Ennui

I call this one "Ennui." I was just doodling, trying to get an idea out of my head that has been in there for about a year now (no success) and this came out. I was about to go ahead and scan/digitally color, but all of a sudden got seized by the desire to break out my magic markers for old time's sake. The not-so-new challenge was fun: having to pick just the right color and stay with it whether it ends up looking good or not, no erasing, and of course the horrendous texture you get when strokes overlap. Magic markers are the bane of any art school teacher's existence for just this reason, but I like to think of the overlapping ink quirk as adding texture. You can really feel the artist's presence in this picture, ha.

I am listening (and have been listening to) this horrible online radio station to get my insatiable Christmas carol fix. It really is god-awful though. I long for my mom's Time-Life Christmas Classics and the Muppet Christmas Carol and Raffi. Here I am subjected to just the worst butcherings of Christmas classics, complete with cheesy electric piano a la some unwatchable Nick Jr. show, as well as over-the-top religious anthems that belong in a soundtrack to some sort of horrible Judd Apatow holiday production. My other favorite is when the carols start as this quiet, pretty song and then segue into a horrible 80s rock version, like "just kidding! We're not really that lame, we're just not over the synthesizers of two decades ago yet!"

Anyway, enough of my unrelated ranting.

Season's Greetings!

Here is a holiday card I designed for Richmond-based business Khem Precision Machinery. They will be distributing it to their clients. (The fine folks at KPM are being kind enough to let me include my website address on the background for my own promotional purposes, and for this I am eternally grateful). For the first time, I am using overnightprints.com, which some friends in the field recommended for their speediness and decent quality output. I am just nervous because I cannot get a proof of this; they are just printing 40 cards straight up. But from all the online views it looks good, layout-wise. I lost some color when I converted it to CMYK--the blue sky was a bit brighter. I probably should have worked in that format from the beginning. Well, now I know for next time.

Still Keepin' Busy

So I don't really have anything visual to put up here. I have a lot going on right now though. I successfully campaigned Carytown the other day, everyone I visited was very friendly and many were interested. Also I have been working on some ideas for a 2-panel mural at Sin'e Irish Pub in Shockhoe Slip. They are looking for something Irish-themed. As they have many other beautiful murals and art throughout their pub, I am honored they have chosen me to contribute.

Also in the works are several Christmas presents I am making for friends and family. Which unfortunately means I cannot post images on here yet, just in case there are some snoops.

Maybe later I'll post my thumbnails for the Sin'e project. Who knows. As a general rule my thumbnails aren't very pretty to look at (I like to think the finished art is!), so I'm reluctant.

Thank You Note!

Here is a thank you note I made for my boyfriend's sister (who brought me back some lovely anklets from India). This note is done with watercolor and blue Micron pen. I'm not too excited about how the scan turned out...tried to make it a little better in PS. Watercolor is hard to scan.

SFi Blitz!

Hey kids! Right now I am undergoing a little ad campaign. Starting tomorrow, be on the lookout for this flier, which I spent entirely too much time on. I shall be journeying all around Richmond; not a telephone pole or community bulletin board will be left unadorned. I'm hoping these suckers will help me get the word out about all the great things I can do for you or your business or your friend or your cat.....



UPDATE: ugh, rain. maybe tomorrow.

My Two Cents.

Vote for Obama!


...ok, there I got it out of my system.

More info: this is based on some Byzantine-era stuffs. I've always had a fondness for the cheerfully imperfect religious depictions. Here is my specific inspiration. This piece was done digitally since I finally got a new Wacom pen !! (lost my other one)

Color Experimentation.

I am looking to make more experimental, sophisticated and cohesive color palettes in my upcoming work. Here is a start!

Cape Cod Drawings

Went up to Cape Cod, Massachusetts last week (had to spell-check Massachusetts 3x there...) and did a little sketchin'. Sat at the "bar" in the sushi restaurant for the first time and couldn't resist sketching our amiable chef as he chopped up some yummy smoked salmon. Then I drew the Boy reading in the library of the very beautiful, old house we were staying in. Made his head way too big but I think it gives the sketch character, no? Also couldn't resist changing his PC to a Mac...

Squawk.

Here is the finished version of the icon, unless they need changes made.

Falconry

Hello!
I know I haven't written in a while. Here's something I'm working on for SevOne, another tech company. The project is an icon for their website, for a program called FlowFalcon. These are color swatch options. The actual image will be no more than 116x116 pix so this is a challenge for me: it must be able to be read clearly at that small size. Hopefully this will be completed by the end of the week.

I Like Computers!

Here they are! These are fliers advertising the services of a brand-new local Richmond business, R.I.C. Computing. They specialize in custom-made yet more affordable PCs. I am hoping to do even more for this client as they seemed quite happy with the results. These will be posted around town to attract students and other small businesses.

Workwork

Alright, website kinda fixed but still needs some more changes. Everything seems to be working though.

You might be wondering what I've been up to lately since there hasn't been any art on here in a few days. The answer is, I actually have a little commissioned project for a new client. I would love to post some of it on here, however at the time the whole operation is on the DL because the business is still starting. Once my work is handed over and the business is up and running (within the next week), I can hopefully obtain permission to post what I've done for you to see!

So I have been trying to learn to update my website myself, which is always a good thing. Problem is, whenever I finally seem to do something right, I end up messing up 20 other, seemingly unrelated things in the process. So bear with me as I try to work out the kinks, and look forward to some new pieces in the very near future.

MoonFace Monster!

AAAHHH!! He looks mad, huh? Or at least kinda unpleasantly startled. Like, "What are you doing here? This is MY carnivorous plant forest-sky." I think I decided to make this dark and weird because I was watching that new show, Fringe, and it's all dark and weird. But it doesn't have monsters and flesh-eating plants so much as people's skin melting off on airplanes.

Colors Here...

Sketcherific.

Here are some sketches I've made lately. My photo documentation of these is horrific. Bear with me as I don't have a scanner that works with my Mac properly.

Finished?

Well, I did it! It took forever because I ended up not leaving room for the text in the hand-drawn part of the drawing, but with the help of Photoshop and inDesign, I think it doesn't look too bad! It shall go in the portfolio.

sunday sketching

I call this one Self-portrait on couch.

Paper!

So here is a materials study. I am experimenting with printed paper for this one. I am getting tired of my solid backgrounds and I think a subtle printed texture underneath it all lends more visual interest and perhaps even elegance to an otherwise simple, flat cartoon drawing. I bought pretty floral art paper at Main Art (got a free shirt! I think they missed me!) and adheeezed it to some scrap illustration board. Then I coated the entire deal with some acrylic paint to make it become more of a background. The drawing on top is pastel and ink. I kinda like it, I think it works! Sweet.

Kabuki!

I'm back. I know, it's been so long.
Here's what I'm doing today. It's a portfolio piece entitled Kabuki Alice in Wonderland. I have had this idea in my head since June 2007 but had trouble getting it out. Decided it's finally time to bite the bullet and make it. Can always do it again if i don't like it! That's the beauty of personal projects!

For those who don't know, or want to find out again, kabuki is a form of Japanese theater where the players wear white makeup in exaggerated expressions. It was popular starting in the 1600s with all female actresses, but after they began being more appreciated for their...carnal talents rather than their acting, it turned to being just male actors. I wanted to combine the idea of Japanese theater with the traditional tea ceremony, linking that to the tea party that is such a well-known scene from Caroll's book/movies.

Anyway, since it took me so long to get even an inkling of this thing on paper (although an earlier sketch from last year can be found here so I guess that's a lie) I'm finally giving myself a deadline: Kabuki Alice, finished competely by the end of next week.

Who thinks I can do it? Hands? I guess you'll have to stay tuned to find out.

Latest Stuff!

Well, I have decided to finally jump on the blog bandwagon. But just because I wasn't blogging doesn't mean I haven't been creating!

Things here at Stevie French illustration have been moving along. I am still regularly updating my website, www.steviefrench.com . I spent the summer locating potential clients and sending out promotional materials. That has been going quite well and I have recieved several positive responses.

In other news, I have been sending out query letters in regards to my newest (and most complete) children's book, Lizzie and the Fox. It is a true story about my grandmother, who as a child kept a pet fox which sat on her head. I'll post some sample pages of that story later.

To the right I have included links to some of my very talented peers' and former professors' blogs as I hope to keep in touch with them (hope that's ok!)