A book is born!

After two years of hard work, "The Crown of Secrets," a collection of short stories and poems written by Jeremiah Christie (with two stories illustrated by me!) is here at last. A gorgeous full-color, hardcover book with dust jacket, sparkly red end-papers and a ribbon book mark. Hand-signed, of course, by myself and the author! Here's the first chance to see it in person.

Please join us if you're able this Thursday, August 18th, at the Daily Planet in Burlington. From 6:30 to 10pm, Jeremiah and I will be on hand with a big stack of books and the original artwork for my two stories as well.

More copies will be coming to the U.S. once Jeremiah returns to China, so if we sell out this week, don't fret! You can reserve your copy by showing up at the release party or by emailing Jeremiah or myself.

So, that's THIS THURSDAY starting at 6:30 pm, The Daily Planet, 15 Center St. Burlington, VT 05401 (for directions: 802.862.9647)

See you there!
Kristin

Brown your blues away

Is that a thing? I'm making it a thing. Gearing up to teach another class about one of my favorite art mediums: Walnut Drawing Ink. This morning class is happening on Thursday January 28th at Artists' Mediums in Williston, VT. Click here for details. Or call the shop at 800 255 1290

Here are a few images I painted just a few days ago, when the new year was all fresh.

Bellowing stag with some funky patterns on his coat. #sepia #deer #stag #fauna #paintingsinprogress #walnutdrawingink

A photo posted by Kristin Richland (@sweetenemyart) on Jan 3, 2016 at 2:46pm PST

#walnutink fauna today. #paintingsinprogress

A photo posted by Kristin Richland (@sweetenemyart) on Jan 3, 2016 at 2:04pm PST

I have since taken a break from painting to clear out a bunch of unnecessary clutter from the studio. Many bags of old supplies are headed to other studios and classrooms, and a mountain of cardboard went to be recycled today!
There's a pencil drawing that has been waiting to happen (we'll see if it translates from my head to the page) and then I'm also hoping to try some really BIG pieces using the Walnut Drawing Ink. Big being 18 x 24" rather than 5 x 5" of course. Let's hope this is a productive weekend. Happy New Year to you!

Do you like books?

I am illustrating two stories!  This is all happening thanks to Jeremiah Christie, a writer who approached me several years ago to do some brainstorming. Here we are now with the results. Jeremiah has come up with a dozen stories and poems and in collaboration with myself and seven other artists, we are trying to make an actual book come of it.  
Please check out this video:

We are getting down to the wire. One generous donor has just pledged enough to earn themselves a guided tour of Shijiazhuang, which brings us to 19% of our funding goal! But we only have until May 2nd (2015) to fund the rest of it.  ALL OR NOTHING. If enough of you out there are interested, this book could become a reality. If you've been saying I should illustrate a children's book, well, this is my chance. Please make a pledge!
Read more about some of the other people behind this project here at Jeremiah's website.  He wrote a really flattering post about me and my art, too!  You can find that right here.

Creature Classes are back!

Hard to believe, but it's time to let you know about the two classes I'm offering in 2015.
Every year at Artists' Mediums we get class requests in the cabin fever season, i.e. January, February and March.  This time we've packed every Saturday but Valentine's day with a class.  We hope you find them enticing!

My two classes are another offering of "Unlock Your Inner Creature" in January, followed by "Breathing Life Into Your Creature" in February.  Details for both below.  Pre-registration is required so please contact the shop by calling (800) 255-1290 or (802) 879-1236.

Unlock Your Inner Creature

Instructor: Kristin Richland

Class date: Saturday, January 24th 2015, Class time: 2:00pm-4:00pm

Skill level/age: Beginner, age 16+ 

(Sign up deadline: Saturday, January 17th)

Class fee: $45 per student,

Materials are provided, but feel free to bring a favorite pen or paintbrush.

This is a class aimed at those of you who wish to create whimsical, inventive creatures WITHOUT the pressure of making something realistic. No prior drawing experience is necessary. We will experiment with materials and ways of seeing. The goal is to loosen up, have fun, and go home with some new creature friends and the skills and knowledge to make more! Materials are provided, but feel free to bring a favorite pen or paintbrush. Come ready to get your hands dirty and you may want to wear “studio” clothes or an apron.  Artists' Mediums, 300 Cornerstone Drive, Williston, VT 05495

A sketchbook creature who appeared during my Holiday shows!

“Breathing Life Into Your Creature” Drawing Class

Instructor: Kristin Richland

Class date: Saturday, February 28th  Class time: 2:00pm-4:00pm

Skill level/age: Beginner, age 16+

(Sign up deadline: Saturday, February 21st)

Class fee: $45/person, most materials included but you’re encouraged to bring your own favorite colored pencils, markers, and/or watercolors to use in addition.  If you took the "Unlock" class and/or have creature ideas you'd like to further develop, bring your sketches!

Based on feedback from my first “Unlock” class, this session will focus on how to imbue your creatures with personality and unique characteristics.

Using body language and facial expressions we’ll give our creations the spark they need to leap off the page. In addition, we’ll be trying out a variety of fur, feathers, fins and other visual textures to bring them to life. Come ready to get your hands dirty, “studio” clothes or an apron encouraged.  Artists' Mediums, 300 Cornerstone Drive, Williston, VT 05495

Parking for classes will be around the corner of our building.

Refund Policy :

Please sign up early for classes. This gives us time to order the correct amount of supplies and prevents us from canceling the class if there doesn’t seem to be any interest. Full refunds will not be given for student cancellations. If you need to cancel, 50% will be returned in the form of store credit and 50% will go to the teacher. If Artists’ Mediums needs to cancel for any reason, you will receive a full refund.

Two classes coming up!

Dates are confirmed!
I'm offering the intro-style "Unlock Your Inner Creature" class for a second time (see this post for details on what to expect) on Saturday September 13th, and will follow that with a second class on Saturday September 27th:  "Breathing Life Into Your Creature."
In the "Breathing Life Into Your Creature" class, we'll be working with body language and facial expressions, as well as creating texture and pattern with fur, feathers, scales and maybe even plaids.  

Sketchbook pages, Lion study.  Pencil, watercolor, acrylic.  9"x9" each
(c) Kristin Richland 2014

Both classes will be held from 2-4 p.m. on their respective dates, at Artists' Mediums in Williston, VT. $40/person per class.  

Materials are included for the first class.  For the second class, "Breathing Life Into Your Creature," students are asked to bring their own favorite colors in markers, pens, pencils and/or watercolors to use in addition to what I provide.  

Since I've just confirmed the dates, we don't have this info on the store website yet, please contact me if you have questions!  More details will come soon.

"Lupus Trifectus" watercolor and ink on paper, 6"x4" (c) Kristin Richland 2014
(it was only after posting this for all to see that I realized the Latin for rabbit isn't lupus!)

Artists' Mediums refund policy:  Class fees can be refunded up to 85% if we are notified at least two weeks before the start of the class. A full refund will be given if Artists’ Mediums Inc. needs to cancel for any reason.

Please sign up early for classes. This gives us time to order the correct amount of supplies and prevents us from canceling the class if there doesn't seem to be any interest.

Seven Goat Coat, 24 Hour Comics Day 2012 preview

Hello there!  So to catch you up, we're at hour 13.5 in our 24 hour stretch of drawing comics here at the Winooski Welcome Center in Winooski VT.  That means it's 11:30 p.m. E.S.T. and I'm feeling pretty punchy.  Here are three more page previews.  Once we're settled back at home, real scans will be made.
Which reminds me!  I will also try and post my 2011 twelve-page comic.  I don't think I have yet!

I am at page 7 so far (not counting the cover) so there is some semblance of hope.  I'm also the blogger for our event (which means also FB & Twitter, etc.) so I have to be kinda realistic.   One bonus with having the computer right here at hand:  GOAT IMAGE SEARCH.  I am so happy with my goat on the right.  He's a pretty boy.

five hours in and three pages finished...

It's 24 Hour Comics day, once again & around the world!  I'm at the Winooski Welcome Center with many of our usual crew from previous years at Artists' Mediums.  Once again I'm just attempting a twelve page story where everyone else has hopes of doing a full 24 page piece.  

The story seed I pulled out of the bag was "A Seven Goat Coat."  Which has a lot of potential, but right now I feel like I'm just treading water with it.  Five pages plotted out loosely and I'm not sure if it's going to turn into a teenage angst story (don't we have enough of those) or a magical realism story.  

Just one more comment for now:  Urgh, why in the world did I choose to do a story with humans!

(Edited to add that I'm feeling a bit better about the characters now (page 7), but it was a rough climb to get there.)

Brought to you by the Department of Shameless Self Promotion!

Digging through the vault (the external hard drive, that is) I found these for your viewing pleasure.  Some may be new to you, some have been posted before (but a loooong time ago!)

The bonus is that all of these are now up on Society6 as mini-prints.  Free shipping on anything in my shop* through October 14, 2012.

I've added nine new pieces since yesterday, and there may be a few more that I post there before the week is through.  So in the spirit of Shameless Self Promotion, if you want to buy something from there, it gets me that much closer to purchasing a plane ticket to Colorado for a wedding next Spring!  

Traveling Cloak, Mode de Monstre

Beatrix Rabbit

Afternoon in the Sky

**Offer excludes Framed Art Prints and Stretched Canvases.

Art Hop Preview: Little Red Cloak

Little Red Cloak

Pairing up a little watercolor piece with a painted mat to complete the fairy tale feeling.

Outer dimensions are 5"x7"

This will be at the "5 and Dime" show in the BackSpace at S.P.A.C.E. Gallery for Art Hop!

A perfect summer day for Therese & James...

Thanks for your patience on this one!  Here is the value study, or at least what was able to fit on the scanner bed (there is actually a little more space on the left-hand side, and a bit below the ferns...)

Girl on the right is feeding something (apple slice?) to the horse.  I also intended for a stream to run along the bottom edge of the piece, so the group will be set back in space a bit more. Also, there would be some leaves for the two big trees.

Let me know what you think!

K

Wallace Tripp Gallery Show at Lyndon State College in Vermont!

When I saw this show announcement last night, I experienced true fangirl glee.  

One of my prized possessions is a slightly worn copy of "A Great Big Ugly Man Came Up and Tied His Horse to Me," which certainly laid the foundation for my sense of humor and my love of line.

Unfortunately I won't be able to get up to the opening (it's 2 hours East of us, and I work that evening) but I plan on going up next week.  If Lyndon State College is at all accessible to you, GO.

Especially if you can get there Friday night!

"Wally will attend the opening on Friday, March 18 at 6pm. "

Runs March 21 through April 11, 2011 at the Quimby Gallery in the Harvey Academic Center. Gallery Hours: 8-4, Monday-Friday.

Intrigued?  If you'd like to read a beautifully illustrated mini-bio
of Mr. Tripp, be sure to check this link out.

Fresh Art for Etsy

It's almost Art Hop time again!  I'm cranking up my matting and framing in the studio, trying to get ready, as once again I've got a space.  Meanwhile, here are a few close-ups of pieces that just went live 
on my Etsy shop.  More to come soon...

Waiting At The Station (detail) ©Sweet Enemy Art 2010

 Waiting At The Station

Walnut ink and gouache, two great mediums that go great together!  

This little guy is rather melancholy, waiting faithfully on his bench...

Gothic Reader (detail) ©Sweet Enemy Art 2010

 Gothic Reader

Walnut ink and gouache again, with a liberal dose of colored pencil and snaky hair.  

This Is My Cheese (detail)  ©Sweet Enemy Art 2010 

 This Is My Cheese

From a series of pieces I did when experimenting with some new-to-me acrylic mediums... the whole thing started off with this lovely yellow cheese-like surface, so the subject just had to reference that.

Grandma Sweater (detail) ©Sweet Enemy Art 2010 

 Grandma Sweater

Walnut ink strikes again!  And so does Grandma, with yet another bizarre sweater at Christmas. 

This piece shall now proudly take its place with the other Mode De Monstre.  

Bright Bird (detail) ©Sweet Enemy Art 2010 

Bright Bird

From a lovely day of printmaking down at the Burlington City Arts Print Studio, here is a monotype done in a technique which I always love but don't often have a chance to use.  And because I can rarely leave well enough alone, there is colored pencil and possibly some watercolor along with the dry-media and ink that the print was originally made with.

15 microseconds of fame!

Well, maybe not fame exactly, but when I checked into Etsy last night, I discovered a friendly little note from bythebead saying that one of my pieces had been picked for a treasury.  Treasuries aren't that rare, it's not like being posted on the main page or anything, but still, nice to see my work in a collection picked by someone else.

Here's the link

So what's YOUR vote for my next Etsy batch, oh internet peeps?  

Should I post more line drawings, or bigger pieces, or what? 

Until then, looking forward to this heat breaking a bit.  It's too stuffy in the studio, and we just found our awesome vintage fan needs an overhaul.  

Cheers

The shop! The shop!

The shop is alive!

Ten original pieces have made their way onto Etsy.  I feel like I've done a technology workout this evening, but it was all worth it.  Here's a few pieces that you'll find there:

Ghost Cat, one of the most recent mini-cat watercolors (1.25 x 1.25 inches) is at the top of the list.  Now that I've blown the image size up here on the screen, I don't know if I can part with him!  Excuse me while I go jack up the price.  Just kidding.

Favorite Book Bug

Celtic Pup, loose in the book of Kells

My imaginatively-named "Bird Number Two" 

At Arkonbey's suggestion, I've set Mondays aside for business-related activities.  Tonight was one of the more rewarding Mondays, even though it overlapped into Tuesday.  Next week should see a few more pieces in the shop.  Till then, Goodnight!

Paintings find new homes

This year's Open Studio weekend was a wonderful experience, as I've mentioned previously.  Here are a few of the pieces that have found new homes:
First, Lizard With Sandwich (24x18")

Young Rabbit (10.5"x5.5")

Two of the following pieces sold, and of the one in pink & blue, I just realized I might not have a better image! Nuts! Perhaps I'll discover otherwise if I do a little digging...  Anyways, pink & blue is "You Listen To My Stories" and the other that sold is "Nest Egg."  

The last one I have an image of is the Polar Bears, done on an interesting shaped piece of paper (it's scooped in the upper right corner.) They're just hanging out, listening to some stories. In their cozy little igloo, perhaps.

(size @ 2.5"x4.5")

Bug Parade part two

More Bugs! Again, these are about 5.5"x 5" actual size.
And may I just say how much I love advance posting? Because if you're reading this at on Sunday morning, I'm not at my computer, I'm on my way to the 20th Annual Children's Illustration show with my friend KW! I need to brush up on who's going to be there, just in case, you know, I get to actually meet any of them... (I'm just a bit giddy.)

Now, back to bugs:
#3.) Garden Bug Parade


#4.) Favorite Book Bug

Please note: I'm always open to suggestions for more bugs. Or bug situations.
Somewhere in my studio there's a slow-moving bug that keeps showing up this time of year, I'll have to do a portrait of him sometime. Most recently this bug was crawling all over Purple Easter Man while I was working on his portrait. But perhaps I should first find out if he's a good bug or bad.

Bug Parade part one

Here are a few small (5.5" x 5") drawings I plan to either put in the local library show, or post to Etsy. Once I've matted them I'll know where they're headed...

#1.) Gentleman's Stroll

#2) Walking the Beetle

some stuff from the desktop, part one

Since I haven't left myself much time for painting lately, I prepped a bunch of mini watercolor canvas and have been messing about with gouache. Also you might see some pen & ink in the background there.

The watercolor paintings are about 3"x3" at their biggest. A bit jumbly right now, but I think they'll clean up nice once I get them in mats.

a few of the latest sketches

At last! My new-to-me digital camera is in hand, thanks to the folks at Lezot cameras in Burlington. But for now, here are a few of the teeny ink & watercolors that I was working on a few weeks ago. First off, (above) we have some bears gathered around for a reading.
Note the odd shape of the paper... it's from a 3 1/2" x 5" watercolor sample book that was going to be thrown out. Same with the rest of these.
Next up: more ideas I'm tossing around for the Mode De Monstre series, which mostly consists of dresses with a life of their own.

Cherubim gown:
And then, Kimono with Fan:
Lastly, Slouching dress:
(hmmm... I sized these last two a bit too small... they're really the same size as the others.)
I'm aiming to have these dresses stand on their own as living things, and on a larger scale than the previous 4"x6" paintings that I made. Also in progress (and now that I have the camera, it will show up here soon) is a graphite drawing in this vein, a full 22"x30." Whoo!

Time for some Minatures

Miniature cats! The first group are mainly one-inch squares. And I went through an astounding amount of tape when doing these. Still, a good use of scrap watercolor canvas. I have a few scraps left, but I certainly have to be in the right mood to work this small. All pieces in this post were executed in watercolor & gouache on watercolor canvas.
This guy (?) is just SO happy. And wants to hug you.


Still working on a title for this group. For now, here are "The Comrades."


Once my Etsy store is up, I may post these guys there.