Pentecost

Pentecost.

I am trying for a harmonious junction of Illustration with the sort of stiff iconic image full of symbolism that is usual in Catholic iconography.  I like that style of work, but it's not really what I do, and I am trying to see if what I do works in that setting.  So this is a composite: not really an illustration of the Pentecost event (the one from John 20:19--23 that is in this year's lectionary), but more an illustration than an icon.  

Mother Breastfeeding Her Baby

Happy [belated] Mother's Day!

Here's a drawing I did recently on the universal subject of motherly love. At first I wanted to do another Madonna and Child image (can't get enough of them!) but then I thought of making a similar image with less religious tone. So here goes.

This is a study of Zurbaran's "Agnus Dei" I just finished.  It is oil on panel 12 x 16."  It was only after attempting the study that I truly appreciated the genius of the original!

Saint Joseph

gospel for April 28

Gospel for May 5

I did these drawings in an ongoing plan to make one for every Sunday of the three year cycle, so that they could theoretically be used for the covers of the orders of worship at our church.  (So far, only three are actually complete, though there are a couple more smaller ones.)  Our music director uses the beautiful drawings of Brother Martin Erspamer, OSB, and I don't mean to compete with those, but it seems that an in-house source of cover drawings would be nice.  

An Introduction

I can't remember exactly how I first found this blog-- I think it was because the amazing author Regina Doman linked to Ben Hatke who linked to this blog-- but I've been reading it for years. (I've followed many of the individual artists' blogs, too, but because I'm one of those silly people who constantly haunts blogs without ever commenting, you probably couldn't tell).

Basically, I was so overawed by all the wonderful artists that I never got up the gumption to join the Guild. That is, until one day when I realized that I was yet again being completely silly. Everyone has to start somewhere, right? And it's always best to start in the company of people who are talented, knowledgeable and faithful.

So, yes, HI EVERYONE! My name is Shaylynn Rackers. I am 18 years old, the eldest of six-soon-to-be-seven kids in an amazing family of engineers and mathematicians. My family always teases me and says that I am their little mutant because I love art so much. They are all very creative thinkers, but because they can only draw stick figures I've had to learn about artwork from books and obsessively analyzing everything I see. I can't wait for this fall, when I will be studying graphic design and illustration at college.

I don't have a favorite art technique or art "genre" because I love experimenting too much. I think that I am the most comfortable using pencil and charcoal, though.

This is a drawing I did in October for Treasures of Middle Earth: The Hobbit Design Contest. I wound up winning first place in the Weapons category and got seven prop replicas from LotR and the Hobbit! My siblings and I are huge Tolkien fans and we are still "geeking out" about this!

Recently I've been falling in love with pen drawings and attempting to learn watercolors. I did some sketching the day that Pope Francis was elected. It's very Catholic (obviously) so I'll share some here. The rest of this sketch series is on my blog.

I love calligraphy, painting, drawing-- you name it. Most of my art is inspired by my favorite fairytales and myths, but I do love to draw everything. There simply isn't enough time to draw all the ideas floating around inside my head!

(This quote by the wonderful G.K. Chesterton is one of the reasons why fairytales are so inspiring to me: "Fairytales are more than true, not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.")

watercolor, "The Birth of the Phoenix"

Another one of my favorite pastimes is making jewelry, which I sell online. I also do all the graphics for Ink and Fairydust, an online magazine "encouraging faith and creativity." We're on a bit of a slump right now but will hopefully release a new issue soon.

copper grecian-style headpiece

If you want to see more of my artwork, I do have a DeviantArt account which is sadly abandoned at the moment. I'm still trying to get the hang of it as I have time and would love to add fellow Catholic artists to my watch list-- just let me know your username! :)

My main site is my blog, Shealynn's Faerie Shoppe. I post some of my artwork, lots of craft tutorials, and many random, geeky, artsy things. I also have facebook and twitter.

 I'm thrilled to be a part of the Guild. Thanks for letting me introduce myself!

A Note from the Administrator

Special message from the blog administrator (Hi Ted!): We are experiencing some technical difficulties. For those people who are waiting to be approved for the Guild please have patience. Please do not send death threats or hate mail, do not despair or resort to anything drastic. We'll get it all sorted. Peace and Good.

Barbed Wire by Jason Tako

This beauty was spotted on one of my recent travels from an art show. The fence in front really caught my attention. I grew up around barns like this, and as a child I climbed barbed wire fences and ran through pastures in make-believe adventures with my friends. I think I tore a number of jeans on fences like this. In this painting I experimented with a more loose technique-a very fun technique. This is a new direction I'm exploring, combining looser brushwork with occasional palette knife technique. I hope you enjoy! This is oil on linen panel, 11"x14". See more at www.jasontako.com

St. Patrick

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A little break from cartooning - this is the Blessed Mother done with 3 Primacolor Blues.  Feels like I could add some more shading, but here She is.

Think I might try to do this larger, since this was done in an 8x11 sketchbook.  I often feel inadequate to render Mary properly, but I'm about 70% happy with how She looks here.

Murillo copy

This week I learned a lot by doing a sketch of Murillo's Madonna and Child.  I did the painting while trying to keep in mind the the idea of working from dark to light.  I also tried to apply a bit more paint than I have in the past and was happy with the final effect.  The painting is 18 x 24", oil on wood panel.

Study of a Red Hat

Here's my latest painting.  I'm in the midst of doing a series of women wearing hats and holding their missals, its part of a theme for an upcoming show I'm having on French Catholic Culture.  The painting, "Study of a Red Hat" is 12 x 16" oil on panel.

Sacred Heart Institute logo

Logo I made for the Sacred Heart Institute, a clergy formation institute in New York.

Annunciation Coloring Page: Roughcut

Hey all! I thought I'd pop in to post a little something that I find myself working on this morning. It's a coloring page of the Annunciation. This is a scanned pencil sketch with digital inks on top, and it's sort of a new working method for me. I liked how the pencils look beneath the inks, but of course that shading around the faces will be lost in the final product. Even for a simple picture like this I ended up taking a quick photo of Anna to model Our Lady.

Clare's Costly Cookie

I am thrilled to announce the publication of the first book illustrated by me: Clare's Costly Cookie by Julie Kelly!

It's a story about a nine-year-old girl who loves cookies and finds her siblings annoying sometimes, so she talks to Jesus. The dialogue narrative becomes an introduction to Christian meditation for children.

Check it out here!