I have two fun illustrative styles that are sure to delight, of course, this book is chock-full of them. Both are digital but each travels different path to travel, depending on the result I'm looking for.
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Hand drawn - I draw with pencil and paper, trace over it with an art pen, or Indian ink, then scan the image/s into Adobe Illustrator which makes them into vectors. I like the relaxed organic line results it gives, like cartoon images. The other is...
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Vector drawn - I create and build images using shapes right on the screen of my laptop. Vectors have a lovely clean digital line which I also equally love.
I alternate between the both, depending if its a personal project, working with a client’s personality, or the ease of simply getting the job done.
Below, I’ve used both styles as a show n tell. You’ll be able to decide which one is more, you. They are both frivolous, sassy, and fun that should leave a smile on your dial, most of all, they’ll give you more of an idea of my illustrative creative process - enjoy...
The Project: Personal
Theme: Penguins + Print Products
I start off by scribbling copious amounts of penguins to get a feel of them, Google spews up a great amount of photos to reference and I’d doodle several pages of these.
I start by drawing them more correctly, this helps me to loosen up untill I start seeing their overall shapes and curves. Wanting focus on this, I can begin to simplify them. This is an enjoyable part, as it’s like finding their little personalities, which is what I’m after.
I start wondering about the kind of clothing my penguins might wear and then that flows into what they may look like as Christmas themed ornaments.
Pencil is great, but Indian Ink is FUN as it allows you to make mistakes which turn into happy surprises. I enjoy giving myself permission to let mistakes happen - they make for the best artwork.
All the playing has been helpful, as I now have the idea of the how I want the little guys to look. I decided to dress them up, I like the quirky characters they’ve become.
It’s time to choose the shapes I liked most and draw them with more detail, giving each something to wear.
I referenced ‘kids wearing winter woolies’ on Google. That helped me see how kids are wearing their coats and scarfs, then embellished them for the ‘cuteness’ factor.
I’m loving the hand-drawn look above and immediately visualise the different ways on how I could use them.
I also love, love, LOVE these vector cutie-pies, they give off different vibes and I think they’d make a great pattern.
Redrawing them using my two styles was next, which did I like the most? Easy. BOTH!
At the time of drawing these littl’ fellas, I was thining about designing a Christmas card for the northern hemisphere. TA-DA!...
The hand-drawn penguins made their home in my digital toolbox of Plum Silly things to colour. I regularly include them in printables and notebooks to enjoy colouring, or as embellishments.
The vector penguins made their way into a pattern which I make into covers for notebooks and journals. They’re totally gorgeous, and also easy to change their colouring to suit whoever likes to customise these for their project.
to get a better idea of how you could work with me.
Feel inspired by my process?
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