They Draw & Cook

So, there's this really neat website called They Draw & Cook where artists of all sorts can illustrate their favorite family recipes and share them with the world.

There's tons of awesome pieces and delicious instructions to look through, and you can even narrow your search by choosing categories based on a food you're interested in, or even an illustrator's style!

Here's one I made for my mom's Sausage & Spinach over Pasta recipe:

You can also see it on the TDAC website here: http://www.theydrawandcook.com/recipes/sausage-spinach-over-pasta-by-arielle-katarina .  

Be sure to check out the other artists' work as well :)

Space 39 Modern Art Mondays

Happy Monday Funday Dudes and Girls!  Hope you all had a great weekend, gave at least a few minutes thought to 9/11, and watched a shitload of football and drank beer later that night.

Although today is also a Monday, last Monday I showed my art at Space 39 in Ft. Myers, Florida, along with work shown by sequential & comic artist Banky Farano (http://BankyOne.deviantart.com.  This chick is awesome, do yourself a favor and check out her awesome caricatures, she's truly very talented).

Here's a phone snapshot from Justin V ForVendetta of one side of my table (backed up into the no-car plaza by my one-and-only white mini-van, with flashers and bass pumping of course :p):

The night was a hit; I sold some stuff, networked, got some commissions, and drinks were on the house (loud shout out to the Space 39 staff and bartenders for hooking me up and letting move the whole place around!).

Drum Roll

COMING SOON 

New Solo Work by AKAT Illustrations 

Show & Sell at Space 39 in Ft. Myers, Florida

Monday, September 5, 2011

6pm-2am Open Bar and Gallery

Join the fun.

 

Decks for Sale

Music Walk in Ft. Myers tonight was a blast.  If you're still in the neighborhood, be sure to check out my boards for sale at the SyZyGy Gallery :)  Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone.

"Live by the foma that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy."
 
     *harmless untruths

Throwback

Deck design I was going to use a while back.  Think I'm gonna work this style back into my repertoire.  Look out propriety.

Sneak Peak!

Here's a teaser sketch of a new horse-based series I'm doing.  Title still TBA. 

The concept for this series evolved from a much smaller idea I had this morning, stemming from childhood memories of spending time with my dad when he came home from work.

My brother and I used to bounce on his bed and talk with him while my dad changed his socks and washed up and did whatever he had to do to freshen up before dinner.  In the corner of the room there was a pair of shoe trees (I linked this up for those of you who might have forgotten what shoe trees look like!). 

While my dad untied his work shoes, my brother and I would fight over who's turn it was to put the wooden trees in the shoes.  Whenever I got to do it, I would take them and pretend they were horses' hooves and would make the sounds and motions of the different gaits on the floor (walk, trot, canter, gallop, dressage, etc.). 

I wanted to make this innocent imaginative thing into a drawing, but after doing some anatomy sketches of horses' legs I began to notice they were very long and shapely -just like mine!  And so I dropped the shoe tree idea (for now) and began concentrating on the poses and strength in the steps horses take.  My reference horses are from a book I had from when I was a kid where most of the horses are working, doing fancy footwork, or are wearing show gear.  Get ready for a fun series.

Strike Up the Band

Here's a little illustration I did for Broken Pencil, a zine from Toronto, Canada.  Check out other great stuff from BP here at http://www.brokenpencil.com/ .

I apologize for the low photo-quality; I'm about to drive to the airport to get myself up to NY for my Nana's 90th Birthday Bash.  Flocks of Chormans from the world over will congregate in the one place where it all started: Staten Island.  Now I have some reading material for the plane ride :)

Men In Gray Suits

Happy Shark Week Everybody!

     Today I finally bought a tablet (not the ipad kind, the original kind!).   I went with a small Wacom Bamboo, and surprisingly it works great, and does exactly what I need it to do!  I was a little worried about it being so tiny, but I guess it turns out that sometimes size doesn't matter, and in this case I got more than I expected for the right price.

 

     I decided to try it out and make a shark piece.  My inspiration for this was a saying that surfers have when the day looks sharky.  To avoid scaring visitors and families, instead of saying out loud "there's sharks in the water", they'll say "there's men in gray suits out here today".  I decided to put them in business suits instead.

I Have Plane Dreams

Here's a little illustration just for you.  

And happy Sunday and happy Shark Week!  Tune in to Discovery Channel and get your shark on.  Celebratory drawing coming your way soon.

If These Don't Look Similar I Don't Know What Does

Was James Jean at the Museum of Natural History?

Some Sketches

Hey yous guys!  (I was tempted so say "ya'll" because it would have been way easier to type, but no matter how far South I get I will never be able to bring myself to say it.

Now that that's out of they way, I can show you some quick sketches from various city trips.
 

Here's some guys at Laguardia sitting through plane delays.

My favorite prehistoric mammals (Brontotheres!) at the Museum of Natural History.

 

These people were not having fun in Times Square, and they were going to make sure the whole world knew about it.

The three sketches above were done in black china marker, my new favorite sketching tool.  It's easy to use (both strong black lines and light shading are possible!), doesn't make that much of a mess (unless you darg your hand around like I do), and it self-sharpens!  What else could you want?

Blast from the Past: CANVAS??

Heyyo.  So now that I'm back in Florida for an undetermined duration, I decided I'd make some Florida type things to sell in the local galleries.  That means no drawing dogs being f-ed in the a or broad's backsides, BUT it does mean lots of fish! 

Here's what I got so far:

That's right it's on a canvas!  I used to use acrylics a lot, so it's not too bad of a transition from what I've been doing lately.  It's kind of liberating actually.  And huge (what Floridian wouldn't want a giant painting of fish hanging above their turquoise leather sofa??).  There will be many more fishes added as well. 

Also, looking for jobs around here has been tough.  I talked to a bunch of Pine Island seasoned-veterans last night, and they all told me to move my beautiful self to New York where I can be with other young people (however to move there I need to get a steady job in addition to my freelance, but can't afford to move there until I get a job ....a big circle catch-22 conundrum!).

So that's where I'm at right now.  OH! And I have a full-page illustration being published in the upcoming issue of Electric Vehicles Magazine.  Check it out on magazine stands soon!

3x3 Nuts and Bolts Conference

Hello World!  Here's a very belated post on my experience at the 3x3 Nuts and Bolts 2011 Conference in New York City (posts this late are a result of leaving the laptop while traveling the Eastern Seaboard -not recommended for illustrators; bring the laptop with you on such travels, even though it's a pain in the ass to carry.  Jobs pop up, emails need to be answered, rendezvous points messaged on facebook, etc).

Nuts & Bolts was a great experience, and I recommend it to anyone interested in being a freelance illustrator. Attend next year.  It's a little pricey, but I think it's worth it.  If your education prepared you well enough for your career, still come because if anything, gaining the networking connections and hearing what professionals in the industry have to say is invaluable.

So yeah, professionals!  The Conference was packed with talented speakers.  Lectures were delivered by not only the great Charles Hively himself, but also the killer line-up of Aaron Meshon, Martin Wittfooth, Yuko Shimizu, Sheheryar Sardar, Kate Kelly, Paul Hoppe, Matt Rota, Marcos Chin, and workshop leaders.  If you do not know these names, google them and their sites will come up.

So I know what you really care about is pictures.  I did a lot of sketching while in NY, particularly of people in Times Square and animals in the Museum of Natural History.  Those will be up later after I scan everything in.

In the mean time, back to the conference.  The attendees were split into groups and each party went to a different artist's studio.  I got to go see Martin Wittfooth's, and it kicked ass.  Located in Bushwick, Brooklyn a stop away from where I was staying, the studio was covered in giant 10 foot oil paintings for his new series debuting this October.  Here's a sneak peak of my favorite one:

Martin had a ton to share on his experience as an illustrator branching out into the fine art world, and also served as total eye-candy while filling our heads with essential information on our business.

Here's a look into the lunch room of the Society of Illustrators:

That painting above the bar is an original Norman Rockwell.  Norman, as well as other greats, used to hang out in this old gentleman's club.  Revamping it to attract the new illustration youths is an upcoming challenge, so, if you're in the area, please come visit the building.  There's a sick Pulp Novel exhibit downstairs with some great damsel in distress and monster art.

I'll let your brains digest all this writing.  Here's a parting photo from Bushwick:

Long Time No Post!

Hello Everyone,

Happy belated Summer Solstice!  I hope you all got a chance to go outside on the longest day of the year.

I've been up to a lot lately; I graduated college, celebrated my birthday, took a trip up to NYC, went on some interviews, landed my first legit freelancing gig, got a sty in my eye, and tons of other stuff too.

Anyways, here's some stuff I've been working on:

These are sketches for a story called "Strike-Up the Band", more details on that soon

Concept Sketches 1, 2, and 3

Here's an outlier:



I'm also going to buy a new scanner today :)  Pretty stoked about that.  We're going to get high-res up in here.

Sketchesss

Here's some sketches for two upcoming projects.

The first one is for Bay State Parenting.   The illustration will accompany an article having to do with states whose teachers are hired without background checks.  The article also discussed the risk associated with parents being too proud of their childrens' achievements, when the reasoning behind the special treatment could be a teacher who's a predator.

Instead of drawing students getting molested, I drew a bite taken out of an apple (ideation courtesy of Nate :p) 

This next one is a sketch for a company looking for a mermaid design to put on their soaps and bath salts.  They are going for an etching look, which I'll add to the final.  I'm definitely am not going to make the piece as cartoon-y as this sketch, but it was fun to draw:

Mailers!

Here's my mailer packets :) 20 of these babies will be sent off all over the country this Friday.

Here's all the printed materials

And here's what went in each envelope (with a few exceptions, some had an additional tear sheet with package designs, not pictured here)

I'm excited to send them off :)  

Le Rodney

No Respect!

Check out some Rodney classics at here :)

WNC Bluegrass

Here's some sketches for WNC  .....yeehaw!

A story about how a man grew to love bluegrass in North Carolina

Which stemmed from this idea :p

 

 A possible cover, featuring "ramps" a weed that tastes like garlicky onions that's considered a delicacy in Appalachia

 

 Cover with a freaking scary texture in b/w

 

 

Cute little truck selling ramps.  Lots of negative space puts the text down here.  How provocative!

 

 

Truck also with scary texture (I promise in color these don't look nearly as terrifying)

 

Back to work, lots to do.  Upcoming things to expect:  Rodney Dangerfield, gorgeous envelopes, mermaids, and bath salts and soaps

Screen Print Bathtub

Hey boys and girls, my envelope mailers finally came in, so you know what that means .......time to screen print!

I made my own little screen printing lab here in my dorm room (which is why I really need to get a steady job, so I can have a real studio {or at least another room} to do these sorts of things in :p)

Here's some pictures of the process.

Here's the photo emulsion being swept onto the screen

My little logo transparency, an envelope, and some inks.  I'm debating on whether or not to stick with classic black, or to use a nice dark maroon or red to contrast the lime-y color of the envelopes.  

My image cooking.  Right now I'm waiting for the timer to go off, 45 minutes is almost up!

My makeshift lighting center.  Oooo baby!

Alarm just rang, time to move the screen to the tub :)

10 Minute Concept Sketch

.... for Bay State Parenting!  Sad article about a girl's dog dying, and her in the car being nostalgic to be a kid again.

Capture

Just kidding, this is my last post for the weekend :p

Finished poster for my friend Courtney Hood's film Capture.  She documents children with different types of cancer, and how they're just little kids who want to play and have fun.  Each kid was given a camera to film their view of the world.

Learn more about the movie here :)  http://vimeo.com/15435584

The Hiss of Hot Summer

Sketch #1 for the Southern View article "This Hiss of Hot Summer".  Woman picks up a snake instead of  a hose to water her garden, oh nooo!

Last post for the weekend, heading up to Jersey on Friday, but will be back Sunday :)  Peace, Arielle.

Oh my dawgs

Here's some low-res updates on the Dog Sees God posters (without text edits :p )

Stay tuned.

Anole

Here's my postcard mailer image so far!

     I was walking home from class the other day, and decided to take a shortcut through a church courtyard.  I was worried about picking an image to use for my mailers, and couldn't decide what I wanted to make.  My mind was racing trying to think of something, when I passed a column and saw a giant green lizard looking at me.  I froze and stared at him, and he immediately jumped onto my sketchbook.  That's when I realized that he was just what I was looking for.  He looked back up at me, and jumped away into a bush, just as quickly as he appeared.

A calling?  Maybe.  Inspiring?  Yes.  Sometimes it comes in the strangest places :)

Oh Wait, There's More!

And if you order before midnight tonight.....!

     Here's some jazz I've been working on today; a poster for SCAD's production of Dog Sees God, a play based on Charles Schultz's Peanuts characters.  Here's 3 variants of my sketch so far:

 

Unfortunately, my blogger background is white, so we'll have to use our imaginations to picture borders around these bad boys.  I hear the weather's supposed to be thundery tomorrow, pretty excited.

Sending Easter Eggs to loved ones and my Namesake to Mars

Lots of stuff going on this week; exams, mailers, visits, concerts, interviews, posters, sketches, deadlines, deadlines!  You know, the usual.  Oh, and Easter.  But not to worry, some deep breathes, pencils, and ink will allow everything to fall into place :) 

So while procrastinating, I made some Easter cards to send off to my family.

Haha ignore that ridiculous selection tool business around the edges, just wanted to give you an idea of how they look without my painty desk getting in the way :p

As another means of avoiding work, I shipped the name Arielle Katarina off  to Mars!  You can do the same with your name here, for a microchip that'll be sent on a rover to the red planet later on this year: http://marsparticipate.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/participate/sendyourname/   Found it via Twitter, pretty cool NASA, getting involved with social media.


Also, I got a chance to skype with illustrator Sterling Hundley today in class, via Doug Chayka.  He had a lot of positive things to say about becoming a freelance illustrator, but without any of the bullshit.  We all know it's tough at first, but everyone goes through it.  All the steps he advised to take seemed totally do-able, and made me feel much more confident in myself.  Besides life advice, he also does incredible work.  Check out his art here http://www.sterlinghundley.com/

Well that's all I got for ya today, time to get back to work.  Happy April 20th.
 

Hair Updates

Hello everybody!  Here's some Hair updates (before text edits)

Numba One

Annnd Numba Two

Also, tonight launches the Savannah Bandwagon!  Click here to see what's going on.  Now.

HAIR

Working on two posters for SCAD's production of Hair :)  Here's the first one in process.  Lemme know what you think, critique, ready go!

Also, everyone should come to the Savannah Record Fair this weekend at the River Club!  Doors are now open both Saturday and Sunday.  http://www.facebook.com/savannahrecordfair

Come support local artists, meet up with printing companies, take a look at my poster, and buy some sweet records before you leave.

Animator for a Day

Well, sort of!  This week I did a background for the opening sequence of my friend Jose's animatic.  Something different to do, but fun.  Here's the process!

My cloud painting with a touch of digital

Jose's drawing 

Clouds edited into perspective

Clouds dropped into place!  Will be much brighter of course in the animatic, I left the teal background of the drawing in so it looks really warm and blue  :p