2008 Annual Member's Exhibit
Hartell Gallery, Cornell University
Opening Reception for Conference Attendees:
Monday, July 21, 7:00–9:00 pm
Our Annual Exhibit, in conjunction with the 2008 conference, is running from July 13 to July 26, 2008, and is open to the public. This is a great way to get your work seen and to make new connections with other illustrators. We have secured a wonderful space in which to display your work: the Hartell Gallery at Cornell University—the primary exhibit space for Cornell's College of Art, Architecture, and Planning. This exhibit is sponsored in part by the Cornell Plantations.

• Karen Ackoff will be demonstrating the use of Egg tempera, a painting medium that combines pigments with an egg yolk binder, which was in use before oils became a common medium. It is a medium with characteristics unlike modern media. Because egg tempera lends itself toward transparency and is also waterproof, colors may be layered, allowing them to show through subsequent applications of color. The surface of an egg tempera painting has a soft sheen, which may be enhanced by gentle buffing. Karen will demonstrate these and other qualities characteristic to this versatile medium.
• John Cody will be sharing his knowledge and artistry in watercolor with us during the Showcase: he will be demonstrating ways of handling watercolor that can overcome some of its intrinsic problems – such as eliminating the hard edges that it can develop as it dries – and he will be showing us some of the little tricks that one can apply – such as using an eraser to create highlights.
• Frances Fawcett will demonstrate gradations and surface texture in carbon dust, one of her favorite mediums for precise, detailed drawing. Contrary to its reputation, carbon is also an excellent medium for freeform sketching. Pencils, dust, brushes, and film will be available for experimentation.
• Victoria Fuller will be showing us her method of wax casting... she will be setting up a micro-studio on her table-top.
• Jerry Hodge will be working in silverpoint... Silverpoint is a drawing technique utilizing sterling silver wire that creates a high-key drawing that develops a lovely, slightly brown patina over time. Tone is created from finely layered networks of line, creating the illusion of tone. In addition, silverpoint lends itself to extremely fine detail not possible with traditional pencil techniques. Silverpoint can be used in combination with gouache to add color and carbon dust to expand the tonal range. Examples of silverpoint drawings will be shown along with demonstration of various aspects of the technique by Jerry and Melinda Hodge.
• Melissa Mance-Coniglio will be demonstrating her techniques of capturing the color and feather structure of birds in oil paint. She will be discussing the use of various additive media in oil paint and the effects they have on the overall look of the painting. She will also be sharing examples of different non-toxic printmaking techniques, including plates and prints.  
• Marie Metz is going to show us her easy digital method for creating a compound insect eye... in her words, "Creating the small facets of insect eyes can be time consuming and monotonous. If an illustrator chooses not to include the eyes fully rendered, the final presentation appears unfinished, flat and disappointing. If you use this very simple digital technique an insect eye can be created in the computer in seconds and even combined with a non-digital illustration! Come and watch! Hours of work can take 5 minutes."
• Margy Nelson will be playing with creation of custom tiles and brushes in Adobe Illustrator. It's remarkable what sorts of edge, line, and fill effects you can create for yourself this way, and it's also a lot of fun to do...Click here to get a copy of her showcase handout in Illustrator format or here for a PDF version of the document.
• Trudy Nicholson says, "Using white scratchboard, I’ll demonstrate how ink lines and dots combined with white lines and dots can create numerous textures. I’ll show the tools I use, books describing the medium that I recommend, and how I develop an illustration from idea to sketch to final inking. I'll also show the use of graphite pencil on white scratchboard. There will be many examples of large and small pieces that I've done along with the stages of development of many of them."
• Suzanne Wegener will share her enthusiasm for colored inks: learn how flexible these brilliant inks can be, from traditional techniques to more painterly applications. Different surfaces from scratchboard to textured papers add to the range of this exciting medium.

Please consider what to donate: original art always goes high (because we are such a mutual-admiration society), prints, cards, art supplies and equipment, note cards, weird random stuff that only a scientific illustrator would love. Clean out your studio and donate at the same time, and kill two metaphorical birds with one stone. Half of all proceeds from the auction go to the GNSI Education Fund—this is a great cause.

You do not need to be present at the conference to donate. Please include the following information with the item you send or bring: your name, address, telephone number, a description of the item, suggested minimum bid for the item and, finally, whether or not you want a receipt for your donation for tax purposes.

You can send items ahead of time to Christi Sobel, this year's Auction Chick, at PO Box 195, Brooktondale, NY 14817. If you bring items with you to the conference, there will be someone at registration to take your donation. You can also contact Christi with questions or with promises of donations at christi@christisobel.com. Also fill out an auction submission form, available above.
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