Tea Run

I think i may have had a little too much fun with this one guys.  I'm continuing my series on escaping inwards, but perhaps with a more comical twist on this one. 

Tea Run  (please let me know if you have a better title..)  is about escaping through imagination.  It illustrates how we escape times of stress and times when we feel trapped, by letting our imagination run wild.  When unhindered and purely free our imagination can transport us far from our reality.  

Also a little thank you for everyone you came down to visit me at the Emily Carr student art sale this part weekend.  I did extremely well and sold most of my wares, huzzah!!!

All Hail the Squirrel Queen

I have a lovely little illustration for you this week!  I developed this from a small doodle in my sketchbook in my free time.

If you are attending Emily Carr's Student art sale from the 22nd-24th, then perhaps you will find this little queen on a card ready for a new home! I'll be volunteering friday night from 4-8:30 so come by and say hi!

Also there a couple photos of me preparing some prints/cards/journals :)

Fox Trot

4 Down! This illustration is a continuation on my series on Escaping Inwards.  The images i'm creating for this series depict the places we go within ourselves in an attempt to cope with what we cannot control in our lives.

Fox Trot is a depiction of ones longing for something that is not in existence yet.  Something that either 'will be' or 'might not be.' It holds the plausible in perfect tension, with the dreamlike fantasy.  We see elements of the dreamer (the woman) as well as the personification of all the variables (the fox).

Take a look at the previous 3 i've done here : http://jvanderlinde.blogspot.ca/2013/10/thoughts-and-dreams.html

A Tree Pattern

And now for some recent pattern making I did for my surface design class.  These are mixed media, drawn in several layers of ink, and combined, texturized and repeated in Photoshop.  One of these days I'll put together a process post of how i do my work.  Its a relatively simple process, but when I try to explain it to people, they often get confused.

Anywho, From top to bottom, I have the original shapes, an arranged motif, the original but repeated, and a different color way.

Happy Tuesday!

A Fishy Dance

It's lovely squeezing in some personal work this semester. And of course, I can't resist slipping some hats on these nonchalant fishies! 

Thoughts and Dreams

I am extremely pleased about these pieces folks! This is the first installment of illustrations in my self-directed VAST 400 class. The series focuses on Retreating Inwards. The images depict places we go within ourselves in an attempt to cope with what we cannot control in our lives. More to come :)

Imagine shows how we will escape into a safe place where we know what the ending will be.

Bird Heads is how we try to change ourselves to fit what other people expect.

Drifting Memories is about retreating to a peaceful place of reminiscence.  It illustrates that bittersweet feeling which taints even the best memory because you are remembering something that was good, but now its gone, and that makes it a little sad.

These prints will be for sale at Emily Carr's Student Art Sale from November 22nd-24th.  And perhaps later on my Esty Site :)

- Imagine -

- Bird Heads -

- Drifting Thoughts -

Good Afternoon Fall

Firstly, I apologize for my extremely long absence from blogging.  Sometimes when you landscape full time for the spring/summer, you feel dead most of the days and your fingers want to fall off.  However, now I'm back on track, and I hope to be posting regularly. Look forward to some exciting illustrations in the coming months! 

Which begins NOW, with an extremely unhappy owl (who oddly resembles my morning facial expressions...)