A Bit of Catch Up

The semester is over, but that doesn't mean my thesis work is over. I had a lot of fun with the Panchatantra and figuring out how to make things work for me, and there are still a ton of stories I could illustrate. So for now I'll just catch you up on the last three pieces I did this semester and hope that more will come.

First up is the story "How a Sparrow Came To Grief" where I decided to try my hand at a bit more interesting perspective and also managed to refine some of the patterning a little bit.

Next is "Frogs That Rode A Snake" where Fred suggested to just leave the background blank and work with the graphic image I had already come up with in my sketch. It's interesting how the woodgrain suggests depth despite being a flat pattern on the wood.

And then we have the final piece I did for class, "Tale of the Bird With Two Heads". I really like how this piece came out. I combined the idea of using a graphic shape and letting the background be simple with a little more refinement of my use of patterning, branching out into using different patterns that better describe each image.

Website

I have a temporary website up while I figure out how to code the one I want to make. This one was just done with the weebly builder a few other people mentioned, and like they said before it's not a great thing, but it came free with my web hosting and I wanted to have something up. Hopefully it won't be long before I can change it. My website is OpheliaHathaway.com

Not really a thesis update, but I submitted a design to Threadless for their Threadless Loves Kids contest. Some of you might recognize it from way back in Illustration 3. It's still pending approval but once it's accepted your votes would be greatly appreciated!

On a Thesis related note, I have one more finish and a few sketches that I will try to post later today.

Gallery!

Today has been a long day, but my gallery display is all set up and looking gorgeous! Still a few things to get done before the opening on Wednesday but I'm feeling pretty accomplished for now. Here's a little sneak peek of my set up.

The Monkey and The Crocodile

My latest piece is for the story The Monkey and The Crocodile which can be read here. I'm very happy with how this piece turned out, and I especially had fun with the patterning in the tree. And hey look! I've got fancy scans now instead of sad little photos. Hopefully I'll find time to scan the rest of my images sometime soon.

The Crafty Crane Finish

This was my first try at combining stain with the gouache I was using earlier, and I'm really pleased with how it came out. I think I'll be using this method for the rest of my work.

If you look back a few posts you can see how the background in my sketch differs greatly from what ended up in the image. That's because I let the pattern of the wood grain dictate some of how the background fits in. In this piece I used the shapes of two lighter areas of wood to become the shape of the ground.

Just for Fun

A happy little whale to put on my business cards.