blog no more..

Unfortunately, this blog has come to an end. I had a need to set my priorities straight, and this was an avenue I could cut....

The artwork has NOT ended, however. I still continue to illustrate the word of the day; please find them on the Brianna Reagan Art facebook page, which has always been the one networking device my art depends on.

educe:::01.24.2012

educe \ih-DOOS\,verb:

1. to draw forth or bring out, as something potential or latent.

slimsy:::01.23.12

slimsy \SLIM-zee\, adjective:

1. flimsy, frail.


Somehow I turned flimsy and frail into fragile, and fragile conjured shattered glass...

alopecia:::01.22.12

alopecia \al-uh-PEE-shee-uh\, noun:

loss of hair, wool, or feathers: baldness

remora:::01.21.12

remora \REM-er-uh\, noun:

1. An obstacle, hindrance, or obstruction.


I had intended to simply do a mass of thorns, that having been the initial image conjured to illustrate an obstruction. In laying down the first lines of the gnarly mess, however, I thought strands of barbed wire would be a nice addition to the mess, well suited for such an obstacle.

...can you tell I grew up on Disney movies?

deucedly:::01.20.12

deucedly \DOO-sid-lee\, adverb:

1. Devilishly; damnably.

Deucedly is related to the word deuce which refers to the face of a die with one dot, as in "to roll deuces." It comes from the Latin word for two, duos. In the mid-1600s, it became associated with bad luck, probably because it was the lowest score you could get when playing dice.
--dictionary.com


need I say more...?

abdicate:::01.19.12

abdicate \ AB-di-keyt\, verb:

1. to cast off: discard
2 to relinquish formally
3. to renounce a throne, high office, dignity, or function


I was instantly inspired by the first definition, to cast off and discard, conjuring an image of a mangled coil of snake skin. As I sketched out the lines and form to this illustration, hashing in the scales with simple diagonal lines, I saw diamonds imbedded in the discarded skin. I couldn't resist the implication of a renounced throne. The diamonds were, too, cast aside with the brittle corpse of the old skin, as an act to formally relinquish such fortunes.

persnickety:::01.18.12

persnickety \per-SNIK-i-tee\, adjective:

1. Overparticular, fussy.
2. Snobbish or having the aloof attitude of a snob
3. Requiring painstaking care


At first, persnickety recalled a scene from "the Sweetest Thing," which was a favorite movie among Highschool Girl Friends back in the day....not feeling inclined to illustrate a movie scene, I began to contemplate the different definitions and at once thought of the whole "on a pedestal" notion. But I couldn't have nothing on the pedestal–so back to pondering the multiple definitions I went. It was there, upon really absorbing 'requiring painstaking care' that I conceived the idea of the bonsai tree.

Now, for some people, taking care of a cute little bonsai is no big thing. For a registered Serial Cactus Killer like myself, it's a completely different story.

... the only time I have a green thumb is when it's painted.

alate:::01.17.12

alate \EY-leyt\, adjective, noun:

1. having wings; winged
2. having membranous expansions like wings.


He's a little frankenstein-ish, being assembled with  dragonfly, monarch butterfly, and feathered wings...

perspicacious:::01.16.12

perspicacious \ pur-spi-KEY-shuhs\, adjective:

1. Having keen mental perception and understanding; discerning.

I instantly thought of the glaring eagle's eye, containing that knowing glare, encompassing the very definition of Today's word. 

outrance:::01.15.12

outrance \oo-TRAHNS\, noun:

1. of utmost extremity.


...apparently I view extreme as a tangible commodity, illustrated here as a dark and corrupted injectable fluid. When you consider my utmost fear of shots and needles, the confluence of the two extremes is not so strange.

desinence:::01.14.12

desinence \DES-uh-nuhns\, noun:

1. a termination or ending, as the final line of a verse.


...the end.
It had to be in color.

viscid:::01.13.12

viscid \VIS-id\, adjective:

1. having a glutinous consistency; sticky; adhesive.


Once again, I find myself in the Plantae Kingdom. The first image that my mind conjured with today's Word was of a venus fly trap, but in my mind it was oozing with a noxious nectar, forming sticky webs as the trap expanded, and pushing air into gooey bubbles as it collapsed.

bonny:::01.12.12

bonny \BON-ee\, adjective:

1. pleasing to the eye.
2. British Dialect. A. (Of people) Healthy, sweet, and lively. B. (Of place) Placid; tranquil. C. Pleasing; agreeable; good.


I've had polka-dotted roses on my mind for a good few months, and today's Word encouraged me to finally put the illustration to paper; it was the pleasing to the eye definition, juxtaposed with the imagery of healthy and sweet that reassured the concept for me.

I can't wait to use this in a painting....we'll see what happens.

pullulate:::01.11.12

pullulate \ puhl-yuh-leyt\, verb:

1. to germinate or sprout, to breed or produce freely.
2. to swarm or teem.


I was initially intrigued with swarm, allowing my head to, yes, swarm with ideas and possible concepts... I actually had to reel in the teeming thoughts in order to focus and accomplish today's Word.

While pondering the sprout element, and juxtaposing those thoughts with swarm or teem, I instantly recalled the ubiquitous dandelion and it's glorious puff, known to produce freely and rapidly colonize your yard. I took it to the next level by allowing the parachutes to bloom on their own as they drift carelessly, implying that they themselves will produce freely, maybe even before they land...

can you imagine it? Dandelions producing dandelions producing dandelions.... an epidemic of puffs and petals.

paregmenon:::01.10.12

paregmenon \ puh-REG-muh-non\, noun:

1. the juxtaposition of words that have a common derivation, as in 'sense and sensibility.'

I admit, I was stumped with today's Word. I ended up googling "examples of paregmenon" in hopes of inspiration, and stumbled upon the sample "it will destroy the wisdom of the wise..." Wisdom evoked the imagery of owls (cliched, I know it), but then I had to figure out the action of destruction. My thoughts rambled something like How can I illustrate a wise owl destroying his wise-ness? What if I did a siamese-owl, one half destroying the other? 

And I did.

tempestuous:::01.09.12

tempestuous \tem-PES-choo-uhs\, adjective

1. of, relating to, or resembling a tempest: turbulent or stormy


Another perfect Word...it started with a fleeting thought of "The Perfect Storm" (oh, I heart Marky-Mark Wahlberg), and then you can't have a good storm without a pirate ship. I envisioned the ship on the crest of the wave, a silhouette in the moonlight, and the wave crashing into the turbulent foam. The final touches, inspired by Mr. boneyard reef, (who's work hangs on my walls and is the impetus of my future tattoo) brought the illustration to the next level to really capture the definition of today's Word.

This illustration is, actually, eerily similar to the tattoo I intend to design for myself, though it will feature a sailboat instead of a pirate ship. And some seagulls.

profligacy:::01.08.12

profligacy \PROF-li-guh-see\, noun:

1. Reckless extravagance.

2. Shameless dissoluteness.

3. Great abundance.

I really cannot explain why I thought of a businessman with today's Word...maybe the whole 'shameless dissoluteness' thing, or as I understood it, 'shameless lack of morals,' and thus the Suit & Tie. It makes sense when you just watched the complete Third Season of Dexter, featuring a ruthless Assistant DA (Jimmy Smits) with more than a little blood on his fingers–here, the fingers each sport a precious rock to represent his reckless extravagance and great abundance in non-practical items. 

In reality, I don't know anyone like this. In reality, when I get a new shirt I choose an old one to get rid of, so I'm sure I'll never own this many rings either...

cimmerian:::01.07.12

cimmerian \ si-MEER-ee-uhn\, adjective:

1. very dark; gloomy; deep.


Need I say more??....

sprat:::01.06.12

sprat \sprat\, noun:

1. a small or inconsequential person or thing.

It may be the middle of winter, but I was sitting in a living room full of live plants when I opened the word of the day today (hence the foliage), thinking a single leaf is both rather small and inconsequential. I also couldn't get 'splat' out of my head due to it's similarity to today's word, and ended up with a Rorschach spread bitten into the leaf...I think my Nyquil had some fun today.

gasconade:::01.05.12

gasconade \ gas-kuh-NEYD\, noun:

1. Extravagant boasting; boastful talk.

verb: 1. To boast extravagantly; bluster


I honestly first thought of one of my boastful brothers, who has been dubbed "pigeon" (though sometimes 'peacock' depended on how much he puffs up his chest). He would've liked it entirely too much if I had done a drawing of him, so I settled with the cliched "proud as a peacock" for today. I transposed medallions in place of the peacock feather to represent achievement, and how nicely they will be displayed when he fluffs up his extravagant train feathers in pride.

Not too shabby for being sick, if I may so boast.

corvine:::01.04.12

corvine \ kor-vin\, adjective

1. of or relating to the crows: resembling a crow.

If you are familiar with my art, you know I was stoked for this word. I literally had to remind myself to keep it simple, however, instead of going crazy on feather designs and details like I intended. 

Of course, being an Alaskan, I had to focus on our beloved ravens, which are conveniently (for me) part of the Corvidae family. To simplify it, I began to consider the raven's silhouette, and then the concept of the skeleton presented itself from the phonetics of the word itself, reading as "core" of corvine. Once the concept was formed, the excitement to sit down and draw this had to sit and percolate all afternoon, being unable to hash it out on my lunch break today (I wish errands ran themselves). Eagerly I waited for the clock to turn, once again distracted by my thoughts...I don't know how I still have a job when I'm such a daydreamer...

And I know it's not anatomically correct, but now I am intrigued enough to find me a real skeleton to do a study of...

solecism:::01.03.12

solecism \ SOL-uh-siz-uhm \ , noun;

1. A breach of good manners or etiquette.

2. Any error, impropriety, or inconsistency.

This little diddy came together quite quickly, actually. I didn't get to today's Word until my lunch-break, and as I sat there shoveling my meal into face I considered what etiquette meant to me (ironically), or more precisely, what images it conjured. I was instantly bombarded with clips of cliched Elizabethan Era opulence, and banquet tables loaded with elegant foods and dishes. I then thought of the most detestable, ill-mannered creature, and here we end up with an improper Royal Rat who embarrassingly overindulged in the day's festivities.

Besides the obvious fact that rats love to scavenge for and devour food (and thus are more than qualified for this illustration), it was honestly an easy reference to a prior illustration, one of last year's Word.A.Day illustrations. Plus these little critters are quite fun to draw...

And in case you were wondering, I was not consuming cake or strawberries for my lunch as I assembled today's drawing, though I did have some grilled chicken....with pineapple salsa. 

truss:::01.02.2012

truss \ truhs\, verb:

1. To tie, bind, or fasten.
2. To make fast with skewers, thread, or the like, as the wings or legs of a fowl in preparation for cooking.
3. Falconry. (Of a hawk, falcon, etc.) To grasp (prey) firmly.

dictionary.com

All day long thread and rope have tangled my thoughts. It was bound to happen that the knots be wrapped around the talon of a falcon, with such imagery presented by the various definitions...

novation:::01.01.12

novation \ noh-VEY-shuhn\, noun;
the introduction of something new; innovation

Origin:

Novation  comes directly from the Latin word novātiōn which meant "a renewing." Its roots are novāre  whichmeans "to renew" and the suffix -ion  which denotes an action, as in creation or fusion.

dictionary.com

a perfect word to introduce not only the new year, but the emergence of my new, treasured project as well. My excitement to begin this project had my creative juices flooding my mind this morning. As I read through the definition, innovation instantly connected to technology. I was thinking of something fresh and new, and as I read through the Origin tidbit my thoughts were captivated by the simplicity of 'roots' and "to renew." The confluence of those images resulted in this simple illustration, which I'm sure will manifest itself into a painting or two. I already can see the silver and gold computer-chip detail set onto vibrant green leaves...

word.a.day.illustrations.2012.

Once again, I am attempting to illustrate the Word-of-the-Day for an entire year. Every day I will use the Word-of-the-Day, it's definition, and word origin & history to inspire a (simple) illustration, letting my creativity loose to create a world of possibilities. I must admit, I have been obsessed with this project for the entire year, willing 2012 to roll around so the project could commence (again).

This project will be equivalent to a freewriting and stream of consciousness exercise, but I'll be throwing down images rather than words. It will be an exercise of my imagination, letting my subconscious take over with the images conjured by the Daily Word, tapping into my deeper creativity. With a daily deadline, I will not have the time or the luxury of dismissing concepts and ideas.

As my collection of words and illustrations builds, I anticipate many will be harvested into fully composed paintings. There's my motivation to stick it out and keep this project a priority. I am captivated with the possibilities...