RAE*RAE + PIP

Saint Bentli Balboa

2012-01-14T20:22:00.000-08:00

This is a painting I did for my friend Robin of her cat Bentli - I met Robin a long time ago at Rhode Island School of Design's precollege summer program when we were just little high schoolers and we've been friends ever since! She's an amazing jewelry designer (among other things) so I incorporated her little trinkets in the painting, as well as her airplants and nautical themes that she uses in her art. She also uses peacock feathers as one of her trademarks so I made sure to make them very present in the painting and on the frame.

Check out Robin's work at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/peacocktaco

http://www.robincharlotte.com/

Here's a close up:

I also decided to paint a customized frame for the painting and designed stylized peacock feathers in each corner and cat eyes in the centers.

And here's a close up detail shot:

Update!!

I wasn't completely satisfied with the matte and frame of the painting because it felt like all the different elements looked too separated. So, I decided to paint a gold boarder (inspired by seaweed) around the matte to integrate the matte and frame. I really like the results! (Please excuse the horrible photo quality, better photos will come shortly I hope!)

xoxo

Rae

Love Birds I & II

2012-01-11T14:39:00.001-08:00

For my Christmas paintings this year I was inspired by my brother and his fiancée - they moved to Zurich together, and are in a way building their "nest" for the future. That idea made me think of cute little nesting birds, and then I began looking up different types of birds and the symbolism behind each one.

For Jeff & Jen I chose to paint two young nesting robins perched on a cherry blossom tree.

To me robins symbolize the beginning of Spring and happiness. I also wanted a bird that you could tell was male or female - female robins are usually a bit more subtle looking whereas the males have bright reddish orange breasts and darker blueish black wings. The blooming cherry tree symbolizes love (among many other things, but that was the one I centered on).

For my parents I chose to paint two cardinals - again a male and a female (being my mother and father of course). I think I chose cardinals specifically because I found a hilarious photo of one with a disorderly mohawk who looked kind of grumpy as well and thought of my father (haha!). I also loved how beautiful the females' subtle coloring are compared to the males vibrant red. It was perfect for my mother who loves natural, earthy tones. I chose to have them both perching on a blooming magnolia tree because the flowers are beautiful and fragile, and I did think about the movie Steel Magnolias a bit (of course!)

xoxo

Rae

Dog Pen Portraits

2011-12-09T17:02:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving wasn't quite what we expected it to be with my dad sick in the hospital, but luckily for me, my amazing and best friend in the world came to my rescue! The usual Burt tradition is to drive down to the shore the Friday after Thanksgiving to visit our dearest friends the Bartletts... but this year they came to us (and brought their delicious Thanksgiving #2 dinner with them)!

As a deep thank you to them I drew Jamie's dog Benny (I call him Benjamin), and her parent's dog Ziggy. I used my usual Bic pen for these - the same one I used in the college series because it's great for shading, especially when you're drawing an all black dog since the shading is so slight and important. I also like how with that pen you can see each stroke as it leaves a groove in the paper when you press really hard.

xoxo

Rae

Saint Calvin (and Hobbes!)

2011-10-31T12:20:00.000-07:00

I painted like a maniac yesterday to finish up Saint Calvin, a painting based on my cousin Josh's cat who died a few months ago (he was 15 years old!).

Calvin was named after Josh's favorite comic strip, "Calvin and Hobbes," so I decided to have him sitting next to an open page of the Sunday comics (from The Philadelphia Inquirer of course). It actually worked out perfectly because I also wanted to have him sitting next to a bunch of art supplies since both my aunt and uncle are artists, so the newspaper is out to protect the table from paint spills.

I chose to paint artist's paint brushes because having good paint brushes is critical to an artist - and you have to take proper care of them. Plus good ones are crazy expensive so you want them to last a long time! The window with all the greenery in the background is there to represent Pennsylvania, since every time I go home I'm amazed at how green everything is compared to California.

Here are the different steps of the painting:

xoxo

Rae

Wedding Fingerprint Tree

2011-08-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

The other day a friend asked me to draw a fingerprint wedding tree for her friend's wedding. It's a really cute idea - you start with the bare tree (no leaves) and then each wedding guest picks an ink color and places their fingerprint on whatever branch they want - creating all the leaves in multicolored fingerprints. It's a great personal gift that's fun because it lets all the guest interact with each other and creates a last memory for the bride and groom.

I had a great time illustrating it, (I really wanted to make the branches create a heart in the center) and for fun I drew some little creatures around the tree and in the branches.

Hopefully I'll be able to post more pics of the tree getting fingerprinted and the final product. For now here are some close ups:

xoxo

Rae

South Point Stencil

2011-07-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

This summer my parents are determined to finally finish South Point - they're repainting the entire house, revamping the kitchen, and just put new windows, doors, and siding on the house. It's been kinda a big deal!

Since I'm not there to help them on all these projects I wanted to help in the little way I could and thought it would be nice to stencil the stairway. My mom used to stencil every room in East Oaklane (where I grew up) so it felt like a continuation of that.

Designing the stencil was definitely the hardest part of the job. The

dimensions of the stairs where 6" x 30" so it had to be long and skinny. I started out with basic sketches and made sure they filled the dimensions properly. Tracing paper helped a lot since stencils are primarily repeated shapes. Here's the final template for the flower stairs:

I knew I wanted certain aspects of symbolism in each one - like waves since it's a shore house. I then thought about crabs, since Maryland is known for their crabs, but in the end I decided on sandpipers since my mom and I always love watching them run through the waves on their little pin legs.

I also wanted to use flowers since my parents are constantly gardening, so I decided to split the stairs in half - half waves and half flowers. It only seemed fitting to use Tigerlilies on the flower stairs since they're my dad's favorite flower. I also used blooming jasmine since it's always blooming on the porch and smells amazing, and I designed a little hummingbird since they're my favorite bird and seem so mysterious.

Here are some pictures of the final staircase:

xoxo

Rae

St. Niblets of Old Saybrook

2011-07-04T21:58:00.000-07:00

The story of St. Niblets of Old Saybrook is a bittersweet one in that he was one of the most amazing and loving cats I've ever met (which says a lot), and sad because he died, just like other amazing cat's I've known, way before his time.

Like all cats I paint, I made him into a Byzantine saint and used special iconography to make the painting more symbolic of his personality and his life.

When I paint pet portraits I always ask for pictures of whatever the pet liked most - a sofa, toy, or hangout so I can incorporate them into the painting. With Niblets the shiny silver tinsel ball was his favorite toy. I decided to have him posing on a window sill because I really wanted to show a beautiful historical Philadelphia home in the background, since that's where I met him and where my cousin still lives (she's from Old Saybrook, hence the title). I chose to have a blooming jade plant beside him because they represent luck, especially when blooming. I decided to paint the fuchsia plant on the other side of him because it was the first plant I ever owned - which I got at the Philadelphia Flower show when I was around 10 years old. Fuchsia plants bloom all around LA so I always think of that when I see them.

Published Fairy Sketches

2011-03-01T13:29:00.000-08:00

Leading Edge Magazine published some of my fairy sketchbook drawings for their most recent publication a few months ago.

The project forced me to think more about fairies as not only brief sketches, but as actual 3- dimensional characters, with a history and personalities. I started making up stories about them in my head, (I tend to do that a lot) and then sketched them in the different situations I thought about.

While thinking of ideas, I remembered Chaucer's poem that inspired me to sketch fairies in the first place. It basically states how in medieval times fairies could be found everywhere, but as man cleared the lands and overpopulated the earth they became extinct. That idea inspired me to make some "eco fairies" - fairies that live in the city and try to protect the bit of surviving nature they can find. I drew their clothes made of pieces of trash bags and bottle caps and other scraps of things they would probably find in an overcrowded polluted city, but I still wanted them to have the tribal tattoos of their past culture.

I also started thinking about fairies and their powers, and asking questions like, how do they get them? - can they loose them? And what about their wings? - what are they made from? I generally only like to draw my fairies wearing bird wings, so it just made sense that they would hunt hummingbirds for their fast wings and their skins. I also liked the idea that they would trap butterflies and ground them up for potions or magic powder.

Here's a fairy trapping a butterfly and wearing a hummingbird head (kinda sick I know, but it amuses me).Here's a hunting scene- I tried to make the fairy's wings look worn out so it needs to hunt for a new pair.

And finally a fairy portrait:

Alien L.A. Succulents

2010-12-26T12:33:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year I wanted to paint my brother and his girlfriend something for their apartment again. They usually like somewhat realistic paintings of a still life or animals, so this year I decided to paint them one of my favorite succulents that grows outside of my studio in LA. It's a crazy looking thing, and I probably like it because the flowers blooming from it look like something I imagine we would find on some alien planet. Succulents have always interested me, probably because I grew up on the East Coast where they never grow, and because they have such amazing shapes and colors.

Here's the work in progress:

Here's the final piece -

I discovered awhile ago that instead of spending a crazy amount of money on a custom frame, it's easier and way more economical to just go to a place like goodwill and get an old battered frame for $5 and then paint it to go with the painting its self. Plus it looks better. For this frame I made stylized orange-red blooming flowers which are just a simplified version of the one's in the painting. The design was also inspired by the country dutch art I grew up with and admire (you can kind of see a similar plate in the background in the picture below).

xo,
Rae

Mad Dog's Gonna Getcha

2010-09-25T19:49:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago my friend Jamie asked me to illustrate a poem she had written for her grandmother, inspired by one of Granny's stories of growing up in rural Mississippi. In the 193o's rabies was a constant source of fear, especially for children, who were usually the ones bitten by rabid dogs.
While reading the poem I thought about Quentin Blake (who illustrated all of Roald Dahl's books) and Shel Silverstein's style. They're two of my favorite illustrators, and the poem reminded me of their kind of humor. As for the characters, I naturally had an image of Granny as a young free-spirited girl in my head. The boy is actually inspired by Jem from To Kill A Mockingbird, as I couldn't stop thinking about that movie/book as I drew as well.

Here's the scene I couldn't stop thinking about (I can't believe I found it, Atticus kickin' ass):

Also for fun, here's my favorite picture of Granny:

And the original artwork:

xo,
Rae

Assateaque in Ultramarine

2010-07-29T07:53:00.000-07:00

This is a painting I did for one of my oldest and bestest friends, Kim. I grew up with her on the Eastern Shore near Assateaque Island, and she'll now be moving all over the world with her Navy husband. I thought it would be nice if she could always bring something that symbolized her home with her wherever they travel, and I've been waiting for a special occasion to paint something for her for a while.

It's the first landscape I've ever done, and honestly, it was crazy hard! I have a new found respect for landscape painters like Turner and Cezanne (and yes, Bob Ross!).

I started off painting the landscape somewhat realistically, but got seriously bored by it. The grey monotones seemed so dead and dismal it was kind of depressing. On a whim I started adding orange (probably because it's blue's complementary color) and then kept adding more and more colors until it started making me happy. I like the stylized aspects of it now, but it definitely wasn't what I had originally intended. Luckily sometimes these things just work out.

I hope she likes it.

xo,
Rae

Sam and Gromit

2010-06-05T01:46:00.000-07:00

This is the painting I did for my friend Kevin who just turned 40. Sam is his dog (read: baby) and is getting pretty old, so I thought it would be nice to paint him surrounded by his favorite friends. It's painted with oils, which was fun since I haven't used them in years. I documented my process below:

xoxo,
Rae

Leading Edge Published Illustrations

2010-03-15T20:15:00.001-07:00

Here are the final illustrations (with their poems!) that I did for Leading Edge Magazine:

The only restrictions that I had were that they had to be done in black and white (any kind of medium) and the size had to fit within specific measurements, and fit the poems as well. I was emailed the poems and just started from there.
I also decided to do the illustrations in pen + ink because I only had a day to do them (yikes!) and I like crosshatching.

Fairy Wickedness!

2010-01-22T00:53:00.000-08:00

I've finally finished two of my small fairy paintings! They've been sketched out for a while, but I hadn't done anything with them until now. For the fairies themselves I used prisma markers mixed with colored pencil. I usually use the pencils first and then add the marker on top so that the surface remains smooth. For the background I used gouache and acrylics (specifically sparkly acrylic!).

I generally think of these paintings as studies - how mediums mix together and how to create a successful background (which I'm not used to doing).

I also wanted the studies to be fun + playful (as fairies should be by nature, I think) and they helped me finalize the fairy persona. In the one below she is conjuring up a love potion. I was inspired by A Midsummer Night's Dream when Puck and the other mischievous fairies run amuck with their potions.

In the first study she is stealing a necklace from a jewelry box. I like the idea (in conjunction with fairy wickedness) that they steal things from humans that they either like, find intriguing, or things that they think are pretty and want them for themselves.

Butterfly Tease

2009-12-27T23:29:00.000-08:00

Every year I paint something for my parents for Christmas. This year the painting I did was inspired by a funky frame I found. It interested me because it was a window frame, and I thought it would be a cute idea to paint a cat sitting in a window, looking at a bug outside. Because I was working to fit a pre-existing frame, it made me work backwards (usually I get a frame to fit the work). As it turned out, the butterfly looks more like it's inside, but that doesn't really bother me (though it does mean that the poor thing probably won't escape Mia's wrath!).

I always like to include little personal details in my work - the background is my memory of my parent's house, and the blue bowl is one that my father got in Europe when he was young.

Here's the painting in progress:

And the finished piece (without glass):

Close up:

Ode to Henry!

2009-12-17T00:28:00.000-08:00

Here's my Christmas present for my brother this year:

He just got a new apartment, so I thought it would be nice to make him a little painting for it. I decided to paint Henry because... he was in front of me? No, really it was because I wanted to paint something I knew Jay would like, and I had a feeling he wouldn't enjoy a fairy. Plus it was actually really nice to paint something REAL compared to all my recent fiction characters who have consumed me over the past few months. I really like the way it turned out.

Fairy CD Mix!

2009-12-17T00:22:00.000-08:00

I just finished another CD cover (it's been a while), so it was fun to do. Holly loves butterflies, so I made the little fairy have butterfly wings instead of my usual bird-like fairy wings. I really like having to work with the compact circular space of the CD cover because it means I have to contort the figure a bit to fit it in. It's more interesting to me than just working with a rectangle.

Here's the playlist. Of course I included Eddie Vedder/Pearl Jam, as he is still one of my favorites. Plus that Sia song is pretty amazing (but is even better live!) :)

Photo Shoot

2009-09-28T19:14:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post these up for a while, but alas - I've finally remembered!

Here are my favorite shots of my dresses done by Rute Photography:

To see more work by Rute Photography, check out their website: www.rutephotography.com

Saint Kitten Logo Design

2009-07-19T14:31:00.000-07:00

Here is the logo I designed for my Saint Kitten Series:I based it on Mia's favorite pose and wanted it to look sketch-like and painterly at the same time.

I use the logo for my greeting card designs and probably anything else I can think of! :)

More More More!

2009-07-07T09:11:00.001-07:00

Here are a few more sketches I did for www.centerpointedu.com:

Penn

Lehigh

Darmoth

While doing these sketches I tried to convey the schools from more of a distance, as I had done in some of the previous ones. I also realized that it was important to remain in the same style of sketching so that all of the illustrations on the site are uniform. Now there's only one more to go!

More College Sketches!

2009-06-17T08:48:00.000-07:00

Here are more sketches I did for Center Point Educational Consultants. I did them all in black pen and briefly outlined in pencil first. The schools I chose to sketch were based on both their location and their interesting architecture:

Penn State

La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA.

MIT - Frank Gehry dorms

Positive Rejection:

2009-06-08T22:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some interesting facts that brightened my day:

Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree was rejected by an editor with a letter that included this comment: "I'm sorry, but I don't think you're ever going to find a publisher for it."

The Giving Tree went on to sell more than two million copies and launched Silverstein as one of the best selling children's author of all time. (It is also still one of my favorite childhood books!)

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle, was rejected by 26 publishers before an editor accepted it. It won the Newbury Medal in 1963, has sold over 8 million copies, and is still taught in schools today. (I remember reading it in 5th grade!)

The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank, was described as "very dull" by a reader's report. It was also described as "a dreary record of typical family bickering and adolescent emotions." It was turned down by 15 publishers before finally getting picked up in 1952. Now more than 30 million copies are in print - making it one of the best selling books in history.

The information above is from Children's Writer's + Illustrator's Market, by Alice Pope.
Not only is her book well written, but more importantly it's positive, honest, and best of all - it's helpful.

Website Sketches

2009-05-26T08:23:00.000-07:00

Center Point Educational Consultants also asked me to make some sketches of colleges for their website:

BROWN:

YALE:

I sketched them out in just simple black pen. I kept them in rough sketch-like form and only added high details to certain architectural elements.

Update: these simple sketches will be the background to the website pages, with text over them :)

Graphic Design: Center Point Educational Consultants

2009-05-24T21:53:00.000-07:00

I just finished this logo project for my dad's great college consulting business in Center Point, PA:

*Click on the image above to enlarge*

The company's mission is to work with high school students and prepare them for their college admissions. When designing this logo I took the company's mission and transferred it into iconic graphics. I designed an open book with rays coming out of it to symbolize the knowledge and wisdom that books can give you. Through the rays is a simplified college (I was inspired by Brown University's architecture) - through knowledge and perseverance you can achieve your dreams!

Business Cards!

2009-05-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

Vista Print was having a sale this weekend on business cards and since I'm not doing anything (but working) I had time to redesign my business cards (and yes! They're in COLOR!).

I took the figures from a portfolio board I did (you can check out the entire board out on my myspace page since it's the background).

Mother's Day Graphic Design

2009-05-24T11:41:00.001-07:00

I was asked to redesign the Mother's Day logo for the Bridge of Hope charity organization. I first drew the figures in one of my sketchbooks and then scanned it into Illustrator to make the lines solid and crisp.Here's the final product:

*Click on the image to enlarge the photo*

PIP!

2009-05-20T10:44:00.001-07:00

Click in the illustration above to enlarge the image

Here is the illustration I did that started my adventures with the fairy character I named 'Pip'. I drew the illustration for my friend's daughter, and included Chaucer's inspirational fairy poem at the bottom.

I've always loved the idea of fairies living in gardens while humans roam around completely oblivious to their existence. It reminds me of how most people take all the little bugs around us for granted, so I decided it would be fun included my favorite insects in the piece as well.

I like the idea that not only are fairies mischievous, but they work and gather their food. Here I decided to show Pip gathering pollen in one of her many jars. I also thought it would be interesting if fairies had tribes. What if there were different races of fairies just as there are different races of people? I drew tribal tattoos on Pip because I wanted her to look untouched from the contemporary human existence - like a tribal fairy princess from a distant world, her marks are symbols of everything she's overcome in her life.

Calliope

2009-05-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

Here's the step process I did while painting Calliope:

After doing the initial pencil sketch, I went through and added line vectors throughout the image to create geometric shapes within. Each shape was painted in a different solid color to create a kaleidoscope effect:I decided to use mostly warm tones on the face and hair, and use darker blues and purples for the background. The flowers I did in bright reds and pinks and used nail polish as a sparkly overcoat.

I added bubbles, hearts, and flowers in the surrounding because I wanted this piece to be upbeat despite the fact that I'm not truly smiling (I hate smiling in portraits!).

Still Working...

2009-05-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

I was up until 3am last night going through things and working on overlapping techniques. I'm still only at the gouache stage - I haven't even scanned the finished pieces in yet....

But here's a picture of me working a couple of weeks ago:

I've also begun having nightmares about this project - like everything I've worked on gets ruined or a marker that I need is discontinued... I'm definitely ready for this to be finished.

~Rae

Intoxicated Dance Mix CD

2009-05-01T21:42:00.000-07:00

For years now I've been illustrating CD covers for the various mixes I make for friends. Since this site is exclusively for my illustrations, here are some of my favorites:

This fun mix was made for my friend Walter. I wont lie, the girl is based on myself and my old crazy antics... ;) The track listing is fairly simple, and I decided to add a spilled Cosmo because I have a tendency to spill drinks while obliterated ;)

*** Click on the photo above to enlarge the image ***

The Little Black Rat - Psychotic Mix CD

2009-05-01T21:20:00.000-07:00

I made this mix for my friend Jamie who knows my cat and all of her psychotic tendencies as well as I do. Mia actually posed for me while doing this, so it was perfect. It has a little inspiration from Toulouse Lautrec's "Chat Noir", but she really does sit like this, with that expression on her face.

The track listing crossword puzzle inspiration came from the movie "Se7en" - taken off of the psycho's numerous notebooks. Plus I had to add a fur ball and some blood spatters to add to the effect!

However, despite Mia's obvious bad 'tude in this work I had to put some hearts around her, because deep down she really is sweet and loving. <3

*** Click on the photo above to enlarge the image ***

Marie Antoinette CD

2009-05-01T21:08:00.000-07:00

Marie Antoinette is one of my favorite movies and the soundtrack kicks ass! I made this CD for my parents after we saw the movie. The costumes in the film are AMAZING, so I tried to incorporate them in the artwork. I also thought the drinks she has in the movies are beautiful and fun - plus her wigs are pink! What could be better?!

*** Click on the photo above to enlarge the image ***

Evil Trannie Mix CD

2009-05-01T21:01:00.000-07:00

For years now I've been illustrating CD covers for the various mixes I make for friends. Since this site is excusively for my illustrations, here are some of my favorites:

***click on the photo to enlarge the image ***

This is a CD I made for my friend Walter after a Halloween party where a guy in drag came up to me and literally exclaimed the saying above to me. It turned into a private joke between us.

Gouachin' It Up

2009-04-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

So, I've finished using markers for the characters and now I'm on to gouache. It's been kind rough so far because I'm used to painting with high details and yet, I've realized that it detracts from the main characters. Obviously I want the characters to be the main focus, so the background can't be too overly detailed. The challenge is to still make the background interesting and captivating for kids.

I've also been experimenting with fonts and hate all the boring ones that photoshop offers. They all look the same... I specifically wanted children's writing, but I'm going to have to download more fonts for that to happen. :(

Coloring

2009-04-09T18:12:00.000-07:00

Since this site is dedicated to my illustrating process, I'll go on to say that it's a lot more intense than I originally perceived it to be.

I've been pretty anal about things being consecutive, mainly because I remember going though illustrations in such a picky manner that I could always see the inconsistencies.

I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed at the moment and I need to step back and just take one page at a time.

The fact that I'm doing everything with such high detail is thrilling to me when it's finished, but the process is a bit exhausting.

Anyway, on with the show... coloring away!

Pip Pip!!

2009-04-05T15:55:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I don't know who will read this, but I hope more and more will eventually...

I'm finally finished "tracing" my illustrations and have now gone into color... with 27 pages it will be slow going, but I'm excited by the prospects!

It's taken me awhile to find this path (walking down a really windy road) but I'm happy I've found it and it's something that makes me truely happy! I already have other ideas bouncing around in my head for the 2nd one, so I'm excited about that one too!