Wednesday, July 08, 2015

Bedtime Stories

Bedtime Stories – A Custom Bedtime Bunnies Exhibition

Update! Final images and process pics


"Sail Away from Me"
"I will become the wind and blow you where I want you to go." -Mother Rabbit from Runaway Bunny

Rear view

Detail: Check out that bun's buns :) Glitter tail!

Brainstorming doodles

More brainstorming doodles!
Wala! A cloud


Off with his head!


Indecisive so I tried to make both concepts

Hated it :(
Muuuuuuuuch better


Kite bows - SO tiny!

Ready for your close up?

 Show opened Saturday,  July 11th
"Myplasticheart and Peter Kato are proud to present Bedtime Stories, the first custom exhibition of Bedtime Bunnies, an original character created and designed by Peter Kato. This exhibition will debut a 4.5 inch version of the character made specifically for the exhibition.  Showcasing the work of over 30 artists exploring the theme of bedtime stories, we invite them to revisit some of their favorite classic fairytales..."


* Teaser image *



The Flyer! Look at all dem artist names O_O





 

Tiny Trifecta 2015

The Cotton Candy Machine presents the annual Tiny Trifecta!
Brooklyn, NY June 6, 2015

This show is absolutely loaded with incredible names in exhibiting artists, each presenting 3 small works for only $100! You can imagine the appeal. Here is my contribution to the exhibit (along with some totally boring process stuff ;))



Pictures of You 5 x 5 in Acrylic on Wood Panel


Hold Me 4 x 4 in Acrylic on Wood Panel

Nowhere To Go But Down 4 x 4 in Acrylic on Wood Panel

 

Sketches!


Color tests


Color layouts














Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Bunnycutlet Presents 7 Artists @ Cotton Candy Machine

Bunnycutlet Presents 7 Artists show opened with great success - Sad that it's over but it was a blast! Special thanks to Liz of Bunnycutlet and the folks at The Cotton Candy Maching for an amazing show. Here's just a couple full reveal images from the exhibit.  Wish you coulda been there!


Out of the Red (6 x 8 ")

Hope is a Thing with Feathers (6 x 8")


We Sit in the Mud and Reach for the Stars (16x20")

This below is a layout for the wall.  you can really see the color and light story that runs through all the pieces as a group. It's on of my favorite things about working like this and makes seeing the work in person a special, one-time only experience.



(original post 1/14/15)


Bunnycutlet is back! Well, it never really left, this is the second show since the closing of the physical space on Roebling and it's definitely one to get excited about - showcasing 7 outstanding artists at the awesome and gracious Cotton Candy Machine gallery space. I'm a big fan of all the artists involved and  and honored to be a part of it.  Hope to see some of your faces there...

Since I can't do full reveals until after the opening on FRIDAY - for a little pre-show treat I'm going to share some of my research, inspiration, sketches, and general making-of for this exhibit. You know, for all two of you who care about that sort of thing :)

First, colors!
 I wanted to incorporate deep blue grey-winter skies, silver, and mud with pops of a little sickly green and hot cadmium red-orange. I desaturated these a bit for my color layout (below) because I wanted to do something more illusive and tonal for this series and ended up with some very mirage-like imagery.  Seriously, in certain light, the images seem to disappear altogether.  Sort of like that disorientation that all-grey-all-day winter days can do to you... My reference has more golden pops than I ended up using in my final series but it was a great springboard.
Here's the sketches laid out over some of the reference for color blocking. As you can see both color and layout have changed quite a bit since my first stab at it.



Next - textures!

 I wanted to incorporate some knit patters into the series.  Some of the research I came up with on this was awe-inspiring and it's certainly a theme I'd like to revisit when I have more time. I ended up using the knits patterns pretty sparingly in the end - you can see them in the mud, on a spine, and then mostly it evolved into braided hair.





The refined sketches before being transferred to their panels

For the small, 3 painting set I was inspired by the owl you see there in the reference below.  His eyes look like windows into the cosmos O_O It was love at first sight. Ironic because apparently he is blind. I was taken with the idea of the blind predator and moved forward with that, incorporating a fox, a snake, and an owl. I chose the fox image below as reference because I felt the snow on the black of the ears looked like stars.
If you made it this far, you get to see all the animal paintings NOW! Yay, you!


Now, REJECTED! These poor little sketches never made it past the doodle stage.  I still see potential in them though and who knows, maybe they'll turn up sometime down the road.... Oh yes, and that one little painting that just didn't quite fit in with the grouping so, it gets nixed!


 Poor, little rejects.

That's all for now, I'll update this post after the opening!














Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Tiny Trifecta

Tiny Trifecta @ The Cotton Candy Machine

Tiny Trifecta opened this past Saturday to great enthusiasm and success! Incredible turnout for astounding work from reknowned artists! YUP. So thrilled to have been a part of it. Most of you have probably seen my final images through my instagram account or other promotions so instead of just final images, I'm taking another stab at showing you guys some of the process of creation.  The process here includes some reference I used, color mock-ups, tight sketches, and steb-by-step painting progress images. Hope you enjoy! ( My pieces are sold out but remaining pieces from the show become available online Tuesday June 17th - check it out! www.cottoncandymachine.com )

My contributions to the show! Largest piece 5 x 5 in. All acrylic on wood panel


These are some excerpts from my brainstorming drawings that best represent the final images. You can see the seeds of ideas here if not practically the final pieces.

Tightening those sketches, planning for the board dimensions & color placements
 
This is a painfully rough, digital color mock-up.  I even collaged in some of the reference to save some time.  I just modified the color and light of it as needed to meet my needs.

Step-by-step progress of "Summer Daze" 4 x 4 in. Acrylic on wood panel
"Over the Lake" tight sketch & friends (Little ghostie and maggot peeking in there... :) )

Another rough color mock-up.  Again I chopped up and tweaked and pasted my reference materials right into the mock-up. It's sloppy but time efficient.  Mostly, I can already see what I want in my mind, this is just for a reminder.

Step-by-step progress of "Over the Lake" 5 x 5 in Acrylic on Wood Panel


This piece was much simpler in imagery so really it was just about building layers and playing boldly with color.


Fun with reference! Use the universe and web-i-verse to bring your concepts to life.  I find that using reference allows me to take a simple idea and really flesh it out; give it new depth, meaning, texture, context. The idea is a seed, reference (or what I call "Researchpiration") is the Miracle Gro.

  
Rainbow cake! My absolute favorite treat :D And inspiration for the lip colors I used in "Sweet Talkin' Son of a Bitch" above

"Over the Lake" reference/inspiration. The color in this wasn't what I wanted but the overall mood of it was spot on.

More inspiration for SOB lips.  I added a crystal to the tooth in homage.
Clearly reference for "Summer Daze"! I really wanted a floral motif but I wanted much more dynamic color. This was great reference for variety of texture and scale in the floral arrangement.

A detail of "Summer Daze" - just to have a nice look at these eensy flowers and buds
 Final pieces...



 Some palette making, background blocking-in, and drawing transferring! Exciting stuff I know... All part of the process though.