Moving right along

I can't believe it's already mid-October! I feel like about half of my blog entries start with something about how I can't believe what time of year it already is, haha, but it's a genuine sentiment. It's amazing how time flies by. Everything is moving along smoothly though here in Baltimore. The princess etiquette book is coming together nicely, and I've worked out how I will be depicting Snow White and Rose Red. I still have not decided which spreads to bring to completion, but I will have before the next few days are over. In the mean time though, I thought I'd share a couple of studies I've done in preparation for the book! 

Until next time, best wishes!

~Josh

Princess Book Preview

I just thought I'd share some of my watercolor studies of characters for my upcoming princess etiquette book! Hope everyone is having a great Windsday! (I hope at least of few of you guys caught the Winnie the Pooh reference ;) )

Best Wishes!

~Josh

Fall fun in Baltimore!

Hello everyone! I'm so excited to finally be experiencing a true fall, although, I have to admit it is a bit cold for me haha. Fall here is literally like December and January in Louisiana and Savannah. Of course, I don't have to worry too much about the cold as I'm locked away in my studio working away! I have some great projects going on that I'm really excited about and I just wanted to post to give you a peak at what is going on.

This is my initial storyboard/rough sketch phase of my 32 page children's book I am illustrating of the story of Snow White and Rose Red. I'm also in the very early stages of a secondary children's book project about princess etiquette that you will see a lot more of in the coming weeks.

I also wanted to share my experience this weekend with Robbi and Matthew from Idiots Books Publishing. This amazing couple came to MICA this past weekend to give a workshop to the Illustration Practice MFA students and to help us launch our own book projects.

They are a writer and illustrator duo that self publish their own books and were such an inspiration as well as full of great advice. Be sure to check out their site and the books that they have done! They've also just started a small children's book press which I can not get enough of, Bobbledy Books! They have done some of the most hilarious children's books I have ever read, and I recommend them to both adults and children alike. My personal favorite was The Girl with Frogs in her Ears.

Anyway, I'm excited to finally be at a point where I'm moving into creating some finished artwork for my book projects and I can't wait to share them with you guys over the next couple of months!For now though, I thought I might leave you with some silly sketches for a personal piece I'm working on, designing myself as a Puella Magi from Madoka Magica. If you are a fan of anime or magical girls and have yet to see the show, I definitely recommend checking it out!

Until next time, best wishes! 

~Josh

New Business Cards

So, I've been working on my rebranding quite a bit lately, and I came up with this image for the back of my new business cards. Through creating this though, I was -for the first time in history, and by some small miracle- able to actually ink well with a brush! I was so excited, and this is definitely something I plan to continue to employ! I really like the way the cockatoo turned out, and if this is just the beginning, I really can't wait to see how my inking improves over the next few months not that I've unlocked this tool. If anyone has any tips or feedback on the inking process, I would absolutely love to hear from you! 

Until next time guys! =) 

Baltimore, Y'all!

Hey guys! It's been a while since my last post and I apologize! My summer was absolutely jam packed and hectic with preparing for my move to Baltimore and teaching back and forth every day between two cities. I'm now all moved in and getting into the swing of things here at MICA. I have to say I absolutely love it! For any of you guys out there considering getting your MFA in Illustration, I sincerely recommend looking here.

I'm afraid I don't have many pieces to share with you all yet, but I'll leave you with some previews of upcoming projects early this fall as well as some sketches. Until next time, best wishes!

Shine for all to see!

For this past challenge at the Square Carousel Collective, we were asked to illustrate one of our favorite childhood shows or cartoons. Initially I had drawn out this image for Sailor Moon, because really she was the biggest influences on me in that time. However, I really wanted to pull my watercolors out and my style is far too bright for the image I was planning and I just wasn't pleased with the direction it was going. So in keeping with the theme, I thought more about the project. Really, the magical girl genre as whole has always been a key inspiration for me, and the one who started it all when I was like three years old was Rainbow Brite! And who better to paint bright and fun than the girl who brings color to us all?

Sweet Nothings Really... and Some News!

Hello all! I hope that the beginning of spring is treating you all well! I apologize for the small hiatus on the blog, February and March have been just insane! I got everything sorted out with grad school, and I'm pleased to announce that I will be attending my top choice, MICA, to receive my MFA in Illustration Practice. I am BEYOND excited! I also had the most amazing opportunity to spend a week in Los Angelas and attend the world premiere of The Hunger Games, which if you follow this blog you know I'm obsessed with!

Other than that though, my lessons have just been insane at the gallery here in Louisina. I went from teaching a couple times a month to almost every day! That meant taking focus off of illustration for a bit and completing dozens of acrylic paintings and demos for my students. While of course that is fun, I have missed my preferred outlet of illustration! In that period though, I wasn't entirely absent from the illustration world and continued to participate in the Square Carousel Collective and I have two pieces from that to share with you today. The first being the most recent, in which we participated in What I Wore. The latter was for St. Patricks Day to celebrate the holiday that is so popular in our Alma Mater's city: Savannah, Ga. We each designed a float or character for our own little parade since we had to miss the big one this year.

What I Wore

St. Patty's Day Parade: Runaway Leprechaun

After we all completed our parade characters, the illustrator who selected the challenge, Molly Wilson put together a compilation of the whole parade! 

With things now settled and organized for all of my lessons, I'm really looking forward to cranking out the images that have been filling my sketchbooks in the forms of sketches and comps! I can't wait to share them with you all. Until next time, best wishes!