Eco

Today I just placed a large order for my holiday cards. I'll be printing them on a tree-free letterpress stock, so the new items will be more eco-friendly and even more luxurious. The Christmas cards will be large and will be paired with gold envelopes and liners, while the Halloween line will have orange envelopes and liners.

You can see these in person at Crafts in Chelsea on Oct. 15.  Hope for good weather as it is outside!

If I am quiet for a few weeks, please be patient. I am in the middle of moving and the semester.  More drawings are percolating in my brain.

On the Third Day of Christmas

My true love gave to me three french hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.

Unfortunately due to a moving snafu and the start of teaching, I won't be able to complete the fourth day in time for Christmas (and my fall art sale in Chelsea) this year, especially if I hope to complete an envelope liner. But I am very happy with the three plump hens.  They came to fruition on September 11, ten years after such a sad day.  Living in NYC this year, it was more potent than I expected. I was glad to have something for my hands to do.  Do you recognize the same border from the partridge? I think it looks much different with its new French inhabitants. 

"The Third Day of Christmas" Pencil. Copyright 2011 Jessica Boehman

Teeny Tiny Bat

Has anyone seen that cheesy, wonderfully weird movie from 1979 called "The Halloween that Almost Wasn't"?  We watched it all the time as kids. It starred Judd Hirsch as Dracula, who works to try to convince the Halloween monsters: the mummy, Frankenstein, the werewolf, and the witch, that Halloween should not end.  It even ends with disco dancing and leisure suits. What's not to like?  In a ridiculous scene where Dracula has to get through a locked door, he shrinks into a tiny bat to squeeze under the door. You can even see the string pulling him through. It's awesome (look at 8:40), as Dracula repeats "Teeny Tiny Bat" to grow smaller:

This one's for you, Dracula!

"Teeny Tiny Bat" Pencil Copyright 2011 Jessica Boehman

Here she comes to save the day

I made this pet portrait from an image that a photographer friend supplied to me. The dog, a handsome rescue named Pepper, was dramatically lit and seemed so heroic and earnest.  There was only one thing to do.  This one's for you, Lonnie! I hope you like it.

"Pepper Heeds the Call of Justice (after a photo by Lonnie Kishiyama)" Pencil. Copyright 2011 Jessica Boehman

An Ode to the Rats I've Loved

Second in my series for Halloween 2011 is this image that I made while under Hurricane Irene house arrest.  Before rendering and coloring, the sketch of this drawing reminded me of the animated rats and mice that I always admired growing up: Justin from "The Secret of NIMH" (based on the book "Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh" by  Robert O'Brien) and Basil from "The Great Mouse Detective" (based on one of my favorite childhood books, "Basil of Baker Street" by Eve Titus).  They had an intelligent cool factor to them, especially the latter, who was based off of Sherlock Holmes.  I remember squeezing in between two pieces of furniture in my sixth grade classroom during our hour to read books in order to create a little haven for myself where I would not be disturbed. That's where I followed the adventures of Basil.

The rat is an appropriate Halloween motif (and one that is significant to me, living in NYC), and I wanted to think about what he might dress up as for his own celebration.  Naturally, he became what you see below.  His wide stance and flowing cloak is an ode to those mice and rats of my youth.

"Vampire Rat" Pencil and digital color.  Copyright 2011 Jessica Boehman

A Prickly Halloween

I'm designing a new line of Halloween illustrations that will be made into cards.  I'd almost prefer to send a Halloween card than a Christmas card; it's my favorite day of the year.  For one day, you can be anything or see anything.  On that day, I really believe in ghosts (though I really do) and goblins and witches and werewolves.  My most memorable childhood costume was the year I was a wizard, complete with false beard and nose and wrinkles, courtesy of my sister, who had learned the basics of theater makeup.  I will never do that again; I almost ripped off my skin at the end of the night trying to remove the skin.  Moreover, my nose wiggled in the weirdest way when I ate and my friends in school were a little creeped out by that in the cafeteria.  In recent years (and probably because I'm an art historian), I've tended to the historical, turning saints into costumes. Two of the more successful were St. Lucy with her bloodied eyes on a plate and St. Joan of Arc, complete with dancing flames crawling up my legs.

I love the smell of October air, that crisp, apply, candy-scented air that makes you wrap up with a scarf while enjoying the last rays of the sun's warmth.  I love the smell of a whole bag of Halloween candy.  Each year, it smells exactly the same.  I love the whole atmosphere of Halloween night.  After all of these years, it still feels magical to me.  Every Halloween, I still read Jack Prelutsky's "It's Halloween!" to myself (my mom read it to us when we were young). I look forward to the day I will read it to my children.  There was something very comforting about going to sleep on Halloween night listening to the final words of that book:

It's late and we are sleepy,
The air is cold and still.
Our jack-o-lantern grins at us
Upon the window sill.
We're stuffed with cake and candy
And we've had a lot of fun,
But now it's time to go to bed
And dream of all we've done.
We'll dream of ghosts and goblins
And of witches that we've seen,
And we'll dream of trick-or-treating
On this happy Halloween.

I've decided to do a line of macabre images (coming soon), but in line with my shop, I had to add one sweet card.  This is the first in a line of hedgehog holiday-themed illustrations. 

"Happy Halloween, Hedgehog!"  Pencil and digital color.  Copyright 2011 Jessica Boehman

Crafts in Chelsea

I'll be here with a couple of friends: Debbie of Harlequin and Lionhead and Bunnies Can Dream Jewelry. A few tables down will be two more jeweler friends: Melanie of MyCinta and Brooke of Porter Gulch Jewelry.

My goal is to have the new Christmas card line plus Halloween cards...from the cute to the macabre...for your own delight and perusal.  This benefits the arts program of PS11.  Come down for Christmas and birthday gifts, treats for yourself, and tasty food!