Styro-Cut

I made this bird "styro-cut" after seeing this tutorial on Pinterest (by the way, I've become mildly obsessed with Pinterest as of late. You should follow me!). It had never occurred to me to make prints with Styrofoam but when I mentioned it to a couple of my art teacher friends they were like "Oh yeah, duh. Been there, done that," so I guess it isn't exactly a new idea. The prints are far from perfect but I believe they have a certain charm. I think I might try painting on top them or mixing them in with a collage or something. Fun! 

Football-Shaped

Bells & Whistles

Hello all! I did an illustration for the Bells & Whistles column in this month's Plansponsor magazine.

The subject is the Lizard Queen, a character I came up with for a Ten Paces and Draw fashion challenge. I imagine this as a sort of prequel image. Here she is younger and recently crowned and has not yet taken on her queenly responsibilities.  

The August Plansponsor is on newsstands NOW and is chock-full of great illustration. Big thanks to art director SooJin Buzelli! 

Poseidon

Poseidon riding the waves for a Greek Mythology swap on Ten Paces and Draw! Based on a sketch by Joshua Fronk.

The Adventures of Pete and Pete

Hey guys! Very excited to show you the endpaper pattern I made for the Adventures of Pete and Pete tribute zine "Waiting for October."

If you don't know what Pete and Pete is, first off, shame on you! 

Second, it's a really fantastic live action television program that aired on Nickelodeon in the early 1990s. The show features two brothers with the same name. Older Pete is on the brink of adolescence while little Pete is still solidly a kid. The show nearly perfectly captures what it is like to be a kid, the sort of mythological way in which kids think. Every bully is a super villain, every task a daring adventure to brave. Through older Pete the show also accurately describes the pain of growing up, wanting to stay in that world but knowing that sooner or later things are going to change. The storylines are kooky, hilarious, bizarre, romantic, deeply nostalgic, and at times, kind of tragic. The show also features an amazing soundtrack by the band Polaris (I highly recommend their "Adventures of Pete and Pete" album) and cameos by Iggy Pop, Steve Buscemi, Michael Stipe, LL Cool J, Jeneane Garofolo, and a ton of other great people. 

Super cool cover by Joe Quinones!

The zine is chock-full of Pete-tacular illustrations, comics, poems, and love letters to the show. There's also a fold-out Petunia poster! If you're interested in purchasing a copy you can do so here! The proceeds are going to the VH1 Save the Music Foundation. You can also learn more about the zine on the Waiting for October Tumblr. It's pretty pipe. 

Big thanks to Rachel Edidin and Miles Stokes for putting this all together!

Visions

Trying to catch up on posting some projects from this spring! I created these three illustrations to accompany a paper a friend/former professor of mine was presenting at a medieval conference. The subject of the paper is three prophesies or visions that supposedly occurred during a secret meeting at the Carmelites Order during France's Cabochien Revolt of 1413, chronicled by the historian Jean Juvenal des Ursins in the 1450s.

The first vision describes three suns over France, which very likely refer to the three sides at odds over the land: the Burgundians; the reigning king, Charles VI/his son, Charles VII; and Henry V (alternatively, the three parties could be Henry V, Charles VI, and Charles VII). The image of three ruling bodies in the sky is unnatural, just as it is unnatural for one kingdom to have three kings.

The 2nd vision shows three weather formations in the sky heading toward Paris. Stormy weather comes from Burgundy and England, but sunshine (hope for the future) radiates from the area of Orleans/Berry, where after 1420 Charles VII, the future king, is camped out and waiting to return.

The third vision is the most dramatic, showing the king of England, Henry V, standing triumphantly atop Notre-Dame while the mentally ill king of France, Charles VI, is exiled to the courtyard and flanked by men wearing black.

 

The time during which these visions supposedly took place was an incredibly tumultuous one for France. While the king was incapacitated with madness the Burgundians and Armagnacs fought for control of the government, while the Cabochiens rallied and rioted in an attempt to resist the growth of government, taxation, and the dominance of the court on the political world.

The chronicler writes about these visions many years later, after Charles VII has restored his control over France.Jean Juvenal des Ursins is a royal official in Charles VII's service, and was a loyal Armagnac, as was his father, throughout the Civil War. He is clearly including these visions in his chronicle with a political agenda. He uses "history" and the concept of prophesy to basically say that the right guys won, that this outcome was meant to be.

This was a really fun project for me. The Middle Ages is one of my favorite periods of history and it was fascinating to learn a bit about the Cabochien Revolts and the 40 or so years after.