Jeanine Henderson

New Projects on my new blog!

2011-07-12T16:23:00.000-04:00

Just a reminder that I've integrated my blog with my new website and it can be found here:

http://www.jeaninehenderson.com/blog/

I've had a pretty busy start to the summer with loads of fun new projects, so fell a bit behind on my blogging. But I've just posted some updates, so please be sure to stop by and check it out! Feel free, too, to share your thoughts about my new site!

Thanks!

New website, blog, and social media pages!

2011-05-24T00:08:00.004-04:00

I've finally launched my new website! It's got a whole new look, includes tons of new illustration, fine art & design work—and the new format will be much easier for me to make regular updates. Plus, I've integrated my blog with the new site so you can find everything here:

www.jeaninehenderson.com

Please be sure to bookmark and subscribe to my feed there to continue to get updates on my blog. I'll no longer be posting to this blogspot page.

I'm hoping to tweak a few things about my new site design over the next few months—but do take a look and feel free to let me know your thoughts!

Also, I've recently (or more like finally!) joined the social media world! :)
I've launched a Facebook page for my illustration work, and you can follow me on Twitter too, @jeaninehender.

In the meantime, I've just gotten 2 big, super exciting jobs that I'm diving into! I'm illustrating covers for a 3-book series for Penguin, and also hand-drawing type & designing an awesome lead title for Sourcebooks. So, I may be a bit sporadic with updates over the next few busy weeks, but can't wait until I'm able to share more details about these projects!

Licensing workshop and Surtex/Stationary Show

2011-05-19T12:53:00.001-04:00

Last weekend I took Cheryl Phelps' art licensing workshop in NYC. Cheryl is pretty much a guru in the world of licensing and greeting cards—and I had always heard that she was an incredible speaker. I'm so happy I took it; She shared an insane amount of helpful information about getting started in the industry and marketing your work for product/packaging usage, and I left feeling super inspired.

In the last few years—as I've listened to feedback on my work from art directors—I've begun to realize the potential life my style could have in the licensing world, but was kind of overwhelmed at the sheer idea of getting into it. Seems so vast and foreign—I didn't know where to even begin to look for more information about how to get started. So, this was a perfect intro for me. She shared info, tips, and even contacts—and all in such a clear, non-intimidating way. I definitely have some ideas now about how to gear my work toward this, and who I want to work with in this market.

The workshop also coincided with the Surtex and National Stationary Shows in NYC. I'd always heard that these are the shows to be in as a licensing artist, but I never actually fully understood how it all worked or what it was all about. So, the day after the workshop I stopped by the Javitz Center to check it out, and now really have a much fuller sense of the industry as a whole. I definitely would like to make a real plan to begin to persue the field over the course of the next year—and see if I can add licensing/product illustration & greeting cards/stationary to my resume in the near future!

The Juggler, Take 2

2011-04-24T23:15:00.001-04:00

Here's the digital version:

I've tried to compliment the colors and textures I used in my previous Acrobat and Fire Eater pieces. I've gotten a nice response to this series, and plan to use it in self-promotion as well as creating a set of notecards that I could sell on Etsy. I may even add a 4th image to complete the set...Stay tuned!

The Juggler

2011-04-20T10:30:00.001-04:00

I was recently invite to contribute a piece of art for PS 39's upcoming 2nd Annual Spring Carnival. PS 39 is a small, public elementary school in Park Slope Brooklyn facing substantial budget cuts, which will result in the loss of their arts & music and physical educational programs. All money raised at the event—and from the silent auction of all art donated—will go towards sustaining these programs.

Not only was this another great opportunity to contribute to a really good cause—but also super fun, as it was a totally open call to interpretation of a "circus" or "carnival" theme. (Any of you following me know this is one of my favorite subjects! :) The only guidelines were to create the art on a provided piece of 16" x 16"- 1/4" plywood. I've always wanted to experiment with wood surfaces, and tried to experiment also a bit with mediums; I mixed acrylic washes and pen & ink and gold leaf accents, and worked in a fairly quick manner.

I'm going to translate the drawing as a digital personal piece as well, to become a companion to the Acrobat and Fire Eater that I've recently added to my portfolio.

Illustrations for feature article in Cleveland Magazine

2011-04-12T19:00:00.007-04:00

I recently had a super fun opportunity to illustrate a feature article for Cleveland Magazine. The April issue highlights the favorite hangouts of 5 local Cleveland celebrities. Everything from the hottest nightclubs, to the trendiest shops, to the city's best eats are included in "The City List". So it was also a unique opportunity for me to get the inside scoop on this cool town!

The art director, Kristen Miller, was really great to work with and had a very cool vision for the format. They photoshot each celebrity, and I created "mind maps" of all the attractions mentioned in the article. These "mind maps" were made up of icons representing the attractions and hand-lettered quotes offering up fun tidbits about what these celebrities love most about their city. So, I got to really dive into researching—which is always a part of the process I love—and was able to use a combination of drawing, lettering, and design to make these images work together, while also integrating with the photographs, to create an informative visual for the article.

I had a lot of creative freedom with this, which always makes a project extra fun. And with 5 full-page spreads to fill, I got to draw so many different, cool things! Plus, really feel like I got to know Cleveland on a personal level—now I might just have to plan a visit! :)

You can also check out the full article & spreads in the online magazine.

Art Love Japan

2011-03-31T00:30:00.006-04:00

The recent disasters in Japan have touched all of us; As humans we can only feel an overwhelming feeling of sympathy and heartbreak for all the people who have lost loved ones, homes, livelihoods...everything they had and knew. Yet, as a single being on the other side of the world there's also a sense of helplessness about what we can really do to make a difference. But, I think every little bit counts, and I've been inspired by some friends who have responded by using their talents to create art for sale and offering up the proceeds to relief efforts.

Manjari Sharma—a dear friend and amazing photographer—just created a gorgeous limited edition print entitiled "Hope" that was sold through Wall Space Gallery and benefited 2 charities aiding the Japanese in need. Tara Jacoby—a friend and super talented emerging illustrator—created a really beautiful piece that she's selling prints of and donating all proceeds to the Red Cross. So, when I saw the call for entries for Art Love Japan, I was super excited to have my own chance to create something for the cause.

Art Love Japan is a charity art show/event at In Rivers Gallery in Brooklyn, New York. Anyone can participate by sending in a small 5"x8" work of art inspired by the theme of love, hope and happiness. All original works will be sold for $20 and buyers will have the choice of 3 charities to donate the proceeds to.

The exhibit opens Friday April 8 and will only show for 3 days at In Rivers Art Gallery in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Full details about the project and exhibit can be found on the website or facebook page.

Every April, my street becomes a beautiful promenade of pink petals and the air becomes filled with a sweet, delicious smell as the Japanese cherry trees lining the perimeter of the Brooklyn Botanical Garden begin to blossom. I love this time and these trees, and so I felt inspired to use such a beautiful cultural symbol to convey my sense of love and hope for Japan in my piece. As I was researching, I learned exactly what the cherry blossoms symbolize to the Japanese people: The fragility and ephemeral nature of life. That fragility has been exemplified in Japan more than ever over this last month—so it seemed the perfect subject matter to base an image off of. Here's the piece I created and am donating to the exhibit:

I really enjoyed creating this. There wasn't much time from the call for submissions to deadline for this project, so I tried to keep it simple and experimented a bit with style and medium. I found a cool paper laying around my studio—almost like an oak tag stock—and used ink and water color & liquid acrylic washes to just add minimal color. It was a fun, fresh way for me to work a bit differently from both my heavily textured paintings and my flat, digital art.

I'll be at the exhibit next Friday—if you are in the NYC area come check it out, buy some affordable art—and support a great cause!

Photomobile

2011-03-28T20:24:00.000-04:00

I just sent off my submission for the Photomobile—it's Art House Co-op's current project, where participants choose a theme, receive a disposable camera, interpret their theme in the 27-exposures on the camera, and send in the outcome. Similar to the Sketchbook Project, the Co-op will curate a traveling exhibit out of all photos they receive and take the show across the country—but this time, they'll be traveling in an airstream trailer that the library of images is housed in!

This project just sounded way too cool to pass up, and the timing was just perfect—I signed up and received my camera right before my trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras—and one of the themes is "Neighborhood Characters"—what could be more fitting!

I had a lot of fun capturing colorful images of interesting people down there to tell my story and submit to the project. Here's a few of my favorite shots:

I especially love the last shot; I love the white and black—even in the background awnings and windows—and the quietness of the street behind the couple. Almost feels like a small town in France or something...which is actually a quality that many places in the French Quarter have.

I have to admit, there was an interesting challenge to this project that hadn't really occurred to me until I got the pictures developed. We've become completely accustomed to digital photography—you can instantly zoom, crop, and view your shots unlike on these disposable 35mm point-and-shoots. We've also become used to looking at photos on screen, rather than getting the dingy drug-store developed prints of the past. So I felt much less in control with these, which I think is a big part of the point of this project. But, as fun it was to be surprised by what came out on my camera, there were a lot of shots that just didn't feel dynamic enough to include in my submission. But, I've still submitted most of the pics and will have to wait and see what they choose to include in the exhibit!

There's still time to sign up if you're interested—anyone can participate. Registration is open until March 31st, and you don't need to postmark your entry until June 15. The touring exhibit will kick off in Brooklyn in Fall 2011—you can find out all the details on Art-House Co-ops website.

March Madness

2011-03-25T22:39:00.001-04:00

March has been such an exciting, wonderful month! Right after wrapping up a super cool job for Cleveland Magazine (which I be posting samples of as soon as I get the final layouts) I took off for two back-to-back super fun adventures: my very first Mardi Gras in New Orleans, then my very first time to the SXSW music festival in Austin, TX!

Anyone that knows my work (or me personally) knows how much I love music....and food. Both these towns and events are completely about music and food and celebration—so I felt right at home and extremely inspired!

This was my 4th visit to New Orleans, but my first for Mardi Gras. A huge fan of costumes, parading, and all-around shenanigans, Mardi Gras has been on the very top of my bucket list for awhile. I also have fallen quite deeply in love with the city of New Orleans from my annual visits over the past 3 years—I love absolutely everything about it. From the incredible food to the colorful culture; from the warm, fun people to the pretty sights and funky sounds; I truly cannot get my fill of that wonderful, amazing city!!

And Mardi Gras is one of the oldest, all-encompassing cultural celebrations the city holds annually. I'd been told by locals that it's truly a representation of what the culture is all about, and something that I just have to experience at least once in my life—especially if I really love the city. This year was just the year! After having gotten familiar with the city the past few years, I felt prepared to have a true (i.e. NON-frat boy) experience of this amazing celebration.

My best friend—New Orleans travel companion extraordinaire and costume-parading cohort, Kristin Smith—and I created some of the best costumes we've conjured up to date. Playing off the traditions of the Mardi Gras spirit, we designed something bright, beautiful and feathery, and made quite a splash! We were definitely a big hit and fit right in with the locals on Mardi Gras Day!! The amount of fun had in three days of dancing, parading, laughing, eating (and of course bead-catching!) is really hard to sum up or capture in pictures....but here's an attempt. It really was one of the most fun, colorful, exciting things I've had the chance to experience!

Exactly one week after returning from New Orleans (meaning just one week of much needed recovery!) I was off to Austin for the SXSW music festival. My first time to Austin, I fell in love! It's such a cool city--It actually, in ways, reminded me of the spirit of New Orleans and Nashville—it's another city with music everywhere, every hour of the day, and some of the nicest local people I could imagine! I also really love the sort of "weird" eccentric, retro feel that the whole city has—there's was all this super cool signage all over the place. And I has some of the most interesting and most delicious food there—"artisan" hot dogs at Franks, the best BBQ I've ever had at Stubbs and Iron Works, Guiness ice cream at Amy's, fried avocados, breakfast burritos, bacon bloody marys and of course the Triple Lindy: Makers Mark, pickle juice, and beer shots (yes, each one chasing the previous! Yum!!)

One of my highlights was a double dose of Dancing Man 504 in both New Orleans and Austin! Dancing Man—or Darryl Young—is this amazing guy...a staple of New Orleans who's devoted himself to 2nd line dancing and sharing it with others—especially children. He's founded a program, Heal 2 Toe, where he teaches second line dance and culture to kids. He's all around an amazing guy with a ton of talent and personality, and I was able to meet and hang out with him for a bit in NOLA, then able to jump in his 2nd line parade down 6th St in Austin! If you are in NYC, he'll be doing A Jazz Funeral for Coney Island on April 3rd—I absolutely recommend checking it out!

And as far as the music festival—it was just awesome. Music everywhere!! Almost overwhelming to navigate, so we just kind of winged it, popping in cool little places for free shows as we walked around rather than buying a badge or rsvp'ing to get into the bigger shows. But I loved it that way. Got to see and hear a ton, found a few new bands that I super love—like the Orbans—and really just got to soak in the city as a whole. I can't wait to go back again sometime!

Just had to share these little tidbits....feeling really creatively inspired from weeks of celebrating life with great music, food, art and people! Ready to translate that into some good new work ...then on to the next adventure! :)

Spring snow showers?!

2011-03-23T23:48:00.004-04:00

One of the most disheartening things I can think of is waking up to sleet and snow in March, after a weekend of warm weather fooling me into thinking spring had finally arrived! Unfortunately, that's exactly how the first official days of spring have begun this year in NYC!

What else can you do but make the best of it by using it as an excuse to make a wintery piece of art! I've had this little gal inked and hanging around my studio for quite awhile, so felt inspired to finally give her a little color.

I have lots of exciting things to post soon....just wrapped up a super cool editorial illustration project, have recently had some crazy fun travels, and have my new website in the works and close to launching. So stay posted...this busyness has made for pretty sporadic blogging lately, but I'll be sharing lots soon!

Sketchbook Project on tour!

2011-02-22T09:55:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was the kick-off for the Art House Co-op's Sketchbook Project traveling exhibit with an opening reception at The Brooklyn art Library. I had a chance to stop by, but unfortunately it was close to the end of the night, and by that time they were trying to wrap things up and not allowing anymore check-outs. So, I didn't actually get to browse through any of the books, but it was a cool space with over 10,000 sketchbooks lining the shelves—I can't wait to get back there to peruse the stacks and take a look at how everyone interpreted their themes!

The exhibit will be at the Brooklyn Art Library in Williamsburg until February 27 when it'll pack up to hit the road on it's national tour. I'll coincidentally be in Austin, TX in March when it hits there—so hoping to check it out on the road too! The full schedule/tour dates are on the Art house Co-op's website.

Checking out the Sketchbook Project at Brooklyn Art Library

Opening reception, Saturday February 19

With Kristin Smith-my dear friend and also a participating artist in the Sketchbook Project

I also had a very cool opportunity to share a little piece about my experience with the project on Starving Talent—a resource site and online community for artists, by artists. It's a brand new website featuring all kinds of cool and inspiring articles and resources for creatives in all fields—illustration, design, photography, music, film. Sarah McGinnis—the organizer for the Tilsbury Publishing project I participated in last May—now works on Starving Talent and and invited me to contribute. I hope to submit more to the site in the future. It's a really cool place for artists—check it out if you have a chance, and be sure to read more about the Sketchbook Project opening there! Thanks Sarah!

Recent commission

2011-02-20T17:07:00.001-05:00

I've been juggling several project recently—which has kept me from blogging the last few weeks... Definitely one of the difficult things about balancing a full-time design job in addition to freelance assignments!

But that means I've been busy which is great; I'll be updating my website soon with some of the new book cover designs I've recently worked on, and in the meantime wanted to share my latest piece.

Another friend commissioned me to paint their wedding venue; they'll be creating prints of this to give to their guests at the reception. The venue is at the Breakers hotel in Florida—the architecture of the place is really interesting and it was fun to paint something tropical in the dreary middle of NYC winter! I'm pretty happy with the final piece and it's always fun to do something special for a friend.

As great as it was to have the opportunity to do this project, I'll likely not take any more commissions of this sort for awhile. I'm trying to churn out some new personal work to build my commercial/illustration and graphic design portfolios, and these kinds of projects are hindering me from moving along with that. I'll eventually return to being open to commissioned landscapes and portraits—but have to keep my focus on other things for a bit...

Inspiration from life

2011-01-27T14:36:00.001-05:00

I usually keep from blogging about personal and/or non-work related things—but sometimes life just intersects with work, when something so lovely or beautiful or exciting or interesting happens, that my creative mind just begins to explode with possibilities! The 10-day adventure I took over the holidays—first to Colorado, then Hawaii—was just that for me; and just way too amazing to not share a few tidbits!

I feel like most of the pics I took on the trip are disappointing...I must be the world's worst photographer. (Guess I didn't have enough interest in my art school photo classes to retain much! Or, I could blame my little point and shoot camera....) Anyway-clearly, my natural abilities lie in a pen or pencil and not a lens. But it's also partly just because there is no way for anyone to fully capture the beauty of experiencing things so majestic and amazing as the snow covered mountain tops of the Rockies, the black sand beaches of Maui, or the sun rising above the clouds at 10,000 feet on a volcanic crater. These are absolutely some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen; I also experienced so many fun, adventurous things—like snowboarding for the first time, hiking through a bamboo forest, climbing waterfalls, cliff jumping and surfing! (and yes, all in the same week!)

The trip was incredibly rejuvenating for me. As much as I love living in New York City, I can't believe how refreshing it can be to leave and be out in such big, open, fresh-aired spaces! I haven't had the opportunity to travel as much as I would like, and so for me, this was seeing a world I didn't know existed; It made me feel like I walked through a door to a whole other side of life, just waiting for me to begin to experience it. I find inspiration for my work in so many places—other cultures, other artists, music; But, I feel like the best inspiration comes from personal experiences like these and I'm really excited to digest and translate some of this into some new work.

Boulder/Nederland CO


Took some amazing hikes—beautiful views!


Maui

Everyday started and ended with a beautiful sky

Stopped for a hike on the Road to Hana to climb some waterfalls


Black and red sand beaches on the way to Hana

Stopped at this tidepool on the way to Hana—one of my favorite spots of the trip! Did my first cliff-jumping here!

Watching the sunrise at the Haleakalā Crater

10,000 ft elevation—above the clouds!

"House of the Sun"

Such an amazing morning

Yay 2011!

2011-01-27T00:36:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year to all!
I'm a little late catching up with my blogging—2011 has already been off to a very fast-paced, busy start!

I'm full of inspiration and exciting new ideas for this year including some plans to begin to sell some products and prints featuring my art, as well as branch out to some new markets with both my design and illustration work. But—first project in the works: relaunching my website with a brand-new look! Keep an eye out for that soon.

In the meantime, I've been working with some new publishing clients on some book cover projects. I can't share those for awhile, but it's been great to start the year with some new relationships.

I also finished up my sketchbook for the Arthouse Co-op's The Sketchbook Project. The touring national exhibit begins next month at The Brooklyn Art Library in Williamsburg, with a reception on February 19th. From there, the sketchbook collection will exhibit in 9 different US cities through July of this year, including stops in Chicago, Austin, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and more! Over 28,000 artist participated in this project so definitely keep an eye out for the exhibit in a city near you! (Schedule is on the Arthouse Co-op website)

Here are a few of my last pages from "Great hopes and Massive Failures" (a.k.a. a visual diary of my years as a single woman in New York City's sometimes vicious, sometimes hilarious, dating scene!) I had a blast with this project, and even found myself inspired to keep some other ongoing theme-based sketchbooks...which I'll share some of soon!

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-21T23:36:00.000-05:00

I'm very excited that I had the opportunity to illustrate and design Puffin Books' holiday card. It was a fun little piece that also allowed for some hand-lettering, and will be sent to many of the talent artists and authors who work with Penguin.

I'm off for an amazing holiday adventure to Colorado and Hawaii--so sure to have lots of inspiration to start off a new, productive year! In the meantime,

Happy holidays to everyone, and all the best for a happy and healthy 2011!

Another sketch...

2010-12-21T23:35:00.000-05:00

Just have to share one more from the sketchbook project...this one is one of my faves so far

New painting

2010-12-21T08:37:00.000-05:00

I'm getting the BEST Christmas gift this year--my boyfriend is taking me on an amazing trip—first to Colorado, then to Hawaii to ring in the new year! Either I've been REALLY good, or he's just the best boyfriend ever. (I'm pretty sure it's the latter!)
Anyway--really hard to match a gift like that--especially because his birthday is also on Christmas day! So, I decided to make him a painting. I was a little unsure if it would make a good gift for hanging in his bachelor pad since my style is so feminine...but I used the inspiration of our upcoming hawaiian adventure and created this image.

....and, he loved it!! :)

More Sketchbook Project

2010-12-18T22:43:00.000-05:00

Just sharing more of my progress with the Sketchbook Project.

My theme is "Great Hopes and Massive Failures" and this title is, for me, an opportunity to tell some of the funny (well, mostly funny!) stories from my past life in the NYC singles/dating world.
I'm really enjoying just getting to experiment a bit with composition & design—and lots of hand-lettering—to tell the stories and represent these characters from my life in interesting ways.

Blog Illustrations for "Secret Lives of the Unemployed"

2010-11-29T14:27:00.002-05:00

I was recently asked to illustrate a fun story on a cool short-fiction blog, by writer Elizabeth Bartucci, that chronicles three Brooklyn neighbors, who after a year of being unemployed stop looking for work and embrace their lives of permanent hooky.

I created 3 pieces to accompany the post "Strap of a Jock", a humorous glimpse of a neurotic woman's traumatic wash-n-fold laundry experience. This entry made me laugh out loud, and I really had fun making the art! Here are the finished images, and the full story can be read at Secret Lives of the Unemployed.

The Fire Eater

2010-11-07T22:26:00.002-05:00

Just finished a little personal piece, inspired by the sketch I made for this year's Halloween costume: A sideshow/circus fire-eater!

AND-it just so happens to fit this week's Illustration Friday theme: BURNING

After having such a blast creating the vintage sideshow-style costumes for Coney Island's Mermaid Parade this past summer, friends and I were inspired to revisit the sideshow theme for Halloween. I decided to make a fire-eater costume....of course with a gory spin on things--I had "real" flaming torches and a disgusting burn on my face!

Before diving into the costume-making, I sketched out my ideas as usual....and couldn't resist revisiting those—now that my Halloween fun is over—to make a nice little illustration. I also realized this makes a nice companion piece to the "Acrobat" image I made for Illustration Friday a few months ago. Looking at these together, I'm also feeling inspired to expand this into more of a series—and potentially apply to notecards, journals, etc. (for sale in my future etsy shop!). I really love this whole vintage-circus theme and feel like I could come up with endless characters.

Here's a glimpse at how my costume looked :)

Commissioned art

2010-11-01T21:29:00.001-04:00

A dear friend of mine got married recently, and I was honored to have the opportunity to create 2 illustrations for her. The first was a portrait of the bride and groom, used for her save-the-date card. The other is an image of the venue she had her reception; she created small prints of this give to each of her guests as the favors.

These were extra-special projects as it's wonderful to be able to create something for a good friend!

Illustration Friday-Spooky

2010-10-17T22:34:00.001-04:00

Just re-posting an image I made for a gallery show awhile back, inspired by the Mexican holiday, Día de los Muertos...or Day of the Dead. I felt that it fits this week's Illustration Friday theme: Spooky.

This image can be purchase as a print through Charmingwall Gallery: http://www.charmingwall.com/

Sketchbook

2010-09-28T00:20:00.001-04:00

Just sharing a few of my pages from the Sketchbook Project....

Illustration Friday--Acrobat

2010-09-22T01:43:00.005-04:00

I haven't participated in Illustration Friday for awhile, but I couldn't pass up this week's topic: Acrobat.

Halloween is right around the corner, so of course I've been conjuring up my costume visions for awhile now. Friends and I are making circus-themed costumes, so I've spent the last few weeks referencing endless images for inspiration, and acrobat visuals have definitely been living in my brain....

But even more relative is the flying trapeze class I took a few weeks ago! That's right-I actually got to be an acrobat—flying through the air, just like in the circus! :) It really was an incredibly exciting, exhilarating experience! (I highly recommend trying it!)

So--how could I possibly pass up an opportunity to create this little acrobat image? I love making art that so directly reflects my life!

New piece

2010-09-11T20:12:00.004-04:00

Today was one of the first Saturdays in a very long time that I haven't been bogged down with a looming deadline for a project or some kind of social obligation; It was also a beautiful, breezy day with a twinge of fall in the air--so was a perfect day to spend some time on personal work!

I revisited a sketch I did awhile back, that has since been pinned above my desk staring me in the face, practically begging for me to pay it some attention again. So I went to work on it--and made a little finished piece of it. This is one in a series of drawings I'd like to use to refine some digital techniques, and expand my body of work geared toward middle-grade/tween product and/or book & editorial markets. I've gotten positive response to recent illustration work in this vein--and this is also the market I've become most familiar with over the 6+ years I've spent designing young adult book covers. I had a ton of fun working on this--and really want to continue to refine this work process and style.

Great Hopes and Massive Failures

2010-09-04T19:17:00.008-04:00

A few weeks ago, I posted about The Sketchbook Project—a nationwide art project and traveling exhibit that I am participating in, organized by Art House Gallery. I've been having a blast starting to fill up pages in my sketchbook, and will periodically post some of my progress with it as I continue over the next few months (The deadline to submit the finished book is January 15th).

Each participant was to choose one of the provided themes to base the sketchbook on. (Though these are just to be used as a starting point and completely open to interpretation.) I chose the theme “Great Hopes and Massive Failures”.

Like many single women, especially in New York City, I've racked up countless stories of bad dates over the years. And, I would guess I'm not the first of these women to hear friends repeatedly say (after living vicariously through my tales of single-dom) that all these stories would make for a great book. I don’t, however, consider myself much of a writer—so instead decided to use this opportunity to create a visual diary of some of these stories. After all, what greater hope is there than the exciting possibilities of what might come from meeting someone new? And how much more massive failure can you feel when those hopes are smashed...like, by the realization that the guy who just showed up for your first date with a half-drunken 12-pack of beer is a total loser!?

Of course, this diary isn’t meant at all to be a venue for some man-bashing rant. It’s simply meant to be complete fun for me, and just to make light of some of the ridiculous dating experiences I've had in the past. Taking a personal approach to interpreting this theme allows perfect ground for me to freely experiment with visual ways to tell a story. I really want to push myself conceptually, using metaphors and composition to create a narrative in new ways. Also—the nature of this kind of story-telling allows alot of opportunity to incorporate hand-lettering which I am always interested in exploring more of too. And the sketchbook format creates a chance to experiment with medium without the need for executing finished, polished pieces.

I'm sharing here my title/first page—I had alot of fun with this, looking to old circus-y/sideshow poster type for inspiration and weaving in hints of gold leaf accents. I'll share alot more as I continue sketching!

Final gallery piece

2010-08-28T23:24:00.002-04:00

This is the final piece I've submitted to MacWorthington Gallery for their September show. It's titled "American Girl". I had alot of fun creating this piece—I love making work that is directly influenced by my personal life and interests!

The opening for the exhibit is September 18th, from 6-9pm. The gallery is located at 749 North High Street in the Short North arts district of Columbus, OH. Please stop by if you are in the area!

www.macworthington.com

Gallery piece

2010-07-29T22:09:00.004-04:00

A few months ago, I signed on with MacWorthington Gallery in Columbus Ohio. I'll periodically show paintings there, and my work can also be seen and purchased through their online gallery. The first show that I'll have work included in there will be in September, so I wanted to share the in-progress painting I'm working on.

The gallery is open to any subject matter and medium, so it's a great opportunity for me to explore themes I'm personally excited about and also experiment with medium a bit. I had so many images in my head that I would just love to create--but thought a lot also about something that might sell to the kind of clientele a gallery like that might get. I decided to tap into a recent inspiration--the Coney Island Mermaid Parade.

The Mermaid Parade stems from Coney Island's Mardi Gras celebration that was celebrated every autumn in NYC from 1903-1954. It was re-born in the early 1980s as a celebration of summer, held each June on the Saturday closest to the summer solstice. 3 years ago, some friends and I decided to participate, because with our love of costume-making, it just seemed natural! We've marched in it each year since, and it's one of my absolute favorite events of the year! This most recent parade was our favorite to date--we played off the Coney Island sideshow/freakshow and created marine representations of old-time sideshow performers, "The Spectacular Seashow". (I was an Octupus-woman..."Suzi Squid"!) Here's a few photos of our get-ups!:

There's a "Freak Bar" at Coney island--adjacent to the Freak Show performance space, and we found ourselves hanging out there for a good portion of the day after the parade ended. There were quite a few people who wanted our pictures--and the American flag hanging outside was a perfect backdrop for us to vogue a few pin-up style poses. We were also handed a "golden bird" by another participant, who informed us it's a Mermaid Parade tradition and good luck to hold this bird on Mermaid Parade day. Not sure how much truth is in that--but we had alot of fun posing, and these are the photos I've derived my inspiration and reference from:

And this is my sketch for the piece I will be submitting to MacWorthington Gallery. I am super excited to get going in color with this!

The Sketchbook Project

2010-07-21T23:07:00.001-04:00

I'm really excited about participating in The Sketchbook Project--a nation-wide art project organized by Art House Gallery. Each participant receives a Moleskine sketchbook to fill as they wish, inspired by a provided theme. The sketchbook is to be sent back to Art House, who will exhibit the sketchbooks across the country. The tour includes Brooklyn, Austin, San Francisco, Portland (ME), Atlanta, and Chicago. Eventually, the books end up in the permanent collection of The Brooklyn Art Library, where they will be barcoded and available for the public to view.

I chose the theme "Great hopes and massive failures" which has already inspired me with lots of visual ideas to explore. I can't wait to get my book and get started!

Anyone is invited to participate--if you are interested, you should check it out on their site.

ICON6!

2010-07-19T21:02:00.008-04:00

I want to share some highlights from my experience at ICON--though it's hard to pare it down because the entire weekend really was fantastic!

There was just so many great speakers! There was a major focus on the world of publishing and what the future of illustration within publishing holds for us, with all the rapidly changing technology and media formats. Alot of interesting (and differing!) opinions from art directors, designers and illustrators created alot of discussion throughout the entire weekend. Obviously, no one can really answer the question of what the future holds—in any context—but it is an important time to be thinking about how our changing world is going to affect visual artists' careers in the all-too-near future...for the better or the worse. I personally feel that the industry will be very different in just a few years--but not in a good or bad way necessarily. I think as artists we just all need to be open to adapting to what's next, and keeping our eyes open for new markets that will be created as technology continues to change. It could be a very exciting time.

There were some really great panels on the use of illustration, rather than photography, from some top art directors & companies--including SooJin Buzzelli, Sally Morrow, Irene Gallo, and the creative team at United Airways. There was a really entertaining discussion from children's book illustrators John Hendrix, Adam McCauley & Istvan Banyai, and a pretty memorable overview from Wayne White on his illustrator-to-cartoonist-puppeteer-to-fine artist career path. There were also lots of cool presentations from motion graphics/animation studios (of course, it was LA!)

One of my other favorite sessions was a talk from Melinda Beck and Gary Taxali on issues of exposure vs. fair pay. They shared some great stories, and are both artists whom I admire so much—not just for their work—but also for their knowledge of the business and the ethics they practice when dealing with clients.

The ICON bookstore always has a great selection of books to pick up from the featured artists and speakers. I just couldn't resist buying Paul Rogers' Jazz ABZ--the art is so beautiful. I love the graphic quality and the sophisticated palette and design. And, of course I am completely inspired by the subject matter. I also had the great opportunity to meet Paul and have him sign my copy--he's a pretty awesome guy!

I also was really inspired by Todd Oldham's presentation, and love his book on Charlie Harper—a collection of his work over the span of his 60-year career—which is gorgeous! He spoke a lot about the time he spent with Charlie during the last few years of his life, cataloging all his work, which was fascinating. I also was super excited to meet Mr. Oldham at the book signing.

And the other book I just had to pick up and get signed was The Dress Doctor, illustrated by fashion-illustrator Bil Donovan. Bil's style is just so inspiring--the way he captures so much elegance and grace in such simple, bold forms. And, he was an incredibly sweet person also!

Of course--aside from all the great info and inspiration in everything I attended, it also proved to be another wonderful conference of connecting and networking with so many amazing and talented peers. I met lots of great new people, but also re-connected with tons of people I've met at previous conferences and illustration events...and once again, I'm reminded that illustrators are the most fun people in the world!

New blog design

2010-07-19T20:26:00.001-04:00

I just returned from ICON6 --the Illustration Conference--in Pasadena, CA. It's an event held every 2 years or so in a different city, and always proves to be a fantastically inspiring weekend filled with incredible speakers, workshops, and presentations. This year was no different--I saw and met so many talented and fun people and really got myself re-energized about my work and thinking alot about some new paths to explore.

Step one--updating this blog! I felt like it really needed a little bit of designing--thought I'm not feeling too excited about blogger's new "template" designs. I don't love the limited choices in color and background images/textures, and the fact that I'm unable to upload more of my own imagery. But, maybe it'll just take a bit more figuring out and playing with, or exploring how to create a custom-designed blog. For now--do feel free to let me know if you have any thoughts on this--better, worse?

Tilbury Publishing Exhibit

2010-05-19T22:59:00.004-04:00

I was recently invited to submit a piece for an exhibit organized by Tilbury Publishing. Their newest children's book, One of Us, is being released in late May in conjunction with Powered by Girl, a campaign from Hardy Girls Healthy Women (www.hghw.org) designed to educate teen girls about the impact of media on their lives and empower them use their creativity, wit, and individuality to make a difference.

On May 24 in New York City, (the night before Book Expo) Tilbury will host a launch party for their book, and this exhibit will be part of the event. All the pieces will be on sale to benefit Powered by Girl.

The only guidelines for the piece were that it was to be a small 4x6 size, and somehow a representation of yourself. This opportunity was super exciting to me--I think it's a great cause, and "girl power" is totally up my alley! Plus, I really had fun dipping into a self-portrait.

Here's my piece:

It's no secret to anyone that knows me that I LOVE to dance! (I'm not claiming to be any good at it though!) And, I've recently returned from a visit to my favorite place in the world-New Orleans, where I spent 5 days of what felt like dancing around the clock! The music has had me moving non-stop these last few weeks since I've been back, and I've been feeling super inspired and creative since, too. So, this just felt fitting. I also felt that the phrase "Dance Your Own Dance" really kind of sums up the way I live my life, and sends a message that I'd love to share with young girls.

The show will hang at Book Culture (536 West 112th Street, NYC) through May 28th, and the launch party is on Monday May 24th at 6pm. Works will be exhibited together in large box frames, and will be sold individually in protective sleeves for $25 with 100% of sales benefiting the Powered by Girl campaign!
All contributions made to Hardy Girls Healthy Women for the Powered by Girl campaign are tax-deductible.

Somebody Everybody Listens To

2010-05-14T22:17:00.005-04:00

I don't often post much about my book cover design work at Penguin, but on of my favorite books that I've worked on just went on sale. It's called Somebody Everybody Listens To, by Suzanne Supplee. It's just such a sweet and inspiring story about a girl chasing her dreams of becoming a musician from her small town to Nashville, and I think I was especially connected to it because I happened to be working on it as I planned my trip to Nashville last year! Anyway--it's great, you should check it out...And, was pretty pysched about with how the cover came out also-

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0525422420/yalit-20

The Saucy Dipper!

2010-05-14T22:06:00.009-04:00

I'm just wrapping up a really fun project--I created some illustration and lettering for a blog header. The client is a writer, and is beginning a foodie blog all about sauces and dips. Sounds like it's going to be super cool--with lots of great recipes and funny tidbits too. Plus with a tagline that reads "everything tastes better with sauce...and bacon" how could I resist?--I totally agree! The blog hasn't launched yet, but look for it soon!

In working on this project I've realized it's a bit shameful that my blog isn't better designed! I'm on it.....

More fruit!

2010-05-14T21:58:00.006-04:00

I also was super excited to get another call from Marlin Ad Agency to create more fruit for the packaging project for their client, Made. I got to do a blueberry and cranberry this time:

I'm so happy this has been an ongoing project. I love working on these--they are incredibly fun and I am really loving how they look as a whole line. I've now done 11 spots for them and several pieces of hand-lettering. It's also been one of my first advertising/packaging projects and I can't wait to see some of the displays in print. It's also been fantastic to work with the Art Director, Kristina Duewell. She was a colleague of mine at Penguin Books for several years--so it's super cool to get to work with her from this side of things...small world!

Way behind on updates!

2010-05-14T21:57:00.001-04:00

To say I'm a little behind on updating is a huge understatement--it's been a busy few months--and have had some great projects in the works...just not much time for the updating part of it!

I was involved again with the Artful Agenda project--and created lettering for the 2011 planners and Diaries. They are now on sale in the Designer's etsy shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/anArtfulAgenda

I submitted just a few black and white illustrations this time for some calendar page spreads. I used the sketches I created for a couple of my recent 6x6 pieces and inked them. I really like how they look as small black and white line drawings, so I may revisit these and explore other ways to use them:

More music art

2010-03-05T22:29:00.005-05:00

I've just finished the 2nd part of the promotional package for Michaela Anne--this design will be used for her show posters as well as her promo postcards. She wanted to have a large space at the bottom that can she write in info for each of her shows. I altered the girl a bit from the web banner I'd previously done for her--she ended up wanting to add the shot gun and whiskey bottle because she has a sultry sound, and she didn't want to be represented with too "sweet" of an image. I had tons of fun doing this--I've also included a detail here of the illustration of the girl. I loved doing the handlettering and creating the textures and distressing on this to give it that "old-timey" feel.

Michaela will also use some of these elements on her upcoming website--and once her album is recorded, I'll be working on the album art and design, which I can't wait for!

Music art

2010-01-19T15:12:00.005-05:00

I'm very happy to be working on some new artwork for a local musician. She's a young singer/songwriter with an awesome voice, whose sound is inspired by folk and old country. I've seen her perform a few times and her music is right up my alley, so was psyched when she asked me to create some artwork for her new website and album. I've really been wanting to do some work for music packaging, since music is so important to me.

This is a banner I've created for her website:

I'll also be creating a poster for her and full album packaging, which I'll post once they are finished.

Check out her music here: http://www.myspace.com/mymymichaela

It's Carnival time!

2010-01-11T22:54:00.004-05:00

Just wrapped up both of my Mardi-Gras inspired pieces for Six by Six Gallery's February show. I'm pretty excited about these, and still plan to revisit the themes in the future with the Spring and Autumn seasons. I adjusted the Winter piece a bit from the sketch stage to better tie in with the Summer piece and work together as a series.

Speaking of Six By Six Gallery, there's some exciting news--they've combined the gallery with their sister gallery-Charmingwall. http://www.charmingwall.com/
It's a bit of a more trafficked location (west village) and the monthly show openings will now be held here. They have also asked to sell framed prints of some of the pieces I've previously submitted! If you're interested, please contact the gallery about purchase!

Mardi Gras Inspired art for 6x6

2009-12-29T21:58:00.006-05:00

Wanted to share some new sketches I'm working on for a submission to Six by Six Gallery's February show. Being so inspired by the rich culture of New Orleans, I've had this theme in my head for quite awhile, and now with Mardi Gras right around the corner and Six by Six Gallery still taking submissions for their monthly shows, it just seemed like the perfect time to dive into this subject matter.

I love Mardi Gras masks and all kinds of costuming-making in general, so got interested in creating a representation of each of the four seasons with a girl in a mask; these are sketches for Summer and Winter. Would love to get to Spring and Fall to submit all 4 to the show as a series, but juggling a few assignments right now so will see how far I get before the Jan 15th deadline....

Final products

2009-12-29T21:49:00.003-05:00

I've recently gotten a glimpse a few of the projects I've worked on this year in their final context.

Made's blog is up, using the fruit art I created as part of their developing identity:

http://madedrinks.com/our-drinks/

Can't wait to see some of the product display using the art!

The "Changing Body" covers I did for Fairview Press are up on Amazon-was happy to see how the design came out

And Scones and Sensibility is now on the shelves in your local Bookstore! :)

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Scones-and-Sensibility/Lindsay-Eland/e/9781606840252/?itm=1&usri=scones+and+sensibility

Music inspired art

2009-11-21T10:02:00.005-05:00

This new piece was inspired by my recent trip to Nashville, Tennesee, and all the great music I heard in the honky-tonk bars down there. Specifically, an up-and-coming band called Jypsi (check them out here: http://www.jypsi.net/)

This band was just so fascinating to watch--it's a group of 4 young and extremely talented siblings who play traditional-style bluegrass and country music. But, they have this kind of funky-retro-high fashion look that creates this amazing juxtaposition in these small, dingy honky tonk bars of lower Broadway. They are like these wild and free spirits with the soul of old-timey country, and I kind of feel like they represented what I loved most about Nashville--that though it's best known for being a center of country music, it's more an intersection of so many types of Americana roots music that spans through history and is still very much alive and still effecting contemporary music today.

I'm also really interested in music in general--so really was inspired and had alot of fun creating this piece. I'm very interested in exploring more subjects related to the music I love. Was super excited to see "Music" happened to be Illustration Friday's theme this week, too!

I'm submitting this piece to Six By Six Gallery for their December show. The exhibit opens Friday December 4 at 531 East 13th Street (btwn Ave. A and B) in the East Village. http://www.6x6gallery.com/

new in-progress

2009-11-14T13:54:00.004-05:00

Working on a new painting to submit to Six by Six gallery's next show. I love working in this small square format, and this one is inspired by my recent trip to Nashville. Here's the sketch...

Some new inspiration

2009-11-02T15:33:00.009-05:00

I don't typically post a lot of personal things on this blog, but it's been a wildly inspiring and creative month, so I wanted to share a few things that have gotten my creativity bursting at the seams....

Earlier this month I took a trip to Nashville Tennessee, which was just amazing! The entire city is filled with live music--day and night, and there's a lot of history everywhere about Americana/roots music (which I am a huge fan of). There's lots of really cool memorabilia, in both museums and all the honky tonk bars--from all the greats, like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline.....some really amazing stuff! Here's a few pics of some of the things I found really visually inspiring!

In addition, Nashville is home to Hatch Show Print--one of the oldest and most well-known letterpress shops still operating today. They had a big part in creating the woodblock-type look popular for concert posters, and most concert posters in Nashville are still done by them and can be seen hanging all over town. I have always been a huge fan of their designs and fascinated with letterpress & woodblock printing, so it was especially cool to stop in the shop and see them at work (and pick up several posters of course!) Here's a link to there site, and some of my favorite posters of theirs:

http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/site/experience-hatch.aspx

The other very exciting and inspiring event this month was, of course, Halloween! It's by far my favorite holiday, mostly because it gets me super creatively charged. I absolutely love making a unique costume each year and always challenge myself....this year was a creepy wood-nymph/fairy with light up wings! tons of fun making this and I was pretty happy with how it turned out!

Also, my office goes all out at Halloween time too, so I get to lend a hand in transforming our office into something spooky and spectacular in addition to my own costume. Here's some photos of how we changed our work space into "Dracula's Dinner Party". we even ended up winning 2nd place! I wish work could look like this all the time!

So, you can see I always put a ton of work into Halloween, but it's all more than worth it!

I've got some exciting projects around the bend, so October has been a fantastic and timely source of inspiration! (also, insanely BUSY!!)
More details to come on those projects-in-the-works soon!

Book cover jobs

2009-10-07T23:14:00.004-04:00

I just wrapped up an exciting job for a new client--I got the opportunity to illustrate 3 book covers for Fairview Press. The books are guides for kids going through puberty and their parents--one for boys, one for girls, and also a dictionary of terms. This was a really fun project geared toward the exact audience I've become more interested in targeting, and the art director was just great to work with. Here's how the art turned out:

Can't wait to see them working with the design/type!

Dia de los Muertos

2009-09-07T21:55:00.007-04:00

I'm very excited to be entering a piece in an upcoming group exhibition!

There's a new gallery opening in the East Village (opened by the gallery owners of Charmingwall, a GREAT little gallery in the West Village that specializes in showing & selling illustrative fine artists' limited-edition prints)

This new gallery is called Six by Six, and the concept behind the whole gallery is to show small pieces of original art....any theme, any medium--the only guideline is for each piece to be created on a 6"x 6" canvas.

So, I got super excited about this as an outlet for a new personal piece.
I've recently come across some really amazing artist's websites who have explored the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos (or "Day of the Dead"), portraying female figures in the traditional makeup and costume of the cultural celebration. I had done a Day of the Dead piece in college, as I've always been interested in the theme, but decided I wanted to revisit it and explore, in my own way, a more feminine and beautiful perspective.

This is the piece I am entering--I had SO much fun creating this!

The show opening will be on Friday, October 2nd from 6-8pm at Six by Six Gallery, 531 E. 13th Street
www.6x6gallery.com

Please come by and check it out if you can!

new sketches

2009-08-30T22:36:00.005-04:00

Here's a peek at something new I'm working on. I'm creating a series of drawings, honing in on refining my style to fit markets with a middle-grade girl audience (like book covers!) I was inspired by the Artful Agenda drawings I did earlier this year, and just love creating little pieces like this! I plan to continue to develop these, and more like them, to apply to sellable products (notecards, greeting cards, small prints, etc.) and open up an etsy shop later on this year. These are the first few sketches I've been working on, and will be finished in full color.

New portrait

2009-08-23T18:03:00.004-04:00

Just finished another commissioned wedding portrait--this one included the couple's baby, which was a fun challenge for me.

Artful Agenda on sale!

2009-07-31T13:43:00.004-04:00

The Artful Agenda planners, calendars and diaries are now available on the designer's Etsy shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7221924

These are the black and white lettering projects that I had the very cool experience of working on with designer Stephanie Macdonald and a group of really wonderful contributing artists. Please stop by and check them out--and tell your friends! :)
Thanks!

Web site update!

2009-06-07T21:41:00.003-04:00

Just added some new work to my website (finally!)

www.jeaninehenderson.com

Stop by if you have a chance--thanks!

new work

2009-06-01T23:05:00.004-04:00

I'm going to be in the "Artist spotlight" on Altpick.com next week, and decided to use this as an opp to make some new work. This was a black and white drawing I had done for the Artful Agenda calendar--I added color traditionally and scanned in some textures that I lino-printed to create this. I'd like to continue to make work in this vein. I recently had a conversation with a co-designer who is very strong in working with illustrators on middle-grade book covers; she suggested I try to market myself a little more clearly to clients serving a middle-grade girl audience, as my style and subject matter lend to this and there is actually a good need for it in the industry (at least in books...) I am pretty excited about the idea!

If youd like to read my interview on Altpick, it will be on www.altpick.com from June 7-10.

New book cover

2009-05-31T14:13:00.005-04:00

Just finished a YA book cover assignment for Egmont Publishing. This has to be my favorite job I have done so far--mostly becasue it's my dream: I created the concept, design, illustration and hand-lettering! Plus, I got to also design the interior, which allowed for some line art also. I really had so much creative freedom with developing the package as a whole, and I even got to do some marketing materials for it. (Plus, it's a super-cute story!) This will be published in December of this year.

more fruits!

2009-05-30T21:53:00.003-04:00

I had a couple more pieces assigned from the advertising agency I did work for last month:

These have been really fun, and have made a nice little body of work. My fingers are crossed they may have packaging or other promotional needs down the line for this product!

Inspiration is oozing!

2009-05-07T15:33:00.005-04:00

I just got back from my 2nd trip to New Orleans for Jazzfest--was hard to believe I could fall even more in love with that city than I did last year on my first visit-but it's true! I have never been to a more inspiring place! (though living in NYC is inspirational everyday...) The music is the best I've ever heard, the food is the best I've ever eaten, the colors the most vivid I've ever seen, and the culture-is just completely unique! My friend and I took about 400 photos over 5 days-and I have come back feeling so inspired to create! Here's a few pics that captured some of the arts and culture I found most vividly stimulating. My brain is swarming with new ideas for some personal work...so stay tuned for new projects!

Many updates!

2009-05-07T15:25:00.007-04:00

There are so many new things to update! It's been hard to keep up...Freelance design & illustration jobs have been rolling non-stop (hooray!) but I'm learning what a hectic juggle that is with a full-time gig. (and how little time it leaves for blogging and promotion...and sleep!) But I have been working on a lot of really fun stuff, and plan to update my website soon with lots of new things.

I've wrapped up the Artful Agenda project--this was such a great opportunity to explore hand-lettering styles pretty extensively, as I ended up doing the entire 2010 planner, including days, months, numbers, holidays, quotes, and text blocks of artist bios. I have already posted most of the artwork that will be included--here's a sampling of how some of the lettering and icons turned out:

I'll be continuing on with a few other Artful Agenda projects-including an address book, and really looking forward to it as this one has been so fun!

I'm currently working on designing and illustrating a YA novel cover for Egmont. It's still in the works so I wont be posting anything until it's approved, but they've also asked me to do the art & design for some promotional items for the book-I'm very excited to have a project where I get to sink my teeth into the entire package as a whole!

Just another day on the Jersey Shore.....

2009-04-11T22:47:00.008-04:00

Here's the final painting of the monkey & pug--I'm pretty happy with how this came out--it's such a strange image, I had a really good time painting it! I haven't done animals in my work too often, so it was fun to tackle that in my style, and at the same time try to capture some human characteristics and capture some personality. Hopefully the friend who commissioned it will like it too!

sneak peek...

2009-03-30T21:17:00.005-04:00

I have my commissioned painting of a monkey walking a pug well in the works (I posted this assignment awhile back). Wanted to post a few pics of it in progress...having alot of fun with it so far, and hope to finish it up soon!

Fruit in color

2009-03-30T21:13:00.005-04:00

Wrapping up my ad assignment-really had fun getting into color with these images!

Advertising/product art

2009-03-14T12:54:00.005-04:00

I'm working on a new illustration & lettering job for an advertising campaign. The product is an organic fruit drink--so the art includes some spots of funky, fun fruit and decorative lettering. It's super exciting, as this is a bit of a new market for me--and the subject matter is right up my alley! These are a few of the initial sketches, which went over well in general with the client. I have some slight revisions-and can't wait to do these in color!

New drawing

2009-02-26T22:10:00.004-05:00

Another image I submitted for the calendar project-I always loved this quote, and the designer allows for quote-inspired images to face the calendar pages in the Artful Agenda.

More Artful Agenda art

2009-02-16T11:37:00.011-05:00

Here's a few more of the illos I submitted to be included in the Artful Agenda calendar. I actually used this as an opportunity to revisit some old sketches, textures, and patterns I've created previously for past projects, or just for fun, and to challenge myself to combine or use them in a different way. I've been having a great time working on this project! The calendar will be available on the designer's Etsy shop late this year.

Artful Agenda Illustration

2009-02-11T23:46:00.004-05:00

Here's the first of a few illustrations I am submitting for the Artful Agenda/calendar project. I'm hoping the designer will use this as a spread for a spring time week, and I included the weekdays lettered in the shape of raindrops. All the art is to be greyscale for this project--but I may revisit this girl later and add some color as a personal piece.

My digits...

2009-02-05T21:45:00.003-05:00

title lettering

2009-01-31T18:37:00.002-05:00

Lettering in progress

2009-01-28T23:24:00.004-05:00

So, I am working on my calendar lettering-having alot of fun with this. Here's months of the year and a few of my days of the week styles so far. Interestingly, I am simultaneously designing a big book project at Penguin, creating a book about birthdays---there's a page for everyday of the year. So I guess my brain has been completely wrapped around dates and numbers these last few weeks! Here's hoping it might help me keep better track of time! ha!

Lettering project

2009-01-19T19:01:00.003-05:00

At the start of the year, I bought a very cool little 2009 daily planner--An Artful Agenda -- that I found on Etsy. It's filled with all kinds of fun handlettering and small b&w spot illos. I inquired about it when purchasing from the designer--and now am going to be doing some lettering and art for the 2010 planner! Plus, some other work for future projects the designer has in the works. I'll post some of my sketches as they come along.

N'Awlins

2009-01-11T14:13:00.005-05:00

This is a small personal piece I did, inspired by my first trip to New Orleans last year. I based this off a photo I took-I loved how iconic the beads hanging over the lamp post are!

Here's the photo:

Look for on the shelves

2008-12-19T23:46:00.008-05:00

Just wanted to post a few of my favorite recent covers. These will all be pub'd by various Penguin imprints in the next few months.

I got to work for the first time with very talented photographer, Michael Frost (www.michaelfrost.com), on the photo shoot for "Alis". Then I created my own background using found photos and textures and hand-distressed type.

"Jane In Bloom" is one of the best stories I have gotten to work on. It's a very touching, sensitive book about loss and growth. I got pretty emotionally connected to this one, and felt like it was a great chance to make a quiet image powerful through scale, cropping and color.

"Paris Pan Takes the Dare" was such a fantastic project-I was very lucky to work with 2 extremely talented illustrators. An Italian artist, Luisa Montalto (www.luisamontalto.net) and illustrator/hand-letterer Sarah J. Coleman (www.inkymole.com). It was really exciting to see the two artist's work come together to convey my concept. Plus, I happened to meet Sarah at ICON5, (who is so fantastic in person!) just as this project has been commissioned, which made it even more exciting for me to direct.

New assignment

2008-12-19T23:38:00.002-05:00

I just got a commission for another large painting-and I can't wait to design this image. Here's the request I got:

...a monkey walking a pug...The kind of monkey I was thinking is the one from the sitcom "Friends" Ross's monkey. I'd like the monkey to be wearing a rounded red hat, almost like old style uniform for a movie worker from the twenties or even a elevator worker from the twenties. I'd like the pug to be a puppy and to be the fawn breed. Its tan colored with a black face. Just like my pug Tickle.
If its possible can the background be a beach setting on a nice sunny day?

Who WOULDN't be excited about this! So wierd and fun-it's going to be such a FUN image to paint!!

Ode to the Miser Brothers

2008-12-19T23:34:00.003-05:00

Just having a little fun playing around with two of my all-time favorite Christmas characters! Happy holidays everyone!

finished!

2008-12-13T12:33:00.007-05:00

So, I've finished the painting and ready to ship it down to Florida. Hoping that my friend's wife will like it! I had alot of fun working on this one, and tried to focus on some areas I often feel need more attention in my work. I also found that I really liked working on a Clayboard surface--first time I tried it and found it easy and versatile!

In Progress....

2008-12-03T21:23:00.004-05:00

Blowing Bubbles

2008-11-23T13:27:00.004-05:00

It's been awhile since I've posted anything (because shamefully it's been a few weeks since I've gotten back to work!) I recently moved, and just finally getting resettled into my new work space. So, now it's time to wrap my head back around my current projects. This is the one I have in the works right now. It's the 2nd painting for the friend who commissioned the large wedding portrait this summer. For this one, he gave me a "heart theme" but otherwise complete freedom. It's a 24" x 24" piece that he wants to hang in their bathroom. So, I got inspired by "bubbles"-here's the sketch:

I'm feeling really excited about this one! He wants to give it to his wife for Christmas, so I will be finishing it up asap.

Call For Unity poster

2008-11-23T12:57:00.006-05:00

Here's the final piece as they used it for the promotional materials for the event:

Call For Unity Art

2008-09-29T12:15:00.005-04:00

I just finished up a job for Sacramento News and Review. It was a really cool assignment--creating art to be used for the cover of a program guide and posters/promotional materials for an Interfaith Music Event. It's completely up my alley as far as subject matter-and the Art Director really encouraged alot of creativity with this one.

The annual event has taken place in Sacramento for the last seven years and has a focus on peace and acceptance through sharing music and culture in a diverse community. The image of a bird had become iconic for this event, and so they wanted to somehow include a bird of some sort. They also had a theme this year of "Caring for Creation" So I tried to communicate music and nature, and ended up with this:

They have a headline/logo which will go at the top. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, and especially excited to see it with the design and reproduced at a large poster size.

ZOMBIE QUEEN!

2008-09-22T23:30:00.006-04:00

Since Halloween, my favorite holiday, is just a little more than a month away, thought I would share this image. It's one of my YA book covers--which has become a project I got especially personally attached to.

My art director at Penguin assigned this project to me after she attended my "Zombie Prom" Halloween bash last year! And, we hired a fabulous photographer-Manjari Sharma www.manjarisharma.com (who just happens to also be one of my best friends and roommates) She had taken some amazing "prom portraits" at the "Zombie Prom"--so my art director knew she'd be perfect to get this shot.

We had a low budget to work with one this, so in trying to be resourceful, decided--who better to model than moi, of course!

So this project really turned out to be one of my favorites-I got to concept it, design it, art direct the photoshoot, AND be the model!

The book will be pub'd by Puffin Books in May 2009.

Harvard

2008-09-22T22:59:00.009-04:00

I just finished a job for Harvard University magazine. It was a really cool assignment, with a great art director. It was a very mature, introspective article about a girl reflecting on her dreams of going to Harvard and her communicating that to new prospective students upon her graduation from the college. I approached the article with a metaphoric/symbolic approach in my 1st set of sketches, which I was pretty excited about.

However, they preferred a more literal, less whimsical approach. So I submitted a 2nd set, these with a more narrative scene--

In the end, I was asked to combine some elements from the 1st and 2nd set of sketches. Here's what the final image came to be:

2008-09-01T20:03:00.003-04:00

Counting Sheep

2008-08-25T22:53:00.006-04:00

Sketched some lettering and this little sheep about a year ago (when I was going through some stuff and feeling like a "little lost sheep" actually) Anyway, always kind of liked it, so finally dug it out of an old sketchbook, did a lino cut of the sheep & printed it on a textured board, scanned it all and have been playing with it, adding texture and color digitally. Here's 2 of them.
I'm realizing with just a couple elements I can make endless little pieces of art and have hours of fun!! So, I think I'll continue with this....maybe make a new sheep every day! (or at least week!) I'm interested also in starting to explore some new venues for my artwork. Maybe packaging/products/licensing, etc. Also playing with the idea of opening an etsy.com shop where I could sell handmade books and notecards, etc.--so I feel like this type of project can be a good segway into that realm....

unexpected exposure...

2008-08-24T12:07:00.007-04:00

So I happened to find my work posted on some random blogs. Kind of cool, though some of them are foreign & I have no idea what they say!! Ha! But I can see there are links and images from other illustrators I really like, so I suppose it's a good thing....Not sure how I feel about my work being that easy to rip off my website, but then again at this point, I am ok with the exposure, and all the images are too low res for anyone to use them in print.

http://www.multimedial.com.ar/blog/index.php?entry=entry080728-102539

http://recogedor.blogspot.com/2008/07/jeanine-henderson-ilustraciones.html

http://williamvandegrift.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html

just interesting to see what's out there and who's actually looking at my work :)

Baby Announcement (project!)

2008-08-09T13:29:00.005-04:00

I just got a small freelance job for an illustration for a baby announcement--a woman who lives in my friend's building hired me--and she had a definite concept in mind. Her and her husband are big runners, apparently, and thought this would be pretty funny.

(I sort of think a baby in running shoes looks a little silly, but maybe that's just me!)

2008-07-30T22:15:00.004-04:00

YES! LETTERPRESS!

2008-07-30T22:07:00.003-04:00

Baby Book samples

2008-07-13T18:37:00.004-04:00

A few months ago, my Art Director suggested me as an artist for a book assignment--a novelty/gift type to be published by an adult division of Penguin, that would be geared toward expecting parents with a child who is not particularly looking forward to that new sibling. It was meant to be funny, sarcastic and quirky, and I submitted these samples to be considered for the project:

I didn't get chosen to do the book, but I was up against some really great and experienced illustrators. So I was happy to even be considered, and the editor and my art director both had positive reactions to this work, so I may try to develop some more portfolio pieces in this style, and geared toward this kind of market.

The Big One

2008-07-06T19:29:00.010-04:00

My most recent work was a large painting commissioned by a friend's husband to surprise her. This was super-exciting to me, as I'd never really painted very large scale but always had wanted to try. Also, I was flattered that he liked the work on my website so much he wanted an original, and that it was something I could do for a friend.

He wanted it based on a photo from their Florida-beach wedding. But, I don't do much portrait work, so likenesses are a bit challenging for me, and I didn't want it to come off cheesy. But I had alot of fun working out the composition-I worked full size. This is how it started:

But I wasn't happy with the shapes and layout, so I did a second sketch:

And basically combined elements I liked in both.

I played with the texture/swirly design in the background as a way to tie it together and add something to the empty space, but it made everything look much too busy once I got into adding color, so I took them out.

And, this is the final outcome:

It's interesting to me how much things changed in the course of the painting.

And, there were some challenges overall being the first time I worked this large scale. The logistics of getting the materials, rearranging my small space to work, and packing/shipping such a large box down to Florida--they were definitely all learning experiences!

BUT- my friend totally really loves how it came out. So, he's a happy client! :)
I actually have another commission from the same friend--but I am keeping it a little smaller (24 x 24) and am going to take a more graphic approach, as all he told me he wanted was some kind of "heart-theme). So, I am starting to get some sketches going for that one and hope to be able to finish that one up much more quickly than this one.

the start of something good.....

2008-07-06T19:18:00.002-04:00

So, even though I've never really been a fan of "blogging" or reading other people's blogs, (because, let's face it, aren't all of our lives entirely too busy to care about the mundane little daily going-ons of someone else's life?...haha) I've decided to start this blog about the development of my artwork.

I've been inspired to do this after attending ICON5 (the national illustration conference) this weekend. I'm re-energized about developing my art and pushing it further; and using experimentation of process, technique, and materials to do that. I hope this blog will be able to serve as a platform to share that journey with others, and to be able to get reaction and feedback on new things I try. But, more so, I intend this blog to become a personal diary or sketchbook for recording the exploration of my work and creating a conversation with myself about where I am heading.

So, if you are interested, thanks for reading and check back often to see what I'm working on. I am aiming to add new work every Sunday. Thanks!