What I've been up to.

Hello, boys and girls! I've been a busy bee this past month, working on four very big, relatively detailed illustrations for a client as well as drawing a lot of new designs for The Stamping Bazaar's first Christmas release. So many "firsts" for TSB this year, huh? And of course, we're having a Blog-Hop and it's going to be even more epic than our Halloween one!

But I digress. My main reason for this post is to show off those four illustrations. They were great fun to work on for the most part, and the most color work I've done for a client in a long time; the first color work I do for a client on the Cintiq 12WX, and the best digital color work I've ever done for a client period (though I have done colored illustrations for myself that look better to me than these, but only because my favored style didn't match the one the client requested for these illustrations.)

This client intends to use the illustrations on desk mats for schoolchildren. I've been told I will receive samples of each desk mat when they are manufactured in a few month's time and I am REALLY excited about that!

This one, of a little bear teacher, was the easiest one, and the first one I completed:

The one below took over a week of sketches, some research for reference, and a full day plus all-nighter to color (I went to bed at 6:30am that day.) It is my favorite of the four and was the most fun to do:

This next one is my least favorite because it doesn't have animals, except for the dog, and there are just too many "hard" lines for my liking. Still, the client was happy and people I've shown it to liked it as well. But it is my aim to better my drawing of buildings and people in 2011:

Now this last one was the most work of all, for some reason. Coloring it was HELL. I don't mean it wasn't fun, it just took SO long and was SO exhausting:

And now, here is a little something that you may just find interesting if you've ever wondered about how this is all done:

And finally, a little of the coloring process, this time of the Fairy Concert illustration:

I am laying down all the flat or "base" colors here. This is the most time consuming part of the process.

After a full day and a half's worth of work, all the base colors have been added. It's beginning to look alright, but still looks pretty flat:

Below is the finished illustration with all the lights, shadows and added textures and little details:

I've been wanting to share this with you for some time, so I hope you enjoyed it and look forward to reading your comments. =)

This weekend I am going to a "Tree Trimming Party" at the house of a friend in West Palm Beach. I am excited about relaxing a little, as I should be able to do since I am spending the weekend there. I am of course taking my beloved MacBook Pro with me to send any digi orders that may come in while I'm there, but most of all to work on my manuscript. I've been writing quite a bit lately and making steady progress on the rewrite of my book's first draft! =D

Have a great weekend, everyone!

-Marina