Holiday Photos!

Lately I've been so busy writing and taking pictures for Southwest Minneapolis Patch that I haven't been doing much illustrating.  I thought I'd post a few of the photos I've taken for them. They're very Holiday oriented but I think with all the snow emergency going around we need something to celebrate.

Work for MCAD Art Sale

More pictures to follow as I get things scanned in. I'm painting lots of fun animals. This one is 8" x 10" on a wood panel.

Thrift Store Photos

I've been working for Patch.com as a freelance writer. Part of what I like about the job is that I get to drive around Minneapolis taking pictures of places I wouldn't necessarily go on my own.  I went into the Nicollet Salvation Army Thrift Store for the first time on Thursday. I always assumed it would be kind of picked over, but there were some gems. It took all my strength to not buy a orange brocade couch.

Dog Portraits

This week I painted a portrait of my friend's dog Georgia, then I did another one that's similar but smaller and cropped.  I can't decide which one I like better.  Maybe the whole dog?

What do you think?

A trailer for the MN Fringe show: The Quest

I was asked to draw a series of drawings for one of the Fringe shows happening in Minnesota this week.  The result was the trailer posted below, which went on to win the most votes in the Fringey Awards. It was fun to do; I got to draw all kinds of ancient gods and ritual objects and realized that I'm not the best at drawing Wayne Brady.

About this blog

Making an online portfolio is hard because it's easy to imagine I'm always going to produce a better illustration. It's easy to want to go back to work that is done to revisit it and improve it. But, as we all know, perfection is the enemy of completion, and with the goal of completion in mind I am launching my illustration website, as it is, knowing it will be improved over time. If you're interested, check that out at alisonnowak.com.

What I've noticed from years of studying illustration is that the industry expects one consistent style per illustrator. With that in mind I've chosen to put one style of illustrating in my portfolio, but part of me wishes that it was more standard to show a variety of styles.  I think the variety of styles is nerve wracking for people who want to be sure they're getting a image that closely resembles a specific body of work.  I imagine they want to be sure the illustration that person produced isn't a fluke, that they're capable of reproducing that style in a variety of scenarios.

 Giving myself an opportunity to show more of what I make regardless of style was how I came to create this blog. I decided to keep my website style fairly consistent, and let more of the process and things I am currently working on show on this blog.