Steampunk-inspired illustration

This is my first steampunk-inspired illustration. The foreground is done with ink and watercolor pencils on bristol board. The background is a manipulated photo of the BU Bridge, that I took this summer on one of my excursions to Cambridge.

Projects

There are exciting things waiting to happen in the near--or not too far off, at least--future. Around March, Brookline writer Kim Girard plans to publish her children's book, and it will be full of my black and white illustrations. I can't say too much about it now, except that it is a lot of fun working on this project, and that it is an awesome story!

I have just been accepted to exhibit my drawings (mostly black & white comics and illustrations) at the Brookline Town Hall for a month in 2012 (probably May-June), so that will be fun too! I have to go through my submissions and weed out the darkest pieces, though, because since this is a public space, the images can't be too explicit or disturbing (and a lot of my stuff, I have realized,  is either dark, bloody or topless)

I still do illustrations for Spare Change, and the last one appeared in the last November edition. It was a portrait of Gary Johnston (aka John Doe), which I drew sometime in September or October. He was a very impressive and interesting person, and I enjoyed sketching him as he worked on an article in his "office" as he laughingly called it, in Central Square. Another illustration that I just finished last week is due to come out in one of the next editions, but I am not going to post it here until it has been in the paper (so buy the paper!).

I signed up for an account on the website Behance, so be sure to swing by and check out the projects I post there.

Gothista: Alternative Fashion Illustration. A project that I am not doing for a client, but just having a lot of fun with. Plus, I could use a lot more color in my portfolio!

Idea for a graphic novel set in Copenhagen.  Thanks to Copenhagen based photographer Thomas Christensen, who takes awesome photos of his city, and whose bird's view photograph I used for my top panel reference.

Spare Change illustration of Gary Johnston.

Hellbound and More Comic Art New England

Happy Halloween! Above is the result of some playing around with pens, paper and Photoshop last night.  Otherwise, I have not been very involved in Halloween preparations this year. However,  several members of The Boston Comics Roundtable got together to create a horror anthology, Hellbound 2, which is out now. To purchase a limited art edition, order your copy here. To read some Hellbound 2 press coverage, click here.

The Comic Art New England exhibit (the art exhibit that opened in connection with MICE and went through October 16th) has been extended until November 19th. This time, the works are on display at NEIA Gallery 303 (New England Institute of Art) right here in Brookline! I am very excited, because this is literally right down the street from me. Opening reception happens this Thursday, November 3, 6-8 PM. New England Istitute of Art is that ahem...modern building across from the Brookline Village t-stop, 303 Boylston Street in Brookline. BCR has a write-up on the exhibit on their web page.  I hope to see you there!

Line Art & Illustration is Open For Business: www.lineolsson.com

My portfolio portfolio website encountered some technical difficulties, but they are resolved, and here it is: www.lineolsson.com

Above are the images I am using for my business cards. No, they are not pathetically flattering & unrealistic self-portraits! ( I wish...:-)

This is Where You'll Find Me Tomorrow: MICE 2011

I will greet you in the front lobby of University Hall between 10AM-1PM. Later, I participate in my first panel on writer/artist collaborations. 4-5PM, I think. Should be fun! I am looking forward to all the great new stuff this year, I can't wait to get inspired! I only have one thing at MICE this year, which is a page in Leann Leake's zine, Hot Tea, Cold Water, #3. I also have a few framed comic book pages in the exhibit. Follow the link to see a list of exhibitors, then come to Porter Square tomorrow and secure some copies of their awesome work! It's free, it's fun, and you'll be supporting local writers & artists in your community too!

MICE, The Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo

September 24, 2011 10am - 6pm

1815 Mass Ave., Cambridge MA (Porter Square)
Illustration by Jerel Dye

Bad Hair Day? These Ladies Can Help...Chapter 5 Of The Ragbox!

Finally...or almost! Chapter 5 of Dave Kender's graphic novel, The Ragbox will be out soon, and there will be more on that at this year's MICE. I really took my time illustrating this chapter, since I've been pretty busy this last year, but I did enjoy every minute of the process.

The Ragbox is unique in the sense that a different artist illustrates each of its chapters. Kender published the the three first chapters in one volume, but printed chapter 4 as a mini, as will be the case with chapter 5. You do not have to have read the first volume to enjoy the subsequent chapters, as they also stand alone as slices-of-life stories, but it is fun to compare the different illustrators' individual style.

Kender has matched illustrators with chapters that would specifically interest them, and I really enjoyed drawing the people (stylistas, both young and not-so-young) and the setting (dilapidated hair salon) of this part of the story. I am not quite sure why, as I don't really follow fashion trends (I'm much too cheap to pay the price of designer stuff ), and don't spend much time in salons either (once or twice a year, just to get some peace and quiet, and because my hair has reached the point when it's so bad, it's not even funny). However, I do love looking at stylish people, and all the going ons of the salon are sort of fascinating. Also, my artistic mentor in the 1980's, combined his studio with a hairdresser salon in the basement, so I guess I have sort of spent time in that environment after all...that's an entirely different story, however, that I'll tell you all about later. Maybe. For now, get your first four chapters of The Ragbox at MICE and familiarize yourself with the characters of this neighborhood (which is loosely based on San Francisco's Mission district). To read more about The Ragbox, click here. For information on MICE, click here.

Enjoy!

Destination: Thieves Paradise

This is the last page for now. What meets Captain Scarlet and the crew at this eerie place? Stay tuned, cross your fingers and find out!

Overboard

The Captain's Quarters

And a Bottle of Rum...

Parrots, Rum, and a Zombie Called Regan's Corpse

Roman Scarlet, Dandy Long Legs & Doktor Sock

Bloody Mutiny

This is page three, and when I drew this one I learned the following about myself: 1) Drawing blood & gore is not as disturbing as I had thought it would be, but actually a lot of fun. Probably because it's really just ink... 2) I kind of like drawing men, when they're as handsome as Dandy Long Legs (according to Troy's script he is very dandy, and I modeled his appearance on a romantic portrait of one of my favorite English poets, John Donne).

More Pirates...

Open Fire!

This is the first page of the pirate fantasy comic, Open Fire! (Written by Troy Minkowsky) Is the editing in photoshop done? Is this the final look? No, probably not. But it will be something along these (crosshatched) lines.

Just A Few Sketches from June & July.

I just realized that I haven't updated my blog since June! How time flies! I am not on summer vacation, just keeping very, very busy! Among my projects: a pirate comic, illustrations, and of course, job applications. In the meantime, here are some pages from my sketchbook to look at...

Below: Inspired by a relatively new picture book about Audrey Hepburn, Just Being Audrey, written by Margaret Cardillo and illustrated by Massachusetts-based artist Julia Denos. I found the book at the Curious George store in Harvard Square (which we will miss very much now that it is closing!), and wanted to buy it for my kids. Unfortunately, my boys did not share my enthusiasm on Audrey Hepburn; they took one look at the pictures and decided that the lack of monster trucks, dragons and epic battles did not interest them. So I ended up buying the book for myself, just so I could look at all the gorgeous illustrations. Well, it was so worth it!

Next: More random pages from my sketchbook. I must admit I prefer to draw women rather than men.

Spare Change Illustration

Recently, I had the opportunity to do an illustration for the Boston alternative newspaper, Spare Change. With this assignment, I really got the feel of what it is like to do creative work under a very tight deadline, and I must admit that such pressure tends to work well with me. I spent about an hour and a half sketching Marc Goldfinger, part-time vendor and writer for Spare Change, during his interview with freelance writer, Micah Stahl. It was a nice, warm day in Cambridge's Central Square, and time flew by as I filled my sketchbook pages with observations. I love to draw people in person, rather than from photographs, and especially while they are not paying attention to me, but focused on a conversation with someone else. This situation draws out a person's personality that I then try to capture in my drawing. I also like to bring the surroundings into the portrait, in this case the area outside the 1369 Coffeehouse. To me it seemed like a nice, busy place that I could have spent the whole day in, had I not had to rush home and take care of kids and their school pick-ups, park playdates and karate lessons (yesterday, however, a Spare Change vendor complained that I had made Central Square look 'too nice,' since in his opinion it was the worst #%*!! neighborhood in town! :-)

In-between picking kids up from school, packing for a weekend trip, etc. I had to draw the illustration with ink, based on my pencil sketches, then scan it, clean it up in Photoshop and send it off by around 7-8 PM. Thanks to my lovely friend, Sowmya, I was able to make it, since she brought my kids over to her house for a few hours to play with her son.

Hopefully, I will be able to do more assignments like this one. In the meantime, I am working on the Open Fire! project (see previous blog post), and as the July 1 deadline for that one comes closer, my productivity seems to go up!

The Pirates Are Coming!

Here is a cover and a preview/promo page for the upcoming comic, Open Fire! It is not a new project for the writer, Troy Minkowsky, but it's a new one for me. In fact I don't think I have ever drawn a comic about pirates, zombies and other fantasy figures before (except mermaids). I definitely have not drawn a comic that features a sock puppet, that one is a first! I really enjoy doing the artwork for this story, though. The characters are interesting, and there are at least three female characters in the story, which appeals to me. I also enjoy drawing seascapes, sea creatures and all that good stuff, and it's always fun to do something that is entirely new to me. I hope this won't be the last you hear of this story! There will be more to follow...

An Education

This the first page of a 3-page story that I submitted to an upcoming anthology on education. The anthology should be published in time for a conference on comics and education (for more info check out this website: http://necac.net/46/)

I chose to do a story set at Balfour House School, a British private school in Wales that I attended for a few years in the late 1970's. I was the only non-native English speaking student at the time, and although I learned English quite quickly, I would not recommend anyone to learn a new language in that sort of setting. Balfour House was a very strict school where corporal punishment was practiced regularly, an aspect of the school that I tried to work into my comic.

A few years ago, I learned that Balfour House no longer exists, and that the building is currently falling down. It is too bad about the building, it is an old stone structure, and originally a monastery (or so the rumor went back in the 70's). I saw some pictures posted online, where the iron gates were rusty and the windows boarded up. Weeds and grass grew up through the exterior staircase. On the other hand, part of me is relieved to have outlived that institution, because although I remember most of the students and many of my teachers fondly, I really, really did not like that school with all its rigid rules, traditionalist gender views and violence against kids.

Comics in the New Year!

In 2010, I started a new project, to illustrate chapter 5 of Dave Kender's graphic novel, The Ragbox. This is a really fun assignment that I love working on, but I also hope to finish up quite soon (it always feels good to complete assignments!).

The chapter is set in a beauty salon in the Ragbox neighbourhood, the setting for the novel. I love the characters in this chapter, especially Angel, the beautiful twentysomething hairdresser who I really enjoy drawing!

To read more about this graphic novel--the first three chapters have already been published--check out the blog for The Ragbox: http://www.theragbox.com/