Lore, a winterbaby

2 weeks earlier than expected, Lore was born on the 26th of december.
So I can now post the final design that I made for her birthannouncementcard.

What a coincidence it's very fitting for this weeks "Winter" theme on illustrationFriday.com

Kobe, now a Big Brother, is announcing his baby-sister

On a more technical note: this is the first time I really got my hands on the new width-tool for lines in Illustrator CS5. I like the way you can now play with line thickness!

And the original sketch:

Winter

We wish you a playful new year!

Illustration Business tips

Holli Conger  is a digital and dimensional illustrator who illustrates in a whimsical style suitable for any application of illustration. From magazine, greeting cards and advertising, to CD covers, packaging and children’s books, Holli approaches each project with whimsy and creativity guaranteed to put a smile on any child’s (and parent’s) face. (text taken from Holli's website)

I adore her style and the fact she is very liberal with advise on how to get started (or improve) in the illustration business.

This month she is posting illustration business tips on her blog. Every day of december there is a new article containing a wealth of information!

So far, topics have been:

• how to find clients 

       (http://agirlwhocreates.com/2010/12/1-how-do-i-find-clients.html)

• how to balance family and career 

       (http://agirlwhocreates.com/2010/12/2-balancing-career-family.html)

• finding your style 

       (http://agirlwhocreates.com/2010/12/3-find-your-style.html)

• the process start to finish on a job 

       (http://agirlwhocreates.com/2010/12/4-process-working-start-to-finish.html)

• taking on work for “exposure” or less pay 

        (http://agirlwhocreates.com/2010/12/5-paying-your-dues.html)

• going freelance  

        (http://agirlwhocreates.com/2010/12/6-going-out-on-your-own.html)

• setting up your studio 

         (http://agirlwhocreates.com/2010/12/7-setting-up-your-studio.html)

• promotion  

         (http://agirlwhocreates.com/2010/12/8-promotion.html)

• to get an agent or not 

         (http://agirlwhocreates.com/2010/12/9-to-get-an-agent-or-not.html)

• keeping your jobs organized 

         (http://agirlwhocreates.com/2010/12/10-keeping-your-jobs-organized.html)

• negotiating rates 

         (http://agirlwhocreates.com/2010/12/11-negotiating-rates.html)

• contracts 

          (http://agirlwhocreates.com/2010/12/12-contracts.html)

• easy color palettes 

          (http://agirlwhocreates.com/2010/12/13-easy-color-palettes.html)

• social media  

         (http://agirlwhocreates.com/2010/12/14-social-media.html)

• laying out and mailing a postcard 

          (http://agirlwhocreates.com/2010/12/15-laying-out-and-mailing-a-postcard.html)

• diversity 

           (http://agirlwhocreates.com/2010/12/16-diversity.html)

Topic for the next 2 days: tips on art licensing

Go take a look at her blog!

Holli is even giving away a 3 month illustration marketing consultation.

Which aspiring illustrator wouldn't be over the moon receiving one of those? I know I would be!

Baby announcement

N° 1: an Ice Princess

N° 2: big brother caught a Little Mermaid

Every now and then I illustrate birth announcements. Usually I make 2 proposals, based on themes or suggestions from the expecting parents. I sketch them out in Photoshop, like the ones above. Give the parents some time to choose and finalize one. This time, I made 3 sketches. All quite different from one another. The third is being finalized. I'll publish it after the baby is born, early january. But I might still finish the other illustrations, just for fun!

Transportation

A little girls favourite way of transportation...
The Ultimate Piggyback-ride: piggyback-riding with a piggy-backpack on your dad's back!
(a serious tongue-twister...)

Acrobat

A little late as it was last weeks Illustration Friday Challenge...

Ripple

Like it says... Dolphins in the Mexican-Gulf are looking for an asylum to survive the BP oil-leak disaster!

Trail

My take on "Trail" has to do with truffle hogs... (domestic pigs that are used for locating and extracting truffles from temperate forests in Europe and North Americ *dixit Wikipedia*)

I'm at the International Animationfilm-Festival in Annecy (France), with my husband. It's the third year in a row we made this our annual holiday. Having a blast but not much time to draw... And as always, I'm feeling a little intimidated by all the talented artists hanging around.

Since we're in France this week I thought I'd throw in a French pig-farmer. Please note: I have nothing against the French nor against pig-farmers! I just didn't feel like drawing a cute guy...

(I made the vector-illustration during the week, after posting the sketch)

Slither

Another entry for illustrationfriday.com. 

Medusa is an evil character from Greek mythology.
She is described in some ancient texts as originally a beautiful priestess in Athena's temple. Untill she enraged Athena, who transformed her beautiful hair into serpents and made her face so terrible that just looking at her would turn a human to stone.

My Medusa is still a beauty but she is bitter and angry. Because of the change, she can't live with humans anymore but must seek company with snakes.

I'll try to incorporate some male characters in future drawings! Otherwise it'll start to look like I can only draw women or girls... ;)

Equipment

One of the previous weeks the subject of Illustration Friday was "Equipment". Inspiration came on tuesday evening but I couldn't make time for a decent illustration untill the weekend.
So I went for the new challenge (early) first.

But here it is...

Early

The Early Bird catches the worm...
or was it the other way around?

Fearless

Well, here it finally is... my first entry at IllustrationFriday.com!

What to do about the monsters under your bed: