the last sound a whack-a-mole hears...

...is CONK.

(Talk about animal cruelty...)

GOT YER CONK!

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE LOVE LOVE YA fantasy.
People who know me well know that I can quote from my favorite young adult books very easily.
And I know that I have books in my head far more often than I let everyone else know about it :-)

So it's not surprising that the VERY FIRST THING I thought of in association with our weekly doodle prompt-- CONK--was from a YA fantasy book. And it also happens to be one that most of you would be familiar with.


"...Peeves the Poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him when you were late for class. He would drop wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!"
From page 132 of my paperback copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone



Brought to you by my handy-dandy camera phone, since I had no better way to get it here.

Deadline Extended!

Okay, because Thanksgiving Break was actually a break for some people (and rightly so) and a time of chaos for others (*raises hand*), we decided to extend the deadline for T-shirt entries. They are now due in ONE WEEK---

Again: T-shirt contest entries are due on Tuesday, December 8th. For now. :)

T-shirt REMINDER!

Happy Thanksgiving Break! While you're soaking up the relaxation (or hastily putting together projects...heh) this week, remember to doodle up a design for the t-shirt contest. I've only received a couple (2) and we want a wide selection! Last year's was awesome.

We decided that you don't have to submit the actual Adobe Illustrator file, as long as your design has the capacity to be made in Illustrator later. We can help you with it if you don't know how. So just send me what you've got! Details below.

Also, ANYONE can submit a design, and it's FREE to enter so you've got nothing to lose.


Happy designing. :)

...and the cow jumped over the MOOOOON

i've been drawing this guy (gal?) ever since 5th grade, when i made him up in my collection of "doodles". it's habitual that as soon as my pen hits paper when i draw this, i don't erase or start over. i have a specific way of drawing it, so it's always turns out slightly distorted and pretty organic. i don't mind, though, as it brings me back to 5th grade every time. i even made an amazing flip book about it in 6th grade! awww yeah.

it has evolved over the years, and though i'm not a great digital painter (this is um...my first? besides color comps?) i thought he (she) deserved to be put in the proper setting. =]

(dangit, michelle, you beat me to posting this morning!)

Our Illustration Friday Prompt

"Conk"

Look up the definitions yer'self!

>:D

Cows in Suits

I'm not sure what this is, aside from practice with digital painting. Someday, I'll obtain those magical painting skills and after that all color schemes will work, all cows will be beautiful, and lighting and value will not be an issue. It will also rain chocolate, but only into special bowls placed out for that purpose so as to keep the streets and grass clean. That'll be an awesome day.

mooooo.

Here is one I did a while ago, for which I have a particular fondness:

[...So I'm not officially in the illustration program, but I hope to be soon!]

Moo.

Newspaper Napoleon cow.  Moo Bessie.  Moo like there is no tomorrow because, for Farmer John, there may not be.

moo cow!

When I was in Russia on study abroad, my dear old host mother Lidia Petrovna informed me over breakfast one morning that I moo like a cow when I talk. She made horns on her head with her fingers and went "MrrrrOOOOOONNNGGH" to make sure I understood, because she was also fond of telling me my Russian is awful. "That's why I leave the room so fast when you talk," she said, "because the mooing cuts my ears." Some time later, she fed me these cookies:

("MYMY" is how you spell "MOO MOO" in Russian.) Ever since then, I have felt a particular fondness for cows, and I thought if I ever made a logo for myself as an artist, it ought to be bovine. Well, I haven't come up with anything viable yet, but I still think these are cute:


Moo!

Weekly Doodle New Topic

Cow.

Go for it.

Dream Costumes

Because on Halloween I know I want to be a circus peformer wearing as many patterns as possible (complete with a matching parasol) or be a unicorn. Neither are happening this year but SOME DAY.

Educational Costume

On his way to the Science Club Halloween party, Reginald began to reconsider his choice of educational costuming.

(Just an idea I'm working on.)

This is called double dipping

COSTUME.

Yes. Well. Here's an excerpt form my comic journal detailing an event that I found highly amusing.

Needless to say I had a blast at the party.

:)

And if you were wondering... YES we ARE nerds, HOW DID YOU KNOW!?

I doodle this awesome rubic cube costume which I am thinking about making for Halloween.

Weekly Doodle New Topic

In honor of the season we are going to have a Halloween topic. The new topic is: Costume.

Go for it. This topic will be up until the end of the month.

A link I think you all might like...

It's called POSEMANIACS, and even though I haven't searched through the site extensively, it looks like an amazing anatomical guide.

multi-level mailbox

Here's my luxurious mailbox. Accommodation for all: I don't discriminate between mail-users. Short people...tall people...really tall people...birds...and then there's those gmail people on the top....

Everybody needs a mailbox.

Ideas?

We need a new topic for next week's "Doodle."

Any ideas?

you can call me kristin.

I am Kristin Gulledge, your BYUIA Publicity Vigilante, here to protect you from all sorts of cluelessness! (aka, I’ll tell you about the sweet stuff that’s going on)

me & art::
I’ve always loved drawing, and my earliest [serious] aspirations of art were at the ripe old age of 6, when I started clipping out the “how to draw” sections of the newspaper every week. (Mind you, I'd drawn since I learned how to pick up a pencil-this is just where I started to hone in on my skills.)

My abilities peaked at that age (Seriously. You can't get much better than that).

...and I've been documenting life ever since.


BYU considers me a senior (and I will be for the next two or three years) but I’m a junior in the Illustration BFA program, working toward a Communications minor. My campus job is great – I’m the graphic designer for Life Sciences. Typography rocks my socks. I also do freelance photography. Basically, I love all things art.

extra tidbits::
Other than the normal art-nerd activities, I love: music (I play guitar and sing), running, dance, teaching, blogging, reading, adventuring, outside-ing, people-watching, people-meeting, and people-helping. I also love humor, wit, words, inspiration, anatomy, brownies, and health (those last two aren't necessarily simultaneous). Children are pretty much the best thing ever.

for the justice of awesome::
I’m honestly so excited for the club this year! We have some seriously awesome officers and seriously rad activities. I’m especially stoked for the weekly doodles. I’m excited for everyone to get involved and to meet all of you awesome folk!

Will Strong (Fearless Leader 2009 - 2010)

I thought about writing some fake bio for myself but I couldn't decide between "The Chosen One" and "International Man of Misery."  So I thought I would post evidence of me messing around in Photo Booth.

You may have guessed from my immaturity that I want to be a children's illustrator.  I also want to write for children (picture books, chapter books, early readers, comics, etc.)  My short term dream is to someday see my book at an elementary school book fair.

I am fearless.  I am your leader.  I am... Will Strong, BYUIA Fearless Leader (for this school year at least.)

Hi, everybody!

Our Fearless Leader Mr. Will Strong wants us BYUIA officers to introduce ourselves to you, our lovely club members and blog readers, so here goes nothing:

Hi! My name is Meagan Toiaivao (TOY-ah-vow). I am your friendly neighborhood BYUIA Service Coordinator. I look like this:


This is me in St. Petersburg, Russia. (My hair is shorter now.) In this picture you witness not only how sublimely goofy I look when I am happy, but also the folly of purchasing cheap umbrellas (especially in Russia) and the hilarity of a man in a Speedo with a wedgie (especially in Russia).

Here are some random facts about me:
Age: 22
Height: 6'
First person I ever had a crush on: Jonathan Taylor Thomas (Randy from Home Improvement)
First CD I ever owned: Running with Scissors by Weird Al Yankovic (because I wanted the Star Wars song)
Song I am listening to right now: "I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)" by Otis Redding
Illustration project I am most excited about: promotional mailers of the High School Musical characters as zombies
Favorite picture books: The Clown of God (Tomie dePaola), The Four Gallant Sisters (Eric Kimmel), Heckedy Peg (Audrey & Don Wood), No, David! (David Shannon), Don't Let the Pigeon Ride the Bus (Mo Willems)

I really hope all of you guys, particularly you freshies and sophomores, feel welcome and excited to contribute to this blog and get to know everybody (and here I would especially like to encourage everyone to get pumped about Weekly Doodles -- see Will's previous blog post) because when you hit a slump in your work (or just in your life), there is nothing like hanging around people who have a mighty passion for art to give you a big cheery kick in the pants.

Hope to see you around.
-Meagan

Monster Mailbox

Something I'm working on for a class. I love double dipping.

Crazy Mailboxes

A little inspiration for the mailbox topic:

http://sblom.com/mailbox/

The variety is just astounding.

Weekly Doodles New Topic: mailbox

So we are starting something new. We are going to call it "Weekly Doodles" unless someone can think up a better name. (Note: the term "better" is completely subjective.)

This is meant to be something really simple, chill, easy, non-threating and thought-provoking. If you have time then you should participate. If you don't have time then don't participate.

The idea is to draw, paint, photograph, write, or whatever something relating to the theme for the week. No deadlines, so post late if you want to. Just know that we will keep moving on with new topics.

The first topic up is "Mailbox." Go for it.

(We might keep this one up for a couple of weeks to let people get into the swing of things.)

Mailbox, mailbox, mailbox.

A Good Portfolio (Online)

Hey everyone!

Here's a sweet deal that I stumbled upon just the other day. It's an online portfolio site that lets you upload up to 55 images for free! If you know a bit of web programming, you can customize your page and even hook it up to your own custom domain name. It's a great deal, for those of you who are just starting out but don't have wads of cash for a sweet webpage.

Visit www.agoodportfolio.com. I think you'll like it.

Welcome to the Official BYUIA Blog!

Hello illustrators!

This is (if you couldn't tell by the title), the official blog for the BYU Illustrators' Association, where members can find out about the latest news, events, competitions, opportunities, etc. We also want it to be a place where members can share their latest illustration obsession, discuss techniques and materials, showcase their latest and greatest, or just shoot the breeze.

Basically, this is for connecting! We want to keep you in the loop, and we want your input! This will really be an amazing resource with your help, so we hope everyone can participate.

Above all, have fun! Let's make this a blog we want to visit every day!

Hello Friends

So how does this work?  Is this a posting free for all?  Are we going to illustrate a common theme like the Avalanche blog?  Where would we get such themes?  Provide them ourselves?  Illustration Friday topics?

I'm game for whatever.  In fact I'd like a little of both.

We could have a time to post on a theme and then at the end of every month have a posting free for all with all kinds of work.

Just my two cents.

-Will Strong