allison sommers art.

tidal pool: every man for himself

I'm very excited to finally be able to share this-- I have been working on this seemingly tiny piece for quite a while now.

It's 4.5 x 6.5 gouache on illustration board.  Some detail shots:

I love this piece.  I've been trying to have more surface coverage of my pieces, taking both background and more importantly light into consideration, so this was my exercise in that.  There's something about the way that this tidal pool/cave is formed, the shape of it, that is really beautiful and comforting to me-- I definitely want to explore that more.  This was definitely a really fun piece to do-- I think it could have gone on indefinitely, there are so many places to put detail...

By the way, thanks to everyone who has bought bookplate sets already-- they're out in the mail, coming your way!  for those of you that missed them the first time around, they're here...

Some progress shots below:

shop update: bookplates!

I have treated myself to a lot of nice books lately, and decided that I wanted to make my own bookplates (since I had long ago run out of the ones I was using for my library).  I figured I might as well share!

Eight bookplates: two designs, four of each, with a crack & peel adhesive back. Both bookplates are home to characters waiting to accost any potential book-stealers-- they look slightly bored, sure, but they'll always be there. Paper is matte hot-press & ready for customizing-- ink, pencil, even paint are all possible media in which to inscribe your name.  They'll be packed snugly and sent with care.

Check it out!  Visit here to peruse the listing.

(just an side, the book in the picture is one of my favorites from my vintage children's book collection, a splendid illustrated edition of the Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, one of my favorite books of all time.)

scarlett

While I'm working on other things, I figured I would catch up with this piece that I never posted-- it was a gift for my father (the boat pictured is his).  It's 6 x 4 gouache on illustration board.

(obvs didn't get a chance to get a scan-- rats!)

goofing

I haven't shared any of my sketchbook things in a long time but I have a case of the Fridays and this fellow informed me that he is destined for stardom.  Happy Friday, y'all!

barrow (eaten from the inside out)

6.5 x 6" gouache on illustration board. 
This piece surprised me as it went along-- about halfway through I felt more and more darkly about what was going on inside those empty windows.  This black dog makes me feel very strange...  you'll remember him from another recent piece:

update.

purebred
2.5 x 4 oval gouache on illo board.

Just a quickie to prove my existence-- I keep starting new paintings because I get excited about ideas, but the downside is that it makes it harder to finish the ones I had on my table in the first place.  And every time I sit down to draw I get swept up in big crowded scenes-- like a marketplace, or a train station, places where lots of things are happening simultaneously, the sorts of scenes that you can get totally lost in (both as a viewer and a participant).  Anyway, I might be quiet on the blogfront for a while, but it's only because I'm working hard. :)

a dignified exit

5 x 7 gouache on illustration board.

fight for flight

Happy New Year, all!

I just wanted to post quickly to let y'all know about a show I'll be in that opens on Friday at Thinkspace in Los Angeles.  I'm really excited to be a part of it-- it's called Fight For Flight and it benefits API for Animals to help publicize National Bird Day.  It will be up Friday, January 4 through Saturday, January 5. If you aren't able to make it out to LA the show will be online at Thinkspace. I hope that those in the LA area will be able to make it, it looks like it will be a lot of fun (and there are some fantastic artists involved!)

The pieces of mine that will be there are Walkies and Preflight.