Julianna Brion

Titles

2012-01-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

I've been doing some hand-lettering using titles of films that I've watched recently.

Here we have "Naked Lunch" by David Cronenberg (The movie based on the novel. Haven't read the novel yet!)

Have I mentioned here before about my love for film? I might end up doing more with this idea / more attempts at hand lettering.

In other news, I was also interviewed by Ten Paces and Draw recently about my work process. So if you are interested in how I create my digitally colored work, check out the interview HERE where I show my process step-by-step for the January desktop created for The Fox is Black!

Factory Girl

2012-01-23T13:05:00.000-08:00

This was a sketch that didn't end up being chosen to go to final. I liked it, so I decided to go ahead and finish it for myself. It's another image that came to me while I was sleeping. You know, those times where you wake up with a clear image in your head and you rush to get it on paper before it is forgotten? I love that!

2012 is The Year of The Dragon

2012-01-23T06:30:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

And especially to my family members over in China, I hope everyone is well and that the festivities are wonderful.

Sketchbook #3 : Environmental Psychology

2012-01-18T07:34:00.000-08:00

I love reusing old, out-of-date textbooks as my sketchbooks. I'm obsessed with the cover graphics as well as the diagrams inside. It also helps that I can get them for free.

New Quilt

2012-01-13T14:53:00.000-08:00

Planning for an upcoming quilt based on a painting by Sonia Delaunay. It's been too long since I've worked on one!

Late!!

2012-01-12T13:12:00.000-08:00

Above is another little Alice in Wonderland inspired illustration. The White Rabbit who is running a little late!

And speaking of being late, I'm a little late in sharing this here on the blog, but I created a January desktop that is available to download on The Fox Is Black! It is based on a sketch by the amazing Rand Renfrow, who's work I've admired for a long time. Also, thanks to Alyssa Nassner for getting me involved in the project!

In other news, I also recently attended the Society of Illustrators Uncommissioned Exhibit last week. It was really great to see my work up on the wall amongst so many other talented artists, some of whom also happen to be friends, past teachers, and longstanding idols of mine! I was also honored to be able to attend with one of my best friends and favorite artists, Qing Zhuang, who had a piece up in the Sequential category.

Overall, a good start to the New Year!

Lily Paddern

2012-01-09T18:46:00.000-08:00

I've been designing some fabric patterns lately. I'd LOVE to be able to actually get a few of them printed so that I can use them in one of my next quilting projects!

Meatball Head

2011-12-21T12:56:00.000-08:00

So, here's something fun for you all! I promised I'd do a Sailor Moon poster a while ago, and here it is! I think it turned out pretty fun, so I might put this up in my shop as prints- and maybe make it available as an iphone background?

also,

have a great holiday weekend everyone!

Heavy Metal week

2011-12-11T14:46:00.001-08:00

Hey all, I created this piece for Ten Paces's Heavy Metal week (curated by Niv Bavarsky) and based on a sketch by the lovely Emma Maatman! It was definitely fun to take a break from all the cute stuff and tap into a darker side of myself for a week. Big thanks to Niv for inviting me to contribute!

ALSO, you should definitely go take a look at the piece Jimmy Giegerich did based off of my sketch of a medieval fortress turtle. It's SO super cool.

Hello December

2011-12-04T18:46:00.001-08:00

From this past October / November.

Progress

2011-12-04T18:09:00.001-08:00

Here's a piece that's in progress. It's part of a collaboration I'm working on with my darling friend and roommate, Mika Nakano that will be finished up soon!

Plus, I found out recently that Pin-ups 1 & 2 were accepted into Society of Illustrators 54! Congratulations to everyone else who got in, and hopefully I'll see you/meet you at the exhibit!

The Fox & The Grapes

2011-11-17T07:31:00.001-08:00

An illustration of Aesop's Fable: "The Fox & The Grapes"

One hot summer's day a Fox was strolling through an orchardtill he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine whichhad been trained over a lofty branch. "Just the thing to quenchmy thirst," quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run anda jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning round again with aOne, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater success. Againand again he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had togive it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: "Iam sure they are sour."

It is easy to despise what you cannot get.

Little Devil

2011-11-14T12:16:00.001-08:00

I haven't posted any sketches in awhile, so here's a little guy from a larger piece I was working on.

Pin-up series

2011-11-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

Hey all! I've gotten a lot of requests for prints of my pin-up series and they are finally up and available to buy online HERE! They are available as individual prints, or as a poster of all 4, as seen above!

Dontcha wanna buy some pretty ladies to hang on your wall?

<3 <3 <3

SCBWI Promo

2011-11-08T06:19:00.000-08:00

Almost forgot to post this one! So, after being lucky enough to attend the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) Conference in LA this past summer, I was asked to create the promotional illustration for the upcoming winter conference in NYC! You can see it now on the SCBWI website and on the winter conference blog.

Wild Things

2011-11-04T11:40:00.000-07:00

Here's my contribution to Fan Art week on Ten Paces and Draw!

It's based on a sketch by Nathan Bulmer.

Hopefully you can guess what it is referencing!

Braid 1 & 2

2011-11-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

Another addition to the Braid series. I'm planning on making these two available in my print shop as well.

Lederhosen

2011-10-28T09:38:00.000-07:00

Voilà, a ram in a lederhosen!

I've been focusing a lot more on children's illustration recently. It's funny, children's books were not something I initially wanted to focus on when I decided to become an illustrator. But ever since attending the SCBWI conference this past summer I've realized how appropriate my work is for books- and suddenly I find my interest in book illustration growing fast!

The Metamorphosis

2011-10-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

Here's a really quick piece I did for my classic book club group, The Wishbone Society. I chose to do a portrait of the sister from Kafka's The Metamorphosis.

Check out the book club blog for more artwork inspired by classic literature!

Braid

2011-10-10T14:46:00.000-07:00

Another day, another drawing of a girl.
I had fun doing this one as a way to relax while working on a dummy for a cool book project! I'm very excited about it and I can't wait until it is far enough along that I can share more with you.

Mermaid

2011-09-28T12:10:00.000-07:00

I had an insanely vivid dream about this mermaid two days ago. I started working on this immediately when I woke up. It was all so clear in my head.
This drawing is also for my Mom, who's birthday was yesterday!

.*.*.*.* Happy Birthday Mom! *.*.*.*.

Oh! And I also have taken the first step into making some of my artwork available to buy online!

As of now, the Geek Culture Diagram I illustrated a few years ago is available on Society6. I'm working on getting some more recent work up there for sale too!

Check it out!

Orange dress

2011-09-08T19:47:00.000-07:00

first spread/ devil head

2011-09-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

Happy September everyone!

New sketchbook

2011-09-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

pin-up #4

2011-08-12T06:42:00.000-07:00

The final piece for my pin-up series. (For now!)

pin-up #3

2011-08-03T09:55:00.000-07:00

Pin-up #2

2011-08-01T10:55:00.000-07:00

pin-up #1

2011-07-28T16:46:00.000-07:00

I realized I haven't drawn any figures in awhile so I started a new series of girls today. I'm having a lot of fun making them and figuring out how to work with a more simplified version of my graphite style.

skinnyfish

2011-07-28T05:25:00.000-07:00

Animal Friends

2011-07-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

Best in Show

2011-07-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

I have a new batch of paintings to share with you. More to come!

2011-07-24T07:14:00.001-07:00

2011-07-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

Another super quick fashion sketch. (Based on a photo from The Sartorialist)

Jungle eyes

2011-07-21T08:36:00.000-07:00

critters

2011-07-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

hot tamale dog

2011-07-15T08:24:00.000-07:00

ghostly feline/dandelion

2011-07-14T09:35:00.000-07:00

lookin' snazzy

2011-07-06T20:11:00.000-07:00

I haven't done anything fashion related in far too long!

taco dino

2011-07-05T07:55:00.000-07:00

no one in particular

2011-07-01T15:16:00.000-07:00

I've been into painting these really fast and loose portraits lately, sometimes just to warm up before I begin working. Here's one of the paintings I'm kind of digging.

figure studies

2011-06-28T09:14:00.000-07:00

I don't remember painting these

2011-06-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

but apparently I was really into it.

Mandarin Duck

2011-06-26T15:24:00.001-07:00

sketchbook winter-summer 2011

2011-06-25T17:47:00.000-07:00

I finally finished my Realm of Science sketchbook! Today I'm officially beginning a new sketchbook in an awesome old Ikebana instruction manual that my parents found for me for my birthday. I still have a whole lot of stuff to scan from this book, so you can expect more sketchbook posts soon!

Underwater Panther

2011-06-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

The Underwater Panther is a legendary creature mentioned in Native American Folklore that I've been pretty interested in since I read about it last semester. This piece isn't really accurate to Native American portrayals of one, but I wanted to reinterpret it in my own way.

Vend Send Mend

2011-06-22T18:39:00.000-07:00

I was invited to create a piece for Vend Send Mend, a local benefit show for Japan! Loads of other super cool people are donating work, so you should probably check it out!

Baltimore Summer

2011-06-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

A sketch from the park outside of my apartment. There are a lot of really phenomenal dogs in my neighborhood. I wouldn't be surprised if I have drawn most of them by now.

A very serious post

2011-06-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

This is where bow tie pasta comes from.

animal mask- process

2011-05-29T10:47:00.000-07:00

Process shots of the final mask I created for my commencement show.

Graduation!

2011-05-23T14:26:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated in so long and there is sooo much news to share!
First, I graduated from MICA last week and my commencement show was up in the Meyerhoff gallery for a few days! Thanks to everyone who came out to see it!

It was so insanely stressful during the weeks leading up to the Commencement show, but it all ended up great and everyone's work was awesome!

(Also, if anyone happens to have better pictures of my show, would you mind sending them to me? It would be greatly appreciated!)

I also recently found out that I'm one of the winners of the SCBWI Student Scholarship and I'll be flying to LA for their conference in August!

I'm going to be sticking around Baltimore for another year with my lovely and talented friend and roommate, Mika Nakano. Overall, I'm really happy to be finished with school and ready to start up freelancing. I think exciting things will start happening soon!

Roald Dahl Book Covers

2011-05-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

One of my final assignments this semester was to reinterpret book covers for two Roald Dahl books. Here are my pieces for James and the Giant Peach and Fantastic Mr. Fox!

Dog Party!

2011-04-28T08:04:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago I made this quick little zine called Dog Party! It's really silly and small, but I hope you enjoy it. Also, it folds out into an 11x17 poster of one of my sketchbook pieces! It's my first attempt at zine-ing and I hope to make some more soon. Maybe dog party 2?
Also, I got a bunch of help putting it together from zine-master Nick who everyone knows is a super cool dude. Thanks again!
Get ready for some crappy cell phone pictures!:

(fold-out poster)

Alice

2011-04-18T16:13:00.000-07:00

A portrait I painted the other day based on the girl that inspired Alice in Wonderland.

La Môme Piaf

2011-04-06T19:32:00.000-07:00

A portrait of French singer and cultural icon, Edith Piaf.

Dog party

2011-04-03T09:42:00.000-07:00

Just a few of the paintings I made over spring break.

Also, I have a piece up on the Nucleus Gallery Blog today! Check it!

Mask progress

2011-04-02T12:34:00.000-07:00

They are slowly evolving...I wonder what they'll look like by the end of the semester?

Follow me!

2011-03-25T07:24:00.000-07:00

I broke in and got a twitter so that I can be all connected and social and whatnot! Let's be friends!

Airedale

2011-03-22T10:07:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you guys could already tell, but I'm really really into dogs.

'Arry Potter

2011-03-18T09:18:00.000-07:00

Above is a piece I did for my fantasy art class and the Nucleus gallery Harry Potter tribute show (as well as my first attempt at fan art). It's the house elves in the Hogwarts kitchen! It was the first piece in a while that I've done completely in traditional media outside of my sketchbook, so it was pretty interesting to make.

and a new sketchbook spread! I've also recently been working on my new website which should be up pretty soon!

New Floral & Thesis

2011-02-26T18:35:00.000-08:00

I'm currently working on a few sculptural pieces for part of my senior thesis that are inspired by the novel, The Master and Margarita. They are in a pretty experimental stage at the moment. Here is a photo of one of them in progress!

sketchbook

2011-02-18T11:50:00.000-08:00

A new spread.

SOI Student Scholarship

2011-02-17T08:20:00.000-08:00

One of my pieces has been chosen for the Society of Illustrators student scholarship competition!

Congratulations to everyone who got in, especially my MICA pals!

My Studio

2011-02-10T16:39:00.000-08:00

I share my studio space with the lovely Janna Morton, and my old pal, Strutting Leo.

Sketchbook

2011-02-07T08:03:00.000-08:00

A creepy dog and a better scan of an older sketchbook spread.

More botanicals

2011-02-01T11:31:00.000-08:00

I swore I'd never draw a dragon

2011-01-25T12:40:00.000-08:00

Here's my first piece for my Fantasy art class! I was never a big fantasy art fan before, but I think this class is going to be really great. The assignment was to take a fantasy art cliché (I chose a dragon) and to put a new unique spin on it. My dragon happens to be the best camp counselor in the world.

quilt #2

2011-01-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I began a new improv quilt that I plan to embroider on during the coming semester! Hopefully I'll be able to find some way to incorporate it into my thesis.

bird cage

2011-01-11T13:37:00.000-08:00

Another version of the cage dress.

Le Coignassier

2011-01-06T07:54:00.000-08:00

Plant studies

2010-12-28T20:35:00.000-08:00

I'm back in Connecticut for awhile so I've been taking advantage of my free time to paint a lot. Lately I've been really inspired by this old plant encyclopedia from the 1970s that I found at a tag sale and by a lot of old things I've been finding around my house.
It feels so great to be working in graphite and paint again!

(my lovely book)

(some sketchbook spreads)
( oh yeah, also I am without a scanner at the moment so crappy photographs will have to do for now.)

thesis #5

2010-12-21T07:39:00.000-08:00

Sapporo Snow Festival

Thesis #4

2010-12-16T12:34:00.000-08:00

Rio Carnival in Brazil

Thesis #3

2010-12-14T21:03:00.000-08:00

A poster for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival!

2010-12-11T09:49:00.000-08:00

Getting Published!

2010-12-09T13:22:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more excerpts from the food sketchbook I've kept this semester! Also, it turns out that my easter bread illustration has been chosen to be published in the upcoming They Draw and Cook book, along with my good friends Kristin and Kathleen! The book comes out next year and it's gonna be super awesome.

senior thesis

2010-12-06T14:27:00.000-08:00

illo #2 for my senior thesis (sans the final typography)

This one will be used for a poster for the Fête des Lumières in Lyon, France.

This festival goes on all night on December 8 and consists of these amazing light installations that go up all over the city of Lyon.

December is here

2010-12-01T21:28:00.000-08:00

It is officially the holiday season and time for finals.

Time to panic!

Peach Pie Plate

2010-11-16T12:22:00.000-08:00

I painted this snazzy plate and got some snazzy pictures taken of it! This was for my Food illustration class and the theme I had to work with was Peach pie. It was my first time ever glazing anything and it was pretty difficult, but I'd love to do it again!

eco-friendly tote bag design

2010-10-31T13:06:00.000-07:00

Inspired by my recent trip to the chicken farm!

2010-10-27T18:15:00.001-07:00

Senior Thesis

2010-10-21T13:17:00.000-07:00

Here is one of my pieces for senior thesis!

I am doing a series of cultural festival posters from around the world. This one is for the Kinetic Sculpture Race right here in Baltimore, MD. I'll end up having 5 or 6 of these by the end of the semester.

Chicken Farm #2

2010-10-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

Farm trip

2010-10-11T17:17:00.000-07:00

Thesis is underway and I realized I won't have a lot of work to put up on here until it's completely finished. I'm going to attempt to post up some smaller/less exciting things a bit more frequently until then!
So...I went to a farm today! Here are some ducks.

Easter bread recipe

2010-09-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

Here's a 2 page illustration of a family recipe for my class "Illustrating the Edible". The assignment was based on an online project called "They Draw and Cook".
We have also been keeping food journals for the class which we are expected to draw in every day. I've been taking this opportunity to be a little bit experimental with different mediums as I'm trying to figure out the best way for me to handle food illustration. It's been really fun, although I've realized that I need to force myself to eat more interesting foods...there are a whole lot of apple drawings in there!
Below are a few of the pages from the sketchbook:

Finished!

2010-09-01T08:55:00.000-07:00

It's been a big week! I moved back in with my lovely roommate in Baltimore and senior year has begun!
But the big news is I finished my quilt! I finished sewing the binding on last night and I'm so proud of it.
I hand-quilted the entire thing and it ended up taking a full year. My fingers are so calloused from sewing it all by hand, but it was a really enjoyable project and I want to start a new one soon! Here are some detail shots:

More sketchbook and illustration work to come soon!

drawing and dreaming of Baltimore

2010-08-21T11:48:00.000-07:00

The Master and Margarita

2010-08-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

A book cover for the classic Russian novel, The Master and Margarita!

I'm thinking of working a lot more with design, typography and hand lettering this coming school year, so I created this for a little practice. School is starting soon and I'm super excited to get back to Baltimore and start working on senior thesis!

Here is a close up of the bottom which is a little drawing of some my favorite characters from the story:

Block Island

2010-08-08T11:44:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I wasn't able to get as much artwork done as I wanted while there, but here are some quick drawings from my very relaxing stay on Block Island. I broke out my colored pencils again and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed using them! hopefully some of these will also be used for the basis of some small gouache paintings.

lost & found

2010-07-21T07:07:00.000-07:00

I just found this odd little drawing on my computer that I was planning to use for another project, but it never ended up making the cut. I kind of like it standing alone as an image now...

More Sketchbook!

2010-07-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

I'm having a lot of fun this summer not really worrying about what I'm making and basically just attacking the paper. I'm hoping to figure out how I can use this approach more in my illustration work and not just my personal sketchbook!

silly pattern

2010-07-05T12:03:00.000-07:00

2 versions of a pattern I made recently.

Some new sketchbook work

2010-06-30T04:45:00.000-07:00

new sketchbook work and gouache experimentation.

Monotypes

2010-06-24T11:11:00.000-07:00

I finished my first week at my printmaking internship! It's been a lot of work so far, but I have already learned a lot and have been able to observe a lot of master printmakers at work. Here are some quick abstract monotypes that I made on the first day while I was helping out with a workshop for kids.

The Elephant Vanishes

2010-06-11T07:53:00.000-07:00

I decided to continue my series of spot illustrations based on the short stories from "The Elephant Vanishes"! These two are for the stories "Barn Burning" and "The Second Bakery Attack"

Slow Summer

2010-06-09T15:36:00.000-07:00

Summer so far has been really nice and relaxing- although I've been stressing a bit over what to do for senior thesis! Over the past few weeks I've been enjoying doing some more free-form stuff and experimenting a little with collage and making some textures to work with. Hopefully with my printmaking internship starting up soon I'll find some inspiration for my thesis! I've also been working on some new pieces that will be posted up in a bit, but for now just some sketchbook pages!

Redo

2010-05-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

This is a second attempt at a piece that I wasn't content with from the past semester. We had to work with incorporating photos of accessories within the illustration.

childhood drawings

2010-05-24T07:33:00.000-07:00

Since I'm home for summer break I was looking at some of my old drawings that I did as a baby. My parents saved almost all of my childhood artwork, and I'm so grateful that they did! I thought it would be fun to put up some of my favorites:

And here's an extra photo of my dad and I when I was super tiny! This is my all-time favorite photo :

New summer sketchbook

2010-05-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

It's summer break!

Illustration concepts final

2010-05-02T17:57:00.000-07:00

A concept piece centered around privacy and protection on the internet.

Acedia and Industria

2010-04-27T17:58:00.000-07:00

My vice and virtue posters for lifestyle class.

The first is based on sloth/acedia and the second is diligence/industria.

I had a lot of fun making these two! Hope you like 'em.