Jesse Young ILLO

Somewhere Between Good & Evil (2012 sketch-book painting) ~*~ IF: "Fluid"

2012-02-19T12:14:00.008-08:00

{Note: Illustration Friday.com (IF): this piece fit into the this week's topic "Fluid"...the hair, clouds and smoke all have a flowing/fluid-quality, the girl's 'true-nature' is another story! (I know I don't need to justify, but I like to explain.^_^ ENJOY!}

Hello Illustration Lovers,

In this post I happily present my latest "sketch-book painting" which developed organically...I just started with the head shape and it grew from there. { I seem to be drawn to upside-down egg-shaped heads (no pun intended ;^P) This inclination is probably a remnant from my Anime-crazy days (I grew up in Hawaii (Oahu) and there were a lot of comic book shops that carried a lot of Japanese imports of manga and anime, so I got into the anime craze early.) My strong-adoration for this genre lasted until my community college days, but I started to get burnt-out with it by the time I moved to San Francisco to attend the Academy of Art University. I can't even begin to describe how many of my peers were totally engrossed by Anime and Manga...it got to be so cliche! (It's sad how great things get so played-out...just like a good Pop Song. :^( | Such is life! ] Anyway, I think it was good for me to explore other styles, and in hindsight--it was really unavoidable, due to how heavy my life got with all the academic foundation classes (Analysis of Form, Color & Design, Anatomy, Clothed & Nude Figure Drawing, so on and so forth)...I was forced to switch-gears and focus on more structure, detail and realism...which brings me to where I presently find myself: I graduated last Spring and I am still trying to adjust to life on the other side of University/College. I have been struggling to figure out what I really want to be creating/doing, I think it's because I haven't fully digested what I've learned/ "picked-up" from my art-education. I am slowly but surely going to figure it out, but I realized that I can't worry about everything "to-the-letter", I tend to be over-ambitious and am very particular about how I want things to turn out, but I often worry about everything from the on-set of a piece and it ends up killing my desire to create anything...so I have decided to try to stop doing that and instead to just experiment and try to have more fun with my art now that I don't have to operate under the ever-watchful eye of instructors.}

Phew!, sorry it took so much space to get that all out...I also made a decision (kind of a resolution) to be more open and honest in what I reveal to the World these days. That stuffs got to go somewhere right?!) I reckon by 'censoring' myself less (by 'censoring' I mean telling those nagging unproductive thoughts of "what should I write about?" and "I don't know if it's good if I say _____" to go take a hike, and by allowing stream-of-consciousness to have more play ^_^) I can break-on-through the fluff and empty text that plagues so much of the Inter-webs.

ON TO THE ART!

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"Somewhere Between Good & Evil"

"Somewhere Between Good & Evil"

(Size: 5.5" wide X 8" tall . Mixed-Media: watercolor {tubes and pencils}, gouache & acrylic, created in my watercolor (moleskine-type) sketchbook)

~*~

{ Keywords: girl, female, woman, mountain, volcano, eruption, erupting, cracks, crevices, terrain, landscape, Illustration Friday (IF) Topic: "Fluid", duality, golden hair, blonde, black hair, face painting, warrior face paint, Surrealism, Eccentric-Illustration, East, West, Asian, Caucasian, shells, rings, blue, yellow, brown, fur, native, primitive, savage, myth, legend, folklore, colorful sky, inspiration from Gauguin, texture, Lowbrow Art, other-worldly, occult, fairytale, fantasy, contrast, intuition, free-drawing, sketchbook painting, original illustration/illo }

BackStory:

As I wrote earlier this piece was created intuitively...I just started sketching in pencil. I usually sketch and then refine the drawing by erasing as I go (as opposed to sketching a rough and then transferring to another piece of paper to 'clean-up' for the final piece (which I do sometimes, but I like to stay on the same paper, unless I want the work to be 'super'-clean). I spent a lot of time looking at other people's art and using visual references during my college days, so now I'm trying to go the other direction, and to let my natural-inclinations guide me. There's a big emphasis on style--especially in the World of Illustration, so I know I have to travel this path in order to find what my style will grow/develop into. It's time to allow myself to do what I want to do! (Can you tell I'm saying that for my own encouragement & reinforcement? ;^P) My inspiration usually comes from that place between 2 opposites--the contrasts of this world/life, and this piece is no exception! (The most interesting and mysterious subjects lie hidden 'in-between-the-lines' just waiting to be explored.) This duality is very apparent in "Somewhere Between Good & Evil". This piece also sprung out of my emotional state at the time of working on the piece: I really didn't know what I would be creating, but I knew I had to work on something {Art is so powerfully-bonded to my whole being that I know I have to be making something or I will stagnate}. An emotional tug-of-war was going on inside of me. I was thinking is this going to turn out to be something I'm satisfied with? But while I was preoccupied with that I was also enjoying the act of creation, the going through of the motions--that familiar friend that is process--the satisfaction that comes from patience and intense-focus! Some of the piece came so easily while some of the other parts were just not to my liking, that's when I started to think about "Good & Bad" and that's where the "Good & Evil" came out of...I was 'hating-on' the parts that weren't so fun, but I was loving the rest of the experience. Volcanoes are also a recurring 'motif' in my work...it must come from my origins in Hawaii and my love of Gauguin's work (his work is on exhibit at the Seattle Museum of Art (SAM) at the moment, and I can't wait to go see it soon! More Info: http://www.seattleartmuseum.com/gauguin/index.html). Aside from all of that: Native American & Alaskan/Inuit culture and the probably faint-traces of my 6th grade reading of "Island of the Blue Dolphins" also made an appearance into the piece, 'loosely', however-- in the form of shells, fur cloak, and face/warrior-painting. There is also an undercurrent of 'West vs. East', I am half Caucasian and half Chinese (with some Hawaiian mixed in there somewhere), so this is also an interesting theme for me...and it extends to the U.S. relationship with China as well. I have been thinking upon the pros and cons of ordering from China (imports) versus buying American (and Local) ever since I began buying and selling on eBay and Etsy.com. Moving from San Diego, CA to Seattle, WA has also awakened or re-awakened a love of nature and for Native Peoples, it's hard not to be 'touched' by it in the Pacific Northwest!

___

I love that this is a sketch-book piece because I wanted it to have a hand-made aesthetic, a lot of art is so flat and smooth due to digital-production, and while I am always aiming/striving for the 'perfect line and clean-surface texture' it's good to have some rough and raw qualities going on in this artwork. No matter how hard I try to work digitally, I always return to Traditional media. I feel it adds a human/child-like touch. Camille Rose Garcia's work has this feel as well, and I think that's what I love most about her work...you can see her sketch lines--she doesn't polish her work to the point that it loses it's engaging and active virtues.

*|*|*

One last thing, it being 2012 and all this piece is also dedicated to all the "End of the World" hysteria that is floating around these days, and a 'Soundtrack' that goes well with all of this is Apocalypto by the Presets, I always get into a 'animalistic/world-heartbeat/tribal/primitive/Noble-savage' kind of mood when I listen to it. Please check it out and let me know if you concur ;^P

Sincere Thanks and Much <3, Jesse

{ MY MISSION: I hope you relate and gain something from my musings and art, and I hope I learn new things about myself in the process. Please visit with me again soon! }

Bunny-Whooo?!

2011-04-01T15:42:00.000-07:00

Hello Illustration Lovers,

Happy April Fools! Well, I don't have any pranks to share with you all, but I did enjoy Google's "Gmail Motion" spoof! As I was watching the video for it last night (it was still March 31st here in CA), I said to myself "I know this is a joke", as soon as the 2nd man in the video (not the Google Employee/Announcer as is a main-stay of the Google videos, but the man doing the moves to "interact" with Gmail), and then I clicked on the install button and saw the "April Fools" declaration! Good one Google, I enjoyed it! ^_^

Here's the video, for future reference: "Gmail Motion" April Fools

Anywho, on to my latest illustrations, these are all self-initiated, as I am still finishing up my last semester at the Academy of Art University...YAY! I will have my BA in Illustration by this Summer! I can't wait to start my career!

On to the illustrations:

I titled the 1st piece in my (New!) 'Adorable A1' Cards "Imogen's Tea-Time Correspondence" and this card was inspired by my life-long adoration of Beatrix Potter mixed with some cartoon/animated film-feel and styling.

Here's Imogen Hare:

"Imogen's Tea-time Correspondence" by Jesse Young. hare. rabbit. bunny spring-time Easter adorable cute animal art.

I drew Imogen and her house in "tight-pencil" on recycled cardstock, and then I re-outlined the piece on vellum using a calligraphy nib and walnut ink, which really "loosened" up the piece for a more "fun and whimsical" feel.

This was my first time using walnut ink and I enjoyed it!

From there I scanned the linework and brought it into Corel Painter.

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After experimenting and coming up with "Imogen's Tea-Time Correspondence" (I started off with a vague idea and didn't know what I would end up with, but I am so pleased with what resulted)...I knew I needed to make more animal friends to accompany her, so I thought up some animals, and stewed over it for a while, but I kept going back to owls. I love owls because they remind me of my mother, we used to stay up late together, so she would call me her "night owl". I also remember that we had a fiber-optic owl light thing-a-ma-jig, and the colors that made up the owl's body in a "pixel-like" way would change, in complete darkness, it was MESMERIZING!

So, I began to gather reference and came up with an owl character that I am proud to say is truly my own. I know there are owls that may look similar to him, but I didn't base him on any one cartoon owl, but rather a mix of imagery that I am familiar and inspired by.

Meet Owlsley:

"Owlsley" (the owl) by Jesse Young. www.JesseYoungILLO.com

“Owlsley” (the owl)

He's a most-educated owl, and shares his love of learning with everyone he knows!

[Digitally-Colored in Corel Photo-Paint... that's right, no crayons or colored pencils were used to achieve the textured and child-like coloring]

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To be honest, I was a bit apprehensive of posting these, because they are so darn cute, but I grew up with Sanrio and Disney, so it's hard for me not to take little forays into the world of simple and colorfully-bright illustrations. I don't know how long this tendency will "stay" with me, maybe forever, but I'm having fun regardless! That and Spring-time always draws me to animal imagery. Easter is my favorite holiday...what can I say, I like pastel-colors and bright sunshine!

If you enjoy Imogen and Owlsley, please consider purchasing some of my Handmade A1 Cards, you will be supporting this blog and more ILLUSTRATIONS! ^_^

Available in my Etsy Shoppe:

"Imogen's Tea-Time Correspondence" A1 Cards: Set of 4

"Owlsley" A1 Card: Single

"Owlsley" A1 Cards: Set of 4

Thanks for reading and looking!

- Jesse

{ Please Visit Me At: www.JesseYoungILLO.com }

Market-Fresh Art: (aka NEW!): "HUSH" (personal piece on wood)

2011-02-19T22:14:00.000-08:00

"HUSH" (little baby)

"Hush" by Jesse Young (www.JesseYoungILLO.com)

An acrylic and watercolor on wood painting, sealed with waterproof coating for longevity.
About "HUSH": this is a personal piece I created to address the theme of secrets (especially the dirty kind), obscurity, shame, horror, fear and stigma,...that feeling of crippling-paralysis that threatens us when we feel helpless.
I also wanted to imbue the idea of the power of words, especially in our technology-driven times, so that's inspiration for those "quotation-mark" symbols in the background.

I HOPE YA LIKE IT!

More To Come, Jesse

{ Please Visit Me At: www.JesseYoungILLO.com }

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY (IF)- "SURRENDER" (Miss Sand Fairy)

2011-02-02T22:26:00.000-08:00

SURRENDER

(Subtitle: Miss Sand Fairy)

As soon as I discovered that the Illustration Friday Topic was "Surrender" I started to brainstorm...I thought of many different things, surrendering to addiction, to evil, so-on-and-so-forth, but finally I arrived upon the idea of surrendering to sleep, and then the natural progression seemed to go to that song Mr. Sandman, that never fails to pop into my head, but I didn't want to do a typical Sandman that in my mind looks a lot like Gandalf, so I am happy that when I finally got down to sketching I ended up with an elf/fairy looking Sand Goddess, as I am now going to refer to her.

This was REALLY FUN! I am so happy that I got to participate in this week's IF!

Thanks for viewing and reading!

Sincerely, Jesse

PS: Please visit my site www.JesseYoungILLO.com to see my humble Portfolio and you can "Follow Me" EASILY on IllustrationMundo.com

Jesse Young ILLO

Somewhere Between Good & Evil (2012 sketch-book painting) ~*~ IF: "Fluid"

Bunny-Whooo?!

Market-Fresh Art: (aka NEW!): "HUSH" (personal piece on wood)

"HUSH" (little baby)

(Copyright 2011)

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY (IF)- "SURRENDER" (Miss Sand Fairy)