Prayer Journal Commissions!

Two of the girls from my community group were looking at starting their own prayer journals, so I ended up with two commissions while I was working on mine. They get to be guinea pigs for the button closures, and I've got my fingers crossed.

If it hasn't been made clear already, I love making codex-style books. I love the way they look, and sewing them is sort of relaxing. I designed the journal pages and decided to give each one a little flourish at the top to match the style of the book.

I think they turned out rather well.

Yellow Prayer Journal

My original idea for this was vastly different. I saw this post and thought it would be wonderful for a cover page:

http://glamourandgraceblog.com/2011/diy-watercolor-will-you-be-my-bridesmaid-cards/

I know, its gorgeous. But it wasn't meant to be. Sometimes the art process just sucks. After designing the text (Lord's Prayer), I transferred it over carefully with the blender pencil. I had a lot of text. It took forever. FOREVER. The colorless blender pencil, which was a Lyra, went dull in about 1o seconds. Finally got it transferred over, put down all the pigments. Then as I'm wiping away the paint from my lovely line work, my towel somehow came into contact with the dark blues on my watercolor palette. And I didn't see it. Until it ended up on my nice clean yellow cover. !#$@#$. Keep your station clean Heather...

Then I repeated the process all over again. Thinking the entire time that it would be so much easier to do it digitally. But after finishing the second cover, I still wasn't happy with it. Some of my text was small, and the white text on yellow was just too hard to read.

So I ended up with this instead, and I am quite happy. The cover is just a basic watercolor wash and laying some saran wrap over some of the final layers to give it some texture. I'd love to try the tutorial again, but I'm going to try it with bigger text, darker colors, and possibly a different brand of pencil.

Its the first time I've added button closures onto a book. We'll see how well I fastened it. Its also the first time I've used watercolor paper as a cover paper. I'm experimenting with coats of Krylon protective coatings and polyurethane. With luck, it will protect the book from yucky fingerprints marks and oils.

Perfect Bound Journal

I love this paper! My local Paper Zone moved down to Seattle, but they have a wonderful selection of 20x30 sheets of decorative paper. I love the color and the raised pattern. After some serious searching, I think I've finally found the best places to find large sheets of decorative paper. Paper Zone, Daniel Smith, and Artist and Craftsman Supply are my favorite hunting spots so far. Daniel Smith is the most expensive of the three, but they are the only store I've found so far that sells chiyogami paper, and they have a wide selection.

Codex Journals!

Some of the hand-bound codex journals I've created in the past few months. Several have ended up as last minute Christmas gifts, and I've even managed to sell a few on Etsy. Before my store got buried amongst the thousands of journals on the site. I'll be putting these babies back up on Etsy within the next week, along with a few others.

Sneak Peak

My best friend's birthday was in late August and after a long hiatus on big art projects, I had this great idea for a present. I was going to create a piece that incorporated some of her favorite things. I will not be posting it until after she recieves the final, so this is just a teaser.

Pidgeon the Cat

While working on a birthday present for someone else, I realized that my sister's birthday was imminent. For whatever reason, the amigurumi squid I crocheted for her did not seem to be enough. A few months back I did a stint of cat drawings. The cats were easily accessible, and seemed to have few objections. Since the little calico monster is my sister's favorite pet, she seemed an appropriate gift. Although shame on me for forgetting standard picture frame sizes. I was one inch off from a 4x6, and felt like an idiot walking through Michael's. Kelly loved it anyway, and that is all that matters.

One Year Later

I've neglected this blog for far too long. After I graduated, I think I was dealing with some serious burnout and just took a break from art for awhile. Fortunately, the old drive has started to make a return. I've been focusing on handmade books for the last few months and managed to sell quite a few of them, which has been a good experience. I like making them, and its always a treat to watch other people unwrap them for the first time and crack open the cover. I'll be posting pictures from a few of those projects over the next few days, as well as some of the watercolors I've created in the last few weeks. Need to catch up on that to-do list :)

Changed By Jesus Project

Volunteer project for my church's art department. The original idea was to how a broken, wrecked life could come to new life. Took a while for me to come up with a concept that would capture the idea well. Its such a difficult thing to really show.

Watercolor Study-Autumn Leaf

Mars Hill, Aug. 1, 2010

Woodland Park Zoo Sketches

My first trip to Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle since I've come back home. I love sketching hippos and komodo dragons. Their skins are so fun and wrinkly. Oh, and they don't move much :)

Siamang monkeys. This guy comes right up to the glass and sits next to me almost every time I visit. Its sort of fun to have your subject right there just observing. I flipped the book towards the glass now and then out of courtesy.

Graduation Day

Got bored and pulled out my sketchbook at my cousin's graduation ceremony. Random professor....

...and the happy graduating students. The only thing I really remember is that a lot of the ladies were wearing very fancy shoes. I give major points to the one girl who came up in her snazzy neon converse sneakers.

Final Project

Third piece of thesis project. William and his brother have been given a bunch of animals, and now that they are all grown, things are getting a little crowded.

Final Project

Fourth piece for "The Twin Brothers". William visits a town and talks to the innkeeper, who tells him about a dragon that has been terrorizing the village. In the next part of the story, he battles the dragon and saves the princess from being eaten. Hurray!

Final Project

Last piece for "The Twin Brothers". This was taken from a part of the story where the princess is carried off by the evil marshal, after he cuts off poor William's head :(

Thesis: Character Design

This is one of the early character designs for the Princess in my thesis story, based on "The Twin Brothers" from Grimm's fairy tales. I wanted to make a character that was a little tougher and more competent than the original story dictated. I think the world has seen enough fainting heroines and it is time to move on.

Three Volume: Birds of India 2

Indian Peacock

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

Greater Coucal

Common Hoopoe

Three Volume: Birds of India

Plum-headed Parakeet

Malabar Trogon

Indian Scops Owl

Three Volume: Birds of Africa 2

Helmeted Guinea Fowl

My aunt actually raised these for awhile. They are the ugliest things I have ever seen fly out of the chicken coup.

African Spoonbill

African Pygmy Kingfisher