Barely There

Monday, November 29, 2010







Last Wednesday while viewing my blog, my dear friend and classmate Kayla said to me, "Meagan stop photoshopping the **** out of your illustrations, I want to see them raw." I genuinely honor and respect my peers' opinions. But I had to explain, in my defense, that in order to eliminate the grey smog color of the paper, so many of the delicate shadows in wash are lost. Thus I have to replace them in photoshop with the brush tool.

I happen to despise when my works aren't completely white in the background, but I also dislike losing so many of the delicate subtleties that make a piece so special. Finding a balance between the two is much harder than you think. When you're using wet media on sketch paper there is always a degree of warping. So today, for one time only, here are 6 raw and unedited brush and ink illustrations from Bil Donovan's class. Enjoy!!

P.S. Love you Kayla!! Thanks for your comical, yet incredible, input as always.

20 comments:

  1. oh i love them. the first one is my favorite <3

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  2. All of the fabulous, but the first one is simply classic. Like in "this goes to your portfolio" classic!!!! :-)))

    M

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  3. I love the first and the last one, absolutely gorgeous. And i know what you mean about the paper warping after applying a watercolors, it can be a nightmare to get those shadows removed. Still, I love the way these illos look, great work, as always :)

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  4. They're all gorgeous, I especially love the first one and the drippy-ness with the blend of reds and browns! They're all so expressive and full of beauty!

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  5. I think they look great, shadows and all... personally I think there is too much stuff around that is photoshopped to perfection. so it's nice to see something else in between. but there is also so much else you can do in photoshop... ahhhh, a dilemma :o)

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  6. Your artwork is absolutely divine. I adore your style. I am now following this blog.

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  7. Thank-you everyone SO much for your wonderfully kind words of encouragement!! Funny story about the first work. The model was asked to take the same pose and rotate like a moving statue. We were given 5 minutes from each angle. I was going into my forth position and Bil told me to STOP, wash out the face I made, and leave it. He felt that it reached it's peak at three figures LOL oops.

    Petra, I totally agree with you on the dilemma. In fact, I used to be very anti photoshop, never owned it up until a month ago. I really only use it to clean up my original illustrations. Nothing will ever compare to the organic experience of creating art the traditional way, but I do love the benefits of copy and pasting in photoshop :)

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  8. Hi
    Love your blog, and I am really glad I found you...

    Have a great day from Oslo...

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  9. Hello Hello Girl from Oslo,

    Thank-you so much for visiting Travel Write Draw. I'm so happy to hear you enjoy the content and artwork. You have quite a few blogs I'm not sure which to follow lol!! Are you a photographer? I'm currently completing my fashion illustration associates degree and then off I go into the working world once again. Would love to see your work.

    Meag xx
    travelwritedraw.blogspot.com

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  10. Hi
    Thanks for your lovely comment...
    You can follow these two, and pick:)

    I have just set up an online store selling pictures from Oslo...
    I will give you all three...hope thats oki?

    http://www.soulprincessnr1.blogspot.com/ -Post everyday.
    http://shootingoslo.blogspot.com/ - only my original photo work.
    http://epla.no/shops/imagesfromoslo/ - were I sell:)

    I am not in the habit of promoting myself to this degree on another girls blogg...don´t mean to offend you:)

    Trying to be a photographer....I am working on it:)

    Have a great day from Oslo...

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  11. You are so good!!

    Love the first and last illustration!!! Especially the first one, she looks amazing!!!
    xx

    johanna, Sweden
    ART

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  12. Thank-you both so much!!

    Girl from Oslo, don't worry I'm not offended at all. The nature of these blogs is to self-promote and I understand wanting to get the word out. I will check these blogs out asap <3 xx

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  13. Неуловимое присутствие женщины... нежно, тонко и как всегда волнительно)

    Meagan, спасибо, что делишься с нами своим творчеством)
    С наилучшими пожеланиями из России =)

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  14. Lana thank-you for your beautiful comment!! I've just translated it and you've captured in words so well what I attempted to capture in my artwork xx

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  15. Thank you for your lovely and inspiring comment on my blog! It was so nice to hear your words of approval. Where in Canada are you from? I'm from Niagara in Ontario. Good luck with school and I look forward to watching your blog in the future as you work to make all your dreams come true. Because they will :)

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  16. Hi, Thank you so much for your comment:) I'm not an artist in any professional way but I love to paint and do it a lot, I've posted some pictures on my blog,

    Love the first picture and second picture on this post, gorgeous

    byebye

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  17. Gorgeous-The Shauna trio are captivating and like beautiful flowers about to bloom, just like your work.

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  18. Bil!!!! Merci merci merci beaucoup. I'm so beyond touched by what you said. Thank-you for everything this semester. Even though we won't have you in the Spring, I know I will continue to learn from you every step of the way.

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  19. WOW! I've just discovered your blog by Maya Beus blog and I'm totally impressed. Your art, works are AMAZING. From now you are my inspiration

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