Dean Stuart

Hello bloggers! As you can see, due to my neglegence, this blog is obsolete. If you would like to see more of my work/blogs please jump over to deandraws.com/blog or deanstuart.tumblr.com

I'm way behind on this post, trying to keep up with all these illustration kids and their blogging. This month has proven to be fairly eventful.  Selling prints and art at the Alternative Press Expo with fantastic Mr. Grim Wilkins last weekend was a blast.  I met so many incredible artists who were equally as frantic as myself, attempting to sell work and talk to as many people as possible.  The first day tested my endurance, as I hadn't slept at all the night before.

But wait theres more!.... actually not a whole lot. The photos on top are from the CCA Alumni 2011 show, which I was fortunate to have a piece featured among many talented illustrators.  I wish had pictures of other artists and friends from the show.  The Q&A and the talks given by 5 alumni, including friend Brynn Metheney, from that night was the most rewarding and honest dialogue I've heard form professionals in a while.  The talk was geared toward students in the audience, providing a straight-shot advise and highlighting some important things to keep in mind after graduating.

Two main points of advise I remember:

"Be excited about what you are doing. No one cares. But they will if you show them how important it is to you."
"There will always be people to shoot down your ideas.  Sometimes you just have commit to doing you know and what you are passionate about." With which someone added, "Wear a suit of armor."

It was good to hear and meet some older alumni, whose work I was not as familiar with.
Thanks for stopping by, hope to see you at the APE(next year) or at CTN this coming November!

  I'm moving into a new studio space this upcoming week at the Compound Gallery. My work space I use in my apartment, of which I am accustomed to working in, but in need of a fresh new change, will be transported into a new building.  This new shared studio space is open, clean, with beautiful lighting, with inspiring artists all around.  The compound gallery is ever growing and improving with new equipment such as a letterpress, a wood working shop, kilns, etc.
     The assortment of sculpted characters will most likely not be coming along, and though I'd lie to keep them in my apartment, they will most likely be recycled into other sculptures or sold off.  In times of change and relocating, some consolidation is required.

                                                              

Heres a pretty much finished piece Ive been working on for the past week--a poster for Beauty and the Beast. Im fortunate to have been asked to participate in an alumni show this next week at CCA. Super excited to see old friends and faces, and their work too of course.  I might make a few changes to the painting still, before I have to rush it over to the frame shop in a few hours....

I fixed the dark image problem. This is a piece just recently finished to accompany a short story I'm writing- about a dancer who's career was drastically ended through an accident. At the end of the story she takes on a transformation, enabling her body to free itself from its physical state.

The painting took a bit longer than I had planned, but I learned a few things along the way, which is always a good thing in my book. Ideally Id like the process to be faster, but personal work kinda hovers around for a while, that's just how it goes.

Here's a sketch for a new poster design currently in the works. The type definitely needs some work, and I still need to get some good photo reference, but Im happy with the layout for right now. Hopefully this will be done in time for Ape and an upcoming show at CCA.

I was planning on submitting this to the CCA show that invited students and alumni to showcase work geared toward the recent events in Japan. The show was to bring attention to the disaster and donations toward a relief fund. I finished this a while ago, but not in time for the show. Im pleased with how it turned out though. I've never done a triptych before, but Ive always been intrigued by sequential images and their special way of communication.