allison sommers art.

letters from home

3.5 x 5.25 gouache on illustration board.

Private moments with Private Pfefferkorn, dreaming of beautiful breasts and alpacas far far away....

Click for larger:

new print

Hello, folks--

Just wanted to let y'all know that Thinkspace will soon be releasing a new print of mine, Preflight.  I'm very very excited about it, I've already seen them and they look brilliant!  Hahnemuhle paper is so beautiful, it really captures a surprising color depth.
The Specs:
“Preflight”
Giclee print on Hahnemuhle Museum Etching paper
Hand-signed and numbered by me
8x10” (6.5 x 8.5” image area)

I'm in the process of considering edition size right now-- let me know in the comments whether you might be interested.

the arms dealer

4.5 x 3 gouache on illustration board.

making deliveries to the innocents... only the necessaries...

I don't know quite what happened with this scenery-- I was thinking more of Asia when I painted it, but I feel like it reminds me more of Hawaii.  Oh well, I've been to the latter, and not the former.

Anyway, happy weekend, all!  Kiss your mother.

crowded waters (the crabshell boat)

2.75 x 4.25 gouache on illustration board.

I grew up around boats.  We didn't always necessarily live close to the water, but, as a family of sailing enthusiasts will, we always managed to find our way to it more weekends than not.  I remember as a kid being completely fascinated with the harbor, maybe even more than the open bay/sea-- hanging my head over the boat, or over the dock, and trying to will the water a little clearer to see what's on the bottom and the pilings.  The interesting things underwater are so much closer in harbors, I suppose.  There was also always for me the absolute horror of falling into the water, so close to the unseen greeblies hanging on the boat & docks, waiting to snag or slime you.. eeeeeuch....    ...and even just the proximity of other boats was tantalizing, like houses that are too close together-- always a chance to glimpse someone else's life.  Or, at least, someone else's weekend.

Anyway.  I don't think these weekenders in the crabshell boat are faring very well-- all these nasty nouveau riches clogging up the harbor and all.  Steady, boys....

This piece is tiny... click for details:

the pied piper

10 x 8 gouache on illustration board.

pied piper, candyman, one-man-band... This guy has it all.  (what I wouldn't give to have a pushmipullyu wagon...)  I love thinking of the noise this group must make as he leads them off to....

What I love is the discomfort I feel seeing candy mixed in with meaty steaks.  I wonder-- would you pluck that black-and-white cookie to eat, even after resting a while in that hot wagon? (I think I would.)

click for details:

I slept better last night.

gouache mini on illustration board, 1.5" x 2.5 in.
click for details.  The hardest to do were his closed eye & head hairs-- I waited in between breaths because my hands were too shaky otherwise.

I love gouache.  It's so beautiful... the color just punches even at such a tiny size....

bullyproof.

8 x 10 gouache on illustration board.

If only we all could be so lucky to have this sort of fierce protection through the primary school years...
During recess I remember distinctly that the playground slide was actually my own personal apatasaurus, but alas, he never came to my rescue. :)

click for details.

I was inspired by a book of vintage photographs of the Raj while I was working on this piece... far be it from me to flatly romanticize somewhat dark portions of our history, but my my are some of those outfits & fabrics & architectural ornamentation some of the finest in imagination...

the only child

gouache miniature 2.5 x 2.5. 

One little plot of land holds the archeology of all his (animal) relationships...

I don't know how other only children out there socialized in their childhoods, but with an absence of siblings and an isolationist streak, those pet relationships I had as a child meant everything to me.  I'm just so lucky that my parents let me have the menagerie that I did growing up.

peter, peter, picky eater

3 x 4.5 gouache on illustration board.

He'll certainly stay that size if he doesn't eat his veggies.  Imagination and vegetable buildings never helped anyone grow big and strong, right?

(he seems to have some pilot-like aspirations for when he grows up-- eat, little aeronaut!)

the goron market

14 x 7 gouache on illustration board.

An homage to the Zelda games, specifically Ocarina of Time. 

 

I am very happy to be able to show this piece finally-- it was a blast to paint, and I am really happy with it. 

This is a commission done for a fellow who is a fan of the various Zelda games, and is particularly taken with the Gorons.  That was lucky, since I too am a fan of the various Zelda games, and am particularly taken with the Gorons.  Anyway, remembering from Ocarina of Time that they were rock eaters, I imagined a big messy noisy food market with all manner of things going on-- toss in a few rats and a couple of my little characters (whose own shop in the bottom left corner is based primarily on the overabundance of said rats) and here we are.  This would be high heaven for a Goron, I think-- just a few rupees can get you bags of delicious rocks, geodes, stones, rocks, and scoops of tasty schist dust (for sprinkling on rocks).  Plus, you can even buy rupees, which look far more delicious than rocks, anyway.  In retrospect, I think I should have included some sort of dental clinic (eating all those rocks...).

Click for details:

Ten points to he who finds the rat king. ;)