Caroline Gray Illustration

Macro Photography

2012-03-09T11:30:00.000-05:00

Last week, I invested in my very first Macro photography lens. It only dawned upon me recently that a macro lens might come in handy when shooting my miniature scenes. I have experienced frustration in capturing an adequate level of detail in some of my shots, and only recently came to understand the limitations of my 'everyday' camera lens.

After a great deal of research, I settled on the Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro Lens.

Below is the first round of experimental shots - I am still getting accustomed to the particular settings required for macro shooting (e.g. it is recommended that you shoot at the lowest possible ISO to reduce 'noise', this effects the amount of light required). It is very important to avoid camera shake, so as always I use the tripod and the self-timer. Auto-focus is useless with this macro lens for some reason so I have manually focused these.

But WHEEEEEEEEE WHOOOOOOP I am so excited about the level of detail in these. In certain cases, this lens reveals perhaps a little bit too much detail... we don't necessarily need to see every crease, bump or lump of glue.

Perhaps a little TOO MUCH detail in this one!

f # 11, shutter speed 1

f number 2.5, shutter speed 1/40

New Greeting Cards

2012-03-05T17:38:00.000-05:00

As always, I am a little late in blogging this, but I am excited to say my UK publisher has added eight new greeting cards to the Teeny Tiny People and Modern Life ranges. They were launched at Spring Fair International 2012.
These designs can be purchased on the Brainbox Candy site

Here are the Teeny Tiny People pages featured in Brainbox Candy's 2012 catalogue.

Bears in the Woods

2012-01-26T13:45:00.000-05:00

Here is my latest illustration, the bears in the woods.. getting ready to tuck into some delicious mud/worm pie.

In this scene I was particularly interested in creating a 'dappled light' effect.

The finished result!

Ready to photograph: the painted backdrop adds to the illusion of depth

Tracing paper, painted with semi-translucent acrylics. Holes were cut out to simulate the effect of light passing through tree canopy.

Tying up loose ends

2012-01-19T15:44:00.000-05:00

Just posting two projects that I have recently completed. The first is an illustration of an excerpt from Chicken Licken, by P.C. Asbjörnsen. I entered this piece for the 2012 Tomie dePaola Illustrator Award. Alas, I did not win...but those painful wounds are beginning to heal! The second image shows some changes I made to my 3D illustration Orangutan takes a Bath. I added more bubbles and played with the lighting.

Chicken Licken, 2012, Pencil drawing and digital colour

Orangutan takes a bath, 2012, Mixed media diorama

Penguins at the Beach: Complete!

2012-01-19T15:26:00.000-05:00

Below is my most recent diorama illustration, Penguins at the Beach. The sea is made from a rubbish bag painted with blue acrylics. The umbrella is an oversize cocktail umbrella, painted with acrylics. The penguins are sculpted from polymer clay, also painted with acrylics.

I am considering adding some fuzz to the penguins' chests, but other than that I deem this project COMPLETE! I have packed everything away, and am working on finishing my next diorama: Bears in the Woods. Watch this space!


Penguins at the Beach, 2012, mixed media diorama

Penguins at the Beach

Raw penguins

Orangutan animated Gif

2011-12-11T16:10:00.003-05:00

Hurrah! after much struggle, I have managed to embed this animated gif into a blog post.

Actually, it might not work... so try clicking here

Orangutan takes a bath

2011-12-06T13:20:00.001-05:00

At last, it is complete! My Children's Book Illustration III final project. Last night saw the end to a wonderful class - Emilie Boon was a superb teacher, and I think my work developed in leaps and bounds over a short space of time. I will miss the weekly critiques with my classmates, hopefully to be continued online.

I am actually planning on making some adjustments to the main bathroom scene... more bubbles, and more direct lighting, and perhaps some detail on the girl's dress but here it is for now.

First, I formed the structure of the room using foam core. I sculpted the tub from an air dry clay using a foam core base. The bathroom tiles are pre-cut wooden squares which I painted, and covered in Triple Thick varnish.

With the main elements of the bathroom complete, I created rough models from plasticine to get an idea of pose and placement.

Next I sculpted my main characters using Super Sculpey, and painted with acrylic paints. Looking just a little odd with no hair!

With the main scene completed, I started work on the orangutan for the spot illustration on the opposite page. Unfortunately I have no photos of the fur-application process, but I used Tibetan lambswool and fabric-tac glue. It was a laborious process!

This is my new lightbox set-up. Photography is not my forte, but I know I need to start being methodical with my lighting! This lightbox was built from 1.5" diameter PVC pipe about $3 for a 10 foot piece (the nice people at Home Depot were kind enough to chop the pipe into 4 x 2ft pieces and 2 x 3ft pieces), then all you need is some connecter pieces, clips, lamps and a white sheet.

Turkey Lurkey

2011-11-16T21:55:00.001-05:00

What a great week! I was able to see presentations by Brian Lies, Chris Sickels and David Wiesner all within the span of five days. Needless to say I have been feeling inspired!

I have been over-working an illustration of a passage from 'Chicken Licken'. I might have to shelve this one for a while. Fortunately I have started on something else.. a diorama of an orangutan in a bubble bath.... and I am having a LOT of fun with it...

So back to work!

Back to the drawing board

2011-10-13T11:51:00.000-04:00

Long time, no blog! Life has been busy these past few months, but I have recently completed some assignments for my Children's Book Illustration III class. I am excited about these illustrations as I think I am inching closer toward the style I want to achieve. I sketched them out the old fashioned way, and colored digitally. It feels great to draw again after so long.

One advantage of coloring digitally is the ability to adjust hue/saturation/brightness at the click of a button. Some examples below.

Polymer Clay Penguins

2011-08-16T16:02:00.002-04:00

I've just put the finishing touches on a pair of beach-loving penguins. These particular critters were modeled on the Gentoo Penguin, in case you were questioning their anatomical accuracy (wait...can penguins hold buckets?) Yes indeed, the 'penguin at the beach' iconography has already been widely exploited in the field of juvenile illustration, and while perhaps not a very original concept.. I find it pretty HILARIOUS!

Original Sketch

Dino Chef

2011-08-15T14:19:00.000-04:00

I've been cranking out critters this week, and am pleased to introduce the Dino-Chef! He is supposed to be holding a cake, thus the awkward stance.

My plan is to finish all of the animals in each of the 20 scenarios before working on the settings. Polymer clay is easier to warm in the summer months than during the frigid Rhode Island winters. As it gets colder, I will paint wallpapers etc.

I've also flocked the piggies (see below)

baked, unpainted

sketch for finished image

baked and painted!

PIGGIES!

Polymer Clay Critters

2011-08-03T15:11:00.001-04:00

It's been a long time since I last posted, but I have made progress on some new polymer clay characters. I'm having loads of fun with these and am trying to devote more time to detail in my sculpting.

Firstly the pigs - they are almost finished, I am adding a coating of pale pink flocking. The last image gives a vague impression of what the finished 'scenario' will look like when I eventually get around to shooting these as completed dioramas.

Next we have the chef monkeys, hard at work decorating their banana cake!

and finally, cakes, elephants, monsters/aliens.

Kids' Cards Sketches

2011-06-07T12:42:00.000-04:00

I've been working on some rough color sketches for a range of kids' birthday cards. I think that developing a cohesive children's card range will be a nice addition to my children's illustration porftolio. A few are missing from this set, but there will be 2 designs for each age 1-10. It might not even be necessary to number them, but a lot of children's cards are age specific.

My only dilemma now is deciding whether to proceed with these as sculpey 3D illustrations, as was my original intention, or to develop them as illustrated cards colored digitally. Hrrmmm. We'll see.

Peter Rabbit Cover redesign

2011-05-12T12:30:00.000-04:00

Just in time, I have finished my book cover redesign in time for the NESCBWI Poster Showcase competition. I left it pretty late to photograph and edit, but I think it came out OK, I am very pleased. ERrrrrmmm except I realized today that the steps by the door are not upright. Perhaps it contributes to the 'realism' of the miniature scene?? Yes... Mr. McGregor has been meaning to fix those....

Finished!

determining layout. whoops got lazy with the shingle staining, but that stuff smells awful

grass laid, gravel sheets in place, balsa wood raised beds

filling with 'soil'

Too nasty to drink (sorry, I am a snob when it comes to coffee and this stuff is GROSS!)

vegetables planted

moss on house, gravel on path

Peter in his nascent stage

looking pretty weird, Peter

Stranger looking still as the 'flocking' process begins. Wish I had more pictures of this, but I was busy freaking out.

New Teeny Tiny People Occasion Cards

2011-05-12T12:25:00.000-04:00

At long last, I have finally finished editing my new set of occasion cards, 39 in total. Not sure which of these will end up on the shelves (currently under consideration) but here they are.

They were a joy to produce, but I am also glad to close the file on this project.. I was starting to go a little loopy, talking to the dolls et cetera.

Click on the slideshow in the previous post to view images. or click HERE
The captions are in the preliminary stage, so I am still a little unsure about some of them. I might need a few days apart to re-evaluate. Hurrah!

New Teeny Tiny People Occasion Cards

2011-05-12T12:16:00.000-04:00

New Brainbox Candy 2011 Catalogue

2011-04-11T10:54:00.000-04:00

The new 2011 Brainbox Candy catalogue is out and looking pretty excellent. Here are my Teeny Tiny People pages. Should you wish to download the entire catalogue for your own enjoyment, here's the link. The 'Modern Life' series is now in 5" x 7" format.

http://www.brainboxcandygallery.com/page52.htm

Balloons!!!

2011-04-11T10:42:00.000-04:00

For the new set of Birthday greeting cards I am currently working on, I wanted to make balloons in a wide range of colors to suit various scenes and colour schemes. Ready-made dollhouse balloons are (surprisingly?) difficult to come by, so I had to put my thinking cap on and create my own.

Fortunately, Easter is soon upon us and craft stores are groaning at the seams with all sorts of egg shaped paraphernalia. I grabbed a cheap Styrofoam garland from Michael's Craft Store which happened to be the perfect size. The material needed to be as light as possible, in order to 'float' on the wire support.

Styrofoam Easter Eggs from a garland. Painted with acrylics.

Stick in wire and secure with a dab of glue. Floral wire works very well. I poked them into Oasis to secure for drying.

Begin the tedious process of dipping in varnish and drying. Dipping... and drying. Dipping... and drying...

A big glass of wine will make this tedious process ever so slightly more bearable.

But it's all worth it in the end....this guy is ready to PARTY!

Little Tiny Vegetables

2011-04-07T10:29:00.000-04:00

For the Peter Rabbit cover, I am building another 3D diorama for a photographic illustration (I really need to find the proper. succinct word for this style... 3d Illustration? Diorama Illustration?).

Anyway, it will be a broad view of Mr. McGregor's garden. Peter will be pictured munching on a carrot. I have it loosely sketched out.

I started sculpting the veggies last week. It's my first time making polymer clay food (hey, there's a first time for everything!).

Roll out balls of clay approx 3mm diameter. Score surface with needle. Flatten another small ball of clay in oval shape. Wrap around ball as first leaf layer.

Mix darker shade of green and repeat leaf wrapping. Overlap leaves midway. Score leaves before wrapping.

Scoring the leaf. Starting to look like cabbages! Remember, it's OK if they are not uniform... will serve to make them more 'organic'.

Ta-daaa!! Little cabbages lined up and ready to bake. I actually forgot that polymer clays tend to darken in the oven, so they came out a tad dark (not pictured :)). Not a big deal.

On to the carrots. Greenery is fake foliage from a craft store. Mix an orange, not too bright.

Create ridges in the carrot by rolling carrot underneath x-acto blade. Dirty up those little suckers with some crushed up pencil (chalk pastels would work better, but I don't have any)

Baked. Greenery glued in. They will actually be 'planted' in the scene, so I didn't really need to make the whole carrot. What a waste of TIME!!

Sniff sniff... kitty Noven is treading some dangerous ground here...

NESCBWI Conference Poster Showcase

2011-04-07T09:12:00.000-04:00

During the NESCBWI Conference coming up next month, illustrators are invited to submit work for a poster showase. The challenge: Redesign the cover of a children's book that you consider to be a milestone in children's literature. It can be a picture, middle grade or young adult book.

After much deliberation, I settled on Peter Rabbit. I hope it's not too obvious... 40 million copies of this book have been sold worldwide since its publication. The story has been re-interpreted in countless styles and formats.

Over Christmas I was home in London, and I had the chance to see Beatrix Potter's original letters which inspired the story, as well as the finished watercolour pieces for the text at the Victoria and Albert Museum. They were truly marvelous. This, and that fact that bunnies seem to be my 'thing' at the moment, also contributed to my selection of this particular book.

Also, I know it was over 100 years ago... but I think this cover could use a little re-vamping!

Outline

2011-03-20T19:52:00.001-04:00

I've been thinking recently it might be interesting to use dioramas as a visual reference for painting. I've always preferred to paint and draw directly from a 3D object rather that using 2D reference materials and photographs. I remember hearing that Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) constructed elaborate 'maquettes' (small figurines which he would dress and drape in cloth) which he would arrange in a tableau. This allowed him to experiment with lighting and positioning of his figures, helpful in the construction of a painting.

Anyway, I decided to start by tracing this image in Photoshop (any excuse to practice using my Wacom tablet.. it still feels a little unnatural). I've printed it onto watercolour paper, and we'll see where it goes from here. Just trying something new to see where it takes me.

Underwater Composite

2011-03-16T12:35:00.000-04:00

I've finished the composite! Well, I might tinker with it a little more later... but for now I am finished. Thank goodness for my Wacom tablet, erasing around all of those little fish would have been difficult using a mouse. I'm pleased with the way it turned out. The plan is to use this image as reference for painting a backdrop for the final illustration.

Photoshop Assignment

2011-03-11T14:06:00.001-05:00

For our first assignment in Photoshop 1 at RISD (as part of the Children's Book Illustration CE program) we have to create a basic composite of 8 images. The goal is to practice using eraser tools, as well as layering, resizing of images and so on.

It's pretty basic stuff to start with, but the class moves at a good pace and I think I'll benefit enormously from it, especially as I am working predominantly with photography these days.

Anyway, here is the foundation image I am going to use in my composite. It is a diorama I have created as part of my 'Flora Bunnigan's Adventurebox' children's book project.

Creating miniatures for new range of Teeny Tiny People greeting cards

2011-03-11T13:09:00.001-05:00

For the last month or so, I have been developing a whole range of new designs to add to my existing collection of Teeny Tiny People greeting cards. At the moment, I am juggling about 45 designs.

Here are the designs currently in publication by Brainbox Candy UK
http://www.brainboxcandygallery.com/page53.htm
http://www.brainboxcandygallery.com/PAGE40.HTM

For this new collection, I am specifically honing in on occasions (birthdays, x-mas, valentines etc.) which I have previously neglected to do. I am really, REALLY excited to be working on these and I hope that they are received well.

Here are some miniatures in progress

Tiny paper stacks: these will be used in both a 'Good Luck with your exams' card, as well as a new job scene I have planned

Gluing in the tiny books!

Hurrah, all done. Pretty pleased with the way these turned out.

Little tttttiiinnyy Christmas cards to put on the mantle

Paper chains to decorate a scene

I am blogging!

2011-03-11T12:45:00.000-05:00

Hello world!

I have finally decided to enter the 21st Century and start a blog. I'm not entirely sure yet whether this will remain for my eyes only. I suppose the ultimate goal is to share, and to use the blog to somehow further my illustration career but for now I intend to use this as a goal setting tool, a way of monitoring my progress on projects etc.

We shall see where this takes me, and who knows.. in a few months time I might be tweeting.