Le Fae Artist: Annie McBeth

Day 20 of Le Fae welcomes the whimsical mind of Annie McBeth!

California raised, Annie has been consistently submerged in a world of adventure, a splash of ocean, and a sprinkle of pixie dust.

Starting with extensive doodle study in the margin spaces of math assignments, Annie graduated from California State University, Long Beach in 2008. With a BFA in Illustration and a Certification in Bio-Medical Illustration, she has been pursuing a freelance career with the hopes of being published in the Children’s Illustration market.

In 2015, Annie was brought in by the Disney Parks & Resorts to work in the prestigious Disneyana Gallery. Beginning as a Character Sketch artist, she then transferred to the Ink & Paint department, where she could be seen hand inking traditional animation cels and painting backgrounds.

Annie has produced character & licensed artwork for The Walt Disney Company, Disney Parks & Resorts, Walt Disney Imagineering, Pixar, Tim Burton, and Lucasfilm.

Artwork Title: “Blue Fairy”
8″x8″ Hand Embellished original print (only one)
Digital Illustration
$40
Print will be “fairy dusted” and embellished with gold.

Smaller Prints: “Blue Fairy,” 5″x5″, $12

The originals and other items are available to purchase through the artist by visiting her etsy shop at www.etsy.com/anniemcbeth. Please visit their page and message them on how to collect these original works of art.

MEET THE ARTIST

• Start off and tell us your name! Who are you?

Hi! I’m Annie Hobbs, better known as @Anniemcbeth on social media.  At the moment I’m a freelance illustrator working from home with my adorable studio pup, Lotus.

• What kind of art do you create and what medium do you work in?

I love the look and feel of Children’s illustration! I’ve always been drawn (pun intended) to kids books and the images within that can tell a story with minimal words. I sort of bounce between an animation style and a kidlit style.. it sort of depends on what the piece is. I typically work both traditionally and digitally these days. I had originally been trained in traditional mediums like gouache and watercolor and had been utilizing those mediums for years. About 2018, I picked up an ipad pro with the intent to use it as a digital sketchbook…. well…. I never looked back! I have used it to create numerous concept sketches as well as final artwork for freelance jobs.

• When did you know you were an artist?

I’ve always been creative. My whole family is, in fact. I actually don’t think there was ever a moment where I thought to myself and said ” Yep… that’s it. I’m an Artist” In school growing up, I think I drew more flowers on my math homework than I did numbers. My parents were incredible and really tried to help me develop my skills as an artist from an early age. They would encourage me with new art supplies for Christmas, take me to art exhibits, and even signed me up for art lessons when I was old enough.

• Le Fae is about all things magical fairy! Tell us about why you applied to the show and what inspired the work you made for the curated collection?

My fascination with magical and mystical worlds is crazy. I love me a good fairytale!! I haven’t had an opportunity to really dive into a piece that portrays fairies (outside Tinkerbell of course lol ) and popped in my application thinking, this would be fun! I’ve been trying to work on more character designs lately, so I made an effort to really dig into that style for this show. I wanted to create my own Fae character from scratch and see what happened.

• Where did you hear about Bubble Pop Gallery and what made you want to be in the show?

Well, I’ve been following along with Bubble Pop’s adventures since day one! I’ve been a part of a couple other shows and really wanted to join in the fun once more.

• Have you ever done a gallery show before? If yes, how many?

I’ve done a few gallery shows outside of school with a couple different galleries and I have been extremely lucky to have my work shown regularly inside the Disneyana Gallery on Main Street USA, Disneyland for the last few years.

• What is your favorite thing about being a creative?

My favorite thing about being creative is being able to tell stories with pictures. It’s how I think, actually! I see something and it can spark an entire story line in seconds! The hardest part is getting that down on the paper instead of rolling around inside my brain.My favorite thing would have to be making something out of nothing. Creating something that was just an idea in your head and putting it on paper or any medium is a great feeling.

• What inspires you?

SO many things typically inspire me. In reality, inspiration is everywhere! Sometimes when we’re walking outside something will spark. Sometimes it’s scrolling through instagram and seeing a new piece from a friend. Sometimes it’s as simple as seeing a new color that is gorgeous and now you want to do a new piece with a limited color palette! I find that if I surround myself with creative things, (people, books, artwork, etc) my creativity bank stays full.

• How does art make the world a better place?

Art takes us outside of our normal world. It brings us new colors. New places. New ideas. It makes us think a little bit more outside of our box. It also helps us express ourselves. Sometimes words just can’t compare to a beautiful piece of art.

• Where are you located?

I hail from the land of the sun! Southern California has been really the only place I’ve felt “home.”

• What projects are you working on that you can tell us about?

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time over the last year completely revamping my portfolio for the Children’s Market. It has always been a dream to illustrate kids books and I feel like I have made HUGE strides. I have a few manuscripts that I’m currently working on refining, but because of the potential of shopping it to publishers I’m not able to share a whole lot. However…. I’m also working on another big kid lit based, personal project that is 100% sharable! I’m hoping to get some concepts down in the next couple weeks and begin the process. I’d love for you all to follow along!

• Where can people find you?

I’m all over social media! I have a website you can visit: www.anniemcbethillustration.com and I’m mostly active on my instagram: @anniemcbeth

• Anything else you would like to share?

I get asked a lot about my name on social media – “AnnieMcbeth” McBeth is not my last name, but “Beth” IS my middle name. So here’s the story…. when I was little my most favorite place to go was McDonalds. It was probably a combination of not getting to eat there often, the lure of the giant kids playground, maybe a little bit of the times my grandpa would walk us down there when we stayed over, the happy meal toys, who knows… but for whatever reason, McDonalds was like the ULTIMATE! (which is so funny now because I don’t ever eat there anymore) Anyway, my dad started calling me “McBeth” and it just sorta stuck. He still calls me that. It seemed appropriate, and unique, for a bit of a brand name when I really started pushing my work.

LIVE ART

There will be no live art today. We are sorry for the inconvenience. There will be a live on Wednesday with Guilli Munster! Join us at Bubble Pop Gallery on Instagram while he will make art and answer some Q&A live on Instagram!

Le Fae Virtual Art Show

Isle of Magic Marketplace Partner