Sketches for Elijah

The Blue Lake International Youth Symphony and Choir is performing Mendelssohn's Elijah this summer at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, and Carol Tice (the art director at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp) commissioned me to sketch up some mural ideas. Three panels featuring scenes/themes from the Old Testament story of the prophet Elijah will be painted by youth in the Ann Arbor area and displayed for the musical performance. I attended BLFAC for camp as a middle schooler, and worked as a counselor this past summer, so this project has a special meaning to me. The colors and compositions are of course subject to change--while I may be getting back to Michigan in time to help the kids paint, it's likely these sketches will serve more as a guideline for inspiration rather than a rigid map for the murals. I also have versions of these sketches with embellished borders featuring patterns and images, but personally I feel like they clutter the composition too much. I'm giving both versions to Carol and letting her make the call.

For those who are unfamiliar with the story of Elijah, in the panels I've illustrated a few major scenes of his time on Earth: the first shows Elijah being fed by ravens when there is a drought in the land of Isreal following Elijah's confrontation with King Ahab regarding the worship of both God and the idol Baal. The second panel is the depiction of the "face-off" between Elijah and Ahab to reveal the true God (both make sacrifices to their gods but only Elijah's altar is consumed in fire from the heavens. After this the drought ends, and a series of other events happen before Elijah ascends into heaven on a chariot of fire (last panel, also my favorite of the three)

I'm still working on the superhero pieces; the coloring is taking longer than expected. Also it's the first week of school and my professors have wasted no time piling on the homework!

An American Wedding

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back^

So while I've been a counselor at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, Michigan (http://www.bluelake.org/) for the past few weeks, I had the opportunity to design wedding programs before I left for a friend who was married just last Saturday.  Everything is completely hand-drawn and fairly low-tech: I don't have the resources at home that I do at school (scanners, printers, Photoshop, etc) so I had to keep it relatively simple to create and inexpensive to reproduce.  The illustration is graphite and ink, drawn at about 175% size to allow more detail when I reduced the image for the program.  I did the entire program in one go, then scanned and printed the image of the happy couple to attach to the center of the front cover.  The entire program was then photocopied for the wedding guests.  Congratulations Sarah and Mike!  

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Second semester has begun--I feel like the course load is much greater than last, due to the fact that I've been up past two o'clock nearly every night since my return.  I sent in my portfolio for Competitive Scholarships last night, so I've included a few of those images in today's post.  It would be great to get some money for next year, considering I've had to dip into my savings account time and again to make up for no work-study job this year.  Some good news: I accepted a job at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp (http://www.bluelake.org/employment_staff.html) for the summer, which should be a lot of fun.  I went there twice during my grade school years, and the atmosphere is a great combination of rustic living, intense study, and of course the usual camp activities like swimming and talent shows.  I will be a Cabin Counselor and Health Provider (which basically just means you are certified to handle emergency medical situations in case they arise) in addition to assisting faculty with class instruction in the visual arts (drawing & painting, ceramics, and fibers).  I'm looking forward to living there for the summer.  In the meantime, it's work, work, work. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of fun, but sometimes I wish there were more hours in a day to get everything done!