Louise's Art Stuff

The Revelation of Thomas Seymore

2012-02-03T13:12:00.006-06:00

In addition to making my second year film at CalArts, I've been working with my friend Shannon Halliday on a film he's directing! I'm doing storyboards for him, and it's been a blast. It's a live action film about a man who has gone insane, convinced he has no soul. It's got some really good twists and surprises in it! We really wanna see this film get made. Movies aint cheap, so check out his indiegogo site and feel free to give funding if you're interested. We'd greatly appreciate it!

Some storyboard snippets:

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Life Drawing

2012-01-19T14:37:00.003-06:00

It's good to be back at CalArts! Gonna be a really busy semester.

warm-up doodle

2012-01-13T21:09:00.002-06:00

Tell a story in 7 images

2011-12-15T16:07:00.005-06:00

This was a good challenge! I had a lot of fun drawing these.

some life drawings and a cat

2011-12-02T18:36:00.006-06:00

Trying different styles. Drew this while watching "Cats Don't Dance" with some friends. I got inspired by the style of the film, so I tried it out:

Life drawings:

waka waka

Ladies in Church

2011-11-28T00:41:00.005-06:00

Every Sunday evening service at church I see these same elderly ladies in the same row. I usually tell my friends I hope that'll be us when we're older. Bring on the crow's feet and cardigan sweaters. I'm ready.

first ticket in LA

2011-11-24T00:26:00.003-06:00

folks, don't always trust what your GPS tells you ("make a U turn...make a U turn... MAKE A U TURN!!!") because she'll get you in trouble with the law. after a good scolding i threw her in the glove compartment and just followed the signs. worked better that way after all. :)

life goes on

Tryin' some CG

2011-11-17T16:33:00.000-06:00

48 hr film - cactus man!

2011-11-14T20:56:00.004-06:00

Made an animatic with my pals Portlynn and Bo for the annual 48 hour films at CalArts! The theme? CACTUS. We had a great time being stupid. Go make a 48 hour film. It's fun!

Bo did the boards with Dr. Gilbert at the beginning, I did the boards where he pricks his finger and turns into Cactus Man, Portlynn drew him saving people, and I did the ending with the lady getting dissed. Good times.

Also, music from Superman and Drive was used. Both soundtracks keep me going while storyboarding!

I did the narration, Portlynn played the "lady in distress".

art trade

2011-11-13T20:23:00.002-06:00

for my buddy Jez

she's a messy kid!

2011-11-02T15:08:00.004-05:00

Talking to her dust bunny buddy

2011-10-26T18:48:00.000-05:00

E.T. Studies

2011-10-20T12:11:00.008-05:00

It took me years to get over my intense fear of E.T. I watched it with my family when I was a kid and I remember saying "I DON'T WANNA SEE THE SPACEMAAAAAAN" during the toolshed scene. Well, after nearly 20 years of E.T. fear (yes, 20) I decided to suck it up and watch it, then draw from it. I think I chose the "Phone Home" scene because his wig is hilarious (therefore, less scary?).

design yourself

2011-10-18T14:07:00.003-05:00

did it again. fun class - thanks Andy!

and some early designs for my film character i ended up scrapping/changing. thought i'd post anyway :)

layout

2011-10-12T00:37:00.005-05:00

...with dan "the man" hansen

he told us to draw a goat in a jungle. haha

2011-10-05T13:44:00.001-05:00

went to the movies

Lord of the Flies

2011-09-22T21:04:00.002-05:00

Jack

summer art gifts

2011-08-20T16:42:00.004-05:00

Thanks, Healy family!

this happened to me today

2011-08-09T03:40:00.005-05:00

rode straight into a food fight!

A new heart

2011-08-03T16:55:00.002-05:00

Ezekiel 36:26

bug buddy

2011-08-01T02:03:00.002-05:00

unfair game

2011-07-29T04:28:00.005-05:00

2 left feet ha

brainstorming

2011-07-28T17:15:00.003-05:00

not sure if this is anything yet, but thought I'd post it anyway.

Star Tours

2011-07-28T00:29:00.004-05:00

It was a 3 hour line! I'll go next time. Felt like drawing an enthusiastic kid, Mickey and lightsaber... the best of both worlds...

sketchbook post

2011-07-25T13:52:00.004-05:00

I went to Mitsuwa Marketplace with Jason, Jeff, and Ricky for some much needed sketchbook time. It was fun!

another hp one

2011-07-14T18:25:00.002-05:00

can't stop. it was the theme at doodlepoops! :)

flattering

2011-07-04T01:06:00.005-05:00

my buddy Michael Piazza. We all drew names over at doodlepoops, a CalArts summer doodles blog.

also, i love cats now. i used to hate them but since i've been spending time with my godmother this summer, her two cats have really won my heart. this just happened and i loved it.

yay cats :)

updated with color

2011-06-24T00:09:00.011-05:00

good song

Hermione

2011-06-17T14:30:00.004-05:00

looked at a lot of Al Hirschfeld yesterday. Experimenting, etc...

harry potter sketch

2011-06-16T15:33:00.001-05:00

happens every year

2011-06-14T23:49:00.008-05:00

Woody Allen

2011-06-10T15:35:00.005-05:00

I started a Woody Allen marathon yesterday. First up was "Annie Hall". His new movie, "Midnight in Paris" is pretty great too. Woody makes me feel less weird about all my neurotic tendencies. :D

today at macy's

2011-06-10T00:12:00.002-05:00

i gave in

2011-06-02T22:54:00.003-05:00

"Oh please, the iphone is soooo overrated. I'm perfectly content with my phone I have now!" I would say this on a regular basis while waving my old cell phone at my friends, being sure to show off the taped sides. I was so proud of not giving into the iphone craze. Perfectly content.

Well... I went to the store the other day, remembered I was due for an upgrade, picked up an iphone carefully, thinking I'll just look and resist purchase. Well...

Something... happened to me...

i am no longer unique

Art for Japan

2011-05-15T18:20:00.005-05:00

I did these pieces at CalArts for Notes to Japan, a student organization that collects donations from artists to send art to Japan in the hope that it can offer some form of encouragement to the Tsunami victims. Pray for healing, donate funds.

Nostalgia?

2011-05-09T11:16:00.006-05:00

Even though I'm too young to remember much of 1984-1994 (born in 1987) I watched Waking Sleeping Beauty and found myself wishing to dress the way my heroes did back in the 80s/early 90s. Katzenberg glasses, hawaiian shirts, mom jeans and all.

let's pitch a story

Using paper and pegs

Hangin' with my old pal the lunchbox.

and whatever this page is

Kissy Fish

2011-05-06T02:59:00.005-05:00

Dubstep

2011-05-05T19:05:00.006-05:00

workin' and jammin' to some fresh beats

2011-05-03T16:55:00.003-05:00

Hey, everyone! I finished my 1st year film here at CalArts, and boy did I learn a lot.

Battle of the Bones from Louise Smythe on Vimeo.

Special thanks to Ethan Hegge for story help and Nicole Josephian for the awesome film grain stuff. You guys rock.

Now off to make another one!

more birdies

2011-04-03T18:51:00.008-05:00

I took one of my character designs from last semester and had some fun. Yay birds. :)

the past couple of weeks have been magical

2011-03-30T04:10:00.003-05:00

FILM VOICES IN MY HEAD

2011-03-15T00:45:00.003-05:00

what whaaaaaaaat

i can ride a bike now

2011-03-14T03:29:00.005-05:00

also, the crows at calarts are creepy so i drew this....

2011-03-11T18:45:00.002-06:00

A snake charmer:

An assignment to redesign The Galaxy Trio, an old cartoon from the 1960s. It was fun!

the original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRUT6dv3o64

Construction Workers

2011-03-10T15:19:00.002-06:00

another post! shameless plug

2011-01-27T01:57:00.005-06:00

I forgot to mention the CalArts Character Animation Gallery Show! Come check it out if you can. I'm jumping on the bandwagon with my classmates - we're drawing ourselves and printing them life size to hang on the wall. I'll be leaning on one of my life drawings. We'll see how it goes with printing tomorrow... haha. Hope to see you there!

New Year, New Start

2011-01-26T12:22:00.004-06:00

Sorry for the lack of posts - it's been a crazy month, but I swear I've been working. I can't post everything, but I thought I'd share this fun assignment from class - we had to design ourselves as characters. It was really fun and challenging. Hope everyone has had a great time over the holidays and the new year is off to a good start. :)

cat goes hiking

2010-12-12T14:01:00.002-06:00

i love hiking! so does this cat. :)

Film Concept

2010-11-24T01:52:00.003-06:00

my film is about paleontologists. :)

birds

2010-10-27T00:48:00.005-05:00

some old west characters and cars

2010-10-17T21:28:00.007-05:00

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And Old Hippie Babysits

2010-10-10T16:01:00.003-05:00

Mice Characters

2010-09-27T19:52:00.006-05:00

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Acorns!

2010-09-19T19:57:00.003-05:00

Took me a while to hunt one down! You'd think there'd be lots of acorns in California, but I really had to hunt for this little guy.

Commissions

2010-08-27T12:05:00.003-05:00

Recent stuff:

Sketches:

I'm getting ready for CalArts soon! Lots to do until then. I'm closing commissions for now so I can start getting ready to move and finish up a few others. I'll make another post when I reopen! Thanks to everyone who has expressed interest. :)

Keeping Up With...

2010-08-20T06:56:00.007-05:00

I have a guilty pleasure as of late, and it's watching a certain reality TV show. Khloe cracks me up. She's always causing some sort of trouble or making jokes. I love her.

dogs get jealous, too

2010-08-14T23:54:00.005-05:00

Sophie is always jealous when LuLu sits in my lap. I'd let her sit with me too but... let's think. Tiny dachshund vs heavy and gassy bulldog... hmmm... :)

Donating My Hair

2010-08-13T03:37:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago I decided to cut 13 inches of my hair off and donate it to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. My grandma had a hard time finding a decent wig when she was going through chemo, so I wanted to cut it off in her memory and hope that it helps another person who's battling cancer. If anyone is interested in sending their hair in, click here.

And now a comic about it.

I love you, Nana

2010-07-22T21:51:00.005-05:00

My grandmother passed away earlier this evening. She fought a brave and tough battle with breast cancer for 20 years. I am not going to say she lost that battle. She put up one hell of a fight, and fighting this makes her more of a winner than cancer ever could be.

To my wonderful Nana. I will never forget our time together. Thank you for all you have done for our family. I will miss you. I love you.

a recent commission

2010-07-12T15:49:00.009-05:00

I thought I'd post one of the commissions I've been working on this summer. It felt nice to break out some traditional paint again after the Illustration Academy.

dorky fanart

2010-07-11T18:46:00.006-05:00

Just messin' around. My version of Andy from "Toy Story 3". lol i'm a dork

obviously the character of Andy is copyright Pixar etc etc

"Hello, Dolly!"

Ringo

2010-07-07T01:22:00.002-05:00

:)

2010-07-01T20:43:00.010-05:00

family dinner conversation

2010-06-29T15:44:00.002-05:00

Thanks to my brother for this lovely chat the other night.

Conceptual Portrait - Johnny Weir

2010-06-27T12:12:00.005-05:00

Anita Kunz's assignmnet - a conceptual portrait of someone in the public eye. Of course I picked this man.

Sellin' Out :)

2010-06-23T20:44:00.002-05:00

Hey, everyone! I'm going to study animation at CalArts in the fall, which is awesome but expensive. So, I am opening for commissions in the meantime! I'll do character sketches easily, and if you want something like a scene, a portrait, or a landscape then contact me for additional pricing info. Please email me a description of the type of media you're interested in, but by now you hopefully have a sense of my work, so please, no requests for a certain "style" of art. I'll make better things for you with the freedom to do it my way, but will gladly go digital or traditional for ya. :)

Digital flat color, digital rendered color, digital sketch, pencil sketch, inked line art, and gouache/acrylic paintings are all options to start with.

All digital art will be directly emailed as a jpeg file. I will ship traditional art. Digital art will be significantly cheaper since there's no shipping involved.

Contact me through my email address at j.louise.smythe@gmail.com. I have a PayPal account through this. I will write you back with a price list. Prices may go lower or higher depending on how complicated the request is.

Thanks!

Blue Ribbon

2010-06-19T01:05:00.005-05:00

Things are going well at the Illustration Academy! Francis Vallejo and Kenny Callicutt have been chillin' in the studio with us lately, helping out and having fun. I love working in a studio with other artists. It helps to have lots of creative people around motivating and encouraging each other.

illustration academy, project 1

2010-06-08T12:48:00.007-05:00

And we're back to the good ol' shape assignment! This is very hard to do. All shape, no line, limited values within objects (about 30% difference). Very tough, but I learned a lot from it!

Things are going well here in Kansas City! Being with Gary Kelley and Mark English, John English, George Pratt, and Brent Watkinson is mind blowing! I can't wait to get started on the new assignment. Hope everyone is having a good summer. :)

2010-05-22T21:10:00.005-05:00

I graduated! I'm going to CalArts in the fall to study character animation. I can't wait to see what lies ahead. Going to the Illustration Academy again next week. Until then, it's time for a break. :)

nigella doodle

2010-05-17T16:08:00.003-05:00

i can't stop watching her show. this woman makes me want to cook!

Book Cover

2010-04-30T16:20:00.004-05:00

Our recent assignment in class was to illustrate a book cover. Our instructor, John Hendrix, made up all of the titles and authors and we took on designing and illustrating the cover with our own interpretation. It was very open and very fun!

Hey guys.... THESIS!

2010-04-16T16:29:00.023-05:00

Finally, I can post my thesis! Above is a still image from the film. Youtube link here:

DOGS WITH JOBS - MOVIE!

Hope you enjoy! :)

Information on this project:

My project is about working dogs. It’s an educational short for kids, and its purpose is to inform the audience about how helpful dogs are. In less than 3 minutes, my film shows various types of working dogs and what they do. These include police dogs, rescue dogs, guide dogs, etc. I had a lot of fun researching this project. I read books and watched documentaries. I sketched concepts and early compositions.

I even went to the American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog right here in St. Louis! I was having so much fun that I talked about my project all the time to my buddies, and not all were art students:

“What’s your thesis topic, Louise?”

“Dogs with jobs.”

“Wait… what? Like dogs sitting in cubicles all day?”

“No… like… sheep dogs, rescue dogs…

Did you know that a lot of human civilization and settlement could not have been achieved without the help of working dogs?”

“Uh-huh…”

“But it’s gonna be really cool! It’s animated and for kids!”

“Ohhhh wow!”

Saying it was animated and for kids perked my friends up. But I use the term animated loosely. This project is an animatic, a device used in film before something is animated or shot for the final piece. It is a film with music, sound, and voice, but the images remain still. Animatics establish the pacing and timing for a movie, as well as the look and feel. I worked with music, sound, and a narrator. I wrote the narration to be simple and straightforward, appropriate for kids and to allow the images to do the work.

Full paintings below:

collaboration and coffee

2010-04-12T22:13:00.005-05:00

Friend and designer, Emily Oswald, had a bunch of illustrators at WashU contribute designs for coffee sleeves. Her project is tatoo themed, so I did the sleeve below. It was a lot of fun!

I would also like to tell everyone that I am finally showing my senior thesis project! This Thursday, 5:30 - whenever, come to Steinberg Auditorium to see a bunch of us present our projects. I'll be screening mine dead last, so get some coffee and food at intermission. :)

Hope everyone in the St. Louis area can come out! I'll post it on youtube later.

Poster by graphic designer Cheree Berry:

sketchbook pages

2010-04-02T22:57:00.018-05:00

julie & julia

random

cartoon character skeleton - study of Disney/Glen Keane's Beast:

cartoon character skeleton: study of Bill Waterson's Hobbes:

head studies - some of these are from my head and some are from movies/photos and studies of other artists' work, like Sergio Toppi, Al Dorne, Leyendecker and Stevie Lewis.

life drawing

Kirby studies

bunch 'o stuff.

Thesis piece

2010-03-30T14:45:00.002-05:00

Poodle!

2010-03-06T20:48:00.005-06:00

Thesis update

2010-02-28T17:17:00.000-06:00

I can say thesis is moving along slow and steady, with lots of story kinks to work out. a little preview of a rough:

I'm getting a little obsessed with Ronal Searle and 1950s UPA stuff. I think it's starting to show through in my drawings, and it looks like the project will be taking on a visual language I haven't really delved into before. I am looking forward to the final art with excitement but also a little anxiety, as this is all new. It's been a real blast so far, though. :)

Society of Illustrators Student Annual Competition

2010-02-16T04:33:00.006-06:00

My painting of Sophie made its way into the 2010 SOI Student Scholarship Competition in New York! I guess taking out the speech bubble and hearts helped. :)

This is very exciting news. My buddies Kirsten, Mike, David, and Jon got their work in as well! Congrats to all of the winners - you deserve it!

Political Illustrations

2010-02-10T21:06:00.006-06:00

The new issue of the Washington University Political Review came out this week, and I did a couple of inside illustrations. The issue is a review of the decade, and there's this cool timeline of big events/people. I did these two:

Must Go Faster

2010-02-07T21:51:00.004-06:00

Here's an illustration assignment from school - we had to create a narrative image that involved a man, woman, dog, car, and banana. I ended up with this. Luckliy we could have more than one thing, as having many rabid hyenas is way more menacing than just one.

Dogs

2010-02-04T23:48:00.004-06:00

I can't really say a whole lot about my thesis yet, as it is still taking shape. BUT I can say that it is about dogs and how they have helped shape human culture. Sled dogs helped greatly with human settlement, sheepdogs helped us domesticate wild animals, etc. The Pekingese is a 2,000 year old breed (considered sacred in China) that the Imperial family owned, and they often wore them in their sleeves to stay warm. Couldn't resist making something about that. :)

note: the last one is based on this painting of The Dowager Empress Cixi (Tzu Hsi)

playin' with animation

2010-01-27T12:40:00.005-06:00

Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather

2010-01-03T03:07:00.009-06:00

I am in love with Devotchka's version of Venus in Furs. It makes me think of some kind of villainous and sultry lady, so I drew this as a break from some of the real projects I have goin' on now.

underdrawing:

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T07:38:00.003-06:00

This is how I spent my first day in 2010... haha

Update: I got a bunch of sketchbooks for Christmas, so all you WashU kids should look out:

That creeper drawing you may be me... haha, once someone on a bus got mad at me for sketching them.

Mele Kalikimaka!

2009-12-25T06:24:00.009-06:00

I've been interested in exploring shape stuff lately, so here's a Hawaiian lady wearing a dress I saw online and want very, very badly. I got a lot of inspiration from looking at Pascal Campion, Britney Lee, and Kevin Dart. I have "Christmas Island" stuck in my head right now...

EDIT: this song is fitting, I think :)

Oh and a self-portrait. I tried to do my best Stallone face... haha

I hope everyone has a MERRY CHRISTMAS! Spread good cheer. :)

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-22T18:12:00.005-06:00

My best friends got all dressed up to wish you a wonderful holiday season! Stay safe and warm, everyone!

Verbs

2009-12-16T21:48:00.010-06:00

I had an assignment to draw a pile of verbs. I used ink and brush, and I looked at a lot of Rea Irvin and Ronald Searle for inspiration.

Here are some of my favorites of the bunch!

topple:

quaff:

eviscerate:

Christmas break is finally here, and I'm home and cozy next to the tree. It's great to see my family again. :)

The Three Sisters

2009-12-09T16:14:00.004-06:00

I used graphite and digital paint in PS. The trees are mostly graphite with digital washes and the sisters are mostly digital paint with just a bit of graphite underneath. It was fun balancing everything out and learning when to hold back and when to push forward.

Airport sketch

2009-12-01T22:15:00.003-06:00

Drew this while waiting for the flight to CTN-X - it was an amazing trip! I definitely wanna go again next year.

I always forget why I get homesick

2009-11-28T20:02:00.001-06:00

And then I remember.

experiments

2009-11-16T14:51:00.005-06:00

Hi, all! Here are some experiments from the past few weeks. The first one is gouache and ink, the second is graphite, and the last is just a messy watercolor test that I kinda like. The second one is inspired by Paul Felix/Haylee Herrick - thanks for posting about him, Haylee!

I am going to be at CTN-X this weekend and I cannot express my enthusiasm enough! I can't wait for these events! Hope to see you there! Check it out if you are not familiar: http://www.ctnanimationexpo.com/

Sketchbook Pages

2009-11-04T00:51:00.003-06:00

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

2009-10-24T01:48:00.002-05:00

Storyboards!

2009-10-17T16:22:00.003-05:00

Sorry things have gotten so slow around here - it's been a busy semester! Here are some storyboards from a few weeks back. A silent conflict between two characters. Kevin and Daphne are taking a pop quiz... uh oh.

100 figures assignment

2009-10-01T22:28:00.004-05:00

This past weekend was DB Dowd's famous 100 figures assignment. Basically we had one weekend to produce 100 figure drawings, at least 11" x 14". It was crazy! Some of my buddies and I were in the studio until 6 am, but we got the drawings done. It was a really useful assignment in learning a bit about your work and finding some surprises in it. I thought I'd post some of the ones I liked out of the 100.

NOTE: some of these but not all of them are from photo reference. There's a great website called characterdesigns.com that has a lot of models to browse through. Definitely worth it for figure practice! I also used some refs from the blog mentioned in the below post. I thought it would be useful to see what I could make up from my head versus what I drew from reference or from life.

sketchbook post

2009-09-16T21:52:00.010-05:00

NOTE: Some of these images were drawn from reference posted on a wonderful blog: http://jblyth.com/blog.html It has interesting photos of so many different things that are fun to sketch! Check it out.

Special thanks to Brian over at the Saint Louis Drawing and Painting Blog for posting this entry! Check out the blog here.

character sketches

2009-09-13T16:22:00.004-05:00

This Thursday!

2009-09-09T00:58:00.005-05:00

John Hendrix's book signing is this Thursday, 6pm, at Subterranean Books (6275 Delmar). John is an amazing illustrator and instructor and has a great sense of humor to top it off. Not only will you get a signed copy of his book, John Brown: His Fight for Freedom, but you'll also get to see original sketches and work from the book hanging up on the wall. It's pretty super. I saw a little preview of the work last year when he did a demo for our class at Washington University, and I can tell you it's well worth a copy (or two - a gift for a friend)! The show is up until the last week of September, I think. Check it out. :)

John's cover illustration:

The Mall Starbucks

2009-09-03T23:36:00.003-05:00

I used microns and watercolor on bristol, which did not result in an even application of tone, so I should probably try something different next time for large areas. I had a lot of fun with these characters, though. :)

'Bout Time for a Sketch Update

2009-09-02T02:33:00.004-05:00