Where were we?

So, last autumn in Pittsburgh, I applied for an opening with Big Burrito --a restaurant consortium (consortium? Is that what you call it? They own a number of different restaurants.) as a graphic designer. 

Unfortunately (or not--who knows? We can't see around the bends of the paths not taken.), they went with an applicant who had more relevant experience. I can't fault them for that. But the really liked my illustrative style, and they asked if they could hire me to design some new tshirts for their Mexican Fusion chain, Mad Mex. 

It was a challenging job -- I had a difficult time getting on the same wavelength as the art director. I kept having glimmers of great ideas that just never solidified. I made some sketches: 

...and while some of them were heading the right general direction (he liked the skull), in general, they just weren't quite clicking. So we talked about it, discussed design ideas, and finally came up with some stuff we thought would work. Dia de los Muertos Roller Derby girls:

And some hipster magicians: 

And then: 

They chose to use two of the images on tshirts and even sent me a couple: 

Then I learned to do roller derby, and here's me in my derby gear, and my derby girl tshirt: 

Rickert & Beagle Books

A good friend of mine back in Pittsburgh kind of...fell into being an awesome bookstore owner of an awesome bookstore. Even more awesome, she co-owns it with Peter S. Beagle, the author of the infamous Last Unicorn: 

And then, she thought *I* was cool enough to design the corporate identity for the new store name, Rickert & Beagle Books. 

So, here are some sketches: 

She loved the sketches and said I totally got her vibe -- she liked a) Victorian inspired stuff and b) vintage scifi stuff -- and that they were fantastic, and so the next step was to make some more complete versions digitally of her favorite designs: 

And then fiddling with the hand-drawn lettering:

Trying some embellishments and variations in typeweight:

And then, finally: 

look how official!

  

Down the line we are hoping for me to design some tshirts as well! Yay! 

Time May Change Me

Life kind of got away from me for a while. 

I...well. I realized I was miserable in Pittsburgh, had a mini mental breakdown, and in April, I moved back to California. 

I am now working for Whole Foods as a sign maker, where I do a very small amount of art. I was so stressed and burned out that for a while I didn't do much of my own art either, but I've been slowly recapturing my passion and am in the process of updating my professional presence on the web. Tonight I went through my deviant art backlog and holy cats that was a journey. 

I have freelance projects that I've worked on that haven't yet even seen the light of internet here, so I'm going to start posting those. 

But first and foremost, hello world. I'm bruised and battered, but damnit, I'm STILL ALIVE.

Winter Wonderlands and Whatnot

It's not even the end of the month yet. I feel like I'm jumping the gun! 

Oh well, that's me all over. Impulsive and impetuous. 

Actually that's not me at all. 

But today...NEW journal. BEFORE January. Because I'm WAITING ON HOLD and NEED SOMETHING TO ENTERTAIN ME. 

I'm not feeling particularly eloquent today. Particularly because about every 30 seconds, an automated message breaks my train of thought telling me that my patience is appreciated and that my call is important. 

So no flowery descriptions for you today. 

I made a winter landscape. It may have been...somewhat inspired by having seen Frozen the previous weekend. 

It was to cover up the unsightly back of the coffee bar. 

Then there was...let's see, we have a brand of cocoa called 'Silly Cow', which is going to have a big display in January, and my boss wanted some kind of big, attention-getting something, that was silly and cute and so I made a couple sketches:

(If you can't tell, the top one is a cow sharing it's scarf with a snowcow while drinking cocoa, and the bottom one is a cow lounging in a cup of cocoa) 

My boss liked the bottom one particularly. 

And we already had a cup that I could use, which would cut down my work time on the project and just needed a little modification: 

I made a new sketch, figuring out a little more exactly what style I wanted my cow to be and working in the shape of the available cup: 

Then, as the project was going to be double-sided,I was very responsible and sensible and made craft paper cut-outs so I would have a relatively consistent shape for my cow for both sides: 

^so sensible! 

Then...well, there was a lot of painting my cows and painting over existing designs on the mug, cutting off the foam fluff, attempting to try to match paint colors, some industrial stapling...but finally:

aaannnddd the other side: 

I eventually added a few marshmallows too. And look how cute. 

So, this project really came together and worked. But sometimes they don't really, like one I did for chili starter. I had an idea, and the painting came out quite cozy and comfort-foody: 

So the idea was to have the item's name hanging on the strings across the window, hipster-pennant style. I tried painting a couple strokes, but it just...didn't quite look right. So I thought, what if I just made the letters out of paper and actually 'hung' them on there? 

But the final product was...well: 

No, it's not the worst thing ever, but it's somewhat hard to read (especially from a distance), and the contrast of the real letters against the painted background is a style contrast that doesn't really mesh like it could. I messed with it for a while but it just never looked right. I did have some other ideas, one of which I think would really work, but the sign needed to be put out and there just wasn't time for me to go back in and change things. I've been itching to do so, of course, but I think I just have to let this one go and learn from my missteps. 

I made a little sign for Val De France. My inspiration was the style of a somewhat well-known painter from the 1800s: 

Finally, this week, I was told we were doing a Pop Art theme in our lobby for January. And I needed to do a sign for water. The solution seemed pretty obvious: 

^WIP

I don't know whether it is an utter sell-out of the style to use pop art (a style that famously uses images from advertising) FOR advertising...or if it is weirdly in tune with the movement. 

Anyway, not a lot of shiny new personal work. Did a few face and expression studies: 

And now, as I have been on hold for...48 minutes....I may have to throw in the towel. If they haven't answered by the time I make tea I may simply give up. 

Hope you have a gorgeous new year. 

so this seems to be leaning more towards becoming a monthly journal...

It's just been a busy few weeks -- between Thanksgiving and having my schedule rearranged which cancelled out the weekend before last and taking on a new freelance project I've just been...occupied. 

So anyway, not a lot to say today, but here are a few bits and bobs from work.

The promised Christmas tree sign: 

aaannnnddd...some other stuff

Aaannnddd...

A little bit of personal silliness/experimentation with perspective and lighting/fanart angst

see you later, space cowboys.