Figments

Season's Tidings

2011-12-21T12:17:00.000-08:00

inspired by those lovely illustrations of damsels around liquor bottles. Happy holidays folks!

Semester Up!

2011-12-21T12:10:00.000-08:00

Guys, guys. I confess: it's been a while since posting on here. Senior year has been real busy, and filled with a lot of kooky stuff. Also, discovering twitter and tumblr has made it difficult for me to stay faithful to just one blogging/social networking site at a time. While I work on rebuilding this place from the ground up, follow me elsewhere, if you dare:

my tumblr; where I post more art and all things like it.

my twitter; where I blurt out sometimes relevant things!

As always, to those who have not yet abandoned this ship, thank you for following me. Know that there will be more art coming your way soon!

Keep Calm, Carry On

2011-04-20T21:47:00.000-07:00

SO finals are upon us here at MICA, and I've got quite a few tall hurdles to jump before I can continue goofing off on the internet again. Updates will be sparse here for the next two weeks, but hold tight! I'll see if I can't throw a few images up here between now and the end of the year. As always, thank you for sticking with me and my doodles; I love hearing any thoughts/crits you may have to offer on my work :-)
-Shanti

Bear Guards

2011-03-30T08:12:00.000-07:00

Given the line "assessing risk" as a jumping off point for a fantasy illustration, I chose to expand on my series of Ivan and the Firebird pieces: this being the part of the story where Ivan comes across a castle he has to enter, which is heavily guarded by some lethargic, but lethal beasts.
you can find more developing IVAN artwork by me here.

New Delhi Travel Poster

2011-03-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

Our latest assignment in Concepts class: make an image for a travel ad to a place of your choice. The hustle and bustle of market places are always fascinating to me; how could I not choose India?
Now, onto mini thesis!

Flikr Sketch Dump!

2011-03-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

Hey watchers and casual perusers,
ever wonder what my sketches look like? What? No? Well, too bad! listen to this anyway:

through a wonderful idea conceived by my fellow artist Rachael Hunt, I have now assembled a jumble of sketches, scribbles and unpolished ideas together into a flikr slideshow. Feel free to browse it anytime, as it'll grow whenever I add new images to the stream. Much better, I think, than clogging this blog with undeveloped work.
Thanks for sitting tight guys! That's it for now.

-Shanti

P.S.- like how many times I subliminally linked to it? What? No? Get outta here!

veggables

2011-03-08T06:17:00.001-08:00

found some miraculous free time yesterday (to bw fair, half of it was lounging around in an academic class) and drew tuber-headed characters for no particular reason.

(my favorite's the dapper radish!)

FREEDOM (book cover assignment)

2011-02-19T14:13:00.000-08:00

a work in progress to an assignment involving the reinterpretation of a fictional book cover. The title of mine was "Freedom: a novel" by Jonathan Franzen. Never read the book before, but had an art director/classmate who did; hope this does the story justice!

another version, with text

Totem Island!

2011-02-13T18:42:00.000-08:00

For the sake of keeping to my promise on frequent updates, I present work from my most recent Fantasy Art assignment.

(animated version will go here once I figure out how to upload vids to the web)

(initial totem designs)

Elderly Barbarians

2011-01-30T16:58:00.001-08:00

First assignment of the Spring semester's Fantasy class with Jaime Zollars, and I'm drawing old people in breast plates and leather.
(sketches below)

Domovoi

2011-01-25T08:53:00.000-08:00

Toward the end of last semester I started drawing these little imps at work. With traffic at the bar being generally slow, I filled quite a few sketch pages with little old man trolls, and even developed a loose story relating them to witches and housework. I won't say more because that' about as far as I got, but who knows where they'll pop up again?

(Sorry for the cruddy scans, btw. The scanner I used belonged to the school, and was very worn and torn from a semester's worth of use.)

Animation PreProduction, Fall 2010

2011-01-10T09:07:00.000-08:00

development sketches/environments/characters

storyboards

Star Wars Critters

2011-01-10T00:59:00.001-08:00

One of the first things I did in the new year was watch the original Star Wars trilogy, unedited. What better way to express my love for the creatures in SW universe than draw my two favorites?

2011

2011-01-10T00:39:00.001-08:00

Oh my! Is it a new year already? How fast the time has gone, and how largely my neglect has grown on this place. I suppose with the turning of the calendar, resolutions are in order.
To myself, I resolve to develop a more steady work pace for all future art projects, and to make it a habit to be inspired every day by something new, so as not o get hung up by a lack of passion to create. And to all those who've watched this little blog filled with little pictures grow, I resolve to give you more finished pieces to look at than last year, as well as progress shots and roughs to ensure that everything in the aforementioned goals is in check. Thank you, once more for watching me, and look forward to a bunch of updates very soon!
-Shanti

Chalk Boards!

2010-11-16T08:13:00.000-08:00

Did I ever mention I do chalkboard illustrations where I work? Here's my latest commission:

+detail:

'Micro-emotions' Spot

2010-11-04T21:40:00.000-07:00

Here's a mini piece done for a mini assignment involving spot illustrations for articles. Mine was all about the dissection of micro-emotions, and stories about certain people who can spot them.

Character Design - Djinn

2010-11-03T23:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry guys, I haven't posted much content here regarding school assignments. I have no excuse! This must be fixed.
Below is a recent assignment given in a character design course I'm taking this semester: Redesign a main character from 1,001 Arabian Nights. I was paired with the Djinn from Aladdin's lamp, and I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy taking a few major liberties in pushing this figure past conventional identity. Apologies, for my sense of rendering is a little rusty.

bonus! sketches:

Mapping the Quest

2010-10-17T10:43:00.000-07:00

A map simplifying young Prince Ivan's travels, in search of the fabled firebird. I took some liberties in detailing the kingdoms; according to the original tale there's no specification of where the kingdoms are located.

alefest t-shirt design

2010-09-30T06:10:00.000-07:00

Did I ever mention I work at a sports bar/microbrewery? I've been a hostess ever since summer, as well as an unofficial in-house designer for them. Recently, I've been commissioned to make a t-shirt graphic for an upcoming ale festival. What is posted below is as follows:

graphic on white background (some areas don't show up)

colored t shirt mock-up

Pidgeons & Haiku

2010-08-20T06:57:00.000-07:00

Summer's been so busy
Sorry for lack of updates
Will post work here soon.

Robot Ruckus

2010-04-18T17:01:00.000-07:00

Asides the Ivan myth project, I have to create a design for a skateboard deck & matching t-shirt based on the topic, "Giant Robot Sports/Olympics".
I'm on the fence with two ideas: one being Gentlemen Robots playing Badminton in a park,

the other being Wacky Race inspired Automatons relaying each other across the deck.

I'm at sketching stages right now, but I'm hoping to make up my mind soon :/

Prince Ivan and the Firebird

2010-04-12T05:22:00.000-07:00

Our final project for Illustration 2 is to create a narrative of a myth or legend. I chose the aforementioned Russian fairytale, and decided to make work for a mock-animation project, complete with storyboard, colored key sequences, character studies and environment work. This post will get bigger as time progresses, but for now please enjoy some character sketches.

First up: Young Prince Ivan

Ivan's Father, the Tsar

Various Firebird Designs

The Wolf

Tree Patterns

(I'd like, for the most part, for backgrounds to be flat. Scenes such as the Wolf's forest, and the beginning of Ivan's journey are to look almost like a setting in a play.)

Unfamiliar with the myth? Please check out this page, which sums it up very nicely!

Rise and Fall of the Civilization of Angkor

2010-03-21T18:52:00.000-07:00

A Narrative assignment, where one had to create 3 illustrations that paired with a magazine article of their choice. Mine was from National Geographic -an intriguing article about the rise and fall of an ancient Cambodian civilization, owing each part of its success and failure to its irrigational ingenuity.

Mighty Fine Lumberjack

2010-03-21T18:43:00.001-07:00

Just for fun, here is a hardy woodsman. Also, some in-progress CD single wrap-arounds.

Illustration 2 Assignments

2010-03-21T18:17:00.000-07:00

An illustration made to respond to a radio lab podcast regarding a lecture on Quantum Theory and Parallel Universes.

Two magazine spots and a half-page illustration done for a zodiac themed assignment. These pieces were to cater to a magazine genre of choice, and I decided to aim towards a teenage/girl publication.

Valentine's Day: Do's and Don'ts

2010-02-17T13:20:00.001-08:00

Two pieces for an Illustration 2 assignment, pertaining to a list of things one (male or female) should and should not do for Valentine's day.
Just in time (sort of) to celebrate (sort of)!:

Don't Feel Sorry for Yourself

Do Consider an Alternative to Roses

Shanti Does a Pin-Up

2010-02-13T12:04:00.000-08:00

about a 30-45 min ps doodle, just for kicks.
-I swear I'll upload some real work soon

Scribbles, People Watching Fishes

2010-01-28T20:45:00.000-08:00

Here's a couple pages from my sketchbook; thought I'd share a little bit about what goes on at the ol' drawing board.

This last one was done while observing folk at the National Aquarium:

Four strangers gathered together simultaneously to stare into the blue abyss.
Just putting this up here as a reminder to oneself to keep practicing simple, quick real-life sketches.

Monster Bromance

2010-01-07T09:34:00.000-08:00

Would it be called a momance?
"So a yeti and a sasquatch walk into a bar..."
Nevermind, I got nothin to back up why or how this idea got started.

+

=

(what the witness fails to capture while filming this is the hackey sack the two cryptids were chasing after)

War Bird

2009-12-22T10:27:00.000-08:00

Done in acrylic, on rives bfk paper. I'm unsure of whether scale was captured to a t, but am happy with the color-blending on the plane.

Spies: Rendezvous

2009-11-17T20:44:00.000-08:00

Trying something new here, bear with me as I hit some rocky points.

Monster as Modern:

2009-11-17T20:19:00.000-08:00

Done as part of a two-part illustration spread having to deal with monsters and their modern day equivalents. I chose to illustrate the Deer Woman, a siren-like creature that seduces young men and ultimately stomp them to death, figuring that this concept could be tied in with jilted lovers metaphorically. Until I upload the other 50% of the assignment, please enjoy this modern counterpart of the Native American myth.

No More Stories...

2009-09-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

Hawaii

New Terrain

Repeaterbeater

Kicking off the first assignment for Illustration 1, Fall semester is a body of 3 to 6 promotional pieces of an album of any musical artist of your choice. I chose Mew, after listening to their most recent album*, and re-listening to some of their earlier singles. There is a sense of evolution in their work, something I really admire with musicians but have found little of in recent music. I hope I did their latest album justice.

*"No More Stories Are Told Today, I'm Sorry, They Washed Away; No More Stories, The World Is Grey, I'm Tired, Let's Wash Away".

Color Testing, Pt. 2

2009-08-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

So, apparently colors on my mitsubishi monitor (hooked up to a Mac G4) look more vibrant and beautiful than they do on my Dell's, and this is a problem because the Dell is the correctly calibrated version. While I try to sort things out, enjoy some watercolor doodles I messed around with in photoshop.

Color Testing Between Monitors

2009-08-23T09:27:00.000-07:00

Sooo, I have a Mac desktop now. Actually, I've had it for a little while, but I think it's worth mentioning here because I transfer all my digital work constantly between that and my Dell laptop. So far, I've noticed that colors show up noticeably duller on the Dell than on the Mac's screen, but I keep double guessing myself on which monitor needs to be tweaked.

Testing, testing. Color testing: does the background look more gray or green? (answer: It should definitely look green)

Another kid in a raincoat and wellies.

2009-08-02T07:15:00.000-07:00

This was a piece made from an old scanned sketch back when I was drawing up ideas for a Dig. Illustration assignment. Thought I'd give it some color, as well as mess around lightly with graphic design. But man, typography does NOT run through my veins, so if anyone sees this, please tell me: what can I fix to make this seem less amateur?

Attack of the Summer Courses!

2009-07-05T16:59:00.000-07:00

Last week marked the end of Child Lit class; it was a lot of fun and way too short, but at least finishing it (and hopefully getting credited) will be the first real accomplishment I've made all summer.
Anyway, onto the PICS. My final Project was to write and design a picture book; for the most part I'm actually proud of it, due to the fact that 1.) I've never pushed myself to write anything other than essays before, 2.) Skelton (big blue thing I drew below) got to be the star of the book, and 3.) I used real media (watercolors & charcoal) on the illustrations rather than sticking with photoshops/digital media. Just who do you think you are Shanti Jones, Arthur Rackham or something?

These are some examples of the 20-something illustrations, so please enjoy! Critiques are WELCOME, as I'm currently still working on polishing the final product. Teacher loved it, which made me think if I gussied everything up enough, it would be worth while to print out a copy or two.

(will post more soon! until then, fin for now!)

Lepidoptera

2009-06-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

My fascination for these spunky little creatures is ever growing. I've yet to sketch it, but both Rosy Maples and Lunas have been visiting my porch light at night.

Update for the Sake of Updating

2009-06-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

So last night my Children's Lit. Class had a lecture on fantasy and science fiction, and the book Tuck Everlasting was brought up. Surprisingly, though it seemed like not many of my classmates enjoyed reading fantasy books everyone got into a charged conversation about immortality, and whether or not, if given the chance, they would choose to live forever. I've never read the book before, but it was interesting to hear everyone's opinions. I mean, until last night I barely heard a peep from any of my classmates, and then suddenly everyone loosened up! As far as opinions go, teacher says we're the first class she's ever had where the majority of students would rather not have immortality, and that usually students our age (18-22) jump at the chance to stay young forever. It's funny how things like that play out...

Anyway, all that talk started inspiring me to paint the robot below, as well as leaf through my bookcase for some fantasy favorites. Looking through it all again is like fodder for the imagination!

It's unfinished, but I'll update more as it progresses...

Also, if anyone took the time to read the above blurb, well wow! Here's an edited photo of a jumping spider for your pleasure! (not made by me)

Maintenance

2009-06-02T06:39:00.000-07:00

So I'm slowly fixing up the place, one post at a time. Also, I added a links box to the right! It's not filled yet, but to classmates and friends: remind me to put your link up if I've forgotten...

Asides from that, here's a little old janitor man.

Doot-doot, dum-de-dum-dum...

One more thing

2009-05-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

Here's something else -he keeps popping up in my sketchbook every once in a while.

School Work, cont.

2009-05-30T06:22:00.000-07:00

So I'm continuing to post work from Dig. Illustration class over the last semester. I'm not content with the way Blogger compresses images, so I might stick with PhotoBucket to provide sources. But anyway, in descending order are a metaphoric childhood self-portrait, a dramatically-lit scene, and a piece based on a song title (Paper Tigers by Helios). Kudos to anyone who's heard it before...

Dicovery of the Magnificent Half-Tone

2009-05-29T11:48:00.001-07:00

I think I've stumbled into an addiction with the Half-tone filter; I've been fiddling with it (and a few other widgets on Photoshop CS4) all morning. Just a quick design/scribble dump for now.

How It's Made

2009-04-01T16:47:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd kick off the start of this sketch blog with some art from school!
Above is an assignment done for Digital as Illustration, which required us to make something inspired from a "phrased" TV show title [ex: All My Children, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Desperate Housewives].
I drew inspiration from "How It's Made" -quite an informative show on Discovery, but it doesn't have much to do with giant Robots.

More Testing...

2009-01-02T07:59:00.001-08:00

Picture testing, info goes here.
egwgeruhreerhr.

Testing...

2008-11-27T11:54:00.000-08:00

...1,2,3?