Helena Juhasz Illustration

Loopies

2012-02-26T13:48:00.000-08:00

Permanent ink pen and watercolour pencils

I "saw" the shape of these guys in some lint stuck to a tissue box. Since that was so random, I figured I'd make the rest of the picture at random also. It turned out totally different than I had imagined and maybe I had some Miro in my head for inspiration too. I'd forgotten my brush so I finished the picture by dabbling my finger in some water and dotting it all over the picture. What fun!

To My Valentine

2012-02-14T12:37:00.000-08:00

Watercolour pencil on watercolour paper

It's Late...

2012-02-13T13:35:00.000-08:00

Watercolour pencil on watercolour paper

Long overdue for a post so I thought I'd share this drawing. I recently had the luxury of drawing in a beautiful cafe and instead of observing my surroundings, these guys made another appearance. It looks like they have a story to share.

I got a "Liebster"!

2012-02-04T14:11:00.000-08:00

Well, I'd been totally off-line for the past couple of days now and I'd figured I should catch up a bit, when I got a wonderful surprise!

There was an e-mail from Carol A. Bender nominating me for the Liebster Blog Award. Check out her cool blog!

"The Liebster Award is given to loveable blogs with less than 200 followers to recognize worthiness and drive more readers to them.... and hopefully generate higher Follower numbers."

I am super-grateful for this nomination and for anyone who appreciates my work! I met Carol through the 21-day Comment Challenge this past January, which was put on by Lee Wind, MotherReader and SCBWI. It pulled me out of a void and I was excited to communicate with other writers and illustrators so easily.

As a recipient I need to share 5 "things" about myself. Hmm...

1. I love surprises!

2. My all-time favourite movie is "You've Got Mail".

3. I love it when snow sparkles like diamonds on a blue-bird day.

4. I've been called Cookie Monster and Hungry Hippo - by my own family!

5. Trees speak to me...

Now, the fun part! I get to pass on this honour to the following 5 nominees:

1. Creative Alissa

2. Medea

3. Shantala Robinson Illustration

4. Akiko White

5. Russ Cox

Beautiful illustrations everyone. I especially love reading about how the artwork came to be. I will try to put in more anecdotes myself.

Cheers!

Upcoming comics...

2012-02-01T21:51:00.000-08:00

I was hoping to start posting regular Gretl & Oz comics pages by now but it'll have to officially start the first week of March. My goal is to post a new installment every Tuesday and Friday from then onward. This month will be spent doing more revisions of the story, but I think it'll be worth it. I'll try to keep a weekly post in the meantime. Keep in touch! :)

Gretl & Oz Character Sketches

2012-02-01T21:46:00.000-08:00

Owl On The Prowl

2012-01-22T22:45:00.000-08:00

THIS is the official end to my 15-day drawing challenge:

Permanent ink marker

Just sketchy

2012-01-21T23:48:00.000-08:00

2012-01-20T23:39:00.000-08:00

Watercolour pencil

I actually saw this at the library the other day!

Made it! (kinda...)

2012-01-19T12:20:00.000-08:00

Phew! Made it! Finished the 15-day challenge yesterday - although it turned out to be a drawing and posting challenge. Taking today off and posting some old stuff I still find appealing but I'll be true to my word and make up the drawing days that I missed by... you got it, posting old stuff! I don't want to openly admit how many times I cheated but starting tomorrow I'll start my remediation and you'll know the number when I mark the last post as "the official end of the challenge". It was a little harder than expected, especially with my newby skills at the computer and still being in the Comment Challenge 2012 (which is worth every minute!)

Above, I posted some illustrations for Pathways again. I hope to colour these digitally soon.

Oops! Almost forgot to mention. I'm so stoked to be signed up for the graphic novel open studio class at Emily Carr University with Julian Lawrence! Can't wait!! Starts early March!

Little Boy

2012-01-18T23:02:00.000-08:00

Watercolour pencil

Snow!

2012-01-18T00:30:00.000-08:00

Brush, ink and watercolour pencil

Upcoming story...

2012-01-17T01:11:00.000-08:00

Brush and ink

Owl

2012-01-15T21:29:00.000-08:00

Oil pastel

A Mighty Tiger

2012-01-14T23:00:00.000-08:00

Watercolour pencil

Canadiana

2012-01-13T20:57:00.000-08:00

The Bread Monster

2012-01-12T22:45:00.000-08:00

Watercolour pencil

Gretl & Oz

2012-01-11T23:57:00.000-08:00

The Blah-Blah's

2012-01-10T22:47:00.000-08:00

These guys came to me last night and I thought I'd quickly try to capture them on paper today. I don't quite know their story yet but they're qrotesque and they make me laugh!

I'm feeling sketchy today...

2012-01-10T22:42:00.000-08:00

A few thumbnails for a kids' graphic novel project of mine...
I'll post a couple of teaser pages onto this blog before my 15-day challenge is up. I hope to make this a weekly post where you can "tune in" and follow the story.

View of Storzic

2012-01-09T20:05:00.000-08:00

Oil stick on canvas

This painting came from a landscape photography book on Slovenia

circa 1981 called "Lepa Si Zemlja Slovenska". I have fond childhood

memories of pouring over the fantastic mountain pictures and this

was my interpretation of one of them.

Two Edelweiss

2012-01-09T19:35:00.000-08:00

Oil stick, oil paint on canvas

When Pencils Attack

2012-01-09T19:04:00.000-08:00

Six days into my 15-day drawing challenge and I'm already reusing old stuff?!
I should've titled it "15-day blogging challenge"!

It's an ironic comic strip considering I'm (yet again) procrastinating.

Ted & Owl

2012-01-08T22:30:00.001-08:00

Parisian Poppies

2012-01-08T00:35:00.000-08:00

Acrylic paint on canvas

Somehow, this got inspired by that:

Graffiti art at Kirkstone Skate Park

Late-night Doodles

2012-01-07T00:23:00.001-08:00

Hike! Explore!

2012-01-05T22:04:00.000-08:00

Permanent ink marker

Go Bananas!

2012-01-05T19:05:00.000-08:00

This is a great SCBWI West Illustrators blog.

Go Bananas!: January theme: Fish out of water: Hi All, Happy New Year! We'll be starting off 2012 with a challenge called: "Fish out of water". So go ahead, and see what you can do wi...

PP 2

2012-01-05T00:32:00.001-08:00

Broccoli... yuck!

2012-01-03T23:35:00.000-08:00

Twoo Bears

2012-01-03T00:07:00.000-08:00

Permanent ink marker

Happy New Year everyone!

I've given myself a 15 day drawing challenge for this first month of the new year. Look for daily posts January 3 to the 18th. I'm interested to see what comes out of this. If I can manage these 15 days then I'll do a 30 day challenge at a later date and when I finally get a scanner.

I hope this will be an enjoyable experience for you too!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T23:02:00.000-08:00

Pencil crayon and black ink marker

I drew this eons ago but just recently digitized it. The inspiration was the exuberant family dog that we would chase and wrestle with in the deep Ontario snow. Whether it was the holidays or not it always felt so magical when everything was coated in a blanket of white and the evening light would make everything sparkle.

Wishing you some sparkle and magic during this holiday season!

Twelve Days Of Christmas

2011-12-23T19:14:00.000-08:00

Watercolour, pencil crayon, pen and ink on watercolour paper and craft paper

Here's my rendition of the classic Christmas carol. I thought it would be more fun to write out every single word of the complete song rather than focus on illustrating twelve corresponding pictures. To me, the words of the song are like a theme in themselves, and the song leaves you breathless and somewhat exhausted in the end.

In the background are basic line drawings of each verse's theme, although in the interest of better composition some of the upper drawings have been cut off. Yet another reason to get Photoshop and fix these things in "post-production".

Front and center are the children singing the song, through the silhouetted view of their Christmas tree. Looks like everyone's having a good time. I hope you and yours will too!

The Sky Is Falling

2011-12-15T21:08:00.000-08:00

Pen and ink, watercolour, watercolour pencils

My submission for the Tomie dePaola Illustrators Award 2012. We had to illustrate an exerpt from "Chicken Licken" by P.C. Asbjornsen.

I started off with my usual watercolour blotches, this time with a loose composition in mind. This method works for me but I'm starting to feel the dire need for Photoshop as I'm trying to refine my work. I'm also learning along the way that softer washes of watercolour don't show up when a work is scanned to a jpeg. All things I need to plan for in future work.

It is what it is: "graphic novel illustration with undertones of abstract expressionism". In case anyone's keeping track.

Pen & Ink Studies

2011-12-12T15:12:00.000-08:00

Lady G Of The Mountains

2011-12-01T15:39:00.000-08:00

Pencil crayon, oil pastel, markers

Inspired by my visit to the Chagall exhibit at the AGO in November and by my daughter, I recently finished this piece. What draws me most to Chagall is his dream-like images, vibrant and well balanced colours and his fantastic layers of Fauvism and Cubism in his work.

My ideas never turn out exactly as I had imagined them and so I have to relinquish creative control to what my hands really want to do. I'll leave the interpretation up to you!

Perhaps I'll redo this someday, with Lady G redrawn in a more naive style to suit the rest of the picture.

Remembering...

2011-11-21T19:30:00.000-08:00

Ink and watercolour pencils

This was drawn for the SCBWI illustration blog with the November theme of "A Time To Remember".

The scene reminds me of pouring over photo albums when I was a child and it was even better when someone would share their first-hand accounts with you. These cherished photographs were thick with the stories of special life events, perhaps more so than today. There's nothing like sharing stories between generations.

I drew inspiration from my brother's god-father, a man who has some fantastic war stories to share and who always seems to sport a sweater vest in dapper fashion. I remember watching a good friend intently listening to his accounts during a family gathering and admiring that sweet moment between them. Here, I portray them as young girl and doting grandfather.

Edelweiss

2011-11-16T09:36:00.000-08:00

Acrylic on canvas

I painted this for a dear friend and supporter. Thanks for inspiring me to get this piece done. It's a tribute to our alpine heritage.

More Ancient History

2011-11-13T17:09:00.000-08:00

Graphite Pencils

This is a Realism project I completed in grade 12 - freehand from a magazine photo, pencil on paper. Over twelve hours later I swore off realistic art and figured it's best left to the camera lens.

Looking at it now, with a more objective view, I can see it's riddled with mistakes, but I think I gave a good go of it.

Visiting my parents, they have all of our old stuff up on the walls, so I thought I'd share while I'm here. For posterity sake.

For Veronika

2011-11-11T09:10:00.000-08:00

Acrylic on canvas

This is another old one but I thought it might be worth sharing. I painted this while sitting on my kitchen floor with a broken leg, looking out at my sunflowers on the balcony. It's amazing how producing something, by hand, really brightens your mood and lookout. Whoever said art is superficial and elitist?

Great Ghost!

2011-10-31T13:15:00.000-07:00

Watercolour and Ink

This started as another "accident" style watercolour, then I search and ink. It's a great method to let yourself be creative without expectation!

March Of The Monsters

2011-10-30T12:56:00.000-07:00

Watercolour and Ink

An orange and purple Halloween theme with some touches of warm green to ground the figures and to suggest the background of a pumpkin patch. This was fantastically fun to do and I'd love to try something similar on a large-scale canvas someday.

2011-10-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

These are cropped close-ups of a larger watercolour and ink.

An Emily Carr instructor had us splatter watercolour on paper and play with it - tilting the page in whichever direction. He called the exercise "Happy Accidents" and I couldn't help but smile and laugh to myself while creating the page.

It was so much fun to invent the surreal underwater scene from the random runs and splatters of colour.

Perhaps the resulting composition isn't ideal but there's nothing quite like releasing your inhibitions and letting "whatever" happen!

Look for another "Happy Accident" next week!
I'll look for some Halloween-themed inspiration in the picture!

Latest for Pathways

2011-10-12T21:32:00.000-07:00

The topic for this Pathways fall issue is on Integrated Curriculum Programs in Outdoor Education. Hence the word "integration" is drawn out by the kids in the bottom illustration, which will be the cover for the issue. This issue will be distributed at the Association For Experiential Education Conference.

Permanent Ink Drawing Pen

For Eva

2011-10-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

This was the first painting I completed when I had a broken leg in the middle of a past summer. I was so grateful that I could enjoy how the strong, summer light practically made my balcony flowers sparkle. That sunshine was the inspiration for this painting and I tried to capture the ethereal beauty of a midsummer's day.

Acrylic On Canvas

Honeymooners

2011-10-12T20:59:00.000-07:00

Go Bike Go Train

2011-10-12T20:51:00.000-07:00

This was a GO Train poster contest winner. We were given a 4x6 foot blank canvas and 2 hours to execute our paintings while in Union Station with all the rush hour commuters walking by and Breakfast Television filming us! That was an awesome experience!

Chippy

2011-10-11T23:26:00.000-07:00

Powder Envelope

2011-10-11T23:08:00.000-07:00

Ancient History

2011-10-11T23:03:00.000-07:00

Temporary Forest

2011-10-11T22:59:00.000-07:00

M + H

2011-10-11T22:55:00.000-07:00

P + S

2011-10-11T22:49:00.000-07:00

Another one for Pathways

2011-10-11T22:27:00.000-07:00

New for The Ontario Journal of Outdoor Education

2011-10-11T22:19:00.000-07:00

Gretel Strikes Back

2011-10-11T22:09:00.000-07:00

Hansel & Gretel Witch

2011-10-11T22:01:00.000-07:00

For Laura

2011-10-11T21:26:00.000-07:00