picked up at Bay View Books & Music a couple of weeks ago. Published in 1951, it was written and illustrated by Jan Balet. It walks through all of the instruments in an orchestra with fantastic sonic descriptions of the different tones elicited from each. I love the mix of line vs. shape in these illustrations as well as the patternwork in the various musicians suits. The expressions in each of the characters' body language and faces is also great (with the tambourine player being my personal favourite. He means business). Also has great endpapers to boot.

LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN

It's musicals week on Ten Paces and Draw! I got to bring Karina Rehrbehn's Rocky Horror sketch to completion. I've had the Time Warp stuck in my head all week as a result. You can check out the rest of the illustrations right here.

For my own sketch, I had a really tough time narrowing down what musical (or even aspect of musicals) I wanted to pay tribute to. I decide to go with Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (brilliant suggestion from Lilly). Every time I watch it I notice something new. (An American in Paris was my runner-up choice).