Ex Libris for To Boldly Fold

New things have been a-brewing.

I mentioned in my last post that it was about time for a new sketchbook, and I went with something different this time around! It's a gorgeous, handbound, leather softcover sketchbook made by a good friend of mine, Melissa Chao (To Boldly Fold), who sells her books on Etsy. Let me tell you, it is a dream to draw and paint in. You'll be seeing some new things from that sketchbook in the near future.

So! Melissa recently asked me to create some creature & nature themed illustrations to use as 3x4" bookplates in a limited run of her books, and of course I agreed! Nature, creatures, beautiful sketchbooks, need I say more? I came up with some sketches, Mel chose her favorite 5, and I took those 5 to final.

Have a look!











And for fun, I've put together all the images from sketch to finish! Click the image below to view larger:



From sketch to finish, the whole project took about 2 weeks. It was tremendously fun! Maybe in the future I'll do a few more paintings based on some of the sketches that weren't used.

Anyway, if you'd like to support a talented independent crafter and buy a handmade book from Mel Chao, visit her Etsy shop! And of course, I'll keep you posted on when those bookplates will become available!

Paper!

I've been in a collage kind of a mood lately.
Here are some paper pictures from my sketchbook.

This guy is based on a sketch I did for a puppet -


And a pair of singing sirens -


I can barely close my sketchbook now. Almost time to start a new one!

Snake Battle

Another digital experiment. Didn't turn out quite the way I wanted, but that's the nature of experiments, isn't it? You never know how things will turn out!

Isn't life exciting?

Box Boys and Gals

We had a bunch of empty boxes lying around and I doodled on the sides of a few with a sharpie. I figured why not scan and color them in? So here they are. I drew them in no particular order, so feel free to read them up, down, left, right, diagonally, randomly-- anyway you please!

So there you have it. I am playing with digital coloring for a change. It's pretty fun.

Oh and here are some of the boxes -

Tiger Babies

Ballpoint Parade

Some more sketchbookin'.

This one's new. I think everyone feels like this sometimes.

These are old/new, drawn little by little over time.
I've decided to finally just polish them up and post them.

Drawings from observation, pieced together from various pages.


And some animals.

Ballpoint pens are useful in a pinch when you've got nothing else on you. Plus, since they're mad cheap, they are just great for mindless doodling.

Space Bar - Part Two

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I introduced you to Gunther, and told you about a stop-motion class group project called "Space Bar."
I never followed up because the semester ended and the project had to come to a halt before it was 100% completed. The sound and editing were never finished but I'd like to show you what we did manage to accomplish.

Welcome to the Space Bar, I hope you enjoy it!



In that earlier blog post, I mentioned that we built the set together, each made our own characters (mine is Gunther, the bartender), and had a great time shooting and editing. Our teacher, Juliette Marchand, was amazing, and it was a great pleasure working with my classmates, with especial thanks to Harold Brenkus, Anya Ewing (website), and Graham Wilson (website / blog). Thanks guys!

New Things and Old New Things

First! I've update my website, nancymuller.com, which is now powered by Blogger. Hooray! Anyway, it is ridiculously convenient and I like it, so I hope you do too.

And Second! I finally put up the fish animation that I mentioned in my very first blog post. It was an in-camera stop motion experiment, and the lighting and color are terrible, so please forgive me! Anyway, it was a good time. I still have all the bits, so maybe I'll revisit it someday with a new approach. Here it is:



I've also posted all my other little animations to flickr, in the animation set.

Puppets!

I've always been very interested in puppets, and have been set on making one for quite a while now. After a lot of research online, looking at various tips and tutorials, I finally got around to it.

His name is Tuck!













Tuck is actually my second attempt at puppet making. I had drawn up a ton of designs and bought new materials and was making excellent progress, but about 3/4 of the way through I got frustrated with the results I was getting, so I put the puppet on hold. I was trying too hard to achieve a certain look and shape, and just didn't know enough to get what I wanted. I took a break, used what I learned on the first attempt to start a new puppet (Tuck), and decided to come back to it later with fresh eyes. It isn't yet finished, but now that I have taken some time away from it, I have ideas for a new direction that I am pretty excited about.

Anyway, while working on that one, I took some pictures of my progress along the way:









For more images of Tuck, visit the Puppet Time set on Flickr.
For more images of the puppet in progress, visit the Puppet Progress set.

Rainbows

This is what happens when I draw while watching preschool television :)

Just Because

I'm making it up as I go.

Paintin'

Alright, alright, we won't waste time talking about why I was missing for so long. Please forgive me -- I am here now, and I come bearing gifts! As promised, they are not from my sketchbook, for a change.

Dancing in the Night:


Watering the Flowers:


Also, I have updated my Flickr with a new Illustration set. Here's a piece from a long time ago (almost a year now) that I never got around to putting up, though I've always meant to. It's a follow up to Secrets. Click on it to go to the Flickr page and go to all sizes, where you can view it much larger indeed.

Telephone:


More later, and soon!

This is For You

To all of my friends in faraway places (and you all know who you are) :
I love you, I miss you, I'm thinking of you, and I wish you were here!

Happy March

I decided it was high time for a little bit of monster painting! Besides, March was made for monsters. Did you know?



I have a habit of naming almost every creature I draw or paint or sew. This sea monster is named Cyril and he has found a new toy. He reminds me a bit of my One a Day Sketchbook from ever so long ago.

Moving Right Along

Good Morning!

I'm up way early with some more sketchbookin's! Like I said, it never ends.

More mimes, with so many things to say:


A little lady playing ukulele for a school of snapper:


And some musical frogs and friends:


(If you want more information on these, or just about any of the images posted on my blog, you can just click on them and it'll take you to the flickr page, where I've written a few little blurbs.)

I'm going to make an effort to post more often, instead of throwing a ton of things up at once and then disappearing for weeks and weeks. Hey, there will even be some new things and (a few old ones) other than sketchbook pages in the posts to come.

I've also updated my website with a few things that you've already seen on this blog. I've given the website a tiny redesign, so while it looks almost exactly the same, it's got a bit of a cleaner look now, which makes me happy.

Anyway, I think it's time to kick things up a bit, right? Here we go!