Illustration Friday: Stripes

CyberMan

Mixed media, collage assemblage

© Kerry Schofield

Happy Veterans Day! Here's a little abstraction for your stripes. 

This guy was a doodle I did many moons ago. The artwork is all cut from hand-painted paper and then layered on top of a painted board.

Homme is French for "great man."

Illustration Friday: Fuel

Vulture

Collage assemblage

© Kerry Schofield

Some economists and political cartoonists equate the vulture with fuel, portraying our appetite for energy and consumption. I think the vulture has gotten a bad wrap, however, even though it eats dead meat. 

A few years ago, I used to live next to a nature preserve that bordered a county facility. Hundreds of turkey vultures made this site their home. They perched on the rooftops of the few buildings that were available, on trees and near big power lines. Hundreds sat quietly, pruning and standing around, waiting and resting. It was a sight to see really, all those big birds with red heads. They wobbled across the roof tops with their big claw legs and occasionally, they'd take off in flight.

Well, it is the time of year when we're allowed to celebrate the darker aspects of nature, whether it be vultures, ghouls or witches chanting spells ... BOO!

Illustration Friday: Mesmerizing

Sea Snake

Mixed media, collage assemblage

© Kerry Schofield

I was Inspired by William Blake's watercolor painting for Illustration Friday's theme, "mesmerizing." Blake painted the snake to accompany The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, "A Memorable Fancy" from his Illuminated Books. Below is Blake's watercolor. I have used hand-painted papers then cut, collage and assembled.

William Blake, 1790

Sea Snake

Mixed media, collage assemblage

© Kerry Schofield

Illustration Friday: Swell

Collage Assemblage

SuperGator

© Kerry Schofield

There are many tales and accounts of fire-breathing dragons all over the world. But in Florida where I live, there's an urban legend of a fire-breathing alligator. This Super Gator is reportedly 50 feet long! Can you believe it? Obviously, such a creature would be a man-eater (or woman-eater for that matter). If anyone has seen one, please let me know. I'd be very interested your hearing the story.


The most time-consuming and intricate part of making this collage was cutting out all those teeth! Each one is cut from a vintage paper lamp shade that had faded over the years.


VWS: 231

Illustration Friday: Imperfect

Mixed Media, Collage Assemblage

Feline Mania

© Kerry Schofield

The spotted black and white stray cat scurried up the stairs to the second story flat. It stood on tall, lanky legs that supported a boney frame. Its face was scruffy and one eye blinked smaller than the other. By the outside door, two large potted plants hid water and food. It bowed down by the pretty yellow bowl with painted fish and crunched away hungrily at the dry meal.


In a perfect world, all the stray neighborhood cats would have homes to live in when it's cold and raining and plenty of food to eat and water to drink.


This is an original pencil drawing, which is "colored" with collaged tissue and hand-painted papers. The cats are cut from original pencil sketches and collaged with various papers.

Illustration Friday: Perennial

Collage Assemblage

Tropical Lily

© Kerry Schofield

I decided to create a literal interpretation for this week's Illustration Friday theme. This collage is from one of my original botanical sketches. All those petals, leaves and stems are individually cut from snippets of hand painted paper. 


But of course we have perennials in Florida; likewise, this one is subtropical with its bright pinks and reds. We also have a lot of bugs, snakes, lizards, alligators, tropical birds, armadillos and much more wildlife that makes this state special in its own regard.

Illustration Friday: Swept

Collage Vintage Remix

Red Hat

© Kerry Schofield

Matilda resolved to keep her red hat hunkered down against the swirling wind and ensuing storm. She would not be deterred, however, as she marched out the front door to meet nature's fury. Her hair braided and suit buttoned up, she swept up her little black purse to meet the day head on, inclement weather or not.

Illustration Friday: Safari

"Beautiful World"

Collage Remix from 1940s - 1960s vintage and contemporary magazines, books

© Kerry Schofield

The natural world of flowers, clay, birds and butterflies -- what a beautiful world!

I found this image in a vintage magazine and have been wanting to use it for sometime. I love this photograph of an African girl with her beautiful smile. It seemed fitting to surround her with bright flowers and fauna.

You may also like this collage I did a few weeks ago for Illustration Friday:

http://obsessivecreativeus.blogspot.com/2011/04/illustration-friday-duet.html

Illustration Friday: Beginner

"City Walk"

Collage Remix from 1940s - 1960s vintage magazines, books

© Kerry Schofield

The beginning of a walk is always the best part.

Illustration Friday: Bottle

"Birdie on a Bottle"

Collage Remix from 1940s - 1960s vintage magazines and books, digital

© Kerry Schofield

This little birdie is a canary, which I have always wanted to have as a pet. But with cats, that's out of the question. When I was around 11 or 12 years of age, an English neighbor across the street had a beautiful canary and a large aviary filled with many finches. 


We used to visit her and chat for a while over some tea. She loved her birds and took great care with them! That little canary used to sing up a storm. This little guy reminds me of just that same one along with my favorite soda, ginger ale.

Illustration Friday: Duet

"Giraffe Love"

Collage Remix from 1940s - 1960s vintage magazines and mixed media

© Kerry Schofield

Duet: the music of love!

Illustration Friday: Stir

"Art Boulevard"
Collage Remix from 1940s - 1960s vintage magazines and mixed media

© Kerry Schofield

Louise is stirring up the pavement with her bicycle wheels!


This is a sneak preview of the banner for my new art website. I'm taking a Web publishing class at the University of South Florida. This is part of the background art. I still need to build the digital logo and create a prototype design in Photoshop for the web layout. 

Illustration Friday: Swarm

"Danse Maman Bébé"

(Dancing Baby Mama)

Collage Remix from 1940s - 1960s vintage magazines

28.1 x 39.2 cm

© Kerry Schofield

Swarm: An aggregation of persons or animals, especially when in turmoil or moving in mass.

          The American Heritage Dictionary, Fourth Edition

Dancing stick babies, a dead rabbit and a tomato-head babe; all make for a "swarm" of babies.

Illustration Friday: Sweater

"Sweater"

Collage Remix from 1940s - 1960s vintage magazines

22.9 x 30.4 cm

© Kerry Schofield

When I think of a sweater, I think of lamb's wool. This collage is an interpretation of the sweater in a not-so-direct way. I added the hearts for Valentine's Day. 

Illustration Friday: Surrender

Surrender to Your Funny Side

Feather and food collage

17.7 x 25.5

© Kerry Schofield

I was inspired by John Waters for this week's post for Illustration Friday. I went to see John Waters' live performance at the University of South Florida this past week. Well, it was quite funny to say the least. John Waters is the American filmmaker of Hairspray and Pink Flamingos among others. He is also a journalist, photographer and visual artist. 

The theater was packed as hundreds showed up for the show. Waters did not disappoint. He pokes fun at himself and those like him and was really very funny. 

This collage uses images from 1940s and 1960s vintage magazines. 

Illustration Friday: Dust

The Dust of Stars, 2011

Watercolor and gouache

14 x 10.7 cm

© Kerry Schofield

If cats had wings, I think they would fly to heaven and sit on the moon.

Sometimes I think my cats think they can actually fly. Maybe that's why they like birds so much. Have you ever seen a cat jump and fly on trees only to get stuck. They seem to love high places for some reason. When they get in a wild mood, they run and leap with no thought of the ground. Then they get in all sorts of trouble getting stuck atop something, whether it be a shelf or on top of a roof!

If I must deal with dust, let it be star dust where I can dream of growing wings and sitting on the moon!

Illustration Friday: Deja-vu

What Awaits Me

In my waking hours
the morning air, cool and crisp
the sunrise, exquisite
the eastern sky,
soft goldenrod and pale pink,
The colors of a timid flamingo.

Written by Kerry Schofield

Collage and Watercolor

Artist Trading Cards (ATCs)

© Kerry Schofield

Illustration Friday: Resolutions

New Year Whee! E-card

Collage and Watercolor

Artist Trading Cards (ATCs)

12.6 x 8.8 cm

Here's wishing everyone a happy and ambitious 2011! I tried my hand at a couple of ATCs. I used collage images from 1940s and 1960s Life magazines. They're alot of fun to read as well! It was a few years ago but people weren't all that different and many of the same products we use today were advertised. Of course, there was World War II but we have our own brand of wars today, unfortunately.

As for resolutions, I'm not too much on making them myself. I do hope this year to finally graduate from collage after going back to school later in life, paint with joy in my heart and write some noir poetry.