Helga Harrumphs

‘Goodbye Mom’ Page 1– Digital Painting

2012-02-18T10:20:00.001-08:00

So it’s finally finished! I’ve been training myself up on my Wacom Intuos3 for the past couple of weeks and I thought this might be a great exercise.

I took the first page I had completed for Goodbye Mom and drew up a simple digital underdrawing from it. Then I put the oil pastel work to one side and repainted page one digitally from scratch. I pretty much stuck to the same colour palette because I thought it worked pretty well the first time, so I didn’t want to mess with that. Otherwise, this was painted stroke by stroke using Photoshop and my Wacom. I also created my own custom Photoshop brushes using my white oil pastels on black Canson paper and scanning them in. Thank you to Dani Jones for teaching me how to do this on one of your blog posts.

I fixed a few little things that had been bugging me. Hopefully the books are now correct, perspective-wise that is. Mark let me know if I got it right this time! I also changed the colouring on the pillows to push them back a bit and put more focus on the little boy. I used a texture mask on the walls around the doorway to darken and rough them up a bit. I find that the most difficult part, getting texture into the piece, because even with textured brushes things seem to come out smooth and airbrushed, which I really dislike.

Underdrawing

Oil Pastel Digital Painting

So this is it, I’m really happy with it. You might think it doesn’t look that different from the original but that in itself is a HUGE achievement in such a short space of time. I love working digitally and it solves a lot of logistical problems for me. I can only get better with time and ALOT of practice. The only thing I think I won’t be doing digitally for a while is drawing but that’s just fine with me.

: )

Digital Tablet Newbie – Learning In Progress

2012-02-12T00:05:00.001-08:00

Update: As some of you may know, My son had his tonsils out recently and grommets (tubes) put in his ears. It was a somewhat harrowing experience (no parent should have to hold down their wailing child whilst they’re be anesthetised) but the operation itself was the worst of it. His recovery has been miraculous and he’s back to school and back to normal now. It seems his hearing had been really affected because about a week after the surgery it all became a little overwhelming as he entered a world of sparkling, SURROUND SOUND. He ran from the sound of the toilet flushing and burst out crying when he arrived the hurly-burly wall of sound that is pre-school. He’s slowly adjusting but still gets grumpy at cars that use their hooters and make his ears ‘ouchy’.

So now to the part where I apologise for my two week absence and ask you for just a little more time to get back into my online routine. The reason? Well, at the same time I was discovering Ethan would have to have surgery, I had a fabulous bit of random luck. Trawling the online classifieds, I discovered a fabulous deal on a 2nd hand, Wacom Intuos3 digital tablet. For those of you who don’t live in South Africa, you can’t know how IMPOSSIBLY improbable this is. It’s hard enough to get a brand new Wacom into the country, so to find a second hand one for sale at all, but also in a good condition, is highly unlikely! Many of you might be frowning right now and thinking, ‘what is a Wacom tablet?’ Well, if you’re an artist, who uses a computer, you NEED a digital tablet. It’s like a mouse, but it’s a pen and a pad and it’s FAR more sensitive.

So every second that I haven’t been running between the hospital and the doctor’s office or getting Ethan back into his pre-school routine, I’ve been putting time in with the digital tablet and learning as much as I can, as quickly as possible.

(This is the first piece I tackled with the tablet, the colour work on my page 3 layout. I think it’s okay but I wasn’t completely happy with it.)

Photoshop
12-Feb-12 , 9:17:21 AM" border="0" alt="[SCM]actwin,0,0,1920,1049;Page3 Prac.psd @ 25% (RGB/8) *
Photoshop
12-Feb-12 , 9:17:21 AM" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-wYWNjyAp_pw/TzdysN90toI/AAAAAAAAAms/KX5rV0vBbvE/Screen1_thumb10.jpg?imgmax=800" width="544" height="330">

For many years, my medium of choice has been oil pastels. Although I love them, they’ve had their difficulties and limitations. OP’s don’t dry, which means the surface is always a little ‘moveable’ – great when painting, not so great when framing or scanning. To get detail with oil pastels I’ve also had to work quite big, which means that it’s hard to get a finished piece from hard copy to digital. Scanners generally take A4 or A3 paper sizes, anything bigger uses rollers which is a complete no-no for oil pastels because it picks up the oil pastel and it damages the picture. I’ve tried photographing my work but the result is not nearly as good as a scan. Additionally, artist grade oil pastels are only available from overseas, so it’s been very expensive to import them over the years.

So as much as I love oil pastels I’m keen to learn this new digital medium to make my life a little easier. I love the versatility of working digitally, I love the UNDO button and being able to move things around at will. Not to say it’s ‘easy’ or doesn’t have it’s own issues. It’s not easy trust me. You have to know your software and be comfortable with a computer. You also have to work on your hand-eye coordination, drawing on a pad and having it appear on a screen in front of you can feel pretty weird.

I found a wonderful site that has guided me through the process, called Ctrl+Paint. A young, wickedly talented digital artist Matt Kohr has taken the time to share his knowledge and experience with others. I’m always amazed by the generosity of the art community.

So after trying out the tablet and having a run at my lion composition, I thought it might be best to go right back to the beginning. I’m going to recreate ‘Goodbye Mom’ digitally so I’ve started with the first page again. I haven’t finished yet but I think it’s going well. I realised why I wasn’t happy with my page 3 results. I’m used to working from a dark background and painting with light to create images, With page three I painted on a pure white canvas and it felt a little anaemic to me. I’m going to recreate my painting style (including making my own custom oil pastel Photoshop brushes) and see how that turns out.

So thank you for your patience guys, I’m still on the path but I’m just in an intense studying phase which it taking a little time. I always knew that I would love having a tablet, I’m so glad I was right! Talk soon.

To Be A Mom

2012-01-25T23:37:00.001-08:00

It’s been a bit of a tough few days. My little boy is going in for surgery next week. He’s having grommets put in and his tonsils and adenoids taken out. Apparently, It’s really a routine surgery but when you have kids nothing seems just ‘routine’. I find myself remembering how many times I’ve said, ‘Raising a toddler is so hard and time consuming! If only I had more time for my art!.” And now it just seems like a silly, silly thing to think or say.

As one of my blog commentators pointed out, he IS the inspiration and motivation for my art. My drawings are mostly of him, even the main character of the Picture Book I’m working on turned out, unintentionally, to BE him! Without this little whirlwind in my life, everything would have a a lot less meaning and colour.

This may sound weird but I often feel like a ‘fake’ mom, a person pretending to know what they’re doing – and at any minute, someone will knock on my door and say, ‘Well, thank you for watching him for us but we’ll have him back now!” How weird is it though, that we’re allowed to bring these beautiful, precious, fragile bundles into the world with absolutely no training or education? Sure, we read the books and watch Supernanny but let’s be honest, does ANY of it actually prepare us for looking after and raising another human being? I don’t think so, it’s plain scary a lot of the time and I often feel like I’m flying by the seat of my pants and making it up as I go along!

Now however, when he’s facing a major hurdle in his little toddler life, I really DO feel like a mom. I want to take it all away, I want to have super powers and rush in front of the oncoming train so I can rescue him. I want to be ANGRY with someone, anyone, to roar and gnash my teeth because my cub is in pain. I HATE feeling so helpless…but I guess that’s what it sometimes feels like, to be a mom.

Mommy loves you Ethan.

12x12 Challenge – January Draft Done!

2012-01-19T23:54:00.001-08:00

A couple months ago, I had an idea for a picture book. So I’d scribbled it down and promptly started to work on the storyboard, thumbnails and layout. The idea was to go back at some point and flesh the story itself out . Well, that was the idea. However, being an aspiring illustrator, I got caught up in the artwork, as we arty types are prone to do.

Thanks goodness for the 12x12 Challenge!

Prompted by my commitment to the challenge, I revisited my picture book concept and by the beginning of last week I had a reasonable semblance of a story finished. It just wasn’t quite there yet though and I was running out of time to declare it as my first draft of the year. Yesterday, scrolling through the Face Book Group forum, I came across a post from a talented, fellow illustrator, Andi Osiek, who was looking for a critique partner to swap work with. I jumped at the opportunity - and wow, I’m so glad I did!

Not only did I get to read her fabulous manuscript which need almost no tweaking at all, I got some amazing feedback on my own work that helped me make the revisions I needed. So now with the inspiration of 12x12 and Julie Hedlund and the hands-on, critiquing assistance of Andi, I can finally say that my first draft is complete!

So here’s my Elevator Pitch (a term I got from my illustration instructor, to describe a concise marketing spiel you might give a publishing exec or agent IN an elevator…*grin).

‘Goodbye Mom!’ is a 32 page Picture Book about a little boy who is packing his bag to leave home and set out on a whirlwind adventure. He describes to his mom all the fantastic places he’s going to visit, the savannah, a circus, a haunted mansion, Peru…each layout shows these places as he describes them but also shows how the boy is either getting into trouble or CAUSING it! The end has a humorous, quirky twist that will make you giggle and brings you back to the beginning again.

So there, it’s done, it’s dusted. I only wish there illustrations were going as smoothly , but ah well, we can’t have everything…not all at once anyway!

Dealing With Creative Anxiety

2012-01-14T10:48:00.001-08:00

This, is all I have managed to produce this week.

Tara Lazar recently featured an insightful post authored by Ryan Hipp about procrastination as it affects us writers and illustrators. Although procrastination is a problem I suffer from, especially when it comes to things I loathe, like ironing – when it comes to my art, the problem is more like creative anxiety.

Procrastination as I see it, is about putting things off because you don’t want to do them. This is most definitely not the case with my illustration. What I really want to do is, pack my bag, book a ticket and fly to a deserted (but well-equipped) island and do nothing else but draw and paint, preferably children’s books. But right now my creative process feels more like coaxing an agoraphobic out their front door. Or, like talking someone who is afraid of flying into boarding a Boeing 747.

Let me explain. I often feel like I have two aspects to myself– one of which is an anxiety-ridden, gloomy gus. Just imagine Eeyore and Piglet combined. The other part of me is the calm, confident, free-spirited creative, just imagine Pollyanna with bells on. Now in order for dear Pollyanna to do her thing, we have to distract Eey-Pig. It takes time, often a little music helps, or an audio book but eventually I manage to ‘soothe the savage beast’ long enough to get a little work done. But having a toddler, means that now, I often get to the point where all is calm and I’m ready to get stuck in, when I hear, “YAAARREEARH Mommy!’ …and I have to start all over again! (after dealing with the kiddy crisis of course).

The problem it seems, according to psychological experts like Dr Eric Maisel, is not that we don’t care, but rather that we care a little TOO much. We have so closely identified ourselves with what we are doing (in this case illustrating) that the emotional stakes become extraordinarily high. What makes matters even worse, is that there are no guarantees. We have committed our hearts and souls,sweat and sometimes tears to something with no real promise of recognition or reward. This is how something we really love becomes linked with fear, anxiety or pain. And what have our survival instincts programmed us to avoid at all costs? Pain!

If you also have a big dollop of impatience added to the mix, as I do, you want to be GOOD at what you do and you want that to happen NOW. If you speak to any artist/illustrator/writer they will tell you that no ones starts out spectacular. If you want the skills, you have to really work hard at it. You also have to give yourself permission to make many mistakes and sometimes, to simply stink at it once in a while.

So all I’ve managed to produce this week, is one unfinished sketch. Fine then. I don’t see it as a defeat. Like any bad habit I’m tackling this one day at a time. I will persist, sometimes two steps forward and sometimes one step back but I’ll keep going nevertheless.

My little boy also goes back to school next week, which may just exponentially assist productivity levels – I’m just saying.

So much to do, so much to do…

2012-01-07T01:03:00.001-08:00

As many of you know, I’m still really busy with my illustration course (Make Your Marks & Splashes). So I thought I would work through Session 8 and 9 respectively and then blog about these before moving on to illustrating Pg. 3 of the book I’m working on.

[QuickNote: ‘Goodbye Mom’, is also the book I’ll be developing for this year’s PB Dummy Challenge. Let’s not forget that I’ve also signed up for 12x12 in 2012 but I’m counting ‘Goodbye Mom’ as my January draft because I’m still working on revising it!]

Yes it’s true, I’ve given myself quite a few things to do this year, but right now I’m not feeling overwhelmed by it all because I think they all tie-in to a common, future goal.

So session 8 was about research and collecting reference material for your illustration. Like many people I’m sure, I LOVE this part of process. If there is any other job on this planet I’d like to do, I think it would be online research. My dad was a reference nut and I think he passed the bug on to me. I remember spending hours as a child with him, pouring over dictionaries, encyclopaedias, thesauruses and LIFE magazine or National Geographic compendiums. Let’s just say Reader’s Digest had my Dad on speed-dial.

Funnily enough, this session also brought back another childhood memory. I remember being at the library, I must have been about 5 or 6, when I pulled off the shelf a reference book about Walt Disney and the Disney movies. It was huge but I tucked it under my arm and checked it out to take home. From that book I drew a little character sketch of Jiminy Cricket and I remember thinking to myself ‘Wow, this is good, I can DO this!”

Every time after that though, for years, whenever I tried to draw things purely from my imagination, it never came out right, it never looked as good. I eventually gave up in frustration, thinking that I just wasn’t talented in this way. Only in my late teens did I start drawing again, ALWAYS from a reference though. For some reason, I could never get the hang of painting either but then I stumbled onto oil pastels and colour opened up to me.

In Session 8 Mark says, “Here’s a secret: Most illustrators don’t know how to draw the shapes of everything ‘out of their heads.’They have to research their subjects.” Aargh! I WISH I HAD KNOWN THAT! I spent years and years thinking the only art I could do was from reference because when it came to drawing anything else, I was ‘untalented’. I’ve missed out on so much time when I could have been practising and honing this craft, I could really kick myself! *sigh.

But you know what they say about ‘spilt milk’ and all that…I just have to start from where I am and forge ahead.So the short of it is, I thoroughly enjoyed this session, it really spoke to me.

Session 9 was about Perspective.

How should I describe it? [Just imagine me pushing away from the computer right now and putting my head between my knees in abject despair] Yup, that’s about right.

I KNOW how important it is and I understand it in the most general terms but when it comes to applying it to my work it all just falls apart. I goofed on my Pg. 1 Oil Pastel layout with regards to perspective and now I understand why, even if I’m not sure how to fix it. By the way it didn’t help that Mark says right at the beginning that this is the lesson that separates the men from the boys (not in these words). No pressure!

So I’ve thrown myself into it, I’ve looked up other resources discussing it as it relates to architecture as well as figure work. I think my chief weakness is not perspective as it relates figure-work but ‘spatial’ perspective. Which makes sense because this is where I have the least experience. In the past I’ve always drawn what’s in front of me but now I have to set the scene and place objects in it. Let’s just say I’m working on it and will be working on it for some time to come until I can internalise the mechanics of it all.

So it’s on to Pg. 3 and Session 10! I read a wonderful Tweet yesterday that said,“There is no failure other than a failure to persist. Persist and all things are possible.” So that’s my New Year’s message to you guys, ‘Persist!’

Let’s Do This Thing! (12x12 in 2012 Challenge)

2012-01-03T22:09:00.001-08:00

I’m smack bang in the middle of my illustration course and still loving every minute of it. I’ve learnt so much over the past couple months I feel like me head has grown a size or two to accommodate all the new information!

With the beginning of a new year however, I want to build on my progress and challenge myself a little more, perhaps in a slightly different, but related direction. Julie Hedlund has started up a challenge known as, 12x12 in 2012

The idea is to come up with 12 Picture Books drafts in 12 months. It sounds a little daunting I admit. My focus has always been on my illustration but I admit I love to write as well. I especially love to illustrate ideas I’ve come up with myself - which is why I think this will really be a worthwhile experience. As I said to my illustration group, just imagine how much material we will have to illustrate at the end of all this!

If you’re keen to join in, just click on the badge above and sign up. Official participation is open till the 29th of Jan. I’m still not sure as to the mechanics of it all (i.e. how we chart our progress or record our ideas) but we will figure it out as we go.

So it seems this is the year of being monstrously productive and getting it all done. Sounds good to me!

My First Digital Painting

2012-01-01T22:41:00.001-08:00

I did this in a crusty old version of Photoshop on my laptop. I don’t have a Wacom or any digital tablet so I just used the track pad on the laptop to paint with (not sure if this would be easier or more difficult than a mouse.) Considering I know little to nothing about digital painting I was reasonably happy with the results.

Session 7– Watercolour Homework

2011-12-29T05:06:00.001-08:00

So Christmas is behind us, Phew! I’ve managed to scrape together a bit of personal time between family gatherings and housecleaning to get some illustration homework done. I’m a little behind but I hope to catch up soon. Session 7 was titled ‘Opening Your Palette’, so we’ve gone from 2 colours to 4 colours in this composition.

I made a little mistake with the paper, I accidentally used my rougher, cold-pressed watercolour paper. It really makes a difference I tell you! Perhaps it was good I made the mistake because the only real way to learn is experience the difference. So the end result is a lot rougher than I would have liked but I’m still happy with it. This is only my second watercolour ever, so I really shouldn’t expect miracles!

This is page 2 from my book where our little boy is about to head off on his own on his adventures. I envision it as a two page spread with the words on the wall of the right hand page. The characters and the colour scheme have obviously moved on from my watercolour for Page 2. In fact, I had the oil pastel composition in mind when I did this, so that’s where the ‘look’ of our mom has developed from. Let me know what you think of course, all input is valuable and MUCH appreciated.

Have a fabulous New Year girls and boys and KEEP GOING!

I almost forgot ! I got two awesome books for Christmas which may interest you: Illustrating Children’s Books by Martin Salisbury and also Color and Light by James Gurney. Both are absolutely inspirational and worth getting if you’re an illustration and art nut like me. *grin

Treescape – Oil Pastels

2011-12-20T02:30:00.001-08:00

It’s the week before Christmas and the whole family is at home. On the one hand that’s great but on the other hand, the odds of me getting much done illustration-wise are slim to none. So instead of doing nothing, I decided to tie up loose ends. I started an oil pastel on my drawing board months ago and after getting side-tracked, I just went back to using it as my drawing and painting support. So I finally thought it was time to buy some more masonite to use as a drawing board and to finish this sucker off.

So here you go, you can see my messy workspace and my old drawing board with the finished Treescape on it.

…and here is the Treescape, oil pastel on Masonite. I had actually deleted the reference photo somehow since last I worked on it and it took me nearly an hour to track it down again! All I can say is thank goodness for Pinterest. These Beech trees are those on the Bregagh road in Northern Ireland. I’ve seen a dozen photos of them and they all look different, fascinating place.

Have a fabulous Christmas everyone!

‘Goodbye Mom’ Page 1 Layout – Oil Pastels

2011-12-15T07:46:00.001-08:00

For our class project I came up with a book idea and I’ve been using this for my watercolour homework. But I’ve been longing to take a run at it with oil pastels , so I’ve finally gone ahead and done it, although I should really be doing my homework!

It’s been a bit of a rough week, so it was nice to have something to throw myself into. Hope you like the results!

Michael Hague– Illustration Legend

2011-12-09T22:07:00.001-08:00

This is Michael Hague. He is yet another Illustration genius. He also happens to be a watercolourist. The irony of course, is not lost on me. Nearly all of my arty heroes use watercolour and yet I’ve avoided the medium like the plague over the years.

Mr Hague was born in California in 1948 after his parents emigrated there from London shortly after World War II. After receiving his BFA he worked in the greeting card industry for quite a few years. I haven’t been able to discover how he made his transition from greeting cards to children’s books but I’m guessing he was soon approached by publishers who were enchanted by his work and the rest is history!

He counts among his influences, Disney studios and Japanese printmakers Hiroshige and Hokusai. But if you have a look at any of his work you can tell that one of his greatest influences is Arthur Rackham. (also one of my favourites and ALSO a watercolourist!) Mr Hague is not only an illustrator and writer of dozens of books he’s edited and compiled many other collections.

He says, "I count myself as one of the most fortunate of beings. For as an artist I have not only the pleasure but the duty to daydream. It is part of my work. I have been a contented day dreamer all of my life, often to the exasperation of those around me.’

I love his work so much that a few years ago, I picked up my oil pastels and recreated one of his illustrations from his rendition of ‘Peter Rabbit’, the bakery scene. This is it, above. I’m sure it would have been much easier with watercolours if I had any inkling how to use them! *laugh. I don’t think I did it an injustice though. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of drawing it. I gave it to my niece as a gift on the birth of her son. It may have actually been one of the many subconscious hints I’ve given myself over the years, ‘Hey Helga, you really, REALLY want to illustrate…”

I’m glad I finally listened to that little voice inside of me that said ‘just do it’. Sure, it’s uncomfortable and embarrassing and frustrating to put yourself out there and really commit yourself to something when you don’t know what the outcome will be – but that’s called LIFE isn’t it? If you’re not doing that everyday, you’re not living.

Let’s choose to LIVE a little folks!

Session 6 Homework – Dual Tone Watercolour Study

2011-12-08T23:50:00.001-08:00

I finished my homework for this week, Yay! As I tweeted earlier, I got a little distracted playing around with gouache (don’t ask!) but I quickly got back on track and finished up my complementary colour study for Page 1 layout of my story.

I went too big I know! It was supposed to be just a small study. Force of habit really working with oil pastels, you can’t work small.

Here is the finished study. I used Cobalt Blue and Orange ONLY, my only cheat was to finish it up with a Polychromos Van Dyck Brown pencil. I had a few ‘Aargh’ moments, Mom’s hair started seeping into the shadowed doorway because I painted it before it was dry. I thought it was a bit of a ‘happy accident’ thought because it haloes her face. Her FACE is another issue though, I can’t get the expression right, I need a mixture of ‘surprise’ and ‘aaw cute’. So that’s why she hardly has any features at all, indecision! LOL…

I’m happy with it but I wouldn’t say I’m comfortable with watercolour yet. I’m so used to working on a dark surface and ‘sculpting’ pictures into the light that Watercolours is like living in a alternate universe where everything is backwards! I’ve learned so much about colour though so far so it’s definitely not a wasted experience. Learn everyday, that’s the plan.

Have a fabulous weekend folks and talk to alot of you Tuesday or Wed morning at 4am for me, Yikes!

Sepia Watercolour

2011-12-04T08:01:00.001-08:00

Check it out…

2011-12-02T00:40:00.001-08:00

I haven’t got to the watercolour yet! This is what I’ve been working on…

I’m slow, I KNOW. This is a lot more than I’ve EVER done before so I’m quite proud.

Watercolour, watercolour, yes I know. It’s Complementary Colour week and that’s what I should be working on. I’m on it…

Watercolour, watercolour…

2011-11-23T09:55:00.001-08:00

Yes, yes, it’s watercolour week. Although I think I’ve somehow worked my way a week ahead in the course, so technically this shouldn’t be till next week – oh well – best to RIP the plaster off now. There will be screaming and gnashing of teeth, I guarantee…

This said, I don’t hate watercolour. In fact two of my favourite, favourite MASTERS of illustration, PJ Lynch and Chris Riddell both use watercolours extensively. I adore them wholeheartedly and their work leaves me positively dumbstruck – so no, I don’t hate watercolour.

Watercolour unfortunately, dislikes me intensely.

I have never made anything but mud with watercolour thus far, so although this medium is a part of the course work I’m doing, I’m not optimistic. This said, I have no formal training with watercolours so let’s be honest, what do I expect?

PJ Lynch

Chris Riddell

Until this course started, I’ve never even owned an Artist-quality set of watercolour paints, which also may have a huge part to play in my past results. I am still missing a couple of items, like Raw Sienna for some reason, everywhere I went was sold out.

So we start off with the colour wheel this week and I think so far, so good. The basic colours are not where the wheels come off for me. This bit is like getting your roller skates on. It’s the next little bit, the bit where you stand up and get shoved into the middle of the painting/skating rink that sees me flat on my face almost instantly. But I’m going to keep breathing and keep making tentative steps forward and hopefully, steady progress. That’s what I’m aiming for, steady progress. Not a masterpiece, just better than I have been. Realistic goals dearies, that’s where I’m at right now.

Below is PJ Lynch demonstrating his wizardry with watercolour, he’s a genius!

Will keep at it, although I feel like a cross-eyed troll with boxing gloves on. For my fellow classmates and for everyone else who have been so amazingly encouraging and supportive, a big ‘Thank You’. I wouldn’t have the courage to carry on without you.

Storyboard Adventures

2011-11-19T04:55:00.001-08:00

The Storyboard – it is done. In the third week of our illustration course, we were challenged to learn a little more about storyboarding. So the assignment was, either come up with an original text you have already been working on, or alternatively, a well known fairy tale/fable. Use this text to then create a storyboard. So Xena, Illustration Warrior (that would be me) decides, ‘what the heck, I’ll WRITE a children’s book and then do the storyboard for it.’ Ha, ha. 28 pages may not seem like alot but trust me, it stretches like out like the Gobi desert before you when you have to start filling it up with words and pictures.

I had the idea for the story quite quickly but getting it down on paper took me half the week. Nevertheless I think it’s pretty good but THEN it was on to working out the scenes. I’ll be honest, I could do these thumbnail sketches a few DOZEN times more because I don’t think all the ‘scenes’ are exactly right. I decided not to faff over them too much. Mark, our teacher, says we shouldn’t spend much time on this and I think he says this specifically because he KNOWS we’re going to. I’m going to work them out as we go along, forward momentum is what I want to focus on because that’s my historical weak point.

We have Watercolours coming up next week…I’m not confident at all. This medium and I have never seen eye to eye. I’ve bought all the required supplies though and I’m up for the challenge. I’d love to learn a new medium if it’s at all possible. I’m going to keep thinking about the layouts though and drawing, drawing, drawing. I got my first migraine headache in years this week and I realised, I’ve been drawing and researching so much since I signed up for this course, that it finally caught up with me! Oh well, what’s a little headache in the grand scheme of things, I’m having a ball!

: D

Procrastination

2011-11-16T21:18:00.001-08:00

I’m stuck on my storyboard (only three pages to go!) So this is my way of procrastinating…

Oil Pastels (again)

Week 2 – Illustration Homework

2011-11-13T04:12:00.001-08:00

So it’s the end of week 2 of my illustration course. This week we focused on the historical context of illustration and the conventions of storybook layout . Part of our homework was to visit our local library and pick up different examples to see if they follow the traditional story book format or if they’re rule breakers. I was surprised to discover that most of them DO follow the traditional format and length, even locally published books. I checked out alot of books whose illustration style I admire, including books by Chris Riddel and Nicoletta Ceccoli. Also, two books in particular by big names in the South African illustration community, Nick Daly and Marjorie van Heerden.

While I was at the library I also got a couple of issues of Artists & Illustrators, a British magazine I would LOVE a subscription to (just in case hubby is reading this). I read a quote by former illustrator David FeBland which only confirmed what I’ve been saying, [about the ‘golden rule’ of illustration] “One needs to differentiate themselves - and those who have a signature style and stick with it have a much better chance of success.”

Told you so…

Ok, so this isn’t news to me but at least it confirms that I’m on the right track and all my hard work will not be in vain.

Besides my homework I’ve been doing alot of experimenting and drawing

Also, some medium experiments

Acrylic Oil Pastel

Will let you know how next week goes. Wish me luck! : )

The Wall

2011-11-09T00:47:00.001-08:00

So my course director good-naturedly asks, ‘So Helga, as an illustrator what areas do you feel you’d like to work on?” My response is, “Well I struggle with sequential drawing and I’m not that good at drawing from my imagination” … It’s at this moment, I can almost hear him thinking, “So basically what you’re saying is, you can’t ILLUSTRATE…um…Wow, really?”

I can draw. I can ART. In fact, I can ART my heart out. But when it comes to my absolute passion of combining pictures and words in a narrative, I hit a Wall of monolithic proportions. So far, I haven’t figured out how much of it is practical and how much is purely psychological. That’s what signing up for this illustration training course is all about, sorting out The Wall once and for all.

Our first lesson has been about gesture drawing, capturing the initial impulse, or motion that your composition and characters express. We had to do quite a few exercises not necessarily capturing the likeness of the subject but the motion and the feel of it.

I’ve researched a number of different approaches to gesture drawing and some are more like thumbnails, capturing a basic likeness, a ‘wire-frame’ reference for the eventual finished composition. This is one of the ways I think I’m going to get passed my block. Gesture drawing helps you bypass the tendency to overthink thinks (guilty) and just put down what you need to.

Over the past week or so I’ve also notice that I have no definitive style as yet, it really seems to be in a state of flux. My artistic voice so far has been quite serious I think, whereas when I come up with story ideas they’re normally quite light-hearted and funny. So I’m trying to bring the two together somehow and discover what my ultimate ‘Voice’ will be. These are a few doodles I did last night for a story idea I have. As you can see, they;re all over the place, just like me. My mission over the next few months will to slowly chip away at this Wall and see if I can finally, finally discover a strong. cohesive identity as an illustrator.

In the meantime, it was nice to read this blog post by Sara Zarr. which explains that quite often ‘failure’, is what art is really about. I hear you Sister!

New Beginnings

2011-11-03T12:20:00.001-07:00

Okay, it’s not quite the New Year yet but it seems like I’m starting out on a fresh adventure already. Mark Mitchell, an award-winning American illustrator, runs a online illustration course called, “Make Your Splashes-Make Your Marks”. I’ve wanted to sign up for months now but kept holding myself back for some reason. Not anymore, I’ve signed up! Okay, I’ve only just started but it’s already been AWESOME. Besides the lessons themselves, Mark puts a tremendous amount of supplementary material together for his students, including video interviews with working illustrators.

One of the latest videos featured an amazing young illustrator, Marsha Riti, who is actually one of Mark’s past students. She just finished up a book for Pelican called, ‘The Picky Little Witch’. I was blown away by her interview! Not only did you get to see alot of her process and what goes on behind the scenes but I also really identified with so much of what she said. It’s almost as if Mark asked me to write out a list of questions and Marsha answered all of them!

Even her website was inspirational. Designed by the man in her life, it’s clean, gorgeous and a really great marketing tool, according to Marsha. It seems her agent found her through her blog and it was the same agent who secured her the book deal with Pelican. Wow.

My domain has been registered for ages but I’ve never done anything with it. Today I got the hosting sorted out and started putting together a landing page on www.helgapearson.co.za. Also I’ve completely redesigned my personal blog to link in with the site and act as way to showcase what I’m currently working on. I don’t know any web designers but I’m muddling along and I think it’s really pretty good so far if I do say so myself. It’ll probably evolve over time but it’s a start.

Phew! A whirlwind affair so far and I’ll be honest, I hope it doesn’t stop any time soon. I’m having a blast and learning lots. I’ll be posting some course work (or as Mark calls it, ‘HomeFun’) soon, so you get to see my tentative first steps. Thank you to Marsha for taking the time to give back to other illustrators and THANK YOU to Mark for creating such a creatively stimulating environment for his students.

A toast then, to New Beginnings…

Hmm…I wonder what would happen if I…

2011-07-19T10:51:00.001-07:00

So, I just finished a piece and I’m staring at my empty drawing board when suddenly I’m overwhelmed by the same feeling I imagine a graffiti artist feels when confronted with a freshly whitewashed wall: MUST SCRIBBLE ON IT. So I start messing around with my oil pastels and wow - it gets a little out of hand! I like it so much, I start in on this whole big treescape without much thought – evident from the fact that there is still a hardware price tag (bottom right) I’m going to have to try and remove before I can complete the picture.

I’ve never tried oil pastel on masonite (hard board) before and so far it’s a dreamy surface to work on. The only issue is, it seems to pick up dust easily which is a pain with OP’s. Having fun though, which is the main thing and excited to see where this leads.

WIP – Treescape Oil Pastel on Masonite

My little lamb started his new school this week and we are both in heaven. He’s loving it and I’m LOVING that he’s loving it! I’m not complaining about the few hours to myself in the morning either. Using the time for drawing/painting mostly but squeezing in a little housework as well. Three weeks of school holidays was beginning to take it’s toll, I’ll be honest. Ethan was bored and I was becoming really frazzled. A half day of pre-school is good for both our well-being, trust me.

Back to the drawing board (ha ha – literally) and will be sure to let you see the results when I’m done! : )

Illustration Friday

2011-07-08T01:00:00.001-07:00

REMEDY

I made a deal with myself that I would enter Illustration Friday for the first time ever and I made it just in time. Little witch girl working on her ‘Remedy’. This is oil pastel on paper. I wish I had more to say but the vet phoned this morning to say our dog, Emma, had passed away during the night. My heart is broken. Sorry.

Looking At The Stars…

2011-06-30T11:19:00.001-07:00

So it’s been 20 days now. I’ve exercised nearly every day and I’m drawing consistently.To get some idea of what I’ve just told you, try to imagine that instead I said, I’ve climbed Everest and then MOONWALKED back down again. This is HUGE for me. I’ve made a life out of being a chronic procrastinator, it’s like having a personality transplant. Of course because of my newfound routine and attitude, other things have suffered. I don’t ‘socially communicate’ nearly as much as I did. Funny, Twitter seems to have survived my absence.

Even on the mornings I can’t put pencil to paper, I’ve been researching different illustrations and illustrators. I’ve had this magazine for years, it’s actually from 1994 and features an illustration tutorial from Peter de Seve’ (who also did the cover art) one of my all time heroes. This man has done it all, including covers for the New Yorker and creating the character design for ‘Ice Age’s’ iconic mad squirrel, ‘Scrat’. I just love his drawings and his colour work which is predominantly watercolour.

Peter de Seve

I was first introduced to Chris Riddel’s work through the kid lit ‘Stormchaser’ series. He is a unsurpassed GENIUS with pen and ink. I also own his illustrated version of ‘Gulliver’ which is a masterpiece in itself. I quite like his watercolour technique to but it’s more muted and alot cleaner.

Chris Riddell

I love Eric Puybaret because his technique reminds me of oil pastels (although I suspect it’s oil paint) and what he manages to do, is so masterfully simple and so beautiful that it gives me hope that some day I can use my oil pastels to produce something half as good.

Eric Puybaret

So these are the stars, the Supernovas that I admire and look up to. I, as a little sparkler, may never approach their incandescence but I’m going to keep my eye on work like theirs and aspire my little heart out!

So these are two of the things I’ve produced so far that I think are OK. At least it provides a benchmark for where I am right now. So a few months from now I can look back and hopefully see me progress.

A 20 minute illustration of Ethan, my three year old son. It took no time at all and I loved the results. I need to make more time to do ‘people’ sketches.

An oil pastel illustration that started with the jersey and turned into a penguin. I’m not entirely happy with it and more frustratingly, I’m not entirely sure why. It’s a start, I keep telling myself, it’s a start.

So that’s what’s in my head, this is where I’m at. So far, so good, I just have to put my head down, bum up and keep going.

My apron, my apron…

2011-03-18T11:13:00.001-07:00

Yes, I know, it’s an apron. Just an apron you say…For me however, it’s a vital means of maintaining my bank balance as well as my sanity. When someone says, “Hey, isn’t that the brand new bohemian blouse you bought for a complete fortune last week?” and I reply, “Why yes, it’s simply fabulous isn’t it?” AND they reply, “Er, yes I suppose, especially with that oil pastel smudge on the chest in a striking shade of burgundy.

Long silence…

Okay, so now it looks like someone stabbed me in the boob and that’s pretty much how I feel after idiotically ruining yet another expensive piece of clothing. So I’ve used aprons for some time now – but THIS – this is a work of art, admittedly one I plan to add to with my smudges of oil pastel. (sorry Heather)

If you don’t know Heather Moore’s ( @skinnylaminx ) work, well, sucks for you - and I suggest you remedy the situation ASAP. She is the African (Capetonian at the very least) Goddess of linens and prints. Not only do I adore her work, she’s my hero. Incredibly talented, hard-working and successful – professionally speaking she’s what I would like to be when I grow up. So here are a few photos to document my gift to ME as designed by Skinnylaminx:

My son Ethan hamming it up (laugh!). I predict he’s going to make mama alot of money one day or, alternatively, pull a ‘Charlie Sheen’ and make me die in abject shame. Fate is so fickle don’t you think?

Ok, so this pic does not do it justice but it’s gorgeous, take my word for it and if you can’t do that, visit this gal’s site and see for yourself: www.skinnylaminx.com Her workmanship is impeccable and attention to detail, divine. So Thank you Heather, I LOVE my apron…my apron…my apron.

Helga

Apologies For The Break In Transmission

2011-02-28T06:48:00.001-08:00

I have a friend whom I've hardly seen face to face in all the years we've known each other and who also lives a continent away from me. Yet, sometimes, it seems she knows me better than nearly anyone else.

“Hi Helga, It's time to stop hibernating and feeling sorry for yourself...snap out of it!”

That was the brief email I received – short, to the point and exceedingly accurate. I had been hibernating. Holed up in my artist's cave for the Christmas holidays. When January rolled round I didn't feel quite ready to lumber out into the bright, new year, so I stayed inside my own head for a little while longer. I had taken 'introspection' to a new level and navel-gazing to extraordinary depths (really, you should try it sometime)

I can't say I regret the time I've taken though. Off Twitter, off-line I had a long, hard look at my priorities and realised a few things were somewhat askew. I feel like I've managed to sort it all out now and re-organise quite a bit, so this year has a greater focus and hopefully I reach a few more goals because of that. Let's be honest, quite often I feel like the moron in the paddling boat with only one oar, wondering why they're not getting anywhere!

I listened to an audio book by Carol Dweck called, “Mindset.” I can't recommend it highly enough. I only wish this was the kind of things they taught in schools. The basic premise behind her work is that talented or not, it doesn't really matter, we all have the same chance at success. In fact the more talented people tell you you are, the less likely you are to work for your achievement and the more inevitable it is that you will lose out to someone who is working harder and who understands that, “what you put in, you get out.” It's what Dweck calls the difference between the “Fixed Mindset” and the “Growth Mindset”. Be a lifelong student, find something you enjoy doing and work really hard at it everyday to be even better. It sounds so simple and sensible I know, but how many of us really put this into practise? I thought it was fantastic, it highlighted many issues for me anyway.

I also read , The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown (awesome), as well as,

Eat that Frog Frog by Brian Tracy ( hmm, I'm starting to detect a theme here)

So yes, I hermited myself away for a few months, my apologies, but I think it was time well kept – I feel like I have a little more clarity now and who couldn't use more of that?

At long last, finished Moonface oil pastel (680mm x 510 mm), which will be going into my illustrator's portfolio, have a look...