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!)