Art-Monday: Science Illustration!

I am back! I am excited to say my absence on my blog was because of a great opportunity! I have been working as a resident artist with the Vega Thurber Laboratory at Oregon State University doing scientific illustration for their publications & presentations! I cannot tell you how happy I am to be contributing to this educational endeavor. Their research is inspiring!

Below you can see the first of my pieces for the Vega Thurber Lab, an image & diagram demonstrating coral metagenomics & virus ecology. And my feature on the OSU artist page! I will be posting more scientific illustration as it is released in publications!

My artist bio on OSU's website!

Finished illustration for textbook publication & presentations

 

Work in progress screenshots of my reef illustration
Left:  School of butterfly fish  Middle:  Parrotfish and Acropora sp. (coral).  Right:  Reef part 1

Thanks for reading as always! See you next week for more art!

Zootopia Fan Art: An Art-Thursday

Had some fun with fan art this week :) Say hi to Officer Clawhauser from Disney's Zootopia! If you have not yet seen it and are a fan of animated features, go see it! It pleasantly surprised me at how much I laughed while watching it.

My fan art digital painting was done on my Wacom Cintiq with Photoshop. Thank you for reading as always, and see you next week!

 

Here is what my initial sketch looks like!

*P.S.- I do not take any claim to Disney's character, Clawhauser! Of course.

Arrow the Pup: A Special Art - Tuesday

I was honored with the opportunity to do a portrait in loving memory of a sweet dog, Arrow. Below you can see the final portrait and a couple of stages of my process. Rest in peace dear pup.

Raven Passport Cover DIY: Art-Wednesday

I am excited to have my first passport ever! In anticipation for my first big trip out of the country as an adult, I could not help myself from wanting a nice passport cover! After some price-checking and research, I decided that I would love to make a custom one with some leftover felt I had in the house. 

Keep reading to see my art & process!

My Completed Raven-Passport Cover!

Materials:

I personally really love using eco-fi brand felt, because it is made in the US out of 100% polyester from recoiled post-consumer plastic bottles! I used most of a "sheet" of brown felt for the base cover, and small scraps of black felt for the raven. I had some black elastic from my last project too, so I used that to create the closure for the flap. Other than that, it was just thread, ruler and a charcoal pencil to mark the measured felt!

I also had too much fun with raven studies and designing the pattern from my Cintiq in photoshop!

Initial Raven Studies, Cintiq & Photoshop

Raven Felt Pattern Design, Cintiq & Photoshop

Was so excited when it came time to add the raven! Printed the pattern and cut into a stencil for the felt. Dark green thread for his feathers to give him a bit of subtle color.

Making of the Base Passport Cover (And improvising design all the while!)

Thank you for reading!!! Hope to see you next week! And please, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them here, or on my Facebook page: Brianna Leahy Art!

You can be crafty and eco-friendly too! I was so excited to find the Eco-fi felt in my local craft store. If you would like to learn more about the recycled plastic felt, here is the link:  eco-fi website .

(P.S.- No, I am not being sponsored or anything by this company, I just get excited about eco-friendly things, and I love sharing my discoveries!). 

All content in this article is ©2016 Brianna Elizabeth Leahy

Baby Zebras: Art-Wednesday

I so enjoy adding personality and attitude to my animal characters; and these tiny zebras are no exception! I take my time painting their stripes and faces; got to get them just right).

They will be availabe for purchase next week at UnderSeaAndStars Studio, on Etsy!

Little Zebras:  Sculpted in polymer clay, baked in my home oven, painted with acrylic and very soon to be finished with a smooth gloss glaze.

A tiny herd of new zebras hang-drying their new painted coats :)

   

(Click to enlarge)

(Left):  My favorite completed paint-test zebra acts as a guide for the creation of his herd.

(Right):  Each tiny zebra is unique! Every bit is meticulously designed and hand-painted.

Thanks for reading, and catch you next week!

-Brianna

Miss Bear Print on Etsy! Art-Wednesday

Miss Bear is now on my Etsy shop, UnderSeaAndStars! Below you can find photos of Miss Bear's 5x7" print, and a preview of my Etsy listing! 

You can view it for real here:  UnderSeaAndStars Miss Bear Print 

Thanks for reading & see you next week!

  

All images © 2016 - Brianna Elizabeth Leahy

Emerald Flora Dress: Art-Wednesday

I had artist's block the other day, and it lead me to try something a little different! I chose three images from my "inspiration bank" of random photos/artwork/architecture and fashion that I find personally inspiring. From those three, I made my own mash-up of the images and my personal style.

Hope you enjoy!

Finished Illustration:  Girl in Green Dress

(Click an image to view larger)

Left:  An initial sketch.  Right:  Value study & pattern exploration

All images © 2016 - Brianna Elizabeth Leahy

Some Sass: Art-Thursday

Some sass for this week :) A combo of a brush pen sketch from the corner of my sketchbook, and some digital color from my iPhone, the Picsart app.

Mini Graduation Cards on Etsy! UnderSeaAndStars

Great News! My reimagined Etsy shop, UnderSeaAndStars, is now open! I have listed new pieces, including two mini artwork graduation card sets. Each card is 3"x 3", and comes with an illustrated envelope. You can grab one for a friend instantly! Just go to UnderSeaAndStars, download & print!

Keep reading for more details!

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My sheep graduation card reads "So Proud of Ewe!", and is great for this year's lady graduates! This sheep was inspired by my sister who graduates this Saturday! Congratulations Amanda!!!

 

(Click to enlarge)

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I live near Oregon State University, so my second card features a very happy beaver graduate!  

 

(Click to enlarge)

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Below are my initial beaver sketch studies, and my graduation cap & diploma pattern!

These cards are now available as digital downloads on at UnderSeaAndStars on Etsy! Please go check them out, and visit again soon! I will be working to post more! Don't forget to favorite my shop for updates when I add more! :) And please feel free to comment here for suggestions!

Thank you! -Brianna

Brush Pen & Copic Marker Fun: Art-Wednesday

A few fun sketches straight from my sketchbook, done in brush pen first and then color added with Copic markers. It seems to be my favorite combination recently, especially when I get drawing-block.

A re-design of my Mer-lady

A proud Mermaid for Mer-May!

Skeptic Guy SKetch

Mother's Day Quail Gift: Art-Wednesday

This Mother's Day, I wanted to break from tradition and get my mom something different. She is a coffee addict like me, so naturally we went out for coffee on Mother's Day, and I surprised her with this!

A reusable coffee sleeve handmade from: felt from recycled plastic, thread, a button, and a bit of elastic. I am very happy with how it turned out, and so was my mom! She loves quails!

You can see my process and the final piece in the pictures below! I designed the quail in photoshop first, printed and cut the pieces to create a template, and then sewed them all together and used the thread to add detail!

Love you mom!