Monday, March 29, 2010

Painting with walnut ink


The other day I felt like trying something new with my sketching so instead of using a pen to draw I grabbed a bunch of brushes and some walnut ink. I like the way it layers like watercolor and the sepia tone is really nice. But what to draw? I remembered a yummy looking recipe I saw in my new issue of Sunset Magazine and thought that would be fun to try. I liked how the buns were all lined up in the pan with their little icing Xs on top—it made me think of a game of tic-tac-toe. Plus I could use write out some of the ingredients, that would be fun.

After I painted all of the pieces, I scanned them into Photoshop where I rearrange everything and added the color and fabric. I like the combination of the sepia walnut ink and the orange—I thought about adding more, but liked the simplicity of just using two colors.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Corbis Stock Illustrations


Corbis recently added some more of my illustrations to their Cherry collection. So if you're looking for the perfect petri dish, ice skates or gardening girl check out my selection which are available for purchase. Don't see what you're looking for? Then contact me about creating custom illustrations for you! :)

Monday, March 08, 2010

Spring Has Sprung


It's a little more than a week away until it's officially spring, but here in Seattle we've had record setting warm weather lately. Daffodils, crocus and cherry blossoms have been making an appearance for a couple of weeks already. So I'm going to pretend that it wasn't snowing today (what the heck?) and forge ahead with the belief that my veggie garden will soon be underway.

For this illustration, I sketched the lettering and a few elements, scanned them and then started refining it in the computer where I could play with color. Looking back at a previous spring illustration, it's funny to see some of the same elements pop up—gradation, bird, flowers—but I can see how my illustration style is evolving into a less fussy, more playful style. I hope you like it!
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