Movies!

Life takes you in funny directions, I never thought I would make illustrations/do graphic design for movies. Actually, it hadn't occurred to me that illustration and film would intersect (outside of animated films and story-boarding), they seem like such different artistic media. But now I spot it in every film I watch - those Wedding invitations in the latest chick-flick? Someone designed those! Same with store logos and signs, the paintings on that wall behind the actors, the menus they're ordering from, even bumper stickers on the back of a van.

But then my sister becomes a production designer for films, and voila! She has an instant art/graphics team (my mother and me).

It really feels like any other illustration or graphic design assignment - you start with concept sketches, then move on to the final version once one is approved. Or if the schedule's really tight, you trust your gut and go with what you think would turn out the best.

You [almost] forget what it's being used for, so that it's almost a surprise when you see something you've worked on in a film clip:


http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/video?id=7871234

(Keep an eye out for the wild-dog patches on the uniforms, pain-stakingly drawn in Illustrator with a Laptop mouse) :-D


Check out my IMBD page for some of the films I've worked on the art for:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3973440/

Imaged Words Show

My it has been a long time since my last post. It's been an eventful summer!
I had the good fortune to be part of the Imaged Words exhibit at the Eclipse Mill Gallery, with a lot of wonderful artists. If you have never been to the Eclipse Mill (North Adams, MA) it is a really neat place.
Here is my piece in the show. It is titled Thistle Shirts. It is a variation of the fairy tale of the seven geese (sometimes told as twelve geese, seven swans, etc).
I have an earlier interactive version of the story on my website.

Hope

It is always interesting to get an assignment that deals with an abstract idea.

If Hope were to shop in a grocery store, what would she look like?

I had the chance to explore this idea when illustrating a wonderful story by Rachel Snyder for the Women's Times.  

My first thought of what Hope would look like was a little fluffy flying creature, with wide, trusting eyes:

She's very cute, but at the same time perhaps the most powerful form of hope is being very aware of everything that could go wrong, but still being hopeful anyway.

The illustration that was chosen eventually is a mix between a modern woman and the mythological "Hope."

Keep Hope with you!

Cookies + Fall = Mighty Delicious!

My friend Alice is offering a six-week baking course at the Clinic for Women (in Connecticut)

www.clinic-for-women.com

It will be lots of fun, I wish I could go, but it's a long hike from Massachusetts!

Website Gets a Facelift

The front page of my website has now received its much needed facelift:

http://www.anna-myers.com

Now I have more recent pictures on the front page, instead of a piece from 4 years ago.

I've also been working on a wonderful series of books called Spec Tales: Social Stories for Kids with Autism and Related Disorders, which you can find at http://www.spectales.com

Two new pictures, and one sprained ankle

Here are some pictures I submitted to the WestConn alumni art show, which will be up through Sunday afternoon.
I had meant to go to the opening last night, but unfortunately I managed to sprain my ankle, and the doctor instructed me to stay off of it as much as possible. I had to miss work today too, sadly (I really enjoy my job).




Obviously, both asian inspired pictures. It's kind of funny, I keep returning to Chinese and Japanese inspired images/fairytales in my work. I worked on a completely different idea for my graduate work, but now I think I'm ready to go back to some of my asian fairy tale ideas. I find I work best when I'm exploring several different ideas, or go back and forth between different projects.

Oh my, it's been quite some time!

Wow, it's been a long time since I last posted. The summer flew by!

Here are two more pictures from the ABC at GourneyJourney (although from a few months ago, I am truly behind!): http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/


This one was inspired by the Steam Punk genre, of which I am very fond. There is a comic I enjoy called "Girl Genius" http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php which has mad scientists controlling the world (think sentient pocket watches).






And here are illustrations from the July and August editions of the Women's Times:



Gina was kind enough to pose for me for this one.




And Mom patiently posed for this one, although I changed her hair and features a bit. The article was about women becoming poets, so for inspiration this poet has photographs of women writers behind her on the wall.