Daffodils

Spring came really early this year, which means one of my favorite flowers bloomed extra early. I love when the whole city and roadsides are covered in these beautiful yellow blooms. And of course I love drawing ladies holding flowers, so I got to doodle two of my favorite things!

I've also realized that I really need to work on diversity in my portfolio. (Among other things) Too many skinny whiteys around here. A sort of mid-year resolution, I suppose!

Killer Queen

This was for the March mixtape over at Ten Paces. The song was "Killer Queen" by Queen. I like the song a lot, but I felt like just doing an illustration based on the lyrics was too obvious. Right away I sort of got it in my head thinking about Henry VIII and all the other Tudors. (ps, I don't watch that show, I just used to really be into the history of the family as a kid..) So, I went with the title of the song, and did a portrait of Mary Tudor. I'm really happy with the colors on this one, and I think its a neat little portrait.

Two Overheards

A couple Overheards I did for Benn at Atomic a while back. These tend to rarely make sense, but I did get a laugh out of the airport one. I like playing with color palettes on these. Trying to keep them simple and quick but still visually interesting.

 

I can picture these two in a bathroom in Canton somewhere.

This girl probably wears Uggs and leggings exclusively.

I did this border for some menu cards for a Valentine's Day dinner back in February. Super simple, but always fun to break out the art nouveau vines.

Growth/Decay

I was asked to do a piece for the magazine Domestic Etch recently. Its a biannually published art mag type dealie. The only guideline for the image was the theme of Growth and Decay. I instantly was drawn to the thought of a bouquet of flowers, and started thinking about Flemish flower still lives. The ones where there are gorgeous blooms at the top of the boquet, and dying/decaying leaves and petals at the bottom.

I also wanted to do something that wasn't figurative, since I don't think I really have ANYTHING that isn't figure-central. I like the mystery that surrounds this image.. I know its not readily apparent, but all the flowers in that vase are poisonous in one way or another. Fun fun!


It took a little while of me putzing around with the color, too. I was having a hard time nailing down exactly what I wanted to do with it. I feel like each of the variations I had whittled it down to gave the image a totally different feeling. Funny how color can work like that.

Girl Crushes!

I just finished up a half page illustration for Chun Kim over at Girl's Life Magazine. It was for a cute article all about girl-crushes. (Girl crushes are sort of like bromance, except its all about being totally into another girl for her killer style/personality/ whatever) I sent over a couple different sketches trying to focus on the one girl really standing out among a crowd, or trying to convey the sense of attachment from the other girl. The locker sketch was just another one I did, trying to think of a different direction to take the image in, but ended up not sending it because I didn't think that it really conveyed anything about the article.
The only art direction after the sketch was picked was to make the girl behind the locker a little more feminine. I changed her wardrobe and added a few accessories, and voila! I like the way the final came out, and it felt good to have a decent amount of time to spend on an illustration, rather than some of the quick turnaround jobs I've been getting.

The Great Baltimore Burn!

I just did this poster for an even sponsored by the Baltimore Rowing Club. They wanted something that referenced the Great Baltimore Fire, and erging/ rowing. I was thinking about vintage sport posters while doing this, and I think the end result comes across pretty well.