The Art of Ashley Quigg

Temporary Hold!

2012-01-08T17:46:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! So, "Space Case Sally" has to go on temporary hiatus for the next month or so. I am in the middle of starting/finishing some SUPER exciting projects (that I can't say much about right now...) Needless to say until those are finished I won't be able to get any new SCS pages up.

Rest assured, though, that this is a TEMPORARY hiatus. Space Case Sally is my baby and I'm not about to just let it fall by the wayside. Pages will be updating again Tuesdays and Thursdays very soon!

Thanks to all of you who have been reading the comic and enjoying it! It will be back with a vengeance starting in February!

The Theory of Evolution. Art evolution that is...

2011-10-24T11:05:00.000-07:00

In my last post I waxed poetic about possibly starting a new style for Space Case Sally. After much debate and practice, I have decided to scrap this idea. It's not because I felt that it was an unattainable goal, but rather that the way that my art is progressing, I might be headed in that more cartoon-y direction anyway. Sometimes it works to force that artistic evolution and sometimes it doesn't!

In the meantime, I am super excited about this new Space Case Sally storyline, set to go up on the site in the beginning of December. Hope that you all are reading it!

www.spacecasesally.com

The Times They Are A'Changin'

2011-09-03T19:30:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about evolution today. Not the scientific kind, but the evolution of art, specifically MY art.

Within the last few weeks, I've given a great deal of thought to changing up the style of Space Case Sally and perhaps going with something a bit different than what I've done up until this point. It wouldn't be a drastic change, but definitely something that would push me a bit out of my comfort zone. That got me thinking about my own personal style and how much it's changed in the last few years.

When I started at SVA in 2005, I had it in my head that I was going to be a superhero comics artist. This is despite the fact that I had no real skills in that particular area and had drawn only anime up until that point. It didn't matter. I scoffed at the idea posed to me by my Freshman drawing professor that I was better suited to children's book illustration. What did he know?

I labored under this delusion that I was destined for superhero comics up until my senior year. It wasn't until my portfolio class with David Mazzuchelli that things started to change. David, to his extreme credit, worked with me on my superhero-centered portfolio comic, but told me frankly that he didn't think that I was cut out for superhero comics. This time, though, I took the advice to heart. I had begun to work in watercolor and found that I was good at it. My style had always been very clean, not much cross-hatching and filling in of black areas only as accents or block shadows, and even then I didn't much care for it.

When I left SVA, I worried that my work wouldn't show as much improvement without the guiding hand of a professor and the constant stimulation of homework and assignments. I didn't do much artwork for the first year that I was out of college and it wasn't until my first Space Case Sally story in 2010 that I gave up entirely the idea of doing superhero comics. Space Case Sally, even when I created the character in 2003 was never suited to that "hyper action" style that I wanted so badly to emulate. In a way, that first SCS story was the death knell for my college dreams of superhero comics-dom.

In the last few years, I have also discovered that I posses a trait much prized in art: malleability and the ability to move in and out of different styles. It's something that I've been working to develop and hope that it will come in handy on this latest venture with Space Case Sally.

I never regret my delusions of superhero comics artistry. Sure, it took me a long time to finally give up those notions, but I learned quite a few lessons over those years. Quite frankly also, much of my current style would not have been possible without those years. The same can be said for my years of drawing anime in high school (though THAT is a subject for another day). Even though I believed for years that I was destined for something to which I was ill-suited, it made me the person that I am today.

All that said, I am very excited for the chance to do something different with my work for Space Case Sally. It's all still in the development stage, but I am looking forward to the new possibilities.

Ashley's All-New Portfolio Site!

2011-06-30T19:53:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

So, it was definitely time for an overhaul of the ol' Ashley Quigg portfolio site. My CarbonMade portfolio was starting to gather a bit of dust, and so I present to you the shiny new site!

WWW.ASHLEYQUIGG.MOONFRUIT.COM!

My ashleyquigg.com domain will begin forwarding their soon, but in the meantime, check it out and check out some of the sweet new work that I just put up!

Also in the pipeline, I have some exciting new projects!

First up, ALL NEW pages of "Space Case Sally" are starting this Tuesday over on WWW.SPACECASESALLY.COM! Be sure to check it out for the exciting continuation of "The Purloined Pest".

Second, my contribution to the "Animals Everywhere" anthology on Act-I-Vate ALSO premiers this coming Tuesday over on WWW.ACT-I-VATE.COM!

Last, but certainly not least, I have a comic featured in the July issue of Strange Aeons magazine! There are a few sneak-peek pages up on my newly retooled site, and you should all go and check it out! WWW.STRANGE-AEONS.COM!

Whew!! Lots of thrilling things happening all at once! Stay tuned to this blog for further updates! I'm hoping to have a few new illustrations up pretty soon, and of course Space Case Sally continues to update on Tuesdays and Thursdays!

Space Case Sally and the Purloined Pest Part 2!

2011-06-13T17:28:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

So, if you've been keeping up with SCS, you'll know that Part One of "The Purloined Pest" is almost at a close! Next week will be the end of part one, and the week after that will be an excellent guest week. Part Two starts in the first week of July.

Here as a little teaser, is the watercolor cover for part two...

Uhhh oh bad news bears! Part 2 is almost totally finished on my end, and I'm totally excited to begin work on Part 3, which promises to be totally epic.

In the meantime, here also is a quick little Raven painting that I did. It's nice to just do these little watercolor paintings to keep myself creatively sharp. Plus... I haven't actually done any fanart in almost a year. Possibly more.

Don't get me started on the whole DCU reboot. That's just opening the floodgates for loads of Nerd Rage. Suffice it to say, come September my pull list is going to get a whole lot smaller.

Keep on reading and supporting webcomics!

Space Case Sally - Tuesdays and Thursdays!

2011-06-05T14:30:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe that I forgot to post about this here! The brain is the first thing to go, I guess. Space Case Sally is finally online and has been for more than a month now! The comic updates on Tuesdays and Thursdays and you can read the whole thing here:

Space Case Sally!

Please check it out! I'm having a blast doing it and part 2 of The Purloined Pest starts in the first part of July! I'm planning to have some kick-ass guest stars between Part 1 and Part 2. It's going to be amazing.

MoCCA 2011

2011-04-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

Wow! I am always overwhelmed by the wonderful camaraderie that comes from the MoCCA festival. Nothing is quite as inspiring as being among so many like-minded cartoonists. I saw former classmates from SVA, met some AMAZING new people, and picked up a lot of fantastic work! Thanks to my WONDERFUL table mates Jon and Hanniand to our fabulous neighbors Kasey and Alice! You guys are really the best and I could not have done it without you!

You will soon be able to find copies of "Fish Food", "In Common" and copies of "Space Case Sally and the Purloined Pest (Part One)" up on my Etsy store (squivilized.etsy.com) and remember that Space Case Sally updates Tuesdays and Thursdays.

On to SPX in September!

-Ashley

Space Case Sally and the Purloined Pest!

2011-04-05T20:01:00.000-07:00

SPACECASESALLY.COM!

Space Case Sally and the Purloined Pest has started over at SCS.com! Check it out! The strip will be updating Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can buy Part 1 in its entirety at the MOCCA festival this weekend! I will be tableing it up at L7 with Jon Griffiths and Hanni Brosh. Check out their fabulous work!

Space Case Sally UPDATE!!

2011-01-24T12:09:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

Just a little bit of an update regarding Space Case Sally and the Purloined Pest. The story is going to be in two parts. The first half will start to go up on SpaceCaseSally.com sometime next month. The collected Part 1 comic will be available at MOCCA 2011. The second half will start sometime in May and the comic will be available at SPX 2011 in September. That's right, folks! I, along with my good buddy Hanni will be there along with a lot of our good friends! For more info check out the SPX site (www.spxpo.com).

And so, without further ado, I give you the cover for Space Case Sally and the Purloined Pest!

Watercolor with a little computer magic thrown in. I haven't yet worked on Part 2's cover, but when I do, you will be the first to know.

One more important update... I was thrilled to be a part of my good friend Chris Miskiewicz's comic anthology "Everywhere!". And starting Feb 1st, you can see the whole thing up on Act-I-Vate as a monthly series! Look for my work in the story "Whales Everywhere!".

Until next time!

-Ashley

Tiny Paintings

2010-11-20T15:58:00.001-08:00

I love painting in watercolors. I especially love painting in tiny, tiny pieces of paper. These two paintings are each about 2" squared. Both actually started out pretty normal and then, like a lot of work that I do, they devolved into something weird. Oh well!

I am nearing the end of my big (non SCS) project. If all goes well, I should have something to blog about closer to the beginning of the new year. Here's hoping!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

A Century of Sally!

2010-10-28T04:59:00.001-07:00

Over the past year and a half, I have been working as an assistant for a small fashion resale business. It's hard work, and I've had to learn a lot of hard lessons. That said, I've learned more about fashion in the past 18 months than my whole life up until this point. I hardly consider myself an expert, or even adept at it, but I'm picking up things here and there.

I thought that it might be a fun exercise to re-draw Sally's costume to fit several different eras of the past 20th century. Yes, I realize that Sally's universe exists somewhere in the 22nd century, but whatever. I skipped a few eras (1930, 1950, 1970 on) mostly because I ran out of paper and time. This was just a fun little project for me.

News coming soon, I hope! I am still finishing up on the big project, but should have it finished soon. Space Case Sally and the Purloined Pest is scheduled to drop just in time for MoCCA of 2011. Look for it and me come April!!

WWW.ASHLEYQUIGG.COM
SQUIVILIZED.ETSY.COM

Space Case Sally Character Studies

2010-01-01T16:05:00.000-08:00

(left to right) Dad, Mom, Sally

(left to right) Oliver, Percy, Aimee, Shawn

Finished character studies and height relationship chart for my first Space Case Sally story. Drum roll please...

"Space Case Sally and the Suspense in Suburbia"

I will be debuting the first issue at this year's Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art festival on April 10 and 11 in New York. I will give more details as it gets closer to the date. Stay tuned to this blog for more updates!

Monster Earrings

2009-11-24T09:03:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has met me, or who knows me very well, knows that I have a penchant for large, dangling earrings. I don't remember when it started, but it's gotten to the point that I feel almost naked without them. Inspired by recent viewings of classic monster movies during Halloween, I decided to undertake a project: the making of my own jewelry. It's been an uphill battle, but I am pleased with the results.

The earrings will go up for sale on my Etsy account for $12 a pair starting next week (the first week of December) and I will post the details here next week. In the meantime, if anyone is interested in pre-ordering a pair, please send an email my way. I would be more than happy to oblige.

The earrings are 2 inches in diameter, and hang about 1 inch from the bottom of the earlobe; 3 inches in total. The discs themselves are wooden with black satin ribbon around the outside and a wavy design on the back. I must say, I am extremely proud.

WWW.ASHLEYQUIGG.COM

Into the Woods

2009-07-11T19:25:00.000-07:00

As part of my updated version of "Fish Food" for the MoCCA festival in June, I decided to color a few of my best pieces for the comic. I am pleased with the end results. Rather than coloring "Woods" as the Mucha-influenced piece that it was originally intended, I decided to color it more like an old photograph instead. It was a departure from my default style of coloring/painting, but it brought a few welcome challenges with it.

Progress on "Space Case Sally" is slow, but steady. My (new) goal is to have half of it finished (or nearly so) by the beginning of September. Watch this space for updates!