New Fabric Illustrations

These are some newer pieces I’ve been working on, in an attempt to use up fabric scraps from past sewing projects, as well as use typography and embroidery. They’ve been posted on my Illustration and Graphic Design pages, but I thought I’d showcase them in a post.

Subject matter was inspired by, respectively: Laura Marling, my favorite musician; feminism; a self portrait; and Ygritte and Brienne from the A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones series. I’d like to do a set of Game of Thrones ladies in this medium. Arya is next, but I’m planning out Sansa and Daenerys for the future.

Christmas Projects

I’m proud to say I made most of my Christmas gifts myself this year. I recently started working part time at a fabric and craft store to fill the hours between freelance projects, and being around all the craft supplies has inspired me for more project ideas. I’ll describe what I made and have a gallery of images below.

First off, I designed the family Christmas card again this year, using pictures from my brother’s wedding (see this post).

For Mom, I finished and printed a doodle comic I made earlier this year about when her cat got out and as lost for a couple days. This cat has an anxiety disorder (no, I’m not joking), and we were worried about her. Here’s the PDF for you to read: AnxietyCat. I might write more of these. I don’t know if other people will find them funny if they don’t know my cats, but my family thinks they’re hilarious.

Dad was the only person I didn’t make anything for, but I got him a shirt from Great Lakes Brewing Company because craft beer is the only beer anyone should ever drink. Ever.

For my brother, his wife, my sister, and my boyfriend, I made flannel pajama pants. I picked a different print for each of them according to their interests (at work I always see fabric and think That one is perfect for so-and-so!). My sister also got a neck support pillow covered in fabric, since she’s been going on a lot of bus trips with her band and choir groups. I also did a painting for my boyfriend of a Markhor wearing a top hot and a monocle (it makes him fancy).

Lastly, I made a pillow for my boyfriend’s parents with a cute wine print fabric, since they’re wine lovers. I haven’t given it to them yet, so if they happen to see this post… uh, SURPRISE!

I also made a pair of pajama pants for myself from Brave and My Little Pony licensed fleece. No one will ever have cooler pajama pants.

Happy New Year!

Buy my art online

Recently I started a Society 6 account and have made several of my pieces available as prints, as well as t-shirts and other awesome stuff. Shop here!

Also, I finally made my thesis book, Grave or Strange or Beautiful Things, available to buy through Blurb. Buy here!

Great last minute Holiday gifts! Wink, wink.

Available on the Society 6 page is my newest piece, an Art Nouveau – style fanart of Princess Merida from Brave. I leave you with that as I return to making Christmas gifts for people!

PS: Stephen and I also started an animal sketch blog on Tumblr. We (try to) post a black and white sketch of an interesting animal every weekday, and a colored drawing every weekend.

Halloween

While most of my work is drawing and 2-D design, I do occasionally like to sew and experiment with crafts. Also, Halloween is my favorite holiday, so I usually try to make my costume if I have time. This year I wanted to go all out and make a real project out of it. I really enjoyed Pixar’s movie this summer, Brave. Mostly because the main character was a princess, but a strong and independent one. And she looked like me.

Duh, she’s awesome.

So, while I’ve sewn before (I went through the anime nerd, convention-goer, cosplaying phase in high school, so I’ve done some simple costumes), I’ve never really made a real dress. So I decided to try working with a pattern and modifying it.

When I told my boyfriend I was going as Merida, I joked that he could go as a bear or something. He said, “What if instead of just a bear, I go as Mor’Du?” (The antagonist bear from the movie) He made a mask and ears and modified a hoodie and it turned out really cool.

We tried to get some kind of party together for Halloween to show them off, but because of Hurricane Sandy, we couldn’t get organized. But we had a good time watching movies with a few friends, eating candy, and taking silly pictures with my webcam.

So here are some progress shots and the two of us in costume:

We’re so proud of our work that we want to find a convention or some other event so we can wear them and show them off. Hopefully we can also get some higher quality photos taken. I’ll be sure to share them if it happens.

Designs for Kings Music Association’s Invitational 2012

As an alumni of Kings High School, and especially their marching band, I do pro bono design work for the Kings Music Association when they host band contests. The Invitational was this past weekend, and I did the designs of the t-shirts and program. At first I was only going to do the program, so I made the design for the cover first (the inside is just copy and sponsor ads).

Then I learned they were doing t-shirts. The firework graphic on the t-shirt is older; I made it a couple years ago, the first year they had me design for them. They like it a lot, and have used it since. Kings Island amusement park is nearly next door to the high school, and their nightly fireworks happen to coincide with the end of the contest. The original design had some ugly type, though, from before I had done enough work with type. So I used the faces from the program cover to update it, and I like it much better now.

In Which I am Best Lady and Invitation Designer for my Brother

My brother’s wedding finally came to pass last weekend. I’ve been working on his invitations and other mailing materials for a while, so I thought now would be a good time to post them – and some pictures!

The bride and groom wanted a white background with lettering in their color scheme – Royal Blue and Apple Red. The music notes are from their favorite song, “She’s Got a Way” by Billy Joel. They’re both musically-inclined people, as well.

Also, I was Best Lady, instead of Best Man, for my brother, and the bride’s brother was Dude of Honor, instead of Maid of Honor, which was all very cool.

Sketches from the Road Trip

I told you I did sketches of stuff I saw on the trip! They’re mostly from the taxidermy animals and other museum things, and hopefully having all those reference photos will be useful for future projects that become final pieces.

I’ve also been working on stuff for my brother’s wedding – designing the multiple invitations and other printed materials. I’ll post those soon.