After doing a little trend research today I was excited to discover that dark, mysterious, and occult inspired imagery were going to be front and center for Fall and Winter. I personally find a lot of inspiration for my art … Continue reading
I thought I would share some of the jewelry I create. Everything is done by hand; from melting sterling silver down and pouring an ingot, to hand-rolling out sterling sheet, to setting stones. This collection is Black Gypsy Death Love … Continue reading
I was recently asked to create a print for a fabric inlay on a custom surfboard. I wanted to show the process I went through from the initial drawing to the finished product above.
For the most part, I like to draw everything by hand. Mainly because I just enjoy the act of doing so, and I feel like I have more control over what I’m doing. I really love line work and so I like to play with line quality and having a clean design.
Once I have completed my sketch, I scan it in to the computer and then bring it into Illustrator. Using the pen tool I trace every element, having a Wacom Tablet makes this SO much easier. I always read about people using the Live Trace feature, but I can never get it to give me the results I want. I’ve tried every setting and I still never get what I’m after…so I just take the time and do it all manually. This ensures the look I want and I can change any element at any time. Below is my first pass in Illustrator after using a combination of the pen and the brush tools. (Sorry for the bad quality here, it was taken with my phone from the computer screen…never a good combination).
The next stage is coloring in the sketch in Illustrator. This is the fun part and I like to play with several colors before choosing the final one.
The final stage is designing a print and putting it into repeat. For the design I chose a 1/4 drop repeat. I decided to ditch the coral and use seaweed instead. I liked how the seaweed kept the flow of the octopus and wasn’t as overpowering as the coral. I also put a swatch of watercolor that I had previously painted and dropped that in as a background to give some texture.
The board that I made this for is about 3 months out, so hopefully when it’s all done I can get a picture and share it!
I had some time to play around with my jellyfish that I started on last night and this is what I ended up with…I may still mess around with the amount of bubbles and the placement, but this is the … Continue reading
I have always had a huge love and appreciation of the Art Nouveau Movement and Alfonse Mucha. It also seems that lately I’ve been doing a lot of ocean inspired designs, like the jellyfish above. I attribute this to the fact that I work for a swimwear company, I just finished working on some t-shirt designs for a local surf shop, and I’ve been going to the beach the past few days (hey, it’s summer right?!)
I drew these guys a few days ago and tonight I brought them into Illustrator to make into vectors and start playing around with. I started designing a print with them, but it got a little too busy and after staring at the computer screen all day I thought I would come back to it with fresh eyes. So hopefully tomorrow I’ll have time to work something out and post it.
Here is a pattern that I made today after being inspired by some art nouveau borders I had seen.
Hello! My name is Sarah and I like to create beautiful things. I am an illustrator, graphic designer, and metalsmith. My goal is to use this blog as a place to share the many different things I create, my inspiration, and my projects.
Pigment + Pixels 