Arts & Life

Illustrations create nostalgia for childhood

Delightfully detailed cartoon illustrations please the eyes and warm the heart at this week’s student art show titled “Synapse.”

“Synapse” is a collaboration exhibition between BFA illustration majors. Recently graduated BFA art illustration major Lisa Ann Woods’s portion of the show caught the attention of many viewers.

Woods’s section of work treated viewers to brilliant, playful cartoons aimed towards children and brought smiles to each viewer’s face.

Woods draws much of her inspiration from how children perceive the world.

“Kids and their imaginations are so innocent, and yet they’re willing to believe anything,” Woods said. “It’s about finding that balance and illustrating something that’s super imaginative but believable in [a child’s] world.”

Something that set Woods’s pieces apart from others was the addition of a children’s book she wrote titled “All in a Day’s Work”.

The book contains an aesthetically simple plot about a boy named Henry and the chores his mother assigns him. Being a young boy, the list is an unattainable length, and each chore is exaggerated out of proportion within his imagination.

The illustrations and amusing storyline in “All in a Day’s Work” made readers young and old smile and laugh.
Woods draws inspiration from her own experiences.
“[The idea] came from when my mom would give me Saturday chores to do, and it just felt like the day took forever,” Woods said.

“All in a Day’s Work” took an entire semester for Woods to complete, showing just how much detail and thought she put into her work.

Woods hopes that one day her illustrations and books will be published, and she is taking the proper steps toward that goal.

“I joined this organization ‘The Society of Children’s Writers and Illustrators,'” Woods said. “It gives artists a chance to meet publishers.”

According to Woods, the hardest part of creating a piece is figuring out the initial concept of it.

“I’ll go through five or sometimes more different drawings until I get the right one down,” Woods said.

Many of her pieces are finished in a day, but some can take up to a week to complete.

Woods’s creative artistry will be available for viewing as a part of the “Synapse” exhibition Tuesday and Thursday from noon to 5 p.m. and on Wednesday from noon to 7 p.m. in the Max L. Gatov Gallery East located on upper campus.
 

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