Flashback: Pencil Vs. Pencil

So I was browsing through my "Flashback" files tonight and this one struck me in particular. I have shared it here before but now I have an updated version of lively office supplies to compare it to.

I present "Pencil Power" vs. "Pencil Buddies"!

I designed the flashback set of characters for the cover our elementary school creative magazine, "Pencil Power". In 5th grade I was quite the budding illustrator.

The Pencil Buddies clip art set is available for FREE for a limited time in my Teachers Pay Teachers and Educents shops.

Baby Carriage Thank You

Who doesn't like cute babies waving? Seriously. My cousin is having her first baby so of course I jumped at the chance to create a custom thank you card for her baby shower.

I tied the card to the shower's theme of "Cute as a Button" with the button wheels and handle-end.

My cousin loves her purple and pink and has a serious thing for Minnie Mouse so I made sure to include her favorites.

I'm thinking that if I switch Minnie to a teddy bear or bunny and get rid of the "C" this can be a great printable piece. I can shift the colors so it can be for a boy or gender neutral. Sweet! I'll just add that to my long list of good ideas.

Turning My Daughter into a Monster

NOTE: I wrote this post last year but somehow never published it. This little monster is one of my favorites.

How could I resist making my daughter her own monster for her birthday?  Introducing "Charlie Monster".  I couldn't just settle for some pre-made Monsters Inc. invites, oh no (thought I did pick up some adorable plates and napkins to subtlly tie in the Pixar theme).  Charlie was dead set on having a green monster party because she loves Mike Wazowski.  Who doesn't?  So I made her this.  I'm planning on printing it out and framing it for her bedroom since her brother has his superhero icon from his birthday this summer.

I'm also making her a tutu with supplies from Bailey's Blossoms.  Erin's got a wide selection of colors and amazing prices.  I picked a selection of lime green, teal, purple, and magenta, though she has great DIY packages with everything you need to make your own tutu.  And the shipping was ridiculously fast.  Erin has a great tutorial on how to make a no-sew tutu if you're even remotely intimidated.

UPDATE: The Tutu came out adorable. It has since been loved.... a lot. I'd be happy to show you how it turned out but it's sort of a knotted mess of little girl dance moves and strawberry yogurt.

Revisiting old illustrations

I was reorganizing some old posts last night and came across a couple illustrations that were posted over at Smells Like Crayons but may not have been seen by visitors here.  These are done in a sort of dry brush or crayon colored style.  Since doing these pieces I have gotten more into a watercolor look that I have a lot of fun doing, but I still love these guys.  I know I had fun doing them, too.

Kids at the Ball

Why hello there!  Long time no chat.  I've been busy with client projects and summer activities.  Here's a client piece that I didn't get to post earlier in the summer.

Shadowbox Nursery Art: Lucy in the Sky

To honor the arrival of a friend's new baby girl, Lucy, I created this piece.  After briefly considering the following bits I knew exactly what I wanted to create: 1) Lucy's nursery is decorated in a woodland theme, 2) Lucy's mom, Erica, is a MAJOR Beatles fan, 3) Erica was one of my college roommates and fellow art student, so I know her pretty darn well.  It took me all of 3.5 seconds to come up with the concept but way too long to create it.  It got to Erica's house on Monday, Lucy was born on Wednesday.  Phwew!  Yet another close call by Sarah.

So, here's the original illustration.  I drew the linework in pencil, scanned it and painted it in Photoshop.  

And this here is the final shadowbox illustration.  It is created in four layers, each one printed on heavy stock and supported in hidden areas with bits foam core.  Oh wait, I mean suspended by magic!

I've created several other shadowbox pieces: Audrey's Shadowbox Name Art, a Valentine's Day Gift, and turned this Donut illustration into a shadowbox by floating each donut above the background YUMs.  I don't have a final picture of this one, but trust me, it came out super cute.  I even disassembled my silk wedding bouquet and arranged it into an open shadowbox.

I'm working on learning to photograph the shadowboxes.  It would have been better to photograph it before the final instal with the glass.  Do you have any suggestions for photographing items behind glass?

I spent a good hour of this project developing a new pencil brush.  I swear I've got like fifteen of them on my brush palette, each one a little better than the last.  Do you ever do that?  Get swept up in a tiny detail and before you know it you've lost a chunk of time that may have otherwise been productive?  Seriously, who's going to tell that this new brush looks a tiny bit more realistic than the last?  Me.  That's about it.  But it's ok, this detail makes me smile, even if it's only noticeable at 200% zoom.

Donuts, Yum Yum!

Who doesn't love a good donut?  Every once in a while I indulge in a good ole Boston Cream or my seasonal favorite, an apple cider donut.  When I worked at the theater the other donut eaters would lecture me on donut etiquette when I only ate half at a time.  Sometimes I rationalize that if I only eat half at a time then its only half of the calories.  This piece is an ode to that delicious half dozen.  Special care was made to include a birthday girl's favorite pink frosted number as this piece was made in her honor.

...ROAR!

I'm playing with a digital watercolor technique I learned from Zoe Piel (HIGHLY recommended).  I had all but given up on finding a good use for the smudge tool in Photoshop.  This guy is part of a series I'm working on featuring dinosaurs driving trucks.  Seriously, how can I go wrong?!

(Font: KB Simple Brush found HERE, by Kal Barteski)

Another project complete

Here's a montage of a few illustrations completed to accompany the book I illustrated earlier in the year, For the Love of Emrys by Barbara Ann Simone.  These are part of the history of the dragonfly character, Mystie, which will be available for download on the site Magical Planet.

Happy Holidays!

I finally finished my Sugar Plum Fairy and Toy Soldiers.  You can see the initial sketch HERE.  I started reworking this piece with a slightly different style than I have been working in.  I think my style has developed into this nicely.  I'm digging it, are you?

Happy Holidays, and remember: a kiss under the mistletoe can be mighty magical!

The bird has landed...

I finally finished my skydiving penguin!  I posted his sketch a week or so ago here.  Follow along to Smells Like Crayons to see the final results!

Halloween in August?

I had the opportunity to work on some Halloween designs at my in-house job, which was a nice change from our nearly all-year-round Christmas bags and boxes.  Hopefully they'll be selling in stores Halloween 2011.

These are designed to be tip-on icons on solid colored bags.  Below are the same icons printed directly on the bag, with a shot of the gusset image.

**ALL ART ABOVE IS COPYRIGHT BARRINGTON STUDIOS, LTD.  IT IS NOT TO BE USED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT THE WRITTEN CONSENT OF BARRINGTON STUDIOS, LTD.**

I created this art as line art in Illustrator and colored it in Photoshop.  I totally could have done it all in Illustrator, but there's something about Photoshop that I can't resist.

Black and White piece

One of the areas I've been wanting to fill in my portfolio has been Black and Whites.  I had the opportunity to illustrate a story by Mary LaFleur Langdon for Topsy Turvy Tales.  Meet Penelope Popples, kid detective, tomboy, and lover of pink.

New Illustrations: Topsy Turvy Tales

I finished my illustrations for the August issue of "Topsy Turvy Tales", written by Mary LaFleur Langdon.  Here are two for "Sadie & Rosebud".

Here are the two final illustrations for "The Girl, the Moose and the Flea", also by Mary LaFleur Langdon.

I took a chance and tried a new painting style.  I'm really enjoying it and am looking forward to experimenting and developing it more.