An Elf's Life

Misc Art Things of Possible Interest

Audrey — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:32:53 +0000

Thanks to Laura letting me use her computer (with a card reader) I finally was able to retrieve some documentation. So here’s a few notes on what I’ve been up to in recent artistic history.

1. That paining:

Trying to paint realistically is quite a challenge. Here it a step by step photo demo of me trying to make this poor girl’s face look less like an alien.

Alas, I failed to take a picture of the whole thing when it was completed. But it is still up all this month at the Georgetown framer’s Gallery, so check it out if you’re in the area!

2. Lessons and Carols

I was delighted to get to collaborate with my friend Clair on an illustration project for the Lessons and Carols program at Hope Chapel. We were contemplating Mary’s thoughts as she dealt with the trials and tribulations of that really bad rode trip to Bethlehem. It got kind of silly as we were brainstorming, here are a few examples of our doodles:

Just say no to attack beards

freaking out!

that random emo guy judging Mary and Joseph

3. The Wall

Also at Hope Chapel I am working on a growing wall mural for advent. Here is phase 1

4. A dress

Last but not least I got a commission for a doll dress which I just finished up. Here I Dolfein in the dress communing with the magnificent golden snail

To see more of the magical dress check it out on etsy:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/88272635/tattered-midnight-reserved-for-robbalina

Blue Genie and Wilshire Wonderland!

Audrey — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 06:06:37 +0000

Hi and hello and happy holiday shows to everyone! After failing to report my participation in EAST two weekends ago, I could not be so bad as to withold information again!

This crazy week I’m participating in not one but THREE shows!

They are as follows:

As the poster states, the show officially begins the 30th, but for those of you who have the insider connection (knowing me!) you are officially invited to the preview party tomorrow night, Nov 29 6-10pm. It’s going to be a party

Also this week:

This is going to be more of a small cozy show, but jam-packed full of spectacular talent. Also, if you’re looking for the live music AND food AND craft show experience, this is your event.

And last but not least, there is:

FIRST FRIDAY in Georgetown!

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here yet, but for a few months now I’ve been a member of the Geogetown Gallery off the square, and we really party it up for first friday. I’ll be putting up some of my new original paintings, providing some cookies, but not actually attending this month’s soire (as I will be at Wilshire).

Still, if wine and cheese is your cup of tea, and you happen to be in Georgetown, I suggest swinging by Gallery off the Square Dec 2, 6-9 pm. The gallery also has regular hours all month-long, so check it out sometime even if you can’t make it to First Friday.

And that’s all for this week, I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving and are gearing up to face the holidays bravely and with good cheer.

Hope to see you at one of these fabulous events!

Craft Riot is coming!

Audrey — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 23:22:02 +0000

The craft fair explosion of the holiday season is nearly upon us! I’ll be joining the frenzy in about a week and a half at the:

Craft Riot Holiday show–> Nov 12 and 13th

At Marchesa Hall, Austin TX

I’m going to be hosting a craft for the kidos (and anyone else who wants to make fairy cats) as well as be introducing a few new products. Here’s a preview:

The miniature guide to magical creatures! This is a mini- book I made for the giveaway bags they’re distributing to the first 50 or so people who come to the show. I may be selling them too, we shall see…

Wow, that color looks interesting online….

Anyway, this is a preview of the new coloring book I hope to have done for the show. It’s based on the Grimm’s fairy tale “All Fur” and has lots and lots of pretty dresses. Hopefully it will be splendiferous!

I’ll update again as the show gets closer. but in the mean time, mark your calendars and save the date

Editing is good for you…and maybe for me too

Audrey — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 04:35:57 +0000

I just went through and edited all my posts for stupid quest, so there are far less badly written sentences in it now. If you were waiting for just the right moment to start reading, this might be it! Check it out: www.mystupidquest.wordpress.com

My Stupid Quest

Audrey — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:17:11 +0000

Sorry I never got back to you fine blog readers about my “great big exciting new project” that I was going to launch at Pecan Street. I’ve been having computer issues (that’s my excuse) but the quest has still begun.

What I am attempting here is a real-time story blog under the title: My Stupid Quest.

There isn’t a ton of illustration involved yet, but I’m hoping to incorporate it more as the story continues.

If you’re interested in checking it out, remember to start at the first post and go to:

http://mystupidquest.wordpress.com

Don’t worry if it doesn’t make 100% sense yet, it will all come in good time.

Pecan Street Fall 2011

Audrey — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 02:10:56 +0000

I’ve got several shows planned for this fall and winter, but the very first (probably) will be:

Pecan Street September 24-25

There will be several exciting new things at this show from the land of Audrey Lopata Illustration.

First of all it will be the debut of my new coloring book “TOO MANY CATS?”

For those of you who simply cannot wait a week and a half, or for those of you outside of the Austin area, I have installed a handy-dandy “buy it now” button on the right side of this blog. So voila, anyone can enjoy the magnificence of cats and cats and too many cats.

Also, at pecan street I will officially be announcing my new project to the general population. As a promotion I will be handing out some rather good-looking post cards, which I will show you the front of as a sort of teaser trailer:

But I’m not going to give away any more details yet

I’m also going to have some new business cards which honestly aren’t that good-looking. Not even worth posting here XP

So come find me at Pecan street and find out what else is new!

Interveiw with a reasonably famous person

Audrey — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:46:55 +0000

this may be a picture of Dallion himself...

So here’s the story:

I sometimes hang out with this really cool and fun group of Illustrators in Austin and we talk about illustration stuff and generally have a good ol’ time.

Well, somehow or other we decided that we’ll all probably be famous someday and people will probably be clamoring to interview us. So we thought we’d get a head start and interview each other.

Thus I was given the task of interviewing Dallion. As it turns out that he is already famous and interviewed for winning the SCBWI logo contest. Still, I thought maybe he could give us some tips on dealing with fame and still have an artistic tip or two for us mere mortals.

Lucky for us, he did! And so without further ado, da da da da Dallion:

Q and A with Dallion

1. I noticed SCBWI already beat me to this interview, on average how often would you say you’re interviewed?

Awww… you could have been my first, but sorry to say, you’ll always be number two.

2. On a scale of “Brad Pitt” to “not” how famous would you say you are?

I’m about as famous as my Grandma’s apple pies. Which is to say: I’m only known by friends and family; everyone else is just missing out.

3. Do you have trouble with the Paparazzi? How do you deal with it?

Oh yeah, I have trouble with the Paparazzi all the time. Like the other day I saw a bunch of them, but they wouldn’t take my picture! They were like, “Who are you?” and, “Stop touching me.” I couldn’t believe it! So I’m going to become anorexic, pick up a coke habit, and have Johnny Depp’s love child. That will probably do it.

4. If you could have some art time any artist living or dead, who would it be? Why?

Probably Vincent Van Gogh. It would be the experience of many lifetimes traipsing around 19th century dutch and french countrysides, watching the master smear manic gobs of paint on magnificent canvases. Hanging out at Salvador Dali’s mansion, drinking absinthe, eating hallucinogenic mushrooms, and translating the subconscious into visuals would be pretty awesome too. I dunno. Maybe if I go crazy enough some future artist will answer “Dallion” to this exact question. Better get working on that.

5. When is your favorite time of day for drawing?

I tend to draw in the mid-morning and early evening. That seems to work for me.

6. When you’re in creativity doldrums, what do you do to rekindle the spark?

Usually just force myself to sit down and draw something… anything… even straight lines or abstraction. If I can doodle long enough to forget the “poor me” ego trip, then the process becomes enjoyable again. I think enjoyment is key to creativity, but you can’t force yourself to enjoy something. Instead you have to try and remove whatever is keeping you from being present.

7. What’s the best advice you ever got from another creative on art or art-making?

Sorry to say, I don’t have an answer for this. I’ve heard so much advice and read so many self-help-books-for-artists, it all just blends together. But if I did have a touching story about some wise old artist sitting on a mountain top, it would probably have something to do with letting go. Though I’m still a long way from achieving that.

8. If you could take a field trip to the world of a book, which one would you choose?

Not sure, but it would probably be a Dr. Seuss book. There would be so many different creatures to meet, and it looks as if you could bounce around the landscape like a giant trampoline!

9. Any new projects in the works for this fall? What does the creative future of Dallion hold?

I’m beginning to view the year as Summer and Winter. Winter is when you get down and produce some art, and Summer is when you travel, recharge some ideas, and perhaps grow some food or build a cabin or something. There’s no telling what the future holds, but I’m working on my first full picture book right now, and I have the inclination to make an interactive app for tablets. Ideally this will be done soon, by the warmth of the fire.

10. What is the most annoying question you’ve been asked as an artist?

Probably the Paparazzi one. But it forced me to exercise my creative muscle, possibly growing my creative capacity. Thanks Audrey!

Check out more of Dallion’s work and that other interview at:

http://dallion.com/

Craft Riot : craft proposal

Audrey — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 21:08:17 +0000

In hopes of sponsoring a craft project at the upcoming craft riot, here is a tutorial on how we could make fairy kitten plush toys, suited best for 6-12 year olds.

HERE”S HOW:
We’d start with some cut outs of both the cat from fabric and the wings from assorted paper.

Then we’ll draw a face on the cat with a fabric marker or some sort of marker.

Next we’ll sew up the outside of the cat.

Then we’ll turn the cat inside out and stuff it with polyfill.

Next we’ll seal up the wings with transparency paper.

Then, last but not least, we will use a simple stitch to attach the wings to the cat and voila! Fairy magic is just that easy.

I’ll provide a coloring page for the younger kids, here are examples of some coloring pages I’ve made in the past.

Sock it to me!

Audrey — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 04:10:44 +0000

Crazy exciting! I don’t know if you guys remember, but about a million years ago I was going on and on about sock design being my true life calling? ….no?….well, I was. And now finally I have some proof. Sock it to me has published(? printed?) one of my designs.

Here’s the one they chose to print:

and here it is as a real live sock:

http://www.sockittome.com/cart/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=30094

it actually won’t let me copy the image into the blog, due to copyright or whatnot. Welcome to the world of work-for-hire I say to myself. It’s all kind of exciting nonetheless!

SXSW Wins!

Audrey — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 02:30:14 +0000

Ok, so today really didn’t go as planned and somehow in spite of the fact that I signed up for tomorrow I wasn’t given a spot, sooooooooo…. change of plans, here is my market schedule for the next week:

March 15 and 16: South Congress Market by hey cupcake, 11am-8pm ish

March 17: Art faire market thing at 5th and Lamar, 1pm-7pm

March 18: Back on Soco, same bat time, same bat place…