Monday Sketches - Plus Size Mock Advertisements

Been pretty busy lately, and since school ended for the summer, I've been a bit burnt out from sketching and drawing on a regular basis.  Things have been challenging as of late, especially since I've been working on trying to figure out my upcoming Graduate Midpoint Review and my Thesis. 

My Thesis is probably one of the most daunting projects I will face in the next two years before I graduate, and even working on a simple proposal has proven to be a daunting task. However, I know what the guidelines are and what I'm supposed to do, so that makes it somewhat easier. 

My MFA is in Advertising Illustration specifically, and my thesis in the end will consist of 15 advertisement illustrations of various brands of my choosing. It sounds easy enough to write a proposal for, but I want to make sure that my voice is clear and concise in the subject that I want to focus on. 

And that would be Plus Size women in every day advertisements. 

Bringing a concept into words has always been difficult for me, but I think I might be getting closer. Drawing out a few examples of what I want to do also has helped. I only have two for now, and they're quick digital paintings, really, but I hope you enjoy them!

The first illustration, seen above, is a more direct approach in the plus size figure, featuring a bikini-clad woman showcasing a brightly colored clutch, the subject of the advertisement. 

The second illustration is for a pair of heels, the mock brand specifically called "Holiday Heels". This advertisement is more subtle - the plus size woman isn't fully displayed, but it's clear that the woman isn't stick-thin. 

I still have a long ways to go before this thesis is fully fleshed out, but I'm inching my way closer and closer!

Until next time!

Monday Sketches - Exploring Corel Painter 2015

This week's post is essentially going to be a review for the digital painting program Corel Painter 2015. While I am hardly an expert on the program, I wanted to share my experience using it. 

Image from http://minus.com/liA2kxKRXdASk

My Digital Painting class for this summer has been a great insight on how to paint better using digital software.  Corel Painter 2015 is by no means a cheap purchase, but if you're an artist looking at mastering all media of art, it's a worthwhile investment. There are so many great options in painting in this program!

You can learn more about Corel and Corel Painter 2015 here.  

I've posted about this image before last week, but now I've actually begun painting. It's my final project in Digital Painting, and I'm celebrating my love of Plus Size fashion in an advertisement style image. Here we have a sketch of the image, laying out the landscape, the pose, and other details. 

This is always my first step for any painting, whether it's traditional or digital.

My first WIP has been worked on for about 2 hours, blocking in colors, getting the shape of the dress down and working on getting the shading of the form down. As you can see, the pose looks a little off. Her feet are pointed in one direction and her torso is twisted rather uncomfortably in the opposite direction.

Painting digitally is a little odd for me, because I'm used to relying heavily on linework rather than really building up a three-dimensional form using shadows. 

This is my latest WIP of the same painting. Here, I've turned the pose to make more sense, and I've smoothed out the ocean so it doesn't look quite so choppy. 

Corel has a multitude of brushes that are really handy when painting, and I think that's definitely the program's best feature. I think I used a combination of a calligraphy brush, a blender, and an oil brush throughout this image so far. 

Finally, something I did to step away from my school work. Loosening up my hand and drawing something more fun always helps me regain my ground and my focus when returning to a project. Here, I limited the colors to a soft pink tone, and worked on experimenting with painting shadows alongside the linework I really enjoy. 

All in all, Corel is a great program, and I definitely know that with practice it will be a staple in my artistic arsenal. 

Until next time!

Monday Sketches - Plus Sized Fun

Once again, it's time for Monday Sketches! I've got some fun stuff to share with you this week, including plenty of plus-sized goodness and some progress on my latest projects for my Digital Painting graduate class!

I'm sure you recognize this image, as the in-progress painting was featured in last week's segment. Here you see it completed! All I needed to do was adjust the angle of the head, fix some of the edging and shadows on the figure and work some more on the drapes behind her. 

The final touch was giving it a title: Madame Grey. Corel Painter 2015 is a fun program - definitely will be using it for my final project in this class and in the future!

Here you see a set of thumbnails (quick sketches for a final image) for my third and final project in my Digital Painting class. I really focused in on the Plus Sized Fashion theme for this painting, and in the end I chose thumbnail 4 to work on for the final painting.

The next segment for the class was to work on color compositions, which basically means take the image you plan to paint and sketch it out in different color combinations. I varied it up between having a pink dress, a yellow dress, green and blue, with varying kinds of beach scenes. 

The final painting will be intended to be a Beach Advertisement, possibly for a particular resort or for a travelling company. Either way, the model for the image will be a plus sized woman (cuz that's what I like to draw best!)

Next up is a fun pencil sketch that I did earlier in the week - I love the whole tutu with a tied top look! Fashion bloggers have taken the tutu trend and really run with it, I adore it! I couldn't help but draw from the inspiration of other plus sized bloggers for this quirky sketch.

The next drawing is a look I grabbed from the Oscar de la Renta Resort 2016 Collection. I loved the lace and the flower trimmings so much, I had to draw it for myself! So I did, on a plus sized girl of course!

(Oscar de la Renta Photo from Style.com)

The final image for this week's segment is a look at a Plus Sized Couture outfit. It wasn't specifically from anything, I just wanted to have fun with something unique. A high necked caplet on a very ruffled dress... could be fun to make, right? Makes me almost wish I was a fashion designer rather than just an illustrator. 

That's all for this week! Tune in next week for more Monday Sketches!

Merry Christmas!

This year has been full of so many ups and downs and exciting twists and turns!

Christmas definitely was an up - I spent it with my in-laws! We went to Mass on Christmas Eve (Don's family is Catholic) and then enjoyed watching Christmas movies before going to bed. We woke up nice and early today - and there were so many presents to be had!

Our stockings were full of chocolate coins, and I had a cute keychain flash drive, an umbrella, gloves, and even a slinky in mine! I felt like a kid again looking through all of the goodies that waited for us. 

When my sister-in-law and her husband arrived with their kids, we went right into the present-opening. 

My husband got some work clothes, a few games, and Thor: The Dark World. I ended up getting a few books, a serger sewing machine, the Sims 4 and the best present of all - Corel Painter 2015!! 

Corel Painter is a program I needed for school, but after playing around with it, I see that it probably has MORE potential than Photoshop! It has so many brushes and paint options - it's going to be a joy to play with! I'm taking the Spring Semester off, so it will give me lots of time to practice. 

Here are a couple examples from today - doodling around!

I can't wait to use my new sewing machine for SCA garb, and the Sims 4 is going to be a blast! 

After presents, food was prepared and other family arrived for a late Christmas lunch. There was lots of laughter and fun, and plenty of quality time with my new extended family. 

I'm so blessed and lucky to have married into such a generous and caring family, they are always so much fun to be with! It has truly been a wonderful Christmas, and I look forward to the New Year in my new home with my husband.