07.30.11 Good-bye, Campana.

This was a sad week for me because I had to put my cat, Campana Azul to sleep.
She was one of my very favorite cats of all time and so I decided to dedicate this week to her.  She was a retired show cat, a Blue Mink Tonkinese, and the prettiest cat I've ever seen!  She was a perfect companion, too!  She would always be sitting quietly near me when I was working so often times I would sketch her if I was feeling blocked or uninspired.  Always did the trick!
 here's a few sketcheroos:

Also, she and my other cat Christopher-Robbin were always cuddling! They did some insanely cute things pretty much every day, all day.  Here's some drawings of a few of their cuddle-puddles:

The day I knew I had to put her to sleep I brought her home and she had a really nice afternoon.  She had a big bowl of yummy wet cat-food and took a long nap on her pillow in the sunlight.  I drew these of her that day and I think they are the best ones I ever drew of her.  She would curl her tail into a curly-cue sometimes and I was glad to get that in a drawing because I always loved that.

She was an amazing cat and I am really, really lucky I got to have her with me.  I wish I could have had more time but better this much than none, I say.  I will close by saying my next entry will be happier and to leave you with a photo of her:

Thanks for checking in at the studio! 
Beckaroo out.

Week Two! 07.11.2011

Hello there and welcome to week 2 of my blog!

This week I have been focusing on expanding the storyboard section of my work.  I decided to take scenes from some of my earlier comic work and make them into story boards.  I used a scene from "Hero's Journey" and "Sock Monkey Theatre Presents: Atalanta and the three Golden Apples."  You can read both here:  www.beckylaff.com   ..... in the Comics sections.
  
Here is the scene from "Hero's Journey":

 Some of the panels are colored, you may have noticed, that is because I am in the middle of coloring this scene.  I've been distracted by this next scene I'm working on.  "Atalanta and the 3 Golden Apples" is one of my very favorite greco-roman myths.  I decided to use it for my project, "Sock Monkey Theatre Presents:"  In it, I tell classic myths and literature using sock monkeys instead of people--it's fun times--if you don't believe me, you should go to my website and see for yourself!........in the Comics section. 
  This scene from Atalanta has lent itself well to being story boarded because I see it playing out very cinematically.  This is very early in process and so the drawings are very rough, just sketches, really, and some panels may be too scrawly to see clearly.  As I move along in the process, they will become much clearer so I encourage you to check back!

So, of course I want to show some work from my other projects, too!   This is one panel and one page from my adaptation of Gaston Leroux's "The Phantom of the Opera."

I am very happy with how this project is coming along.  Right now I'm spending more time developing the script and trying to get my color palette sorted out.  I mentioned last week I want a faded, old look to the color.  I'm going to be using this page, as well as four others, to play around with color combos.  I will, of course, post what I'm working on.

  I also love to draw just for fun.  Can you believe that?  here's a mermaid!

  This is another sketch I intend to color.

  Here is a card from the Tarot Deck I'm designing, "The Sock Monkey Tarot,"  This card is "The Devil" and that card is Trouble!  I enjoyed working with the color in this image.  I wanted to make an overall red composition that felt oppressive and claustrophobic.  I think I achieved that, so, of course!  I'm very pleased with it.  You can see all the cards I've finished thus far at my website, www.beckylaff.com  ......in the Sock Monkeys section....

So, that is it for my blog entry for this week. I will leave you with this incredible image from Chile's volcano. 

Crazy-cool, huh?
Have fun on the inter-webs, friends!
Beckaroooo!

Week One 7.04.2011

Happy Independence Day to all my American friends and everyone else, too!

This also is day one of my first blog. 
  I decided to start this blog because sometimes I disappear into my studio for days at a time and people wonder what I'm doing in there?  This is a way to share my work in progress with you.  I have a website for my main body of work here:  www.beckylaff.com  but this is where I can better share sketches, works in process, and other things.
  I've been working on adding more storyboards to my body of work and have really been focusing on digital painting and coloring.  I've been having a lot of fun playing with color and brushes and stuff.  Photoshop is fun.  I just finished this last night:

This is a colored version of an image from the coloring book For The Children's Theatre in Minneapolis, MN.  They are an amazing company and I love working on the coloring book every year.  This image is for Pippi Longstocking, which is one of their perennial favorites.  I always loved this play so I thought it was quite a treat to make illustrations for it!  If you want a copy of the coloring book you should check out their website:  www.childrenstheare.org or come to a show and buy one in the giftshop!

  Here's another image that I recently played around with.  It's just one panel from a comic I'm working on...slowly....an adaptation of Gaston Leroux's "The Phantom of the Opera":

This is a panel I'm using as a color guide for the rest of the book.  I like the grayish, faded-out look to it.  I want the book to have an old, long-ago feel to it, over all.  This project is coming along slowly for now but whenever I move a little forward on it, I will post it!  baby steps, right?

  Another project in the works is "Hero's Journey".  This is a drawing of "Ondine", who is a water nymph that has been locked forever in the trunk of a tree....so sad!

This image is half drawn by hand and half into Photoshop using a Wacom tablet.  I am having a lot of fun working on this one.  I'm really excited about how easy it is to adapt to drawing directly into the computer. 

Another exercise in color, two unicorns:

Well,  it's time for me to get some work done before the barbecues and fireworks start! 
I will leave you with this exciting and holiday-appropriate image:

Beckaroo out.