Friday, December 28, 2012

New Shoes: Illustration Friday

Here is my Illustration Friday illustration of the week on the topic of "New" fresh from the brush. What girl doesn't like a pair of..........................................................................................................................................................
4x6" Ink and Watercolor


Tuesday, December 25, 2012

HAPPY CATMAS!

"Giving Love" rubber stamp print & digital 4x6"
To everyone on this catmas day, enjoy the gift of love! May your day and year be filled with friendship, good health, and laughter!   

- Heather Soodak Illustration

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Little Women- SCBWI Tomie DePaola Contest Entry

This year's SCBWI's Tomie DePaola illustration contest was to illustrate The Yearling, Adventures of Tom Sawyer, or Little Women in black and white. Here are the full guidelines. I chose Little Women because I remember reading this book as a child and was happy to reread it for this project. Everyone is just so proper in that book, what a different era this books reflects! I just drew this vision I had as I read this scene in the book after John and Meg were decided to be married and Mr. March came home from the war where everyone was together and cozy. It is so exciting to see other illustrator's entries on the unofficial gallery, so many different approaches and visions, I just love the variety! My illustration is hidden in there somewhere! Below is the process:


Little Women Sketch

"Little Women" Ink, Watercolor, and Colored Pencil 8x10"

Version for the Unofficial Gallery, with added text below

Official Entry Version, with text spread

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Sacred Show Interview

I am delighted to present to you Elana K. Arnold's website, author of the wonderful novel "Sacred". I could not put this book down and highly recommend! I was so happy to be included in this amazing art show displaying scenes from the book, and being interviewed was awesome! The final artwork and interview is on the link, but I will also include artwork here as well.

"Magic" 16x20" Mixed Media

Process (with masking fluid still on it, no detail)
Sketch





Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Sabrina and Jeremy

This is a recent commission I just completed of the lovely Jennifer's cat babies, Sabrina and Jeremy. You may see the process from initial sketches to finish below! Originally, I was going to go with a cartoon style, but changed the style to a bit more realistic according to Jennifer's preferences from the initial sketches. The initial sketches help me to work out the style, likeness, and personality of the character. What a fun project, thanks Jennifer for the wonderful opportunity!

Sabrina and Jeremy 6x8 Ink and Watercolor
final sketch
                                  

initial sketches
initial sketches
Jeremy
Sabrina


Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Cat and Dog Friends

Ready, set.....paint! These paintings were done quickly. I had lots of fun with the process because I got to play with acrylic techniques. I enjoyed the technique of painting the animal head first, then scratching in the hairs to show the color behind, and then adding glazes on top and adding some outlining. The idea of this technique came from my artist friend and teacher coworker, Ian Paul. His work is a different style than mine but he is a great local artist! Check out his work at: http://www.ianpaulart.com/. You can see part of the scratching process below the final work (excuse the low quality of my cell phone camera on the process photos).

This series is up for sale at the Art exchange in Long Beach. Feel free to check out the show at the Art Exchange from 6-10pm during the Long Beach art walk! Great way to support local artists and get unique gifts for the ones you love during the holidays. Go here for more info.

I love working quickly at a high deadline, I feel I work best this way. I don't know why since it is usually a highly stressful way to work, but that's how it is I guess. I can't wait to see all of the artwork that will be displayed at the Long Beach art walk!



"Friends" Series 5x5 Acrylic on Canvas






All together, now!

cat process, scratching in the texture!


cat and dog process- starting to add white in the eyes
dog process