"Things Don't Have to be Complicated"

First blog post of 2013 and I have some exciting news to share! I recently had "Feeling Small in this Mechanical World", a piece from my master's thesis, published in the latest book put out by SMITH Magazine and TED Books. The eBook is called "Things Don't Have to be Complicated:" Illustrated Six-Word Memoirs by Students Making Sense of the World and is officially on sale for all iPads, E-readers, etc. There are a ton of sweet and talented students featured in this book that are all separated by grade level and I am honored to be a part of it. My painting actually finishes off the graduate work section at the very end of the book - saving the best for last, as mom would say.

There is a short blog post on SMITH's website about the work (including a link to purchase the book) and TED has a post featuring an interview with Larry Smith which includes a quote of my memoir in one of his answers. This has been in the works for quite awhile and it feels great to see the finished product, I really hope everyone gets the chance to download it.. SMITH is a great, creative community to support!

Under the Sea

After nearly four months of silence, I'm back! I really can't believe that much time has passed, life has been absolutely crazy since starting as a full time designer at Cranston. Oh, did I forget to mention that? Immediately after my last post in June I was asked to officially join the team of textile designers! It's been a blast so far, I still have a lot to learn about the industry but each day I feel more and more comfortable going to work. My coworkers are great and I don't mind when the deadlines get a little crazy. The one thing that is killing me is not being able to show what I'm currently working on. We work very far in advance so it'll be a little while before I can post any links or images of anything I've done. If you want to take a look at some of our lines in the mean time, you can see V.I.P Fabrics here or Quilting Treasures here.

Bonus drawing:
I made this digital drawing for a friend's baby shower a little while back; now that baby Jordan has arrived let's celebrate by looking at it!

Now I'm off to draw some mice and cheese. Tootles!

Textiles and Memoirs

Hello hello! Life is as busy as ever and time really flies after graduation, let me tell you. It's already been over a month since I moved my tassel from the right to the left for the second (and final?) time and so far I've spent some time traveling the seas of the Caribbean with my love to celebrate graduation and being an adult, reading and re-reading all of my student loan documents while breaking out in a cold sweat, and applying to more art and design jobs than I can count on my fingers and toes.. and a half a dozen other people's fingers and toes too. Sadly this is going to be an all text post, but to that end I have two important announcements to make:

1.

This week I started working at Cranston Print Works as a freelance designer. The atmosphere is peaceful and everyone is extremely nice and helpful. My first assignment is for Valentine's Day and I'm excited to see where it goes, I will say though that I'm always totally cool with drawing chocolate and all things love. I've never really done textile or pattern design before so I'm currently learning as I go and enjoying the journey. There will be more to come on this subject in the near future, for sure.

2.

Today my interview with SMITH Magazine was posted on their website, front page! (For future reference when I'm no longer on the front page, the blog can be found here) The interview is mostly about my thesis work which has everything to do with their mission, and just answering their questions was enough to inspire me to make more visual work revolving around six word memoirs. I will also have more information on my involvement with SMITH's new ebook within the next few days. The interview is 100% worth reading though, if I do say so myself, so go do that while I go cuddle with the dogs before bed. Goodnight!

Masters: check!

You might be wondering why it's been so long since my last post and I have a number of reasons to give you! This list includes but is not limited to: preparing for the thesis exhibition (mounting, framing, bubble-wrapping, trucking), hanging the thesis exhibition (what a long day!), preparing for graduation (making SVA logo earrings for the ladies in the MFAI department, picking up my cap, gown, and hood, running around like a chicken without a head, etc.) actually graduating, and celebrating lavishly with my family afterwards. The ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall this past Thursday, May 10th (this also happened to be the date of my parents 26th anniversary!) and everything went extremely well - my name was pronounced correctly and I did not fall or even wobble in my five inch wedges, it was everything I dreamed of and more.

With all of that said, I can officially announce that I have my Masters degree! It has been quite the journey, of course having its ups and downs, but I'm happy to say that there were far more ups than anything else. It's hard to believe the two years have come and gone already but the one thing I can hold onto for a bit longer is my studio on 21st street - until July, at least. Before I get too emotional, let's move on to the fun part: pictures!

These are the eight original paintings + book that I have in the exhibition.

SVA logo shrinky dinks before baking...

And the SVA logos after baking.. they came out too cute!

Much more perfect than I had anticipated

I personalized an earring card for everyone and they seemed to be a hit!

Inside Radio City on graduation morning, everything seemed to glow red...

while my parents and I were just glowing in general.

And just for fun, Matt happened to get a picture of Marshall and I hugging on the big screen, right after I was handed my diploma.. what a moment!

American Illustration 31

I am so excited to announce that the drawing I did of my grandmother on her motorcycle has been selected to appear in American Illustration 31! I found out on Friday but have been super busy finishing up some loose ends in my thesis, causing the delay in posting. Now the hard part is waiting until November to see the show and book!

A Flared Alphabet

In preparation for the making of the cover of my six word memoir book, I'm drawing up some new alphabets to make my life a little easier. This is number one of... a number that is yet to be determined.

The City by the Sea

Yesterday I was forced to take a break from painting the map I'm making for thesis and make a completely different map for a completely different reason. Although the last thing I can afford to do at this moment is take a break from thesis work, you'll have to trust me when I say that making this map was extremely important as well. I really like how it turned out and so I want to share it with the rest of you!

This is a map of the area of Wildwood I visited every year growing up. The boardwalk is two miles long but we always stayed right near the center on Schellenger Ave at the Landmark Motel. Oh, sweet memories (I'm looking at you, Douglass Fudge).

Two Things...

1. My new website is completely finished and live! Check out aliciacandraw.com to see what I made from scratch.

2. Today I made this alphabet. It's been awhile since I've done a complete alphabet and it was nice to take a short break from my thesis work. I call it Halphabet.

A more professional face(book)

Today I made a facebook page for alicia can draw illustration, you can find it and like it here!

Lurker, inspired by the aggression meter

This piece is actually a hybrid of two paintings I completed in the past week, one that was painted for my five year old cousin, therefore excluding the lurking wolf, and one for an editorial assignment. Put them together and voila! In the end this was just for fun but I ended up really liking it - I hope you do as well.

Recent drawing on location favorites

This past Friday in class we had the amazingly talented Afro Jersey come in to play music and for our drawing pleasure (If you are at all into having your spirits lifted, you should check them out. Their music is extremely positive and these guys have the heartiest laughs I've ever heard). Since they were in pretty much the same "pose" all afternoon I started doing some blind contours to make things interesting and they ended up being my favorite drawings from the whole day...

I added the lettering after I got home and I could live with or without it but nonetheless it needed something in that spot, it was screaming for their name. I also started playing with some of my other outlines and ended up making this...

...which is obviously destined to be turned into a flashing neon sign. But really, they all had such great features which is why I started sketching their silhouettes in the first place...the whole project was just super fun to do!

And last but certainly not least, I wanted to post this little gem of a drawing that I did at the Metropolitan Opera House backstage tour. This was our adorable guide, Brett, who we all had more drawings of than the MET itself. Maybe it was his bright red plaid jacket that was so perfect (sadly I didn't capture it in this sketch) or maybe it was his never ending knowledge and passion for all things opera, but either way he really was the ultimate tour guide and subject to draw. 

Factories and the arctic, not in the arctic.

I'm pleased to announce that two of my thesis paintings that I've been hoarding away are finally finished! I started the first one, "Feeling small in this mechanical world," over winter break so it's about time I get it on here. And you may recognize the icebergs from my existing portfolio - I did a similar but more traditional painting on canvas in 2010 but have recently gotten such good feedback on it that I decided to incorporate the design into my thesis work as well. Enjoy these two and look out for the four that I'll be posting in the near future.. possibly tomorrow!

Feeling small in this mechanical world

Sinking into the depths below me...

Finally Finding...

As I promised months ago, an explanation of my new and improved thesis is finally here. I kept putting it off, trying to complete as much work as possible before I revealed it to the online world but I realized that's a ridiculous idea. I'm going to start from the beginning, with posting the first piece that turned everything around. The project still consists of six word memoirs paired with illustrations, the difference is the overall theme and layout of the final book. Each spread is now a full page (20 inch long by 8 inch tall paintings that make an overall 10 x 8 inch book) as opposed to one page containing hand lettering and the opposite page made up of a full bleed illustration. There is also a theme, which makes the largest difference. Instead of a handful of random images compiled into a book, each spread now illustrates a place - these places vary from realistic to completely imaginative and have a memoir hand lettered into the composition. The final piece I'm going to complete is a map that will be twice the size of each painting (20 x 16 inches) that folds out from the first pages of the book itself. An element from each full page spread will be worked into the map which will contain a key to make it easy to navigate the book and visit the places you'd like to see.

The first piece that I completed in this style was a fluke, I was trying something new that happened to work out really well and the rest is history. And now, for your viewing pleasure:

"Finally finding without ever having looked"

I have six additional pieces near completion at the moment but I will post them as soon as all my nit-picky fixes are made. Stay tuned!

Essex Street Market

I know I promised a while back that I was going to start posting my new and improved thesis work but I really want to perfect everything before I post anything on here. You understand. Instead, I'm adding a little drawing that I did this past Friday at the Essex Street Market with my Drawing on Location class. It was one of those dreary, soggy days that was incredibly unmotivating when it came to running around the city to draw but I (surprisingly) did a doodle that I'm happy with. I was really digging the brown paper too, it was a nice change to work on.

I added the touches of digital color when I got home later that night and I feel like I could live with or without it, but you're just going to have to live with it since that's all I'm showing you.

As always, stay tuned for more!

Drawing on Location

For the past few weeks I've been working on an assignment for my Drawing on Location class (in case you didn't see my previous post about it) where we were to choose a city block and do a series of drawings of three businesses on that street. I chose 25th street between 6th and 7th avenues since there are a number of great vintage outlets and crafty places to shop. I finished the last of the drawings this past week and and I can finally and officially say that I am done! (and our last class is tomorrow, phewf!) Actually, that goes for everything I had to do this semester, so I'm feeling really great at the moment. These are the final five drawings that I've been working on since Thanksgiving...

(New York Vintage)

(The City Quilter)

(Fleamarket Antiques)

(Goodwill)

Expect a post within the next few days explaining what's to come in my Thesis project and an update on my iPad app-making experience...very exciting stuff!

Four down, two to go.

In the past few weeks I've managed to complete two more six-word-memoir spreads...That leaves two more spreads to go for this semester! One is currently in progress and I have a few ideas for the final piece. If it weren't for all of those other pesky classes I'd probably feel pretty darn good.. but alas, I have too much on my plate - not a surprise considering there are two weeks remaining in the semester. Let's keep this post positive though.

I think it's pretty obvious that one of these hits very close to home for me, I'll leave that for you to figure out which.

Oh, just some drawings.

With one month left in this semester I'm probably going to disappear for awhile, but before I do I wanted to post some drawings I've been doing for my Drawing on Location class. We have an end-of-the-semester assignment to choose a city block and do at least nine drawings in three different stores that may relate to each other in some way. I chose to work on 25th street between 6th and 7th avenues; there are a few really great places just on this one block alone and I'm enjoying exploring them. I originally chose this area because of The City Quilter and then also found a Goodwill, an antique shop, and some great window displays that feature mannequins in crazy poses and clothes, I'm looking at you, New York Vintage. So here's what I've done so far, nearly half-way done with the project...

I may add some more detail to these if I have some time but that's a huge maybe considering the amount of work I have ahead of me for Thesis and my Digital Book class. If you don't hear from me for awhile you can pretty much bet that I'm locked in my studio with a sore hand. Yup.

Jersey Shore vs. The Brady Bunch

Before I get into these next two pieces, I'd like to explain my process of working - or more really, the way I like my surroundings while arting it up. When I work at home I always prefer background noise from the TV as opposed to music, I get too picky and indecisive with music and am constantly changing up the tunes instead of focusing on my work. With TV, it may be distracting at first (like when initially choosing a channel) but once I get into working I almost forget that it's on at all. There's usually an awkward moment at some point in the afternoon when I look up and realize that I've been watching (listening to) women giving birth all afternoon. This happens quite frequently when I have TLC on, A Baby Story, much?

Now that you understand, I can admit that I somehow started watching Jersey Shore. This happened the same way as the aforementioned happens, but once I looked up at the TV and realized what was on.. it was too late. I was hooked at first because I was so annoyed, so angry that this is what people think of and expect from my home state. (I was on a trip to Michigan in May and stopped in at the local Starbucks and upon giving the barista my partner numbers she asked where I was from, the usual question, but when I responded "Jersey" her eyes lit up and she asked, "Oh my god! Is it JUST like the show Jersey Shore there?!" Well, I'm sick and tired of this.. because it's not. Not if you're a normal human being as opposed to an MTV celebrity.) So I watched.. and I watched.. and I was hooked in a weird way. I ended up watching the complete series online, cringing through their drunken escapades, counting the times Deena fell down, and turning away every time Sam and Ronnie felt the need to break up and get back together again. I will admit though, there were quite a few times when I laughed out loud. There, I said it.

Moving on, it was sometime during the beginning of season three when I decided I needed to illustrate these guys. It was completely appropriate for two reasons: 1. I'm wasting my time watching the damn show anyway, I might as well use it as reference and 2. I could use a few celebrity portraits in my portfolio, it's about time I get on that. So, the obvious way to go about this is to compare TV now to TV when it was wholesome, a.k.a. The Brady Bunch era. That idea combined with a six word memoir only equals one thing.. exactly what I have for you here today:

The choosing of this memoir was inspired by the fact that the Jersey Shorians often refer to themselves as a family - a rather dysfunctional one, but a family nonetheless, I suppose. Also, maybe I was a bit biased when painting Sammi, this painting was beginning to take shape at the peak of her and Ron's fighting. I do apologize. And it really did work out in the end that Angelina came and went and was replaced by Deena or I never would've been able to fill nine squares. See? Everything happens for a reason.. even Angelina's tears. Enjoy!

Starbucks Holiday 2011, Let's Merry

Today started out with an unfortunate morning, it all went down hill when I realized while arriving at the train station that I forgot my laptop - you know, the one with all my current files on it for my thesis work and such. With an eight hour day ahead of me consisting of nothing but free studio time, I was a lost puppy. Thankfully enough, I remembered that I was supposed to make some holiday drink sampling cards for my Starbucks (Sorry if you're reading this Ginny, nothing like waiting till the last minute, eh?!) And so I put together these three cards for our counter using pre-existing alphabets that I have made + a bit of new script. Gabi Peller, another fantastic barista/artist combo from Preakness Starbucks is making the rest of the cards to display while sampling - Peppermint Mocha, Skinny Peppermint Mocha, and Christmas Blend.

Along with the beverage cards, I made tiny interchangeable pastry signs that will velcro on to pair with the drinks as we see fit...

 Eggnog Latte

Caramel Brulee Latte

 Gingerbread Latte

Cranberry Bliss Bar

Gingerbread Loaf

 Mint Brownie Cake Pop

And so there you have it, a completely wasted day turned into something useful. Now make sure you stop in our store to see these signs in person and to check out my other great talent - drink making!

Scratchabet

Behold, a simple alphabet that I made yesterday afternoon to use in an upcoming project. Looking at it now, I am reminded of Edward Gorey a bit...or maybe it's the brisk weather that has me thinking about the big, glorious overcoats he frequently draws. You decide.