Allie Tomkie illustrations

December Christmas Extravaganza

2011-11-21T20:25:00.000-08:00

Come visit me at these craft fairs:

Noel Night - Detroit, MI - Dec 3
Design 22 - Berwyn, IL - Dec 10, 17

At these shows I will be selling a lot of what you can see at my shop Tomkie Illustrations

other links:
noel night
design 22

Felt Owls

2011-10-25T07:51:00.000-07:00

I also LOVE making owls out of felt. SO MUCH FUN! Here are some of the owls I've been working on. I think I'm going to document some of what i go through to makes these guys today so stay tuned. Be sure to look at my etsy page to look at the owls i'm currently selling

I got ADOBE!

2011-09-17T11:15:00.001-07:00

I recently got the Adobe programs and I'm going crazy with it. I have spent most of my free time glued to my computer (which is hooked up to my tv....so really glued to my tv) working on new owls. I hope to post some shrinky dink artwork/jewelery soon on etsy so check back soon for new products! For now take a look at some of my kooky owls.

i love felt

2011-08-27T13:08:00.000-07:00

It seems that this past year I've been on a felt craze. With that said I'm pleased to announce my owl line that will be sold on my etsy store. These little guys are made out of felt and then sewn together. I'm still experimenting, long legs, short legs, wrapped wire/not wrapped...button eyes, showing stitching..vs. not.....etc. Doing this has peeked my interest in needle felting like what Laura Alane does with her owls..etc. I love her stuff and by no means do i want to attempt to rip her style off. I'm just taking this idea of an owl..something i've been drawing for the last 5 years and make it 3d.
I've also been working pretty hard at making these felt needle books. They're a great way to put all your sewing notions in one place. They have four felt pages you can pin your needles and pins to and then a pocket in back to put everything else.

as always I would love to hear feedback!

Craftiness

2011-08-24T07:15:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling pretty crafty these last couple years. Making things with construction paper (photos to come) fabric and felt. Last weekend I went to Milwaukee to visit a friend. While there we walked into this gallery with an amazing sculpture of what looked like fabric birds. Of course this got my creative juices bubbling and now I want to make some for myself. I just hope my cats don't try to eat them. This, along with my 50's vintage kitchen utensils (photos to come too) will be my new(ish) projects.

also...these are adorable

done

2011-02-05T09:03:00.001-08:00

snow day = art day

2011-02-02T08:56:00.000-08:00

I'm working, working, working on my past projects that I haven't finished. Here's an updated picture on my bliss chick colored pencil drawing.
and finally my drawing of my cat. Still working on it...there's A LOT of white fur that is pretty boring to draw in so it will probably be awhile till I finish it. I might just scrap it and start over.

Lazy Saturday

2011-01-29T18:40:00.000-08:00

So I'm working my hardest to keep drawing and not let my talents go to waste. Today I did one drawing and one colored pencil drawing.

I might turn the graphite drawing into a painting, could look really neat.
The colored pencil drawing isn't done but her skirt is going to morph into the grass (in case you were wondering)

Photoshop Ink

2010-09-18T14:21:00.000-07:00

I've been working with permanent markers again for the first time in seven years....egad! I think the owl has become possibly my new favorite animal, sorry monkey but you're reign had to end one day. It might be the whole idea of wisdom or just that owl's are cute little buggers. I figure it's one of those creatures you can look forward to seeing more often in my art. Another major theme I think I will be working with more is incorporating nature into my illustrations. I'm working right now with hair/branches, inspiration that has come from fellow CCS grads Amanda Rosado, Maggie Turner and Lauren Moyer. I also love birdcages which if you have seen my room you would know this. (large birdcage cut out on my wall with a ton of colored paper birds flying about). These girls have all done great stuff with this theme and I'm excited to bring it into my work.
Anyways take a look and let me know what you think.

Caricatures continued

2010-08-22T09:19:00.001-07:00

Way back in 2007 (my last year of college) I started a series of caricatures. It was something I found I really enjoyed painting. I combined my passion for painting with my love for older movies. I started off doing these two paintings
Scarlet O'Hara in her red dress from Gone With The Wind

Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast At Tiffany's

So to continue my adventures in caricatures I decided to go with the classic Marilyn Monroe. Here's what i've done so far.

I'm no where near done yet but its coming along. I'm happy that i see improvements in this painting compared to scarlet and audrey from 2007.

As per usual if you see anything you think could be made better..etc..etc i'm always up for a good crit. Keep in mind though the bottom half is very, VERY sketch - i'm correcting it as i go along and her upper arm is going to be caked in jewels (along with her neck)

2010 New Work

2010-08-17T19:28:00.000-07:00

I'll be posting some new artwork here soon. I'm trying my best to get back into the swing of things with my art. I have two new projects i'm working on. Basically i'm continuing with my theme of vintage film caricatures and have added Marilyn Monroe to my que.

more to come.....

2010 - productivity high

2010-02-09T18:02:00.000-08:00

I can just feel it, this will be my (art)year. Not only will i be sewing, as always, I also will have the time and money to be able to paint again. A couple weeks ago I took some time to look through work by Joe Sorren and found inspiration. I love the way he takes form and morphs it into a shape you can't find in nature. His use of color seemed so bright and happy, something I find I am always attracted to in paintings.

Two years ago i did a painting very similar to this one(see above). It was after my cat of 18 years died, almost like my homage to her. I used flat colors, little value and bright colors. The central theme was the cat balloon flying up to heaven - simple message for a rough time in my life. (sometimes i like simplicity) There was something very appealing to me about the idea of the character in a painting looking at what they have lost and can't have. This same idea carries over in this new painting. Never fear though because I'm going to paint another canvas to go along with this one which has a happier message behind it....and somehow it doesn't make this one look so gloomy. This is just a draft, not quite the final (i've already work on it since this picture).

I've also started working on historic baseball sketches again. Will be posting new pictures of my work as soon as I can.

here's to creativity!

January - art

2009-01-21T08:35:00.000-08:00

Two new art pieces that i've worked on over the last couple months. The first one is a portrait that I did for my sister. It's of her cat Boo and looks a lot like her. I haven't worked with colored pencil and construction paper since high school and I'm happy with how it turned out.
This is a piece I made for the show "I Hate Lucy", theme being love. I'm hopeful that this is going to be displayed on Friday the 13th at the Russel Industrial Center in Detroit. It all depends if i can get it from Chicago to Detroit. However I'm very happy with how this came out. There's a lot of hidden meaning behind the piece. The construction paper from behind has been wrinkled and there for is extremely weak and has even torn in several locations. The main character, i'll call her, has a blanket of hair protecting her, keeping her safe from her own feelings or the feeling of others; i'm not sure which. The stars above her are positioned so that it's almost like a triangle. I'll let you decide the rest for yourself.

all rights reserved by artist

DONE!

2008-12-02T09:14:00.001-08:00

new website is up and partially running!

theres a few bits to work out but for the most part its running

i'm happy with it, will probably be working on a larger layout soon though.

Also new products are going up on my Etsy store so be sure to check it out!

NEW news

2008-11-15T21:59:00.000-08:00

I'm currently working on a new website to replace www.allietomkie.com. I'm very excited about its layout. Its nothing crazy, simple but classy and that's exactly what i want. It will have new art work that i'll update every few months/weeks/days......who knows. I'll probably have it up in just a couple weeks so be sure to look back to this site to see if its up yet.

I also have new products up on Etsy. Its a set of 6 holiday cards!! I had them professionally printed and they look amazing. More to come in the next few days.

I'm also working on another scarf, this one is a different knit that I haven't done yet. I'm breaking out of the box on all my knitting this year, something different for every scarf! I'll take a picture of my latest scarf and post it on here.

so far life is great!

Chicago

2008-11-14T12:20:00.000-08:00

One of my newest quick projects. My next big project will be revamping my website.
www.allietomkie.com

ETSY.com

2008-11-09T21:12:00.000-08:00

I now have a site that i'm selling things on Etsy.com. Its called tomkieillustrations where i'm not only selling artwork and prints but also knitted/crocheted goods and eventually my jewelry, ceramics and glasswork too!

I'm very excited about this and hope it works out well.

you can take a look at it here on my blog

get ready for something NEW!

2008-11-04T10:03:00.001-08:00

Currently I've been working on opening up an Etsy.com site. It'll open my site in about one week where i'll have knitting scarves, neckwraps, holiday card sets along with art prints all for sale. I'm very excited about this, i really love the quality that i've seen on etsy. In case you're interested in finding me my name is tomkieillustrations (no different from blogger).

Can't wait

my art

2008-10-29T16:32:00.000-07:00

I want to find a way to post my artwork, old and new, in a format thats easy to read and lets people see my artwork.

i'm working on this so until then i'll have this blog.

animal balloons

2008-10-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

here's something like my finished illustration. I'm not completly happy with it but you get the idea. If i had more free time to work with illustrator i'd do a LOT more. Alas i love the tree.

illustrator work

2008-10-13T16:20:00.001-07:00

Work has helped me get back into working with Illustrator. I have to admit when i start to look around at what other artists/illustrators have done with it I want to learn more. I created some fun illustrations for my new project at work. The top one is my fav (tree) but these characters are pretty sweet too, might work on developing them more on my own time.

updates on drawings

2008-10-07T16:45:00.001-07:00

So last night i started drawing, now i might not have drawn in about 1/2 a week but boy did i ever have the itch. My favorite one that came out of last nights drawing session is the one above. I imagine the guys the stars and the girl is the moon. I like the concept and might turn it into a painting, eventually. Then the one below is of a guy i saw walking on the street a couple days ago and below that is a self portrait along with a sketch of a lady and her cat, protecting her cat with a blanket of hair.... I like drawing and love how i've pushed myself to keep drawing. It helps me calm myself and gives me new ideas on future paintings.

a drawing a day

2008-09-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

I've been working on sketching more. I think its because of all the strange things i see the buses that amuse me. Anyways here's some more drawings, old and new.

news update!

2008-08-21T17:32:00.000-07:00

So a couple weeks ago i finished my storyteller's sign for greenfield village and will hopefully be making another storyteller's sign for the up coming halloween program.

I have also been doing sketches for the villages weekly newsletter. I've been doing it for the historic baseball section. here's some of my fav's.

i'm currently in Chicago looking for full time work out here, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

Mother's Loss

2008-04-04T21:20:00.001-07:00

The best thing about this painting is its exactly what i wanted, which seems to never happen. It almost tells a story involving the history of one's past. I'm going to have to make another illustration with this style, cause i just love it.

bout time.

Photos from our past

2008-03-24T22:24:00.001-07:00

I'm updating this blog entree because i updated the image of my painting that i've been working on for some time now. I've been working hard on this painting for around two months now. Slow progress because i'm also making a whole civil war outfit...takes awhile!
So i know its not the best image but i'm so excited to get something new up here. I'm still working on this painting which seem like its taking forever! I'm working like crazy to finish it up but what i don't have any pictures up here of is my second, third or fourth project i've been working on for some time. That project has to do with my historical dorkyness, and is my civil war dress i'm making. I've been working on my sewing skills and a civil war dress is something i've wanted since i was little. I also have been working on getting myself a job too. I'm thinking i'll finish my death painting (above) this coming week. I just need to put in the photo frame paintings which will be simple and secondary. Hope everyone is doing well and making some amazing art work!

well color me purple!

2008-02-28T12:10:00.000-08:00

COLOR STUDY
I need help. i'm trying to decide a good color for the background. You know me i like bright colors but i don't want it to take away from the main character. Here are three choices, you gotta another color idea i'll try it out!

the cat balloon

2008-02-28T11:24:00.001-08:00

here's my latest painting. I all ready started my second painting and will hopefully get it done soon so i can start another one!

another project underway

2008-02-27T22:08:00.001-08:00

Well i finished my latest painting (have yet to get a good photo of it) and am forcing myself to start another illustration. I was sitting around thinking of what i want to draw, and the choices seemed to be endless. It seems that i have a favorite subject, young people. So i'm breaking out of the box, oh yea, and moving on to a different subject. I choose my mother, who was nice enough to pose for me. My theme in this painting is death. The main women in it will be wearing black holding a photo with past photos of family on the wall beside her. I'm using the same technique i used in the last one. I'm thumbnail sketch i choose is the middle drawing which i have done some corrections on all ready.

attached is my thumbnail drawing, i like them for just how free they feel.

bon appetite!

The Cat Floats to Heaven

2008-02-09T12:28:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry its been so long since my last post. However thats how long its been since i've last worked on a painting. Much has happened to me more importantly my cat of 17 years just recently passed away. After i knew it would be great to do a painting about her but i just didn't know what to do. Shortly after that i got an image of this and now i'm more then 1/2 way through it. I would love some comments on it since i'm not done yet. Any suggestions?

(couple of comments, the background will have another coat of blue, a flat look to it. The shirt will be outlined in white, and the balloon will have more work done to it + a string added to the end of it.)

the pirate wench

2007-12-06T20:45:00.000-08:00

A new painting i just finished. Its mixed media which includes graphite, oil, colored pencil, alkyd, and acrylic. This I believe will be the start to what will be a series of pirate wench paintings. I might create a story based on this painting. I had a lot of fun with the process of making the painting/drawing. Its the second time I've done it, the first was a painting i did of one of the ladies from Firestone Farm in the dining room, titled "Cake".

progressing

2007-12-04T22:44:00.000-08:00

my website was uploaded today so be sure to check it out

www.allietomkie.com

I also am working on completing several pieces which i have been painting through out the semester on my own time. Needless to say right now i don't have any spare time however once the semester is over i plan to finish them and will post them on here.

more to come later!