Petite Prodigy Piglet Persuaded his Petrified Parents to Parachute from a Plane

Sketches from National Geographic : Excelent source of sketching material

Quick Figure Drawings

Exhibit "Objects": Galatea Fine Art Gallery

I'm very excited to be part of the group show "Objects" at the Galatea Fine Art Gallery, which is located in the South End, in the heart of one of the Boston's gallery districts. It's nice to take a break from children's illustration and plunge into the gallery scene and exhibit one of my more conceptual pieces.

Galatea Fine Art Gallery
460 Harrison Ave # B6
Boston, MA
Exhibit "Objects"
December 2 - December 30 2010
Opening reception Friday December 3, from 6 to 8pm. I hope to see you there!

MassArt Holiday Sale: Buy Gifts here!

Three of my prints were selected to be at the MassArt Holiday Sale, which is a good place to buy holiday gifts created by MassArt students and alumni.

December 6-11, 2010, 10am-7pm in the lobby of the Tower Building

A Little Bit of Fun

Before

After: My sixteen year old nephew gave me a few suggestions here and there to make it a little more contemporary. Too bad he lives far away, in Belarus. He seems to have some fun ideas.

Childhood Drawings : Age 4 or 5

I just came back from visiting my family in Belarus and brought my childhood drawings with me. The only drawings that didn't vanish are the ones that I did when I was 4 or 5 years old. Interesting subject matter I would say, probably the normal drawings of a Soviet child. Too bad I don't have my drawings from my school years. It would be interesting to see what I was up to at that time.

Exhibit: The Architecture Show

"The Architecture Show"

Architecture Show was mentioned in BrooklinePatch on November 4, 2010 http://brookline.patch.com/articles/with-third-show-access-gallery-gains-focus

October 6, 2010 - January 7, 2011
Access Gallery @ Brookline Access Television
46 Tappan Street, Brookline, MA

I'm participating in a group show organized by Brookline Access Television. The theme of the exhibit is "Architecture" and all the interpretations of it.

Once again, I managed to miss an opening reception as I was flying back from Belarus where I visited my big crazy family. Well, hopefully next time I will be next to my artwork at the opening reception.

Long Way Up

Cute Boy?

The inspiration for this painting literally hit me on the street (on the streets of New York to be exact, on one of my recent trips there). My friend and I saw a woman with a baby carriage and instead of a baby – there was a dog in the carriage. We had a good laugh about it, and I made a note to myself to at least do a little sketch about it.
The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to develop it into an illustration. I’ve done some more thinking, added a few elements, made the characters much more exciting then they were on the streets of NY, and here you go – a fun piece about the things I notice around me.

A little note about my reference photos: they are taken as a point of departure. In this illustration I wasn’t going for realistic figures, but a little help with the gestures of the figures, facial expressions and hands are always a plus.

As I get better at drawing and I simplify and stylize my figures, I will be able to draw faster and more accurately, accurately not in the sense of having a perfect, realistic drawing, but accurately in the sense that a drawing is believable and exists its own right.

Recognition form Creative Quarterly Magazine: Creative Quarterly 21 Runner Up

Creative Quarterly just announced the winners and runners up for its competition. I'm very excited to find out that I'm one of the runners up for Illustration. It is very encouraging to be recognized by your peers. I'm so happy and so ready to work even harder.

Two Major Exhibits Featuring Outstanding Illustrators not to be Missed!

"An Exquisite Vision: The Art of Lisbeth Zwerger" at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA
June 29, 2010 - September 26, 2010

"BLOW UP: Hanuka, Shimizu, Weber" at the Society of Illustrators in NY, NY

September 1 - October 16, 2010

Cixi, the Dragon Empress, Surrounded by Eunuchs

Process:

I just finished this new illustration. Even though historic and cultural themes are not topics I usually work on, I really enjoyed working on this project. Being a little bit on the geeky side, I think it's great fun to go to the library and go through many books trying to find information and reference images. Even though there is so much information online now, I still prefer and trust libraries. Acting out different characters for reference photos was fun too. I hope you like the final result.

Quebec City: Travel Sketches

Street musician Claude Berger

Château Frontenac

Street musician David Ogalde

The Parliament Building

Sveta and Sylvain

People watching a street performer

Château Frontenac with authentic Quebec rain drops on the painting

Université Laval

I fell in love with Quebec City all over again: the architectural details, the small winding streets, spacious avenues, and the overall European feel. The last time I visited Quebec City was three years ago. On the first visit, I took pictures of every window and every corner of every building (I was so fascinated with the architecture and atmosphere of the city). During this visit, though, I sketched and sketched, a few moments here and there, quickly, furiously, while doing the usual touristy routine (stroll, eat, museum, shop, stroll, eat, stroll, eat). My husband Ben and I were also lucky enough to have the non-touristy side of Quebec City shown to us by my friend Sveta and her husband Sylvain, who live in the area.

The more I sketched, the more I felt a part of the city. Most tourists happily put me in the category of a native, a local attaction of sorts. I never saw that much interest in a person sketching (though I never tried to sketch in Belarus).
After many more or less successful fast drawings, I decided to do the unthinkable and wake up before 6am and dedicate a few solid hours to sketching. I am not a morning person and for me being outside at 6am is a rare and fascinating expreince. Life just seems so different and fresh and simple and very strange. Peopleless Quebec City is an experience in itself, which I shared with a few more people an hour later. It's interestng to sketch so early in the morning; you are half awake and you are just drawing without thinking. People at this hour also seem more friendly, open and part of a sort of morning team.

I met a few nice people while I sketched and became the sidekick of a street performer trumpet player. He played. I drew.

Well, I liked that morning adventure so much that I decided to do it one more time before leaving Quebec City. This time wasn't quite as smooth. It rained a few times while I was traying to sketch the Chateau Frontenac, which in a way helped to keep the sketch loose and watery. Then I spent some time running after a harp player, whom I noticed a few days ago and I thought that he had a really interesting face and he plays a beautiful instrument. I found him, and I have two sketches to prove it.

This whole sketching experience was quite unexpected. Even though I brought a lot of sketching materials, my ink pens ran out of ink, my two sketch books quickly filled up, and I lost my favorite brush pen. I was definitely not prepared for that amount of drawing. I honestly wish I could travel more and sketch on location more and experience the city, the vibe, the community in that way.