New Bookmarks for Shakespeare and Co., Missoula!

I've been drawing Shakespeare and Co. Bookmarks for several years now, but this round was my favorite! Each one is a literary mash-up. It was great fun to bring two worlds together!

Emma Woodhouse visits Korova Milk Bar.

Lolita and Humbert Humbert seek refuge in Never Never Land.

Patrick Bateman follows the Yellow Brick Road.

Pip and Miss Havisham fly fish on the Blackfoot River.

Pippi Longstocking travels to Asteroid B-612.

Sherlock investigates 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Vintage Valentine Postcards!

News!

Come check out my new website at www.courtneyblazon.com!  Still working on my shop, but all things in time!

Also, I finally started using instagram. You can follow me here: @courtneyblazon.

I've been taking Lilla Rogers Assignment Bootcamp class to help me loosen up, use my sketchbook more, respond to assignment criteria more fully, and most importantly, work on my experimentation! I will be posting things from my sketchbooks as I work on them and posting them on instagram. Below is work from my first assignment, which was to make a journal cover with the theme of Edwardian brooches.

Making the move to a traditional website!

I am working on a new website right now, and here's a little preview of it. It will be www.courtneyblazon.com, and I hope to have it done in the next week or so. I will keep this blogspot, but will likely only update it once in a while, and direct people to the new site!  

All Souls Ale Label Contest

I won a contest through Big Sky Brewing Company to design their annual seasonal ale, All Souls Ale. I am excited to see the label on the actual bottle!

New Seed Packet Designs for Native Ideals Seed Farm!

Three new small drawings

These three drawings are serving a double purpose. I used their black and white designs on t-shirts and sweatshirts, and once I colored them, I framed them and they are now hanging at the Holiday Art Show at Radius Gallery.

Bear in Landscape, Pen, Marker, Pastel on Paper, 12" x 12"

Bison Skull, Pen, Marker, Pastel on Paper, 12" x 12"

Kingfishers in Flight, Pen, Marker, Pastel on Paper, 12" x 12"

New T-Shirt Designs

All these T-shirt/Sweatshirt designs will debut locally in December, and then I will have them available in my online shop as well!

Commission based on "The Sower", by Thomas Hart Benton

This commission comes with a bit of a disclaimer, due to it's heavy and dark subject matter.  It's based on one of a series of paintings by Thomas Hart Benton which were created in the wake of Pearl Harbor.

Benton's objective for this series of paintings, called "The Year in Peril", was to "portray America's enemies as genocidal maniacs".

I made this commission for someone who wished to incorporate more realism into the figures, particularly in their clothing, more symbology that would speak about or against the war, and incorporation of some of the elements of the American propaganda that Benton likely looked at when creating the paintings.

These paintings were not looked upon favorably when they were created, but you can see the from the original, pictured at top, that Benton painted these with a passionate anger and in a fervor. My mission was to recreate the composition and color palette, while using hindsight to reinvent the concepts. As with all assignments, I keep my personal feelings to myself, even when creating horrifying imagery.

Androgyny, Hot Dogs, Isolation, and Groucho Marx.

Cafeteria Lunch, Pen and Marker on Paper, 9.75" x 9.75"

Members Only, Pen and Marker on Paper, 9.75" x 9.75"

I am working on this small series of drawings dealing with gender and isolation. With hot dogs thrown in for good measure. I hope to do at least 3 or 4 more in this same vein.

Piggy's Fall Through the Air (Another Lord of the Flies Drawing)

Piggy's Fall Through the Air, Pen, Marker and Pastel on Paper, 16" x 20"

Here is one more piece in my Lord of the Flies series. This one is based on the character of Piggy, who suffered a very sad fate at the hands of Jack Merridew's savages. I will be exploring Jack Merridew next, in another 16" x 20" drawing.

Lord of the Flies Drawings

Forgetful of the Flies, Pen, Marker, Pastel on Paper, 24" x 36"

Daydreams Came Swarming Up, Pen, Pastel, Marker, Crayon on Paper, 24" x 36"

Since I read Lord of the Flies at age eleven, I have counted it among my favorite books. It was only recently that I recognized that a lot of my art is influenced by the ideas and themes in the book. Pigs, Islands, Boys, History, and Conflict are all things that I deal with in my drawings and are related to the book. I wanted to make some pieces discussing the parts of the book that most struck me when I first read it.

The top drawing is a depiction of Simon, moments before his death at the hand of the other boys. The bottom drawing is of Ralph, when he is boar hunting with Jack Merridew and the other hunters, and he gets wrapped up in their savagery.

Vespertilio Vampyrus (As Named by Linnaeus)

Vespertilio Vampyrus, Pen and Marker on Paper, 18" x 36

This piece is based on the description of the Vampire Bat by the Father of Taxonomy, Carl Linnaeus, who wrote: "At night sucks in the Flesh of the Sleeping, the Combs of Cocks, and the Juice of Palm Trees".

Work in Progress "Vespertilio Vampyrus (as named by Linnaeus)"

Based on a description of the Vampire Bat written by the father of taxonomy, Carl Linnaeus:
"At Night Sucks on the Flesh of the Sleeping, the Combs of Cocks, and the Juice of Palm Trees."

Missoula Flood, 1908 Traffic Signal Box in Missoula, MT.

Here is the installation of the artwork I did for a traffic signal box in Missoula. It features a scene from the historic 1908 flood, which destroyed the Higgins Bridge.  The location of  the traffic signal box is right by the modern day Higgins Bridge.

Missoula Flood, 1908 Artwork Design

This is a design for a vinyl wrap that will be applied to a traffic signal box in downtown Missoula. It's based on a flood that happened in 1908, destroying the town's main bridge and many other structures. The box measured about 3 1/2 feet tall and 2 feet wide.

Homestead: A Brief History of Our Places

Finetta Lord's Tomato Harvest, Pen and Marker on Paper, 11" x 14"

Gilbert Lord and the Lonely Chicks, Pen and Marker on Paper, 11" x 14"

Bertie Lord's Home from the Hunt, Pen and Marker on Paper, 11" x 14"

Minnie Lord's Corn Silks, Pen and Marker on Paper, 11" x 14"

Playtime in the Valley, Pen and Marker on Paper, 18" x 24"

Territorial Fair, Pen and Marker on Paper, 18" x 24"

Great Northern, October 1904, Pen and Marker on Paper, 16" x 20"

Agnes and Dora Chaffin, Pen and Marker on Paper, 16" x 20"

Mission Valley, Pen and Marker on Paper, 8"x 10"

Paradise Valley, Pen and Marker on Paper, 8"x 10"

Bitterroot Valley, Pen and Marker on Paper, 8" x 10"

Flathead Valley, Pen and Marker on Paper, 8" x 10"