Alyssa DeVille no longer has an active account at Ohger. As you may know, Ohger is a subscription-based service and it could be that Alyssa DeVille decided not to continue using Ohger. That's okay. People come and go over time.

posted: November 14, 2010

My account expires tomorrow. Wanted to say thanks to everyone who checked out my blog, to all of my fellow ohgers for being so supportive, and to Zimm for creating such a fun site.


I've decided to give myself the next year off from blogging. My new website will be launched this December and it will have all of the new work I've created these last few months posted as well as news, sketchbook, studio tour, experiments and life drawing sections. If you would like to stay in touch with me I do have a facebook account which I'm on too often, (http://facebook.com/AlyssaDeVilleART) and if you want to be old fashioned and send me emails (which I fucking love btw) my email address is art@alyssadeville.com.

Take care guys, don't stay out of too much trouble

-Alyssa

posted: October 26, 2010

Soojin Buzelli contacted me a few weeks ago asking if I would be interested in doing an illustration for PLANSPONSOR's Bells & Whistles monthly article that "highlights recent product introductions that plan sponsors may find of interest." Aside from a few examples of previous work that's about all I had to work with, and it seemed like I could get pretty creative so agreed and got to sketching. Here's a few of the ideas I had:

I was curious to see if the rumors about Buzelli's remarkable ability at picking out the artist's favorite sketch and/or most 'out there' peice were true. She did, because she's awesome, and I couldn't of been happier to get in my studio and start.

Thanks Soonjin!



p.s. My year long membership with Ohger is just about up, I'll spread the word of a new blog if I get one. Thanks for checking out my work!

Illustrations, It's Personal, Sketches

posted: September 19, 2010

Finally gave up and started working out my roughs in charcoal. I always thought charcoal was too delicate, but it's turning out to be a really great medium to do quick studies of characters in my paintings.

I created this Sphinx for a 70" x 52" painting I'll be starting later this week. She's made out of a very delicate translucent skin, and the only thing inside her is sea water and the thing she is meant to guard - a heart that is also a blowfish. She can only guard this blowfish by keeping it away from anything that will scare it and cause it to puff up - therefore killing his hoast. They depend on eachother, and they hate eachother because of that.

This caused the Sphinx to go insane, and over hundreds of years her head became a giant spiral like black hole. Since she can no longer see where she is going, she lives in the desert where nothing could harm her or her heart. That is where, as depicted in the painting I'm working on, she encounters a very large and voilent relative of this guy, (a painting / study I did mostly to see if I could handle this larger one) who falls in lust with her. Aside from it being an illogical relationship, the blowfish is scared of monsters.

Since her face is missing I wanted to show her discomfort and awkwardness through her body language. She'll become more obviously transparent in the painting, you can only erase and draw over charcoal so many times before it becomes muddish.

Being in grad school over here in Philadelphia is just AMAZING.  I've been drawing  nonstop, stretching canvases bigger than 4 of me put together, and making some really interesting friends. I'll post more of what I've been up to soon!

posted: June 24, 2010

I got it in my head to do this kind of entry a long time ago, but it's been hard to gather up the images especially with all the moving and the internetlessness. I thought it would be something fun to see visually if I chronologically order my process in it's entirety with everything it took to make one painting.

Since my Jubjub and Bandersnatch painting has been one of my more well known pieces of work, it seems to be appropriate to see it's process originating all the way from it's fetus like 'doodle on the napkin' stage, hope you enjoy!

 

When I took on illustrating the poem "Jabberwocky" I had decided I would try to stick true to Lewis Carroll's own descriptions for each beastie. There isn't a lot written on what the Jubjub bird or bandersnatch look like, but it is said that the Jubjub is a bird that lives in perpetual passion, maybe on an island, and that the Bandersnatch is a swift moving creature with snapping jaws and has the ability to extend it's neck.

Then came the fun part. I think my favorite thing to do when creating new work is come up with weird and challenging compositions. I wanted the two creatures to fit together with as many awkward tangents as possible.

Many of the next photos are from my camera phone, so I appologize for the quality and lighting. The first few hours into a new painting are usually the ugliest and the hardest, and it's my nature to look after I leap when it comes to decision making.

I was comfortable enough at this stage to show my work to CCA alumni and awesome illustrator Jorge Masacarenhas. He gave me the thumbs up with everything except the Bandersnatch's fur color. He said that it reminded him of James Jean, and maybe I could change it around a little.

(And Jorge, I am so glad you said that.) I stood there clueless for about 15 minutes after he left and pulled out a color tube I hardly use, cadmium orange. Turns out if you glaze that over some magical Kazu Sano Violet grey colors you get the perfect Siamese cat fur hue. I realized then that the Bandersnatch was siamese:

I got this painting done right in time for my senior show. I thought it would be fun to use it to promote my exhibition, and I liked the idea of being photographed with it to depict a sense of scale. I had my friend and fellow thesis room roommate (about 4 of us lived there full time) Jaron Stokes take my promo photo.

I figured the painting had run it's course and could now retire to a closet until I could sell it, but on a whim I decided to enter the Society of Illustrators student competition. It got in :) and I got to have the unpleasant experience of getting it custom framed, insured, crated and shipped to New York. (Next time I'll just move there and paint a new one.)

  

I've made it a goal to make this painting pretty obsolete within the next year, but I do honestly like this painting and I think it's one of my best so far. I really believe that grad school is going to help me reach my new goals and standards... bigger and better paintings ho.

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