Amy Spain Illustration

October Art Show

2009-09-12T16:47:00.000-07:00

If you're in New York City on October 16th, come check out the art show I'll be hanging my paintings in! The exact location and time will be disclosed very soon.

Labor Day Workshop

2009-09-12T16:43:00.000-07:00

I attended a painting workshop on Sunday, September 6th, in honor of Labor Day. The theme of the long pose was "The Everyday Hero." Here's what came of it! (Watercolor, drawn and painted from life)

A Little Sketch

2009-07-05T10:36:00.000-07:00

No major updates yet...but here's a sketch, inspired by my recent dentist appointment! (Sorry Dr.).

Catcall: "Best Of The Best" Illustration Winner!

2009-06-01T13:41:00.000-07:00

This piece, entitled Catcall, recently won the award for "Best Illustration" at the Best of the Best juried competition show at the Ettinger Gallery in Laguna Beach (March 2009). The painting was created as an editorial piece that reflected on adolescent behavior (when aroused by raging hormones!). Media: watercolor, bodycolour, and colored pencil.

"Bus Stop"

2009-06-01T13:37:00.000-07:00

This is a very small painting (5" x 5.5") that I made of a friend waiting at a country bus stop. Media: Watercolor and bodycolour.

"The Petrel's Bride"

2009-06-01T13:23:00.000-07:00

[Cover]

[Regular Interior Illustration]

[Interior Spread Illustration, pt.1]

[Interior Spread Illustration, pt.2]

[Interior Vignette Illustration]

Five illustrations made for an unpublished children's book, The Petrel's Bride, retold by Kate Caswell. The story is an Alaskan folktale involving a magic petrel bird and a proud young human woman whom he takes as his bride. The media I used for these illustrations were watercolor, bodycolour (Chinese White opaque watercolor/white gouache), and colored pencil.

"Best Steak In The World"

2009-06-01T13:12:00.000-07:00

An editorial illustration based on an article in Outside magazine that talked about the best steak in the world (apparently, it was found in Argentina). I decided to take a different spin on the article title than the editors had chosen, however. Mine is the American Dream version: an average guy who has amassed, by virtue of his prize-winning steak, a shiny new grill, a hot babe, and a plateful of charbroiled trophies. The media used for this painting were watercolor and colored pencil.

"Teabaggers"

2009-06-01T13:03:00.000-07:00

This is an editorial illustration I created regarding the tax protesters that were picketing round and about (I saw them in Laguna Beach) on April 15th. Media: Watercolor and watercolor alone!

P.S.- The word "teabagging" has a very colorful definition which, for professional reasons, I won't be explaining here...but I swear up and down that I did not give the neighborly folks depicted here this name out of spite. Nope, there were actually crowds of people running around proclaiming themselves as teabaggers, hoping to homage the tea-tax protesters of 1774 Boston. I only hope they got themselves enlightened before they met up with the Pride activists...;)

"Call To Revival"

2009-06-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

This is a still life I completed over a period of four hours (including the time it took to compose the picture frame and make a couple of studies). Media: Watercolor and bodycolour.

Six Expressions

2009-06-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

Here is an exercise in drawing and painting the face throughout several changes of expression. I chose to illustrate the expressions of a young woman who has just been walked in on as she exits the shower (but potentially has been walked in on by someone she's not too...uh...opposed to!) I executed these paintings using watercolor and bodycolour.

Mirror Series

2009-06-01T12:36:00.000-07:00

This is a mini-series I created, based around the idea of people examining themselves in mirrors. My aim for this series was to create paintings that could be used effectively in commercial context (editorial or book illustration) but that had narratives that were open-ended ended enough to stand alone as a fine art series. The media I used for all three paintings were watercolor, bodycolour (Chinese White opaque watercolor/white gouache), and colored pencil.

girl looking at her mirror

2008-07-26T21:33:00.000-07:00

A study, based on one of my favorite Norman Rockwell paintings. Correctly drawing the perspective of her mirror image is hard, though. I'm sure there's a formula for it that I learned in Perspective class, but that information has long since got tangled up far back in my brain.

T-Shirt Designs

2008-07-23T18:40:00.001-07:00

Some t-shirt designs, created with Flash, Illustrator, and Photoshop.

Figure Paintings

2008-07-23T17:05:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of figure paintings I made this spring (2008). Both of them are oil and were finished in 1-2 five hour sittings.