KE

Got called in to work after my last exam today. Was bombarded by a busload of schoolchildren with...

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:33:09 -0600

Got called in to work after my last exam today. Was bombarded by a busload of schoolchildren with frightening Mississippi accents. I hate kids.

Sneezed and bit my lip. Hard. Twice. Ulcers look like the herp and I am not amused.

Video card on my MBP went out. When I called to set up my appointment at Apple, the sales associate kept referring to “the Geniuses.”. Pretentious.

Not good day.

I'll miss that mouth swelling MSG-fun feeling, though.

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:25:03 -0600

For the most part, the only time I ever really go back to my hometown— an hour drive, and then some— is when I’m craving Chinese food. There’s this really good restaurant in front of my parents’ place, one that I’ve been loyal to since I was about thirteen. It’s the sort of place where they see me and go, “Hi, Kate, we’ll have your lo mein out in a second.” Load plate, return home, eat leftovers for a couple days.

Before we moved back to New Orleans, my boyfriend and I donated one of our fish to them. It seemed like a really corny Asian thing to do, and I like seeing him every time I blow into town.

I figured out how to make my own lo mein about a week ago.

I don’t know if I’ll ever see that fish (or even my folks) ever again.

Sorry, guys.

Hey, December. Lookin' fine.

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:16:00 -0600

Tuesday was a good day. Huge thank you to everyone who offered such nice feedback on my artwork. It was like waking up to a great big internet hug.

I cannot wait to thumb through the magazine. I’m following a few of the people who contributed, and these are artists that consistently earn my admiration and give me something to aspire to. I loved the first edition of the magazine as well, so I’m really, really excited to see what’s new this time around.

On another note, artwork will be a little slower to come up during the holiday season. I am currently working on a new piece that’s just for fun, and I have a couple of commissions to concentrate on after this week. Not to mention my new job (which I interviewed and KILLED at the day the magazine launched), the holidays, etc.

But. I won’t be disappearing completely. We’ll have plenty to talk about this month, including a little project that I might need some help with.

Until then, here is another rough idea I had for the ESD cover:

Ok, this actually got to the take-picture-and-load-into-Photoshop stage of my work before I managed to shake myself and go, “Your cover cannot be a perverted bear surgery.” I knew it was probably time to go to bed and try again the next day. This was well into the (completely panicky) third month of trying to come up with something… and the sketch concepts got even worse from here.

This is why, when I die, I request that my sketchbooks be burned with me. kthanks.

lee: eatsleepdraw: eatsleepdraw magazine #002 Made this...

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:18:56 -0600

lee:

eatsleepdraw:

eatsleepdraw magazine #002

Made this yesterday, so you will have to excuse the Novembeard.

What do you guys think of these video intros? Should we make another magazine? if so, would you like to see video updates along the way?

if you don’t feel like making your voice public, send an email over to eatsleepdraw{at}gmail.com instead.

eatsleepdraw: ON SALE NOW: eatsleepdraw magazine #002 What’s in...

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:18:00 -0600

eatsleepdraw:

ON SALE NOW:

eatsleepdraw magazine #002

What’s in the magazine?

- Original Magazine Cover Art by the fantastically talented Kate Elizabeth.
- Unreleased artwork that was submitted but never published to the website.
- Stimulating articles written from members of our community, including artist profiles and interviews.
- 40 full color pages of ad free awesomeness.

Two options:

Buy the printed hard copy HERE - ~~$9.00~~ $7.00!
(wow, that’s cheaper than buying a t-shirt online)

Buy the digital copy HERE - $1.00 minimum, pay more if you wish.
(save trees!!)

Since it’s the holiday season, we are doing something a little different this time around, half of all the proceeds made from the digital copy will go to the Salvation Army.

All issues of eatsleepdraw magazine will always live over at ESDmag.com

Thanks everyone and enjoy,

- Lee

—-

Cheers to everyone who participated in this issue! I’m following a lot of people who mentioned that they’ve contributed, so I hope you all know how much I admire your work.

About to get real geeky up in here. (EatSleepDraw Magazine #002:...

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:37:00 -0600

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About to get real geeky up in here. (EatSleepDraw Magazine #002: How the cover was created.)

A little before the first issue of ESD Mag dropped, I sent the editors an email, begging them to replace one of the images I’d just submitted to the website (last minute edits and such). I got a quick response from Lee, EatSleepDraw! Superhero, saying, “I was literally just looking at your submission. Wanna do the cover for our second issue?”

Um. YES.

ESD has sent hundreds of visitors over to my website. I probably owe my entire list of followers to them. I was more than happy to oblige. So after a few months of work, I’m finally going to see some of my art in print, and I am really excited (and grateful!) for it.

I don’t usually talk about my process much, other than posting screencaps of WIPs. The way I work is generally not scientific— rough sketches, minimal planning. I just do what pleases my eye as I work.

However, this was such a big project, I wanted to give you guys a peek at how it was created. I’m not great at explaining things, and this is the most I’ve ever talked about my art, so bear with me here.

01: Laying out the flats. This was the original concept for the cover, which I worked with for quite awhile before scrapping. I’ll maybe do something with the sketches at another time, but I’ll be honest… I have no idea what the fuck I was thinking with this one. Dancing? Masks? Foxes? What?

02: Coloring in the birch trees. Fact: I’d been looking to do a winter/tree scene since watching “The Breaking Point” episode of Band of Brothers earlier this year (the one where they’re in Foy). I realize that’s kind of morbid, but it’s a really well shot episode. The scenery was such a huge part of the story, and I couldn’t get it out of my head. Thus, tall trees on a snowy scene.

03: I usually work with really bright or saturated colors. For this, I wanted to go in a different direction. Plus, I knew the magazine was coming out in December, so I went for a lighter palette. I went through a lot of color options for the sky but this worked best, and was truer to my original concept.

04: Aaaaand here’s where all progress just ground to a halt. The cover would sit just like this for months (sorry, Lee). I kept psyching myself out. Despite having a respectable amount of followers (I think?), I pretty much post things with the assumption that I’m the only one who’s going to see it. I knew a lot of people would be seeing this magazine cover, however… and you can make out some of the (dozens of) rejected thumbnails in the background.

I don’t want to talk about how many sketchbook pages I turned out in these couple of months. I drew more than I have ever drawn before. And used a lot of paper. The trees, they weep. (On the bright side, I now have lots of back sketches to work from if I’m ever feeling uninspired.)

05: Getting down to the wire now. I returned to this picture in October, and flipped back through pages of drawings until I found these. I have no idea when I drew them. I rarely date anything in my books. After putting them away for awhile, I could finally look at my sketches objectively, and decided there was enough here to actually create something that I wouldn’t hate.

Once I had a concept that I could work with— and one that I was actually excited about— the rest of the piece came together really quickly. I finished both characters over the course of two days.

06: A close-up of the girl’s face. I don’t usually create a palette before I work, so I had to play with her eye color quite a bit before I found something I liked. I already knew I wanted that punch of yellow for her robe, and the green eyes just pulled it all together for me.

07: Birds are really good at giving a blank stare. I had sketched out a few more details for the owl’s face but I liked the white shapes so much, I decided to keep it simple so they’d stand out. Sometimes the hardest thing about drawing is knowing when you’ve done enough.

08: And, finally, my favorite view of the whole picture. This is really art-nerdy (too late?), but I’m really proud of the shapes I cut out here, and the way they fit together. I usually paint first and cut down to the shape I need (like treating paper, then using a knife to cut out for collages). There’s a little spark of neon yellow under his claws to make them stand out more.

Added snow, and took out the mountains to minimize the clutter. And there you have it.

Thanks again to Lee for asking me to do this. I know I probably had him sweating there for a couple months, but this is really my favorite thing that I’ve ever drawn. I hope it was worth the wait. Despite the agonizing months where I couldn’t decide on a theme, it was actually a really fun project to work on, start to finish.

Now.

The magazine drops later today, and you’d better buy one.

Details on how to get a copy of #002 to come. xo

Original sketches for this piece. Tomorrow, we’ll talk...

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:57:26 -0600

Original sketches for this piece.

Tomorrow, we’ll talk about the weeks that passed between these sketches, and the digital version.

Head. Desk.

Membership fees and donations go toward building mechanical...

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:19:00 -0600

Membership fees and donations go toward building mechanical wings for our flightless friends.

(detail from this painting)

The Birdcatcher

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 20:59:00 -0600

The Birdcatcher

Patti, Patron Saint of Trailer Parks I can’t sleep.

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:29:35 -0600

Patti, Patron Saint of Trailer Parks

I can’t sleep.

One time,

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:57:07 -0600

I sent artwork to a friend in prison. It was confiscated by the police, who politely requested that I refrain from sending anything else that might “derail rehabilitation.”

True story.

Oh, just a little something I finished last month. Stay tuned to...

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:24:00 -0600

Oh, just a little something I finished last month.

Stay tuned to find out how to get your own copy. ;)

(Yet another) work in progress.

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:38:00 -0600

(Yet another) work in progress.

Of course, not everything I like has to do with terrible...

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:07:00 -0600

Of course, not everything I like has to do with terrible accidents and books about murderers.

I also like cozy bunnies. Who doesn’t?

Here’s what Watership Down II looks like without the insane lasers and explosions. When I originally painted the rabbit, I was having too much fun and didn’t want to stop. Hence, lasers.

But I like him like this too. It gives you a better sense of the painting and details that go into something like this. Also, look how fuzzy his cheeks arrrrre.

Bye, street cred.

Attn: zombiecuddle.tumblr.com

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:09:00 -0600

Here are some of my favorite illustrations from The American Red Cross’ First Aid: Responding to Emergencies. It was one of my mom’s college textbooks, which I adopted once she was finished with the course. I scanned these to make a blog layout that has since been lost to the sands of time. The book, however, is still in my possession. It’s on the shelf with all my other art references, next to The Amazing Pull-Out Pop-Up Body in a Book, an aptly titled book for children.

My favorite-favorite— you can tell by its careful placement in the center— is the gentleman with the pencil driven into his eye socket. I don’t know why, but I find this illustration, and its lack of context, deeply funny.

Also, the filename for the picture on the bottom left is “patpat.jpg”.

And I swear I did not alter this illustration in any way:

THIS IS A DISASTER. WHY ARE THERE CHILDREN STILL PLAYING IN THE SCHOOL YARD??

(In response to comments made in this post.)

In-progress shot of this suit.

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:26:05 -0600

In-progress shot of this suit.

Cover & spine design Cuddle up with a good book.

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:00:00 -0600

Cover & spine design

Cuddle up with a good book.

Photo

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:51:50 -0600

Wallpaper for your inner Thelma Harper.* one, two, three, four,...

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:46:32 -0600

Wallpaper for your inner Thelma Harper.*

one, two, three, four, or the bundle.

*Numbers do not appear on wallpaper. 1440x900px.

Do’s and don’t’s of floral wallpaper: Do make...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:41:53 -0600

Do’s and don’t’s of floral wallpaper:

Do make some in Photoshop over your morning coffee.

Don’t use it to decorate your home.

…Unless, of course, that home is a turn-of-the-century brothel.