Little Owl

I'm so excited to share this... my cousin and life-long friend Sharon is having a baby soon, and I was honored to be asked to paint something for her baby shower invitations!! Her shower is going to be book/owl themed and will probably be the cutest thing ever. This sweet baby owl is on top of a stack of Sharon's favorite childhood books. I can't wait to meet her little girl :)

The Legend of GAAM: Link

Part two (/three) of my Zelda portraits for the Legend of GAAM show! 

30 Day Monster Girl Challenge: Day 13 - Insect

Little moth girl. She is drawn life sized, about 4 inches tall.

30 Day Monster Girl Challenge: "Day" 5 - Mermaid

Sooo. This isn't my original mermaid. The first one I made, a few weeks ago, is cute but boring. I've been stuck! It's strange, because I love mermaids and used to draw them all the time. I guess I wanted more of a concept, though, rather than just a cute merlady. My boyfriend is in the Everglades for an internship, counting invasive fish and plants and things, and visiting gave me visions of muddy swamp mermaids. This girl is based on the invasive walking catfish... certainly she could not have been found naturally here! She is originally from Thailand but was left in the swamp by a sailor who was afraid of commitment. Eh.

"Day" 5... it's been so long! But I have sketches ready to go for the next few. Look for them. I promise!

Brother and Sister, two years later

My most recent personal project, a rework of an older piece. Brother and Sister has been one of my more popular paintings, and though I loved the concept and held the painting dear to my heart, I've felt for a while that I should revisit it. The difference is profound, at least to me... I look forward to seeing where my work is in another two years! Here's a side-by-side comparison of the two: 

But her brother was already kneeling by the brook and bending over it to drink, and, sure enough, no sooner had his lips touched the water than he fell on the grass transformed into a little Roebuck. Sister cried bitterly over her poor bewitched brother, and the little Roe wept too, and sat sadly by her side. At last the girl said: "Never mind, dear little fawn, I will never forsake you," and she took off her golden garter and tied it round the Roe's neck...

After they had gone a long, long way they came to a little house, and when the girl looked into it she found it was quite empty, and she thought. "Perhaps we might stay and live here."

So she hunted up leaves and moss to make a soft bed for the little Roe, and every morning and evening she went out and gathered roots, nuts, and berries for herself, and tender young grass for the fawn. And he fed from her hand, and played round her and seemed quite happy. In the evening, when sister was tired, she said her prayers and then laid her head on the fawn's back and fell sound asleep with it as a pillow. And if brother had but kept his natural form, really it would have been a most delightful kind of life.

- Lang, Andrew, ed. "Brother and Sister." The Red Fairy Book. New York: Dover, 1966. 

(Original published 1890.) 

Wednesday WIP: Alchemy

Work in progress shot of a painting for an upcoming Alchemy-themed show. 

Folio Weekly's Scariest People Illustrations

Time to reveal the big project I've been working on for the past few weeks - Folio Weekly's Scariest People issue hit stands yesterday, illustrated by me! Floridians, be sure to pick up a free copy for five life-sized, full-color, clip-out masks of Northest Florida's scariest... otherwise you can see them with the descriptions here on Folio's website! You can also view just the portraits here by clicking the images below:

        

 

Left to right, top to bottom: William Morris III (The Florida Times Union), Pastor Mac Brunson (First Baptist Church), 

Governor Rick Scott, Stephanie Kopelousos (Clay County Manager and former head of the FDOT), 

Tony Nelson (former JaxPort Chair)

This was such a fun project to work on, and I'm so happy with the results. The printed issue looks great. Many thanks to Folio Weekly for the awesome gig! 

Grey

Grey; canary yellow ink and graphite

Other than flying creatures (birds and butterflies) I practically never draw animals, so this was something of an experiment. 

a mini-interview, and a work in progress

goodness: The lovely Allison Weeks Thomas, illustrator and fellow SCAD grad, has a little mini-interview with me up today for her Artist du Jour series! Be sure to check out her blog, she does awesome work. 

(and here's a sneak peek of something i've been working on lately:) 

Christmas cards and other cards

Christmas cards for etsy! they're a little different, i think this may be the first illustration i've posted with digital coloring. i'm not a good digital artist by any means, but i'm pleased with it for this, i think the solid colors suit the kind of naive and playful feeling. (also much faster, plus plus!) i'm so excited for christmas, it is my very favorite.

i've got a few other new things on my etsy too which i haven't posted here, some greeting cards and prints and more original paintings...

Etsy hannahbird

now to get started on secret gift paintings ;3