Return of the Bam

Hello loved ones! So many things have happened in the last few months, it's legit ridic.

I moved, and I'm moving again at the end of the month to be closer to work. My best friend had a BABY! Hooray! I got hired at Converse Inc. as a kids footwear designer, and I'm STOKED. I love this job! It's all secret now, but I can't wait to show some of the stuff I've been working on. :) Other than that, I've been finishing up my children's book: Siegfried Goes to the Hospital. We're getting down to the wire, and I should be working on that rather than updating my blog...

Other than that, I've been working out details to start my own apparel/accessories brand. The title has had a lot of variations, but I've decided on BAMcatastrophe. I want to play up the cute character/terribly tragic aspect of my work. This will be my big project for the winter + beyond.


Character above is the Blamcat. He's my unofficial icon for BAMcatastrophe.


More news soon! Thanks for hanging in there! ALSO I MADE A NEW HEADER. The duder will be on my new business cards. :)

Return of the Jellofish

Jellofish & The Legend of the Pirate Rabbits, 18" x 24" Digital

Color study for my "Jellofish & The Legend of the Pirate Rabbits" painting I'm working on. It's going to be 18" x 24" when it's finished, a size I don't work at normally. I've been working on painting larger lately.

Lucky Cat Ghosts, 12" x 24" Acryla Gouache

ALSO ALSO ALSO Please look in this upcoming week's Weekly Dig for an illustration of mine. It should be the big spread in the middle of the magazine.


Ta!

Jellofish + Ghost Bunny Pirates

Jellofish & The Legend of the Pirate Rabbits, 11" x 14" Pencil

Basically my most brilliant drawing ever. I'm going to turn it into a big painting - still considering whether or not I want it to be lit by daylight or have everything glowing like at the deep depths of the ocean. Opinions?


Aside from that, I have work in the Boston Phoenix this week! 10 illustrations - my largest editorial endeavor so far. Also, if you read the "Failure" comic strip by the incredible Karl Stevens, I totally took the picture of him with the geese in this week's issue. Look at his amazing shit! He has a show coming up this month at the Carroll and Sons gallery in South Boston.

Wilnar, 4" x 5" Ballpoint Pen

Also, another little sketch that I did this week - soon to be another painting. I'm feeling inundated by freelancing and need to keep creating my own pieces to stay sane. It's what keeps me breathing during rough weeks like these.

Siegfried Sketches

Hey there, long time no post!

I just wanted to show you a couple of concept sketches for a children's book I'm working on for UMass: Worcester entitled "Siegfried Goes to the Hospital." It's about a stegosaurus named Siegfried who eats too much junk food and gets sick! Silly Siegfried. I'm having a lot of fun working on this project, though, so I wanted to share Siegfried with you.



I also had an interview at Converse shoes two weeks ago for their girls/womens footwear line as a designer. Wish me luck! And thanks again to the beautiful Lindsay Small for all her help and support. Speaking of, pick up the newest comic anthology Detour! Her artwork is featured on the cover! Artists include the great Andy Fish, Veronica Hebard, Derek Ring, and others.



In sadder news, a local gallery I frequently show at called Space 242 is on hiatus currently because of a break-in at their building. No artwork was taken, and I'm glad. What a tragedy it is to lose a piece of artwork. TV's and iPods and wallets can be replaced, but not personal artwork. So I understand the need for a break with the gallery, but I'm so sad that the current opening has been cancelled. I had two pieces in, so since you can't see them there, here they are!


Thanks again for looking. New things up on etsy soon? I believe so. :) Look for more updates on Siegfried in the coming weeks!

New Business Card!

Working on redoing my portfolio and creating some new branding. I lost my other business card design with my old harddrive, so I wanted to have fun and make a newer, more bizarre one.

Enjoy! Lots more news on the horizon!

Heroes and Villains: The Return of Ku*Chi*Ku

Ku*Chi*Ku bust

Ku*Chi*Ku VS Giant Vampire Octopus

Howdy. Recently, my favorite gallery, Space 242 has opened up a call to artists for a heroes/villains theme. With this, I've decided to revive my character from last year: Ku*Chi*Ku - Pretty Girl Space Lady. She's adorable and has a giant hammer and wears a space suit. I really wasn't thrilled at how some of my concepts for her came out - I had been very rushed last year when I had to make 4 pieces with her in them, and I'd redo at least 2 of them if I was able to. So I've decided to make some new pieces starring her to improve my portfolio and to fit the gallery theme.

So here are a couple of sketches I've done of her. I'm excited to see how these transform and what will actually end up as a base for a finish. I need to remember: BACKGROUNDS BACKGROUNDS BACKGROUNDS.


Also: Here's the final linework I've created for my last tattoo for the tattoo book. I was going for a Dia De Los Muertos theme - I'm hoping to bring that out in the colors with a lot of reds, warm yellows, light blue, and darker tones.


Thanks for looking!

Skull Tattoo Sleeve Design

Skull Sleeve, 22" x 30" Acryla Gouache

This is a design I made for Quarto's tattoo book, a book I've so far made 6 designs for. Working on ideas for my 7th now. I'm so exciting! This is one of the largest projects I've ever worked on, and I've had a lot of freedom with the subject matter to create pieces that really represent my style. Thank you so much, Andy, for including me in this project.

This is the largest piece I've created for the book thus far. It's a sleeve design, where the background would wrap all the way around the arm. The actual piece is around 18" x 24", making it a pain to photograph. I spent a looot of time painting this piece, and I truly love how it came out.

The next piece I'm working on is a shoulder piece with a Dia de los Muertos theme. More skulls ahoy!! Updates soon!


ALSO!! Don't forget to swing by Space 242 in South Boston tonight for the Circus Freaks show! 6 - 8 PM at 242 E. Berkeley St, South Boston. I have 3 pieces in the show! Please RSVP at www.space242.com.

Back in Action!

Hey there, I'm back and in 99% fight mode after my surgery two weeks ago. I'd had surgery done on my left wrist to take care of a problem I've had for a few years. They feel the surgery was a success, and I'm looking forward to full mobility in my wrist soon. :)


I have several pieces in a show coming up this week at Space 242 (242 E. Berkeley St. in South Boston). The first opening is this Friday, April 30th from 6 - 8, and the second opening is next Friday, May 7th, from 6 - 8. I hope to see you there! RSVP here!!

I've also been working on a few more pieces for an upcoming tattoo design book I'm apart of. Here's the linework for a sailor's grave illustration I had done.




ONE LAST THING!!! Tomorrow, Wednesday April 28th at Blick Art Materials, we're celebrating our 100th year anniversary by giving every customer 25% off their entire purchase. I'll be there with bells on (and sweet boots), and we'll be giving out free food, prizes, coupons, balloons, and Starbucks/Chipotle! You should come visit and let me dazzle with your knowledge of art supplies!!

Bamcat Goes to the Hospital

Hey guys, I won't be able to post anything this week due to my surgery yesterday. It was only wrist surgery - I'm fine and spending lots of time at my mum's house eating her food. Expect updates early next week. I can't wait to tell you what I'm working on!


Also, my cast is huge and makes me look like I have a Megaman gun arm. Pictures to follow.

Have a good week!

What to Wear: copied from Veronica

My friend and former boss Veronica has a beautiful blog filled with lovely colorful photos and illustrations, and she's been posting doodles of her outfits all week. She's so fancy and her outfits are so stylish, so I decided to show off how chic I truly am.


Allison Bamcat: Fashion Forward

:D Yeah laundry!! :D

Little Bitty Yummy Post

I made a new header for my blog combining my favorite things to draw: desserts, ice cream cones, cats, skulls, and hearts. Yay! Had fun coloring digitally - I've been doing so many paintings lately, it was nice to not have to clean up anything after, haha.

Also, a couple of little baby graphics I'll sprinkle around my blog layout soon. Enjoy!


Thanks for looking!!

At Least I Did My Best

At Least I Did My Best, 8" x 11", Marker & Ink

Here's the final tattoo design for an upcoming book I'm going to be in. This was the first design I had created as a test to be included, and I'm so grateful they liked my work enough to let me be apart of this project. I'm greatly honored, and I can't wait to tell you more about this book as the weeks go by!


Big news for me is an upcoming surgery. I've had an ongoing wrist problem for several years now (first spurred by a large woodcarving I did of a Blood Brothers poster). This will be my 3rd corrective surgery, and if this one fails as well, I'll have to live with my injury. So if anyone can send me your good luck and channel your healing powers, I would greatly appreciate it!


Also, my good friend Sarah Zuckerman is doing a Doodle Project where she creates an original doodle each day and sends it out to friends. I'm so impressed by anyone who can have an ongoing daily or even weekly project that they keep up with. It shows great commitment and character. Contact her at artsygurl220@hotmail.com if you have any questions about her project and tell her I sent you so she won't get creeped out.

(The doodle she sent me! I love it!)

Lucky Cat Ghosts Are Where It's At

Lucky Cat Ghosts, 12" x 24", Acryla Gouache

Fortune Cookie Cat Ghost Tattoo, 12" x 18", Acryla Gouache

This is a double whammy! I have for you another of my tattoo designs for an upcoming book, as well as a piece I finished last fall and have saved for physical viewing - UNTIL NOW!! This larger painting took at least 30 hours to complete, from concept to sketches to finish. I love this piece, and it's one of the rare times I actually included a background. I tend to stray away from backgrounds and only create character designs, so it was fun to create an environment for my characters to live in.

I have an obsession with lucky cats, and I have a small growing collection of them. The represent good fortune, which I could definitely use. And I just love kitties, so it works out. I also have lucky cat tattoo designs floating around in my head for myself as well.... I also have a thing for dessert illustration and am still contemplating a dessert-themed show in the future.


Enjoy!

I Scream Cone

I Scream Cone, 9" x 12", Acryla Gouache

Here's another piece that I created for a step-by-step tattoo design book I'm apart of, soon to be published by Thunder Bay Press. This was my favorite piece to do! I'm actually seriously considering getting this as a tattoo of my own... I love drawing ice cream, and skulls, and weird creatures with weird faces, so I definitely had a blast coming up with this one.


Attention local Boston artists! I work at Dick Blick Art Supplies over in Fenway, and I'm officially the official curator of the pieces we hang up in the store. I'd encourage anyone with large to larger pieces to get their work hung up in our store! A lot of people in the area come in to check out our artwork, and we can give out your contact information to potentially sell pieces, with no cost to the artists. It's a great way to get exposed, regardless! And your artwork will be in safe hands with me. Let me know if you're interested!


More work to come soon! Thanks for looking.

Tat2 drawrings

Slaying Samurai, 12" x 17" Acryla Gouache

Hey there, here's a few tattoo illustrations I recently completed for a book coming out by Thunder Bay Press. The book will be published with all of the process work leading up to finish, so it's bound to be an amazing book! One of my most favorite artists/MassArt faculty members Mister Reusch will also have work in the book! I'm so thrilled to get to have work in the same place as his. I'll post a new one every couple of days, along with some other work I've been doing currently.

It's been busy busy lately! The warmer weather inspires me to do more paintings! It's easier to hold a paint brush steady when it's not frozen to your numb, shaking hands. Hooray for winter being over!! I will not miss you, winter.

Also, I approaced MC Frontalot about possibly doing some artwork... He encouraged me to make some fanart and see how it goes. ALSO thrilled as heck about that.

Updates soon!

Recent Sketches

Lots of new fun things coming up: Another Space 242 call to artists means more new work for me. The theme is all circus performers and sideshow freaks - I'm doing a triplet of stilt-walkers! I've always wanted to learn to walk on stilts. Also a book project I'm working on with some great people. More to come on that.

Thanks for looking! More updates soon.

Robot Sketch #2

"How I Feel About You Pt. II" Pencil, 11" 14"

Here's the other sketch for my robot paintings, for the upcoming Space 242 "I...YOU...WE ROBOT!" show coming up this month. This is the match to my last drawing - the two are a couple. They represent each halves of the excitement and pain that love brings. I hesitate to post this type of art sometimes because, for me, it's something deeply personal and emotional that I'm not sure most will understand.

I'll post the finished paintings after they're completed.

Business card sketch, Pencil, 12" x 9"

Also, here's a sketch of what could become my new business card front. I figure sometimes it's hard to put a name to a face, so I'm just making it easy for everyone. Also, who wouldn't want to stare at my pretty face all day? DERRR



More updates this coming week with previews for my spring show: Guilty Pleasures with Doug Poole. Go check out his work if you get the chance!

And submissions for the Robot show are due this upcoming Monday, January 11th. I encourage anyone with a love for anything robotic to submit something!