in the mean time

The Giver

I've been trying to keep most of my thesis stuff under wraps, since I don't want the senior show to be super anticlimactic when everyone's already seen all my stuff on my blog, but I figured this was unfinished (still needs type) so it's alright to show.

I never read The Giver in middle school, it seems like the people who did all had a really strong response to it. Luckily, the cover is pretty ugly, so that gave me a lot to improve upon. I decided not to do A Clockwork Orange as a cover for a similar reason, I don't feel like any solution I can come up with (that is still an illustration) can compete with the image and the style of Kubrick's movie. The Giver was a really awesome book, it was fun to read it for the first time in the context of all this other "adult" dystopian literature. A Kid's dystopian novel is still pretty scary, and the old cover shows none of that.

Lately I've been doing what I refer to as "everything other than art" which seems to be the harder, stressful part of being a senior. The work, we can do, we just don't have much time to do the work when we have to cut mats, frame stuff, get something ready for a company, etc. When I was an underclassmen I had the impression that the seniors must just be in their rooms all the time working on their thesis, when really, working on thesis is a treat compared to this other stuff. I have 2 covers left to go, and then I'm done with my thesis, which is a weird feeling.

In the mean time, trying to not lose my voice!

sesquipedalian

Cat in a Box

you heard me.

This past weekend I participated in an on campus Hallmark workshop with some Ringling grads and a bunch of other students. I did the same workshop last year, and both times I had a lot of fun. 

This year, we changed things a bit and spent the whole time concepting ideas for celebrating something for someone specific in your life. I ended up coming up with a cat-suitcase-bed for my sister, since she has a new pet and travels with it a lot. The cat wouldn't actually be closed inside the box but would be a bed when it was open, and closed, would hold all the pet necessities. I had a fun time doing something different, and it was nice doing something other than thesis.

Here are my original concept drawings-

The one on the left was the other idea I liked, and would have been an entertainment chest for Drew and would have included a cool dresser, with a top that folds out into a ping pong table, a refrigerated top drawer for beer and wine, and a bottom drawer with party games and a bar set.

All in all, a fun time.

like a little astronaut

Sometimes thesis gets me thinkin too serious like, and I feel like drawing cute awkward girls. Can't decide which jacket I like better. I think the red is nice but olive green holds a weird soft spot in my heart. Funny how in art school, you stop having a favorite color, and you develop a favorite palette. I tend to favor warm colors, and I think the palette in Amelie always lurks in the back of my mind.


Being as it's my last semester, I wanted to take another figure class to round out my time here, and I'm really happy I did. Having figure with Hodges Soileau is really awesome, and it's nice to be painterly without the mess of paint, and to be in the studio some more. I've been drawing almost entirely in conte and chalk, and I do not miss oil paint at all. Haven't painted with oil since last April.
Funny how linear all of my stuff is, but when I draw the figure (or anything from life) I want to be tonal and painterly.


Sketchbook drawing I did during comics class. Sketchbooks to me, always kind of feel like long term relationships, being as this book is in your life for sometimes months at a time, and you invest a lot of care and time into it. So naturally, there are times when we don't get along or things feel kind of uninspired, and sometimes all is well. I miss sketching as much as I did last year, focusing entirely on finishing work doesn't leave time to sketch and wander and experiment.
So, my sketchbook has been a bit neglected this year, and only gets attention when I'm bored, or as a place for process work. This will change after graduation, I hope.

Tomorrow, my whole apartment, plus a big group of Ringling folk, are going to Megacon to represent the school. It was quite an experience last year, and this year, I feel way more prepared. I'll be selling some prints and stuff too, Hope to see you there :)

indubitably

Guess what book this is for?

Back cover for another thesis piece. Sometimes drawings look better upside down? Funny thing is, I showed this to Thiel right side up and he hated it, turned it upside down and jazzed it up (thanks Trish) and suddenly he thought it was awesome.

And that same drawing before I went to work on it, which I do like right side up, and so that you can see his cool hair

Also, lately I've had a bit of a thing for scottie dogs and sloths. I figure once we all get sick of drawing owls and birds on tree branches, sloths will have their day.

Classes and all have been going pretty well. I'm halfway done with thesis, and it's midterm, so I think I'm in a good situation. I have a lot of reading left to do, since I've done covers now for all the books I've read already. Spring break will be a time to read and sleep, and eat homecooked food.

bloom

The Bloom Tree

I hope everyone enjoyed their respective Valentine's Days. I made chocolate chip scones and tried to shape them like hearts, some of them ended up as less romantic organs, kidney shaped perhaps. 

Also, recently I went and saw Persepolis with my comics class. I liked the comic and the movie, and it was a refreshing animation style, almost a moving comic. It's nice to see the expansion of possibilities of the medium. I feel like the animation industry in America will soon need to reinvent itself to keep up with the foreign advancements in technique and style. Tekkon Kinkreet is another notable movie I've seen recently, I wish there were more stills available online, the style is pretty breathtaking.

It's Oscars weekend and for the first time in a long time, I haven't seen many of the movies. I guess there's bigger things on our plates right now. :)

get out your measuring cups

Randolph

A fellow of kindness and sophistication, he and his loyal cat Kingsley review recipes for the Oxforshire News.

1984 Back cover, in progress

I don't want to give away all of my thesis pieces before the show, so for the next two months, I'll post only secret snippets of thesis stuff, and then the rest of my sketch work and other illustrations. 

I just finished reading 1984 for the first time, and I can see why it is such a benchmark in dystopian literature. I'm currently rereading V for Vendetta, but it may be difficult to compete with all of the existing imagery from the movie and comic to make an original illustration. Wasn't really crazy about the art in the comic, but it still set the standard nonetheless. Probably next up is to finish the cover for WE, get cracking on A Clockwork Orange, and retune Children of Men. All of these books are pretty awesome, and I hope I do them justice.

intertwined

I was working on this over break, and I'm not sure I'll take it any further than this. I had wanted to set some type to it, but can't find a proper idea that doesn't feel forced, and I'm pretty happy with how it is.

So, as you probably already know, I won the Hallmark contest. I am really happy about it, and blown away by how many people helped me win. I still have a lot of thanking to do, and I hope everyone knows how thankful I am. As for the money, after I take my lovely roommates out for a nice dinner, and maybe buy myself one small nice thing, I plan on saving it for when I graduate in 4 months, and will probably have to move across the country somewhere.

Still readjusting to being back. Still haven't cleaned my room. Still, pretty happy.

Hallmark Ends tomorrow

LAST CHANCE TO VOTE

Hey everyone, this is the last time I'll mention this. The hallmark contest ends Today, Thursday, at midnight. If you can vote, and ask your mom, neighbor, and second cousin to vote, I just might make it. I'm a poor college kid and I'm nice to my elders, and I think I have a pretty nifty card. Thank you very much, for everything you've done for me already.

Also, if you need to contact me, please email me at emcguire@ringling.edu , rather than here, I like this to stay a nice and happy place. Thanks!

THESIS BEGINS

Handmaid's Tale
first thesis piece in progress

For my thesis, I'm doing dystopian literature. In high school, I loved reading Brave New World, The Handmaid's Tale, Clockwork Orange, etc etc. So, in coming up with an illustration thesis idea, I figured, now was the time to do work about what I really loved.

So, after doing the book covers back in November, I realized that there was one thing I knew for certain when it came to illustration. I love books. Children's books, comic books, art books, journals, and novels. I have since I was little, and my life has never seemed to stray too far away from reading. I do work in a library, after all. After I thought of it that way, no other idea seemed to stick with me that I felt so strongly towards.

I was initially concerned that the work would be too serious, that in doing a body of work about nightmare societies, I'd completely ruin my portfolio for children's books and greeting card markets. But after spending the break reading and rereading dystopian books, I found that they weren't any more depressing than how life really is, and that the universal idea presented is that people will fight for a better way of life, always. It reminds me of that Gandhi quote-
"Whenever I despair, I remember that the way of truth and love has always won. There may be tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they may seem invincible, but in the end, they always fail. Think of it: always"

In other (happy, awesome) news, I finished my first children's book!! I won't post all 18 adorable pages, lest I lose my street cred, but here's one I like. The book is about a bunny who goes to the zoo and after causing all sorts of shenanigans, settles in for the night. This is the last page.


And with that, happy new year, and adieu.

crisp

For Christmas, I finished this drawing as a piece for my sister, and made her a set of personalized stationary. She liked it a lot, which made me happy.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas, I was pretty overwhelmed by the handmade teapot/tea cups my mom gave me, and all in all this was a good year. She also gave me an automatic shower cleaner, I think she is trying to tell me something.

The Hallmark Contest ends in exactly two weeks, and I am tied for first place. which is nuts.

And, sorry to be one of those people, but my sister got a kitten recently, and I managed to snap this picture while she had climbed our Christmas tree. She is crazy.

Self Portrait

Well, it's that time of year for seniors, the time of senior self portraits for the poster.
I wanted to take a simple approach, but I ended up doing three versions before finding one I liked


This is the final version, the one that's going on the poster, just pen and ink


this was the first version, I'm not crazy about it now, I look like I got caught outside in the rain


And this was my second version, which was okay, but I still look about 12 years old, and it doesn't really look like me

There are times when it all clicks, times when you have to fight a bit, and times when you need to not be scared to start over and do three versions. Students expect it to always click, and I don't think it's like that for anyone, for every piece to come naturally. As Pratt says, you can't always be shooting off fireworks.

Also, for the Hallmark Contest I'm tied for third place! You can vote every day if you want. Thanks to everyone who has voted so far :)

Good News!

Hey Everyone, remember that hallmark contest I mentioned two entries ago?

I made it into the final round of judging for Hallmark's Product (RED) Card competition! Hallmark just joined as a partner for Product (RED) and ran a contest to design cards that will be sold to benefit the Global Fund, helping with AIDS, Tuberculosis, and other diseases in Africa, so it's a really good cause.

If I win, my cards are printed and sold in Hallmark stores for a year (!!!!), and money is donated to the Global Fund in my name, plus I get paid for the design.

Please take a minute and vote, my design is named "Delivery"
(it's the one with the teal background and red trees.)
Please pass this along to anyone you know!
Click here!

Thank you very much!!!

prickle

Sketchbook drawing I intend on taking to final


I like clocks and old words


A few weeks ago I was in a very pouty mood and did this drawing


Struggling with my self portrait for the poster-



I like this drawing not because it's good, but because it makes people uncomfortable.


Another drawing of another wistful girl reading. Might finish this one?


Drawing I think I'll use for a Christmas card.

Scanned some recent sketchbook stuff, lots of brush pen drawings, as you can see.
Wrapping up the semester is always a challenge. I either feel overwhelmed, or this odd sense of being caught up, and therefore not knowing what to do with myself. Right now I kind of feel both, so I updated my blog instead of sorting out what I really should be doing.

Exciting times at Ringling, I feel like winter break will help me get my plan together for thesis.

Also, my roommate Trish now has an Etsy Store so you can easily buy a designer plushie for someone for christmas.

Delivery - Watercolor/digital

This was my entry for Hallmark's first Product (Red) card competition.

Info can be found here

If I make it into the final 10, the cards are open to voting, and I hope I can count on your support in this upcoming election.

Other than that, been superbusy and trying out my new imac. This is my first grown up adult purchase and I love it. Expect things soon. Hope you all had a collectively good thanksgiving.

cardamom

Book cover for black swan green, a coming of age story about a boy in England who has a stutter, writes poetry, and goes for long walks alone.


Book cover for Prodigal Summer, a story about different people living in the Appalachian mountains, one of whom is a moth scientist.


Book cover for The Double Bind, a book that is really hard to describe, but deals with schizophrenia, the great gatsby, and a homeless man in vermont.

For our most recent assignment, we had to pick and illustrate a book cover. I think I enjoy books too much to only do one, so I tried to do some of the books I read this summer. I'm happy with all of them in different ways, and I think if I had to maintain this working pace professionally, I easily could.

I have a feeling my thesis will deal with books in some way, being as books are the only thing I know for certain I want to do. I can get excited about books.

She was a junkie for the printed word. Lucky for me, I manufactured her drug of choice.

yoshimi

Recent sketchbook pages.

The weather has been really nice, this time of year I like to open my window and get some fresh air in here. Sucks that the huge AC unit is right outside my window and it's pretty loud. But in general it's nice to be outside and be alive and all that. All year I've been watching the Spiny Orb Weavers outside our apartment, who are constantly building and rebuilding their webs, and they are pretty much the coolest thing going on right now.

I have 6 months of school left and I'm surprisingly calm.

tamarind

Forbidden planet environment
There comes a time when you get one of those assignments you don't want to do, when you know you probably won't put it in a portfolio or show it to anyone ever again. Such was the case with the Forbidden Planet assignment. Thiel thought it would be a great idea to have us all do posters for his favorite movie. Well, a lesson in patience if nothing else.

Also, for our portfolio class we had to create a letterhead system for ourselves, with business cards, postcards, stationary and envelopes etc etc. I really enjoyed being back in design mode, and had fun coming up with this stuff.
Click on the card to see all of the pieces, it's a bigger image.

Birds and bikes and girls are fine by me.

I feel like i'm at a strange transition point in my work where I don't have many finished pieces, but a lot of good starts. Hopefully soon I'll have some new work up.

autumnal speedpaint

speed painting, pretty much in one sitting. In celebration of fall, girls in sweaters, and chunky thighs.

seaside

Seaside

I think I've found a technique that's pretty fast and has decent results, I like working this way.

The past week was incredibly busy, this Friday we had our second Illest of Ill show. The piece in the previous entry (chelsea) as well as a watercolor I did at the end of the summer (carmine) got in, along with my summer sketchbook. We had crazy hours this week, getting up at 7 or 8 to open the gallery or pick up shirts, and staying up til 4 or 5 am hanging work or moving couches or doing... whatever had to be done. There was a group of about 30 students involved, and it was really cool to see everyone working together for something that everyone could enjoy.
We also flew in Coro from Massive Black to judge and do some demos. He turned out to be a really cool guy, and I think he picked a pretty good show. If you enjoyed the show, get involved next year, I really hope illest is here to stay.

For once, I'm pretty caught up on work. I might go to bed at a decent hour!

chelsea

digital
thought it would be fun to do a crowd scene, and it was. I like working like this, I think I might push this process and see where I can go with it.

Illest submissions on Wednesday, I hope everyone has some cool stuff for the show.

Also, I finally updated my site for real
so
emcguire.net
Check it out.

Also, I am having some computer trouble, so any Ringling folk who want to come over and look at my machine and help me out, that would be cool. I'm about to kick it. Off my balcony.