Freckle: The Art and Adventuring of Emily Walus

Mesa

2012-01-29T17:51:00.000-05:00

I was hesitant to post this because of the disconnect because of the top half (done the first week of the semester) and the bottom half (done the last week of the semester). Oh well!

Gouache 4 x 6

I'm alive

2012-01-28T03:21:00.000-05:00

and I have art.

Rainbow

2011-12-08T01:33:00.002-05:00

Almost done with this series (for now)! My final show is tomorrow!

....

!!!

BOOM Biplane!

2011-12-04T23:39:00.002-05:00

It's done. IT'S DONE (for now).

It sure has been a while since I've done (non-vector) digital art. Better late than never!

(I do need to try more dramatic compositions, though.)

Red

2011-11-25T15:10:00.001-05:00

OKAY SO I went through a few scanners trying to get this to scan right -- all of them kept freaking out and scanning a muddy brown/yellow because apparently these colors are too bright in real life for any scanner to handle.

Ultimately I had to just photograph it, which worked out okay!

I need to move on from rocks...do some architecture and stuff.

Gouache 4 x 6 inches

The Sound and the Fury

2011-11-18T05:37:00.003-05:00

I can't sleep when someone snores.

(I miss you, color.)

Moon

2011-11-14T19:28:00.002-05:00

Not a personal favorite, but here's another one!

Absolut (You).

2011-11-12T17:39:00.003-05:00

Or as I like to call it, "Absolhoot". Hurr hurr

Gouache

Naples Yellow is the best

2011-11-06T23:53:00.002-05:00

Three.

2011-10-25T14:20:00.000-04:00

Well, this is exciting! Some red/green things for a change, but I really need to start composing these better.

Gouache 4x6 inches.

Owl

2011-10-23T21:19:00.002-04:00

Self indulgent last minute owl (and no yellow! No blue/orange!).

Saloon

2011-10-21T02:27:00.001-04:00

Not as nice as the earlier ones, but teenie tiny perspective is hard! Gotta keep on going and getting better!

Gouache 4 x 6 inches

Orange

2011-10-18T18:22:00.001-04:00

Gouache 4 x 6 inches

(My retinas felt like they were burning when I was working on this.)

Doodle dump (round 2)

2011-10-08T22:56:00.002-04:00

Color challenge!

2011-10-05T17:02:00.001-04:00

I've been having a desaturation issue with my paintings, so this week my professor told me to stop using white. And then my other professor taught me a really cool method of setting up value before painting so this whole week was like WHOA REVELATIONS.

Gouache, 4 x6 inches, limited palette with no white.

House it going?

2011-10-01T01:22:00.000-04:00

Good? Me too.

Gouache; about 4 x 4 inches each.

Also our computer lab got a cintiq and I have been THE DOODLIEST on it.

leaf hat

2011-09-24T17:30:00.000-04:00

Typical art school homework, but, I'm so glad that this week we had this assignment because I am so out of practice when it comes to portraits/people.

Use ALL OF THE COLORS

2011-09-20T02:19:00.002-04:00

4 x 6 ish inches with gouache. I love gouache.

derp!

2011-09-08T00:25:00.002-04:00

I'm learning so much!

Doodle dump!

2011-09-01T21:02:00.000-04:00

Some doodles with regards to "letting go" and stop being so fussy about making everything perfect. Also, learning how to be a better people drawer! Yayyyy people!

herp.

2011-08-22T21:40:00.006-04:00

I have been doing ALOT of art assessing lately -- which included feverishly going through my comics, obsessing over my small collection of bande dessinée's, and questioning why I am so incredibly admiring of them and why I don't feel as exhilarated about my own art. So then...this happened? Work in progress!

herp derp*

2011-08-20T02:25:00.002-04:00

*Note how my titles are getting increasingly more intelligent.

Getting my drag on

2011-08-18T20:30:00.007-04:00

HET STROOPWAFEL

2011-08-10T14:30:00.005-04:00

This is like sophmore year perspective 101 all over again! Needs cleanup/little more love, but I can't wait to give it color.

No, I'm not obsessed with knights and armor.

2011-08-07T19:40:00.008-04:00

JK YES I AM.

To your left: comfort zone clean linework (which I'm planning on coloring-- I promised myself)! To right right: testing out new territory with dual brushes (and ehm...drawing women)!?

(Also there's no way that arm fold is possible with that armor. Oh well)

Commission work!

2011-08-02T01:59:00.003-04:00

Okay okay, so this has been eating up my time -- but! I'm learning, right? So I can only get better. That being said...

A few things that bug me about this (the arm, the overly rendered/sharp quality, the lack of cool colors) -- but it's done. It needs to be put away. Done. Donsies. I need sleep.

(I do REALLY like how the center tree came out.)

Bugger.

2011-07-23T22:31:00.008-04:00

Shootshootshoot I should be doing other things like...uh...being productive. Thanks George R.R. Martin; now I have these undeniable urges to draw knights, princesses, dragons...I'm just fulling illustration stereotypes left and right.

Also, I still can't draw women....so I'm learning how to draw armor instead.

It's too hot.

2011-07-22T17:56:00.002-04:00

So, about markets.

2011-07-21T01:09:00.000-04:00

I have this thing with drawing markets....like, I just really like to have an excuse to draw an absurd plethora of THINGS. My only qualm is that I sometimes get stuck in this rut of 1 point perspective, which, for some reason it bores me, and seems so...rudimentary. Also it reminds me middle school (art), and that just gives me the heebie jeebies.

ANYWAY, Here's the first pass/draft of a market scene:

Some perspective/size issues, but hopefully those will be addressed with some success in the final draft. Thankfully, I'm not responsible for putting in characters/people -- that responsibility goes to another wonderful, talented intern. :)

MOAR FANART!?

2011-07-14T02:51:00.003-04:00

More Song of Ice and Fire fanart: Brienne the Beauty, Maid of Tarth. Game of Thrones, what have you done to me!?

Bendy Bendy Bendy

2011-07-13T19:39:00.001-04:00

And now for something completely different:

I need to...make actual illustration work versus doodling all the time.

Fanart.

2011-07-12T17:11:00.005-04:00

Song of Ice and Fire fanart. This is...slightly embarrassing.

Okay so I have a soft spot for angsty, outcast anti-heroes. Also, this is not grotesque enough...need to stop reverting to the same face shape and making things look too "pretty".

I do like that nose, though.

Also, I caved and got a tumblr.

Pink

2011-07-06T16:53:00.004-04:00

So I was chillin' in my jammies and listening to this and then THIS happened:

...and then I made it blue.

Okay seriously FOR REALS I need to stop doodling and start internship things.

Mountains

2011-07-05T20:05:00.002-04:00

I finally caved and started doing internship work, so I've only been able to do one of these, alas!

Also, I've finally gotten around to listening to Feast For Crows audiobook and I AM SO SAD that Roy Dotrice isn't the reader. Turns out he actually plays Maester Pycelle in the HBO series (!!!) and comes back as the reader in the next book (which is 6 days away)! I picked a good time to start reading/listening to the series...tempted to do fanart.

Snow

2011-07-04T01:48:00.002-04:00

The nice thing about winter is that you can always keep on layering and bundling...but when it's summer time you can only take off so much. womp womp.

Hopefully the more I do of these, the faster they'll go and the looser my marks will be. Practice practice practice! :)

Also, Happy 4th!

Color Doodles!

2011-07-01T02:10:00.003-04:00

Maybe I can continue to do a few of these a day. If I want to work in backgrounds, I better start acting like it!

Also doing little color keys and listening to Game of Thrones audiobook alsnvklaiwlnvbpw BEST THING EVER IT IS SO GOOD.

Quality time with Loomis, cont.

2011-06-28T01:46:00.002-04:00

The more I look at these the more I realize how asymmetrical they are! I'll probably look at these next week and question my judgement.

Hopefully I'm getting better -- DRAWING MEN ALL DAY EVERY DAY.

I should strongly consider dabbling a little more into color practice hnnnnng.

Internship things

2011-06-12T23:51:00.001-04:00

Part of a silly, fun thing for my internship.

Now time for bed! Gotta wake up at 5 am...womp womp.

Summer.

2011-06-04T18:32:00.003-04:00

So I've been spending a lot of quality time with my buddy, Andrew Loomis:

Paired with movie marathons playing in the background, fun times are had! :)

Now that summer's here, and finals are over...I finally have some time to breathe. This year was hard, physically and mentally: too often did I find myself buried in piles and piles of work, and worse: digging myself into a deep pit of expectations that left me exhausted and disappointed with myself. The most crushing thing, however, was how so many times I had come close to achieving what I had set out to do -- but I fell short (sometimes even just a few inches), over and over and over again.

But I am setting out this summer to start something new; something great. While many of my goals were not realized to their full potential this year, I need to make the best with what I have right now. I am incredibly fortunate to be where I am today, right now, in so many ways.

I know, somehow, I am capable of really great things -- maybe my time just hasn't come yet. I must not give up, but rather, push hard and give it my best.

Here's to a fresh start, and a better year!

BEST FIND

2011-05-22T15:48:00.009-04:00

Finding random Winsor Newton gouache tubes (that I'm pretty sure magically appeared there) in the crevices of my room? Helllll yeah.*

~~But for srs I need to FINISH MY FINALS. Only one two page paper and maya/zbrush stuff left!!~~

*even more exciting when all you use are the cheap reeves gouache.

Almost there...!

2011-05-15T22:58:00.004-04:00

I AM DONE WITH YOU:

(I wish the whole thing could be gouache. Watercolor part is looking kinda herp derpy... but I have to move on to other things [like the other half of my final HNGG]!)

(So I just realized that all I draw are ROCKS and use to color PURPLE. I need to move on to other stuff, seriously...)

herp derp werk

2011-05-14T17:59:00.009-04:00

"Oh heyyyyy I have a GREAT IDEA. Since I don't know how to draw/paint/render rocks, I'll make my gouache final ALL ABOUT ROCKS."

In progress gouache stuff with poor phone camera hnnngggg:

Bottom half is mostly done; I have...so much left to do before Monday. ;^;

Texture Stuffs

2011-05-05T04:20:00.010-04:00

Half of my texture/paint test for an internship...I didn't get it, but life goes on! (also they repeat seamlessly just fyi...)

~~Looks like I'll be home this summer!~~ I'll be interning at Handcranked Productions and Rip Van Wafel this summer and living in a super cute apartment! Hopefully I'll have a little bit of free time to carouse the libraries in Providence and STEP UP MY GAME FOR NEXT YEAR. *^*

Rocks, rocks, and more rocks.

2011-05-01T17:56:00.005-04:00

WHOA MAY. WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?

Finals are starting! Watercolor/gouache status:

The right rocks aren't as good as the left ones (I got a little too heavy handed too quickly...darn!) but hopefully some gouache will salvage them after watercolor is finished. I have high hopes for this one! *^*

Edit: Nope, gouache didn't save it (not pictured here). :( It's okay -- stil learning!

Hurr duur

2011-04-13T01:13:00.002-04:00

Some quick stuff for class tomorrow (while watching copious amounts of Mad Men):

...always room for improvement.

Maybe next time I'll get a little gutsier and move away from the realm of flat, solid colors (aka, COMFORT ZONE GYAH.)

April!

2011-04-05T02:42:00.005-04:00

Currently in a watercolor/gouache class! While I was originally partial to gouache, I have begun to take a liking to watercolor, and maybe, even, (gasp!) the combination of both. Gouache alone is still my favorite, but here are some fruits of my labor from varying points in the semester (going from newest to oldest):

The little parakeet paintings are probably my favorites...along with those little button quails. We got to paint them from life while they puttered around and they were super super cute.*^*

Collected Thoughts on ZBrush, Part 2

2011-03-27T22:00:00.005-04:00

Okay, maybe Zbrush isn't too bad. Maybe.

Result of the train ride home:

Work in progress; still working out kinks, understanding workflow, and learning things via numerous youtube videos. It's a start?

Also: lolwut feet.

Done.

2011-03-24T11:51:00.003-04:00

I am done with you, internship applications!

Sending the last ones before class today:

Ponies and Cowboys

2011-03-20T21:21:00.005-04:00

I know now that I won't be sleeping tonight, but here are some cowboys and ponies.

Newfound respect for people who draw horses all the time. Lolwut horse anatomy.

Relearning painting

2011-03-19T03:21:00.009-04:00

It's so...refreshing having all technical based classes this semester, unlike in the fall, where it was all concept all the time!. It's been a while since I touched oil painting, but I've missed it so! I've got a lot of brushing up (ha!) to do, but Compared to one year ago, though, I think it's safe to say I'm in a better place...gotta keep working hard!

Here's an (incomplete) painting of my good buddy Steven and then a self-portrait (hnng--); my mouth looks a little wonky. Both of these are between 2-3 feet tall.

Awesome discovery of the week: ultramarine blue underpainting. Makes 'dem oranges TOXIC (and glowy-like)!

Collected thoughts on Zbrush

2011-03-15T19:12:00.000-04:00

Also applicable to other aspects of life.

(I should probably...go back to actually working in Zbrush.)

M-m-m-maya! Part 2!

2011-03-09T03:21:00.002-05:00

This week's assignment was to model some sort of character:

It's a little hard to see some things, but I think the profile looks the best. :] It also had a little bit more detail at one point, but the file got...corrupted. And then bedtime happened.

Can I just say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE Maya? Granted, I'm not really making anything phenomenal, but it's just so....straightforward. And it makes so much sense!

I can't wait to to learn mooooaaaarrr!

Mmmmmaya

2011-03-02T00:30:00.002-05:00

Learning me some Maya! Check out that sweet lighthouse...awwww yeah.

Now to figure out how to UV map...hnnnng. Back to work I go!

Half Life 2

2011-02-15T21:14:00.004-05:00

I've been corrupted and led down a dark, dark path; Playing Half-Life 2 instead of being productive. By who? Well, you know who you are.

It can be considered research, since I'm applying to all these video game places, and Half-Life 2 is one of the best games ever across the board, right? And I've submitted over a dozen internship applications, and I deserve to have fun, right?

...right?

Wishful thinking

2011-02-13T23:28:00.005-05:00

Here, have a preview of what I'm working on:

I wish I knew what I was doing, but hey, I'm learning! This is probably taking x20 times longer than it should, but hopefully now that I have most of the flat colors in it'll move along much faster. I need much, much improvement on color, so in addition to working on my own things, I'm hoping I'll be to get into Color for Portrait and Figure (by showing up on the first day)!

I also wish I could calm down about internships; I'm pretty sure that these anxiety levels are unhealthy. I'm doing my best by submitting a few applications every few days, drinking absurd amounts of blueberry tea, and playing ridiculous amounts of minesweeper. Fingers crossed!

Brush brush brush

2011-02-05T01:15:00.003-05:00

I've always enjoyed art where you can very obviously see brush strokes. So, something new:

I need to get better at color...and I miss painting. Full view to get a better contrast range (but it needs work regardless).

My thoughts are jumbled because I'm panicking over internships! I just...really want to find somewhere I'll be happy this summer.

I'm on the internets!

2011-02-01T17:26:00.002-05:00

Will be moved to emilywalus.com, soon! But for now, many hours of learning code later, I give you...

Ta da! Apparently it's a little funky looking on IE, but, they don't abide by coding standards...but that means I still have to fix it. Soon!

(...and yay! Matching blog!)

CSS, brb.

2011-01-29T16:11:00.006-05:00

Note pages 6/7 of 9. Halfway done? I feel like I really like coding, except I just...don't know how to do it well. Yet.

(Also my sketchbook has be great suffering from lack of drawing, recently. Thanks, CSS/HTML notes.)

Website layout more or less finalized! Middle image is a placeholder (although I'm...partially tempted to keep it), and I'm not too sure about the header. Is it it too inconspicuous?

So far I've gotten good feedback! I'm excited!

Edit 1/30/11: JAVASCRIPT CURSE YOUUUUU. (Aka, please please let me understand you!)

Derp.

2011-01-25T19:14:00.002-05:00

This is another one of those "This is going to be the best thing ev-- oh wait, shit" sorta deals. Scaled tiny because it looks better that way. Ha!

(Click for better contrast.)

Zelda Zelda Zelda

2011-01-17T03:56:00.006-05:00

GAH I LOVE THIS GAME. Why have I never played it before?

Anyway:

Still not too sure about the nose. It feels...off.

Good night!

Lil' portrait

2011-01-10T17:54:00.003-05:00

As part of the reapplications for RAs on campus, we have to make a little self portrait!

Magical floating head, oh yeah!

So, here's the thing:

2011-01-08T01:47:00.004-05:00

When I was just starting out with this idea (see image below), I told myself:

"Yeah! This is going to be the best thing ever! It's gonna be awesome! I'm going love it, people who see are going to love it, and it's going to be GREAT."*

But, many hours, problems, and struggles later, it is not the best thing ever. And that's okay! I've learned a lot from working on this (especially since I decided to go in full fledged no-line attack mode, albeit my experience being...dismal, in that area), as well as learning about a squillion ways not to approach a particular issue/problem. Also important: I actually finished something.

Well, sort of. I almost like the flats better, but the colors are still Dully McDullerton:

One day, I'll finally reach my "ah-ha!" moment. Until then, gotta keep trying! :]

*"...Man I'm gonna get an AWESOME internship somewhere AWESOME and I'm going have the most EXCELLENT SUMMER EVAAARRRR."

Daily doodles (take 2)!

2011-01-06T14:48:00.003-05:00

Playing with palettes and costume!

(The left one came out the best, I think, because I actually did an underlying drawing. I should do that more often, I suppose.)
.

What's this? No line? Again?

2011-01-02T21:22:00.002-05:00

Doodle of the day:

Sophomore Oldies

2010-12-21T15:21:00.004-05:00

Nothing new, but here! Have some sophomore paintings (that have never seen the light of day)!

I wish I could have gotten into the painting studio I wanted-- but alas. I miss oils.

Happy December!

2010-12-04T21:55:00.006-05:00

Still playing around with color keys, but this time I tried something a little more atmospheric...while trying out dual brushes! Super exciting!

Like before, rough sketch:

Followed by color!

Back to my history paper I go! Not complaining because I get to write about how excellent N.C. Wyeth is. :B

Things I do in my "free" time

2010-11-29T23:15:00.005-05:00

...and by "free", I mean opting to doodle instead of doing homework. Gotta start my finals, eep!

Rough (that was originally just gonna chill in my sketchbook. Procrastination had other plans):

...and then:

Goodness, lots to share recently. Maybe I'm finally climbing out of my semester long "why isn't anything coming out right" crisis?

Color Practice!

2010-11-28T15:46:00.006-05:00

So.

After falling into a deep slumber/state of rest for a few days, I finally had some time/energy to do some work that was unaffiliated with school. YEAH.

I finally managed to get a few color studies done (each of these are 2x4 inches):

NOTE: The top is copied from a still in Prince of Egypt, and the second is a copy of concept work done by Luc Desmarchelier (whose excellent blog filled with work can be found here). The third, however...well, I tried my best to do an original using what I've learned! I've got...some work ahead of me.

Also, because I'm a total girl and have a soft spot for cute, pretty movies:

(Ha! Bad anatomy.)

Character lineups!

2010-11-21T15:47:00.005-05:00

Just a bitty sample of what I've been doing in my cinematic storytelling class (redesign of the movie, Quest for Camelot):

Ooh, simplicity! :D

Brush Ink Experiments

2010-11-19T18:46:00.005-05:00

Churned out a 3 page comic in one night, which unfortunately, got an, ehm...less than great crit. While most of it was disastrous, there are certain small things that I really like -- but these things appear only on the first page. I give thee brush inks (first test run!) and absurd (oh, goodness...) color:

"Ooh I know what'll make this fun! I'll put in arches. On a curved building! In perspective! LOOKING UP FROM BELOW."

Why, oh why.

New Brush!

2010-11-16T14:42:00.006-05:00

Crazy things that happened recently:

1. I finally invested in a Series 7 brush (and it is WONDERFUL).

2. I'm starting to look more at Mignola, which is bizarre because only few weeks ago I was completely disengaged with his aesthetic.

3. I'm moving away from my OCD tendencies of rendering everything perfectly. After being constantly unable to finish things to the level of polish I wished, my comics professor brought up a valid point: If you're not able to finish and x amount of pages in one week, you're probably not working in a manner that is natural to you.

These few things got me rethinking my work process, and I think I'm finally onto something:

Is it more comfortable? Yes.

Is it faster? Yes.

Is this something that needs more work? Yes.

Despite my hand being a little shaky with a brush (and it probably will be for a while), I do think I have a general sense of aesthetic/theme for Friday's comic assignment. I have to start somewhere! :]

Rainbow sketchook all the way!

2010-11-14T17:02:00.005-05:00

So, this weekend, (after 2 all nighters, much panic, and crisis) I decided to take it easy, and work on a few personal things.

One class I feel RISD is lacking, at least in the illustration department, is a course focusing on clothing and fabric studies (I've already gone ahead of myself and decided on a class name: "Let's Play Dress Up"). I'm struggling with is costuming and apparel within illustrations, as I usually draw people in sweaters and jeans, so I decided to pick up a few books and have some fun doing some studies. With some super awesome brush pens, which are excellent for quick sketching, I had a blast! Each of these took about 2-5 minutes:

I'm super exciting to keep going with this, because I've already started using elements of this clothing in sketching for assignments, and it's helping me develop a short hand way of drawing. Plus, some of the descriptions behind these costumes are so interesting: in the last image, on the bottom row, the polka dotted pants require over 90 sq. ft. of silk to make. Seriously neat stuff.

Next up: more clothing, and ARMOR.

Oh look! (Finished) work!

2010-11-07T20:55:00.000-05:00

What's this? Something...decent? And finished? Oh my!

Color keys/environments for my "Cinematic Storytelling" class done in acrylic (about 2.3 x 3.5 inches each). They're not perfect by any means, but I feel I'm getting better ! I am most pleased with the last two as they're a real jump in my "loosening up" process, as they took the shortest amount of time (10 minutes?) and involve finger painting. I do, however, need to make the effort to extend beyond the realm of the color blue. (In my defense the purple range did not translate well during scanning...)

Needless to say, I have an excellent group and I'm super proud of how hard we've all been working!

Sketchbook

2010-10-29T20:19:00.000-04:00

Goodness, what a long week!

The bad news is that I made nothing worthy of showing in terms of finished pieces, but, the good news is I can finally sleep! Next week, too, seems like it'll be slightly more relaxed, which will give me time to recharge and make work I'm proud of!

In the mean time, have some sketchbook pages!

I started a new sktchbook sometime last week, and I'm been having a lot of fun so far! I'm really taking this time to loosen up and stop being so obsessive compulsive with detail. Brush pens and drawing fencers (who have this awesome hardcore grace about them) have really helped in this respect.

What's Your Story?

2010-10-19T02:22:00.000-04:00

Do the colors make sense? Probably not. Does this need more contrast tweaking? Yes.

Illustration for Grimm Fairy Tale "Six Swans". The empty space in the sky is meant for text (which will be another challenge in itself). Still learning!

And a preview of what's to come for next week (oh man double page spread!):

(Also, making book illustrations makes me miss comics.)

Comic (Con!)

2010-10-10T19:43:00.001-04:00

So, Comic Con this weekend: ABSOLUTELY CRAZY (and quite wonderful)!

So big! So many people! And, most importantly, so many comics! I spend quite a lot of time at the awesome bande dessinée booth, and it's pretty safe to say the guys there made a little bit too much money off of me -- might have to lay off buying books (or things in general) for a little while. Looks like those Kazuo Oga books will have to wait too, alas.

Until then I have the wonderful, wonderful "Alim le tanneur" comics by Virginie Augustin (Goeblins graduate, employee of Disney France, and draftsman/colorist extraordinaire) to keep me gawking. Plus, the comics are in French, so I may be spending quality time with google translate (and maybe, hopefully, pick up a word or two in French). I've been able to get through a few pages via text, but the general gist of the story is understandable through visuals alone.

Having fallen madly in love with her colors, I pretty much just yanked them from a page and implemented them into my assignment for Friday:

Learning!

2010-10-01T06:32:00.001-04:00

This week's assignment: Create a 6 panel comic in vertical or horizontal format depicting a historical moment or event.

It was hard thinking of something for this one, especially since my professor decided it would be a good idea to tell us his favorite piece from the past. While this idea was REALLY good, it completely threw me off because I kept thinking back to it, and comparing ideas to that example. Slightly frustrating, but, it is done!

It's far from perfect, but I'm learning!

Comics!

2010-09-27T11:38:00.000-04:00

So I finally finished it, colored and all!

It's far from perfect (which was reinforced very quickly when I went to the print shop, surrounded by seniors printing their CRAZY AWESOME work), but I'm learning! I need to work especially on inks, narrative, color, and much more! I feel a lot better about color now, especially, versus how I felt last year, but I still know there are a few funky things going that need more work.

I also wish I had the tree growing from that little gem, maybe then it would have made a little more sense? Next time, next time.

Blankets

2010-09-26T12:54:00.000-04:00

My favorite graphic novel? Blankets, by Craig Thompson.

I finally have it (and at 1/3 of the normal price)! The funny thing is, this is the antithesis of what I would normally pick up and read (fantasy, colorful, tight linework etc.). It just so happened, though, that this book ended up in my hands at a really unexpected time: it helped me get through a pretty rough patch in high school. Even though I had support from family and friends, this book helped in a way that no one or nothing else could.

Thanks, Craig Thompson.

Sketchbook

2010-09-23T12:44:00.000-04:00

Sketchbook pages, because I haven't posted anything in a while:

Sketch snippets from my first comics class! Despite having worked on it for 2 days now, I'm pulling an all night doing this one...due tomorrow, eep!

So one day, my boss walked up to me and said:

2010-08-09T14:33:00.000-04:00

"So I have a project for you: animate a walk cycle."

"Sure but...I've never done a walk cycle before."

"Oh, well... just give a try."

...and thus I embarked on a treacherous quest, filled with onion skins and animation tutorials. Three days passed, until I finally emerged from the foreign lands...

Originally, the character in this walk cycle was a tad different, but because of copyright things I had to change a few things to have permission to post. It was definitely...an experience, for I had legitimately never animated a walk cycle (only admired as my animation major roommate swiftly whipped something up). It gets sloppier and more rushed as the frames progress, but, I tried; that's what counts, right? Besides, I had an excuse to level up in Flash interface, which is always exciting.

In other news, I'm starting to get really antsy about classes starting, as all three of my studios somehow revolve around narrative: Comic Book Storytelling! What's Your Story! Cinematic Storytelling!

How much excitement? SO MUCH EXCITEMENT!

People.

2010-07-01T23:49:00.000-04:00

I have a feeling I'll wake up tomorrow morning, look at these, and react with a "lolwut--GUHH."

I really don't like drawing straight from photos...it makes me uncomfortable. But I suppose something's gotta give when you find the need to practice people drawing at 11pm.

A Summer Aquatic

2010-06-23T23:00:00.001-04:00

So every so often, in the past 3 weeks or so, I had this train of thought find its way into my head:

"I should update my blog. Right after I fill out this paper work. Right after I come back from work. Right after I procrastinate on facebook. Right after I..."

Etc., etc.

But then I realized that I don't really have anything to update! Well, at least in physical art form, with the exception of door tags I made for my summer transfer students (who are wonderful and awesome):

(Marker, colored pencil, micron, gouache. Super multimedia, goodness.)

Originally I hoping to give an original drawing to each of my residents, but that plan quickly went out the window when I was informed that my number of students had doubled to what it originally was, and there was no possible way to make twice as many door tags in a span of 12 hours (at least when considering getting a full night's rest). To Kinko's, away!

Now that things are sort of settling down, I'm hoping to get started on epic plans of epic proportions: comics, paintings, doodles -- oh my!

ALSO: Started my internship at Clambake Animation Studio, which is superb! A little different than what I was expecting. Definitely glad I'm doing illustration like work (as of right now a bit o' character design, which is something right up my alley of interest), but soon I'll be delving into, I think, some sort of animation work, in addition to some things for Adult Swim...

(Insert ooh's and ahh's here.)

And here's another thing: Toy Story 3? If I hadn't held myself together, I would have cried. No, I would have SOBBED. Basically it was wonderful in every way possible, and brings me to my current song obsessions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBBT7K7LmGo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qva9nTdESoQ&feature=related

But right now it's bed time: I've been running on 4-5 hours of sleep a night for a consecutive few days. You'd think RISD would have made me immune to sleep deprivation...

Final Countdown

2010-05-26T12:28:00.000-04:00

So, officially, as of Tuesday at 3 am, I have finished all my work! Sweet success!

The last week of work was pretty much spent on my animation final. Granted, it's far from perfect (I'm an illustration major for a reason) but I tried my best! Derp derp derp.

So for about the next week or so I'll probably bum around, recharging my batteries from the many hours spent in studio...but eventually something will feel horribly wrong, and it won't be until I start being masochistic about art that things will retreat to being normal.

I'm excited, though. I'm starting my first internship (!!!) in two weeks, then helping the RISD transfers get acclimated (My door tags might involve pirates, ninjas, and vikings...), and all in all just getting better at illustration, and, more specifically, color! Also, a few friends and I are planning on going comic-book crazy in preparation for our comics class fall semester (insert excitement and girlish squeals here), so basically, it's gonna be a busy summer. But I wouldn't want it any other way.

New Things!

2010-05-02T16:47:00.000-04:00

Gotta say -- really exciting (and kinda surreal) week.

It really dawned on me that this week marks the start of May, which honestly kind of flew in from left field and smacked me on the back of the head. This is not meant it a bad way, as May is a lovely month, but that means the end of sophomore year is fast approaching!

NO! I DON'T WANT IT TO END! I'M NOT READY!

The nice thing, though, is that my professor's are being pretty open about our finals --essentially, I can do whatever the hell I want. Which in my mind translates to: 'Emily, you gotta get your shit together, because you are hella clueless about color, backgrounds, and environments, and that's kind of a problem."

So I sat down, whipped out my pencil (.03...it's so thin and beautiful. *sniff*), and tried my hand at environment design:

Granted, it's not the best thing ever...but it's a start! Unfortunately it's not really holding on it's own because the lines are monotonous and messy and there's no depth, but at the same time I'm kinda proud of myself because I didn't go all OCD on it like I normally would. I didn't stress about perfection or appropriate perspective; I started in one corner and just drew across the page hoping it would be socially acceptable.

Also: reference = great. Thank you, jungle/rock photgraphy. Thank you, Nabataeans, for constructing to city of Petra and giving me architecture reference!

The ultimate plan is to give this somethin' somethin' a dash of color! I'm aware that I can't survive on pencil doodles in my sketchbook forever, so I have to take a risk and do my best! Of course, it's always nice to have a trusty "undo" button at your side...thanks, Photoshop!

Hopefully this next week will bring more good things!

Hello my name is Emily Walus, and I have a mild obssession with N.C. Wyeth

2010-04-28T14:53:00.000-04:00

We had a slide presentation in my painting class the other day, and much to my surprise, a certain painting caught my eye. Once my professor started talking about it, I realized why my heartstrings were being melodiously plucked: It was an N.C. Wyeth. Of course.

After browsing through all the paintings and sketches on the Brandywine River School website, I finally found it, naturally, over 2000 images files later, on the last page.

Officially my favorite painting ever? Yeah. Pretty much.

Only you, Wyeth, can paint in super saturation, with every color of the rainbow (especially that green...gosh, I think they don't even make that color anymore it's so toxic, both figuratively and literally) and pull it off with abounding success. Then you add pirates? And amazing light sensitivity? Seriously, this has gotta stop or else my heart might skip one beat too many.

Also: super excited to visit the Brandywine Museum next month. So much wonderful-ness, so little time.

Not sure if I should post this Friday night doodle, because it looks pretty meager with that hunk of glory earlier in this post.

Now back to doing painting homework.Which may or may not involve pirates.

Self-Indulgent Nerdiness.

2010-04-09T23:41:00.000-04:00

So, spring break: totally nerdy. Totally fabulous.

Since all my applications/resumes/portfolios had been sent out in the past few ridiculous/insane/intense weeks, I had all of spring break to indulge my non-work-related nerdiness!

First I did a little sewing:

This was...a challenge. I had sewn little, silly things before, but then, as if out of nowhere, I found myself absolutely enamored by a dress I had seen online. But alas...poor college student.

Fortunately for duct tape dress forms (many youtube video tutorials, 2 rolls of duct tape, 3 old pillows, and some motherly assistance later...) sewing something suddenly seemed possible. Then add a few more yards of fabric, a mountainload of ripping seams and resewing, lack of patterns, frustration, and heavens knows what else...aaaand ta da!

I learned so, so, SO much from this little endeavor; I'm excited to start something new in between school work. (Note to self: Collars are fun to make, while sleeves, on the other hand, are not. Lots of seam ripping, re-cutting,re-sewing, re-ripping...oh gosh.)

Second, I tapped into my awkward middle/high school subconscious and watched absurd amounts of cartoons on Hulu and read too many comic chapters to count. Which, ultimately, brought me to this:

...I made fanart and I am not ashamed! If your favorite character had SUPER COOL FIRE POWERS, you would draw fanart of them. Maybe you would even want to color them as soon as you found your tablet pen, too.

The nerdiness ends here. For now.

Flying Fish, Cupcakes, and Creatures

2010-03-22T19:14:00.000-04:00

With great thanks to the beautiful weather this week(end), the past few days have been super unproductive. But, nonetheless, work was done.

I'm finishing up a pixilation project for my Intro to Animation class tonight, but, for now, a metamorphosis! If only there was an option too loop it...it's supposed to morph seamlessly into itself.

It's important to remind myself constantly that this class is about motion, not about super fancy details, and so far I think I've been sticking true to that. The sounds, done by yours truly, might have been my favorite part. :]

In other news, my roommate has been taking a character design class and I have been living vicariously through her by doodling assignments in my sketchbook:

The assignment was to characterize your best and worst qualities -- I won't say what's what, as I'm hoping they speak for themselves, but I could be misjudging their readability. Color might help these look a little more finished, which I'll get around to as soon as I have a little extra time and I find my missing tablet pen...eek!

Off to iron 10 yards of freshly dyed cotton. What fun!

Huuuur I am boat

2010-03-15T00:34:00.000-04:00

The title of this post is only (maybe, potentially) funny because of this web gem:

...which cracks me up every time I see it. My roommate laughs too, so maybe that's a sign I'm not super lame.

But anyway, boats!

The actual image is about 50% less saturated, but since I am incompetent at adjusting color balance on scanned images, this is what happened:

All I have to say about this project is: "David Weisner, I aspire to be you. Teach me your ways."

The first panel tries to have night light, the second one decided to fail miserably. I almost want to douse everything in blue to at least psedo-fake an understanding of night light, but...ehh...I don't know.

Ultimately, I missed gouache. I missed its supple and succulent color and opacity.

Wintersession, Second Semester, Summer Internships, oh my!

2010-03-07T23:29:00.000-05:00

Wicked Watercolor was a lie. Well, sort of.

I managed to squeeze myself into Figure Modeling Marathon last minute, which I suppose it what I was originally hoping for (but RISD has silly class limits, so originally the class was full), but the professor took pity and succumbed to my pleas.

The class met 6 days a week, 8 hours a day (Upon sharing this with my friend Nick, the first question I get is, "...are you okay?" I laughed a little, but I was unsure what to answer) and to be perfectly honest:

I loved and hated every minute of it.

Not to mention, it reinforced the fact that not going into a 3D major was a very good idea. Hurray, Illustration!

But essentially, it was challenging understanding the concept of 3 dimensional form and substance, and my professor took every opportunity to remind me that what I was doing was significantly less than perfect (with good reason). Ultimately, though, I felt like I made a lot of progress, especially since I started from point zero. Even though I don't think I'll be going back to sculpture for this upcoming semester, it has, miraculously, changed the way I draw for the better, and sparked my interest into expanding to a 3 dimensional plane. And with that, I present, samples!

Now, onto other things: Second Semester, 4 studios ftw.

First, we have Illustration 2, with Judy Sue Goodwin-Sturges! Our assignment was was to illustrate a poem from a list of many, so I chose "Four Fishing Boats", by Margaret Wise Brown. I'm giving color via gouache (eek! Frightening to tread in unfrequented waters!) a try, along with trying my hand at comic-bookery. So this is to be continued!

Socond, I give you a drawing assignment!

The thought process for this assignment is as follows:

"Oh darn, I have a drawing assignment due in 4 hours, and I haven't started! What should I do...? Oh look, it's our campus coffee shop! Cool."

My only pride in this that it was done freehand. NO PENCILS. NO SKETCHING. ALL GLORY.

However, not as much glory in my internship hunt. There are a few secretaries at various game and animation companies, however, that have heard enough from me to know me on a name basis. Kinda uncertain if that's beneficial in anyway...

My first interview at Animation Collective (animated Eloise, Speed Racer, Discovery Kids shows) could have gone slightly better; my stammered speech and nervous ticks may have been a little distracting...ultimately they contacted me about being a "reserve intern". Essentially, if someone drops out at the last minute, I would take their spot, which isn't bad -- I'm competing with super talented students (including and not limited to...upperclassmen...eep!). I did get offered a spot at Clambake Animation (this summer they're working on a pilot for Adult Swim...which could be kind of a big deal), which was super exciting! Either way, it seems as though I'll be spending another summer as an RA (free housing, yay).

Still waiting on replies from Studio 38 and 2K Games...unsure how things will work out with Rockstar, Arkadium, and Double Fine. I'm crossing my fingers!

Well, on an unrelated note: I'm really excited for the new House M.D. episode tomorrow night.

And thus the semester closes...

2009-12-13T00:46:00.000-05:00

I can't say I'm very good at updating these things...actually, I'm pretty terrible at it. I'll start writing something hoping to be witty and humorous, but then I realize that I don't get out enough to be able to do that. Tragic.

Anyway, my first semester as an "offical" illustration major at RISD is coming to a close! I've had some wonderful professors and wonderful assignments, but tragically, most of them are more for the sake of practice and learning, so nothing visually enlightening to anyone but myself. I'm hoping that wintersession (Wicked Watercolor, ftw!) and next semester (4 studios, eek!) will yield some more finished results.

Especially in painting: Oh, how I desperately wanna be one of those cool illustrators who makes paint thier bitch. I want to be one of those cool illustrators, so very, very much. Like, Society of Illustrators cool. Time and practice will tell.

Take Flight.

2009-04-05T17:26:00.001-04:00

Just little somethin' somethin' I've been working on and off for the past few days:

A lot, and I mean a lot, of reference went into this piece. Oh dear.

Originally, Miyazaki's work was a big influence on this piece (as my friend Mat was completing a homage to him for our 3D studio, and shared some of his research with me...turns out he was raised by two airplane mechanics), so I really wanted to play around with the idea of flight. As I kept working, though, my dad became the person I thought of most whenever I opened the file; he always talks about mechanical matters, especially airplanes, since he was training to be a pilot back in the day...with skydiving on the side. I'm not too sure if he ever flew a biplane, though, but they always seemed to catch my attention moreso than other flying machines.

But regardless, I'm a huge, huge fan of Miyazaki's backgrounds and the color use: they're almost obnoxiously vivid, but just enough. His use of space and atmosphere, too, and quite wonderful, so I've really been watching a lot of his movies as of late...

...and Pixar's super blue skies are always beautiful (especially in the trailer's for Up!, which I'm super excited for), so now that I look back at it, I feel like I subconsciously wanted to learn a little bit about their environments/color, too, so maybe I was able to get a little bit of that, too. Oh, Pixar, how you play my heartstrings.

But anywho.

Spring break marks the homestretch; so passes my freshman year at college. Ah, it pains me to think of how quick it passed. I'll miss it...but a. I have 3 more years, and b. I get to spread my RISD love with the incoming freshmen as a (terrorizing) tour guide, ftw!

It's now 6 pm. Time to start legitimate homework for tomorrow.

Over and out.

Mmm...Photoshop. Tasty, tasty Photoshop.

2009-03-22T00:43:00.000-04:00

I may or may not have aquired a copy of cs4. Thus, I obviously needed an excuse to use it:

For this week's 2D assignment, Jack gave us something, as he later told us, he had never done before. He had written something on a piece of brown paper, hung it up on the wall, and told us to interpret it in a way of our choosing. The only catch was that we were not allowed to ask any questions. None. Nada. Not even small inquiries. Written was as follows:

"My dreamholder is broken and it cannot be repaired"

I'll spare you from my ramblings about the personal significance of why I chose to do something along this vein, but, I had a great time doing it; it was both restricting and free at the same time, and I came to the conclusion that this had the potential to be a somewhat illustrative project. Yay, illustration!

My only regret is not inserting a background--even something simple would have been fine-- as opposed to leaving it a straight up flat color. That's definitely something I need to work on the coming months. That...and painting. And color. And composition. And heavens know what else. Oh gosh.

But in other news: Spring break! Woohoo!

Suprisingly I was not thrown into a panic/shock this break around (unlike winter break, where coming home from college from the first time was...wierd), so I've been able to fully relish the comforts of home, good food, and sleep (which is overrated, but still). A few rad folk from college are coming down from NY to visit tomorrow, so it'll be like RISD away from RISD! Good times, good times.

Maybe I'll get some work done over the break.

Maybe.

Mooncake Mail!

2009-03-10T13:50:00.000-04:00

The title of this post has little to do with the actual content of this post, except for the fact that I got package with a superb amount of little moon cakes (that I will consume at an alarming rate in the next few days) in a cute heart shaped box. But I digress.

The past week or two has been treating me really well, in particular due to my unusually light workload in both my 2D and Drawing classes (which is a big change from first semester), so I've been able to pursue a few goals of mine without any sacrifice to my studio classes. Granted, I do feel a little guilty indulging in the exuberant freedom and my new found "free" time, as I'm constantly under the impression that I should be working a little harder; I'm attempting to solve that dilemma but setting my goals a little higher and pushing myself a little bit more in regards to both class and personal projects.

So, I get to the exciting part of my post: actual art! Hurray!

Our current 2D project turned out to be really open-ended, courtesy of my professor Jack Massey. Essentially, the premise of the assignment is that is has to be related to some kind of environmental issue in our society (or our world as a whole) which is important to us...which was a challenge within itself since there's a lot of potential in both the idea and the means of execution. After a week of pondering and discussing this matter, a small group of us decided making individual comics (and putting together an anthology) about endangered monkeys seemed like a pretty solid idea. There was one of us in the group that had some experience in the art of comic-bookery, so we were pretty much set.

But this is where I go back to the "pushing myself" part: I really wanted it to be feasible to complete the project in a week, but after organizing the layouts, story, and (minimal) dialogue...the total length reached 7 pages! I'm aiming to manage my time more efficiently with the coming pages, but I foresee some long nights ahead of me; hopefully all goes well.

Finally, on a totally unrelated note: fencing tonight! I talked to the coach last week about the possibility of joining the Brown team, but it turned out to be a big no-no with thanks to the NCAA (silliness!). Maybe in the near future I'll find something in or near Providence, as I'm beginning to regret ever leaving the sport. If not, there's always post-college...but I don't really want to think about that for now.

On the bright side, though: full gear bouts! Full gear bouts! Super exciting!

En Garde!

2009-02-23T00:29:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I'll sign into blogger and stare at the blank "new post" box, anticipating to write something interesting or witty -- heck, I might even post a drawing!

But then I remember that I'm not witty or have new art. Alas.

I feel a little bit silly posting without any art to put up, considering it's more or less what has been consuming my life for the past few months, so reason says I should have something finished I would want to show. But for one reason or another, it seems as though, recently, I have not been able to produce anything worthwhile...which is so very tragic. Hopefully as the second semester rolls on the gears will start turning once more. For know I will make do with a sketchbook excerpt:

But on a somewhat related note, my first Wintersession at RISD has come to a close. Although its end pangs at my heart (Oh Shanth, how I miss thee!), I know I'll be submerged in illustrative-like matters up to my ears next year (and we're choosing majors tomorrow, too!) Hurray!

Unrelated note: I need to learn how to paint.

And finally: Tuesday will basically equate to awesome. I signed myself up for the fencing class offered on campus, so my parents ended up bringing my equipment/visiting once more. :] There were only a handful of people on the sign-up list as of Friday (three...including myself), so it very well might be more personal than what I'm used to. It never crossed my mind that I'd be fencing again...let alone at RISD, of all places.

...en garde!

No art, just rambles.

2009-02-02T10:58:00.000-05:00

Happy February!

Last week I got really really lucky with doing stuff last minute and being really pleased with the result. This week...not so much.

Granted, my crit was not tragic--but I'm somewhat disappointed with myself. It 's really of no matter at this point anyway; All I know is that, sometimes, the not so great stuff is necessary in order to deem the good stuff...well, good. I guess. My professor did, however, thoroughly enjoy the fact that I turned a "boring" and "cheesy" Parrish landscape composition into something with a story. Victory!

Next week: acrylics. This assignment...it'll be sublime. Ha! (Insert sarcasm here.)

But on a lighter note: this weekend was filled with super exciting adventures! My friend had discovered that there was a They Might Be Giants concert playing in downtown Providence. Besides the dabble of silly drunk fans (which was...humorous, in it's own sense), it was absolutely fantastic! I had been to a TMBG concert once before, but this time around reminded me of how much better they are live as opposed to recorded; So much better, in fact, that we probably scared off passersby-ers whilst singing obnoxiously on the way back. Ha, I love life.

Saturday afternoon was marked by a parental visit: mom was silly and jumpy (as always) and dad chatted away whilst taking obnoxious amounts of photographs (as always). Not to mention a consequential night of teaching friends Polish vocabulary and tongue twisters; I'm so proud of them: they catch on so quickly!

And on a final note: I made the RA cut! There were over 120 applicants this year (and they can only interview 50-70) so they had to do a preliminary elimination. I hope for the best in the upcoming weeks!

A first post? And recent artwork? Madness!

2009-01-28T15:44:00.000-05:00

I'm not going to lie, I feel a little awkward posting on a blog.

Come to think of it, I don't think I ever saw myself creating something remotely blog-like (mostly because my feeble attempts at keeping journals in my younger days, while in part a great excuse to buy an assortment of colorful notebooks, usually ended up in some closet, under my bed, or tucked away deep into the depths of my room with a few letters and/or scribbles), but here I am, joining the masses on the interwebs. Madness!

...

I guess this is the part where I put up some recent artwork:

This was our second assignment in my Intro to Illustration class (which, by the way, is absolutely PHENOMENAL in regards the subjects being covered, the approach, and the professor especially), in which we were given a BW photograph by Maxwell Parrish and were instructed to copy and insert the figure into a background/setting of our choosing. The only restrictions were that the light source must remain the same as it is present on the figure and that the piece must be done in a greyscale gouache wash. The fact that we had so my freedom with the background made it really hard to settle on something, but after browsing through some books for inspiration, luck woud have it that I stumbled across Aladdin layout sketches...so I kind of took it and ran with it. Naturally, this background ain't worth anything versus the images that were the inspiration. Gotta keep working on them backgrounds!

These two pieces were the most recent of the bunch in which we were given the assignment of illustrating two Grimm Fairy Tales, one using a gouache wash (and for the record, I love any excuse to use "gouache wash" in a sentence just because it sounds RAD) and the other, ink cross hatching.

The funny part about this assignment is that the ink hatch was completed in a 4 hour time period the morning before class, and, as luck would have it, it got a better critique. That pretty much goes to show (and proves everyone who knows my work ethic right) that I spent too much time over thinking/planning/sketching as opposed to doing the actual artwork. Who knew it would such a bad thing?

Well, I suppose it can only get better from here.

(Stay tuned for a color piece next week!)