Character Development

Developing more portfolio work demands pages of character sketches.

Work, Work, Work

I'm hard at work on a new picture book portfolio for the SCBWI NYC Conference 

coming up in February. Here are some sketches and final art.

A Millie Monster

Trying to turn out a page of sketches every (week)day for new book ideas. We'll see how this all goes down, 

but it's turning into a great way to generate new ideas and new art.

Hungry Birds

More sketches...

WOOLLY

Some new illustrations inspired by Christopher, the sheep in Australia that was found

roaming free with 90lbs of excess wool because he had never been sheered.

Character Development & Environment Design

Revisiting a story I worked on a while ago, and developing some new character sketches.

More to come soon!

An 'interview' with Patience Brewster

Recently I was asked by Patience Brewster, or to clarify the people at Patience Brewster, to participate in a blog interview. If you are unfamiliar with Patience Brewster's work you can visit her site here. I am thrilled to be included in this fun project and excited to share my answers with you. So, without further ado lets get to the Q&A:

1. As a child, do you recall a significant moment when you felt truly affected or inspired by any particular artwork or artist?
As a child my favorite thing to do on Sunday mornings was steal the comics from the newspaper before my dad could get to them. I loved 'the funny papers' and spent a lot of time trying to redraw those classic characters. Blondie, Peanuts, and Calvin and Hobbs were some of my favorites, but I think I spent the most time drawing Garfield. 

Charles Schulz

2. As an artist, what do you hope to convey with your work?
I am an illustrator because I love to create art and it is just something I feel like I will always have to do (this sounds cheesy I know, but it's true!), but beyond my own personal experience I hope to Entertain, Engage, and Educate people with my work. I enjoy creating work that is playful and that makes people experience happiness. When that happens I think they naturally become engaged and learn (especially children) from the illustrations.

3. What memorable responses have you had to your work?

I love doing school visits and then getting drawings from kids. It is so rewarding to see when your work has connected with a child or inspired them to create their own illustrations. Or, getting photos like this...

4. What is your dream project?

Whew, this is hard because I always have many more ideas rolling around in my head than I have time to actually execute. I love being busy so I'm always happy to be working on multiple picture book projects and I have a list of dream publishers I would like to work with: Beach Lane Books, Chronicle, Barefoot Books. However, for a dream project I think illustrating a narrative mural in a children's museum or hospital or library would be an incredibly unique and rewarding experience. Creating something that is larger than life for kids that they would engage with, and to see how they interact with it would be fun and interesting.

Edward Gorey

5. What artists, of any medium, do you admire? (Famous or not!)

This is my standard answer, but I'm truly obsessed with anything created by Edward Gorey. His work is simultaneously funny, smart, twisted, and playful. And, I've just discovered that the Edwards Gorey House hosts a Halloween envelope art contest which everyone should check out!                    
...Total 180 but I'm also very interested in Byzantine mosaic work, which I focused on quite a bit while getting my BFA in Art History.

Process Work - Children's Book Spread

Lately I've been working on some new pieces for my portfolio. Here is a little process work showing the different stages of development from start to finish.

Initial Sketch

Flat Color

 Final Collage

My Process

Final GIF - an illustration start to finish.

Final Illustration

WIP - Process Work

My first GIF! Still a work in progress…no textures yet, but you get the idea. More to come!

WORK IN PROGRESS

WIP - Birdland

The New & Improved Alice Feagan Illustration

The ol' website had a much needed facelift! Check out some new work as well as these past promos at www.alicefeagan.com. 

- You can also find prints for sale in my Etsy Shop or at Oopsy Daisy -