Juicy Succulent

This was another sketch that was created while working on the rebrand of Red Silk Essentials as a possible new logo idea. My inspiration came from my friend and silversmith, Bailey Schreiner Parker, she’s the Boho Luxe Bohemian behind Beaded Bohemian, who likes to cast lil succulents into her designs. Now, looking back, I’m itching to draw some more succulents and this time in color. I love their fractal, repetitive, spiraling design.

I wrote that back this Spring, when I thought I’d get some illustrations completed and posted up. I gotta confess, the drawing practice was set aside while camping this summer or knitting or reading or making dates with friends lately.

To make up for it, I’ll at least share where I left off. After finding many inspirational images online, I can probably doodle succulents for ages. This one’s complicated…

It’s starting out on paper but it will probably be scanned in and refined or archived. Compared to the sketch for RSE which was sketched on the tablet, the rainbow cornucopia’s being sketched from the tablet!

This one was inspired by the real life plant. I snapped a picture of it when I spotted it, leaving it where I found it; and decided to sketch it later while putting my own twist on the fairy slipper. While playing with the scan of the illustration, I decided to merge it with the real photograph. Still dreaming up the border.

Purify & Restore

This is a pair of illustrations that started as four separate colored pencil drawings, were scanned-in, finessed and assembled in Photoshop. The names come from the skin care line that I’ve worked on branding with Red Silk Essentials. The helpful images below, from the internet were my muses, thanks to google images and the photographers/websites, since I don’t have a real koi pond to sit beside and sketch all day. Did you know the Japanese word koi not only represents carp but love as well?

Wolf Rules

I’ve talked about starting a daily sketch practice for a long time. I’m still not in any way practicing regularly, but I have finally got a few together that I’d like to archive and share here.

Wolf rules was also the first drawing on my tablet with Adobe Sketch. I’m not sure that it’s finished. I kind of envisioned a border around it, dark silhouettes of wolves and trees and… The words belong to Clarissa Pinkola Estés from Women Who Run With the Wolves.

Guess who the model was? Not a wolf, BTW.

UPDATE: JULY 2020

The Art of Art

During my career, I’ve been the most successful in the area of digital graphic design, but lately, I’ve started to re-embrace more real world / physical art like my bottle cap art, drawing and crafting.

hummer

I’ve always pondered the spectrum and subjectivity of art: fine vs. folk vs. digital, etc. One of my favorite artists, George Rodrigue, mastered a wide range of those categories. I remember reading about his silkscreen work, and thinking how it must be okay to call computer art—ART, if George was. I was re-affirmed with this idea when I read an article about David Hockney using his i-devices en plein air, and as I’ve stumbled across more artists who use computer devices to create.

I have done a few illustrated meets digitized works (2005-2009):

2005_conf2 smallerflutefin dancers

My poster design for the local Habitat for Humanity Art Show was one of the better examples of that lately…

FINAL_habitat_poster

…until I had the chance to run with a fun idea for a Cruise-a-Thong poster to benefit the Friends of the Upper San Juan River.

final_low_res_cat_poster

Subalpine Design has contributed the web design and some technical support to this organization over the years, and it is one of my favorite local, summertime events.

I continue to explore the arts to fuel my creativity in a way that I think will show through and support my digital work and/or may lead me down a new path.

sketch_weaninwoods