All Hail the Mighty Tome

I was super into working in my various sketchbooks this semester. Here are some pearls that have happened over the semester from my personal illuminated manuscripts.

 

Cimaruta, the original Lucky Charms

Cimaruta

micron in sketchbook

June 2010

YES, that entendre was doublé ! Anyway, Cimarutas, or Cima di Ruta (sprig of rue) are traditional Italian folk-charms which possibly originate all the way back to the Etruscans. They are pendants, usually silver, and the folk tradition is to place them where one would want protection (baby’s cradle, hung in a doorway, worn as a necklace etc.) They are always a sprig of rue with charms/symbols hung from the branches. The symbols are often a mixture of Pagan and Catholic motifs.

I just discovered these things and thought they were neat, so I drew one.

Chee-ma-roo-ta, doesn’t it sounds like child’s programming?

Drawing II Final Project

The Three Allegories of Beauty, graphite and charcoal

Drawing II Spring 2010

For the our final in Drawing II, each student had to create some giant project that related to the human figure. Their were 3 general themes to choose from: the human body as a machine, the human body relating to a grander concept, or using parts of the body to create the drawing final. For my project I created “The Three Allegories of Beauty.”
  
For reference, I took photos of my friends Courtney and Erin, and I modeled for the 3rd allegory. I sketched out the infrastructure of each piece with graphite. I enhanced the shadows of the compositions with charcoal. The modeling in the drawings consists of blended graphite and charcoal, as well as stippling and crosshatching to create different texture throughout the composition. These were all drawn on 3 sheets of  white 22x30 drawing paper.

There are a number of artists, traditional and contemporary, that have influenced the artistic decisions I made with this project. Throughout history, in the middle-ages especially, people used allegories as a solution to visually represent abstract concepts. I decided to use allegories because they are traditionally female figures, and this works perfectly as the project is about female body-issues. Another artist that inspired me during this project (and in general) is Caravaggio. I am inspired by Caravaggio’s intense use of subject matter, but also his use of tenebrism. The last artist that inspires me (in general as well as in context of this project) is Kiki Smith. Kiki Smith is a sculptor whose work is all about the human figure. She works in themes of women’s issues and makes several references to mythology and folklore to further contextualize her sculptures.  


Because this piece had so many medieval elements, I wanted to make it a traditional triptych. Because I felt like these figures were on display, almost like a freak-show, I gave them a more Victorian appearance and the typography followed suit.

Maid, the melancholy Woman-Child. This allegory is my favorite aesthetically as well as conceptually, as it disturbs me the most. Courtney was so perfect for this.

Matrona, the proverbial Xanax Soccer-Mom. It was hard to make Erin looked fucked up at all, as she is so beautiful.

Matriarch, the discarded Hag. Our biology tells us that women are no longer needed when they are no longer fertile.

I actually modeled for this one. I drew a bunch of lines on my face, and I looked like Yoda when I was done. Yoda in a severe corset.

The Journeys Project

This was my favorite assignment in Illustration Word and Image. We were to make up an explorer and illustrate/document their journey. We had to depict where they went, who they met, what they found etc. and create an illustrated book around this story.
I decided to make a Celtic children's story: The Journey of Sionann Donnelly. This decision was inspired by a book I recently read, The Red-Haired Girl from the Bog by Patricia Monaghan.  

I made this one another accordion book. I made the cover out of illustration board and book cloth. The image on the cover (drawn with colored pencils) was an homage to one of my favorite motifs from history, The Three Hares. I snuck them in throughout the book.

cover page

Beginning of the story, intro to the character. First illustration shows her home-base (bedroom.)

page 2 and 3 are a little map of the journey.....

SURPRISE! Fold out, detailing the journey

Northern Irish cemetery (sorry about the blurriness)

Biddy Early's cottage

Newgrange

At the Climax, Sionann is confronted by the goddess Ériu, who chews her out for stealing and tells her to go home.

Sionann flies home, and when she unpacks her things, she finds a book that tells the tale of her journey. 

THE END

There's a little hidden raven in every image, as Ériu's raven spies on Sionann throughout the story.

Personal Map

ARGH! I can't get a good image of this assignment to save my life for some reason. Anyway, for Illustration Word and Image we were given the assignment to create a personal map/self portrait. I will do my best to describe this project, as all the images I have suck. (In addition to photoshop, I need access to a good camera.)

I drew a map of the pacific northwest, where I have always lived. I wanted to the map to have a Tolkeinesque feel, but with my own cartoony line quality so it didn't appear as if it wanted to be taken too seriously. In acknowledgment to my habit of romanticising everything just to deal with mundane reality, I renamed various important locations to sound like something from a D&D campaign. They all have their own little map symbols too.


Legend: Locations North to South
- The City of Subdued Excitement (Bellingham, WA)
- The Emerald Vortex (Seattle, WA)
- The Hillfort of Newakum (house I grew up in, Chehalis,WA)
- Shrine to the Gaullic Soldier (plaque dedicated to my Father, Veteran Memorial Museum, Chehalis,WA)
- Port City of the Elves (Portland, OR)
- Cairn of the Two Brothers (burial site of my brother Jody and my brother Jesse, Santa Rosa, CA)
- The Golden City of Saint Francis (San Fransisco, CA)

I also included a brief biography, so I could further relate myself to the map:

Valerie Herron was born and raised in the Newakum Hillfort overlooking the Land of Sinking Sands. She spent many years swirling around in the Emerald Vortex until it transported her to the Port City of the Elves. She currently lives in the Witches' Castle and studies at the Persephone-Nyx Collegeum of Artisans where she is a neophyte scribe and painter. She plans to one day journey to the Golden City of Saint Francis to further matriculate and eventually explode in a supernova of Illustrative glory.

I drew a simple but accurate portrait of myself. I was trying to think of how I could make it a little more iconic, so I drew a heron circling around my head. I actually really like this image, and I'm toying with the idea of using it on my business cards.

Personal Map, ink on drawing paper

Illustration Studio I 2010

(yep, Journeys is misspelled. You know what rocks? Photoshop.)

The Joanie B. Titles

This was an interesting project. It was apparently inspired by a personal friend of my Professor's, art rep Joanie Berstien. When artists contact her asking for representation, she sends them a list of phrases that they are to create illustrations for so she can get a sense of their work. This is a long list of clichés, things such as "Relax and Rejuvinate" and "Love and War." We were supposed to choose a few items from this list to illustrate. The point was that we would all come up with different ways to illustrate the same ideas. Much like the Commons assignment, this assignment was also challenging for me. I felt way out of my element. But I must say, I was pretty happy with the results.

"Wine Country" ink and goauche on drawing paper

Both sides of my family are from Sonoma County. People generally think of Sonoma County and they think of all the beautiful vineyards, all the rich countryside. My family is from the other side of the tracks, full of Hillbillies, Hippies, and Ghetto. Poverty, crime, and addiction problems everywhere. So this was a little homage to my roots.

"Think inside the Box" ink on drawing paper

Pretty self explanatory. I draw a good portion of my inspiration from historical art. 

"Swamp Thing" ink and goauche on drawing paper

This one is my favorite. Another huge aspect of my work is the figure and an element of fantasy/mythology.

I think these came out a little smarmy for my Professor's taste, but they generally went over pretty well.