International Women's Day Painting Process - UPDATED!

Hey bloggers!

So I was really ambitious after my classes today and got a head start on my painting - couldn't be happier!!! I forgot how much I love painting! Anyways, back to the poster heres the break down.

What I've done:

- Painted the whole background yellow ( I chose yellow because its a variation of what skin looks like and I thought it would really bring in the pigments more clearly. Also the colour of the hair is almost white so I thought the yellow would help being in the highlights.)

-"LADYGAGA" in white. I chose to do her name in white because I will be doing a dark backdrop and my colour scheme centres around black, red, and white. I also chose this because I know it will really stand out once the backdrop is painted in.

- Lips and Nails. So as for the nails and lips I started these to get a feel for the paint and how it blends before I tackle the skin. I also did these now because the skin will come up around the lips and the fabric of her head dress comes around the nails.

(Images were originally in the post, but corrupted to the point that they had to be deleted - I apologize!)

Hey Everyone!! So got some work done and here it is up til nearly finished!

So this stage was adding the eyes and final touches on the lips. The blue was really interesting to do in here eyes.

Next, I added the background - I think the black really makes the name stand out. It also should make Lady Gaga and her head dress show up.

Next I started with the first layer of skin - nice and light.

Then slowly adding some highlight and shadows. This stage took many turns and twists because I kept changing light sources.

Finally after getting the skin to where I wanted it, I moved on to the face. This was a fun stage!

After the face came doing the base for the hair. It's interesting how the yellow from the very first stage almost made its own highlights.

After the base yellowed hair came the highlights. I tried to make it look as natural as possible. And I added the eye lashes now that the skin was where I wanted it.

When I finally got the hair to the shades I liked, the head dress needed to be started. I mixed two different reds to create the highlight and lowlights of it.

Next came the darkening of the shadows and folds of the material.

And finally, here's where I am now. I added some more highlights and shadows to the head dress and added a few more features to the skin. The major thing was I added "International Women's Day 2012" as a tattoo on her arm to signify who she really is.

So a few more things to fix up and add, but I'm nearly done! 

Hope you got a little insight as to how I did it. And yes, I will answer the question many have been asking - as of now - I have been working on this painting for just under 20 hours. But every hours been worth it! 

Come back soon and see the finished piece!

Cheers - Rachel

Here it  is - the final art work!

In the end I added more shading to the skin on the face and arms, changed the tattoo to a more realistic look, and adapted the lips. Hope you enjoyed the process as much as I did.

Challenge: 3 "Twirl"

Hey Bloggers!! So week 3 of illustration friday's challenge was the word "Twirl". When I saw the word it took me a few minutes to think of a really good advertisement for that word. When I thought long and hard about the word twirl,  dance came into mind.

Inspiration for the week

This picture is by Will Davies and is my inspiration for this week. I chose this specific picture because of the colours. The sepia and the dark blacks and grey's are an interesting combination and I thought it would be a great idea for a Dance Studio advertisement.

Sketches

(Sorry they are kind of hard to see)

As for sketching ideas .. that was tricky!! I had a million and a half ideas on how to do this. New shapes for advertisements, silhouettes, couples, and the list goes on. As for my final decisions I chose to go with a girl or a silhouette. I chose between these two because I find them elegant and very recognizable in the dance world. My sketches show some with multiple pictures of types of dance, backgrounds, and some just the dancer. After the sketches came the choice of how to do the final. I chose the last sketch based upon a picture I came upon online.

Final

Background: First I chose the size and shape of the ad and went with a long thin canvas and added a grey backdrop to make the outer boarder.

Picture: Next I added the picture that inspired my dance studio ad. I love this picture because its beautiful, soft, and this girl has beautiful body lines. The photographer who took this photo is now my idol in my mind! This photo also happened to be in my colour range!

Twirl: To add twirl I made it the studio's name. Since dance is a mixture of twirls and movements I thought it suited a studio very well. I added the silhouette because I believe it is a major icon and is very memorable!

Final: In the end I added the things that the studio included such as classes, teams, couple classes (like a wedding dance maybe or just for fun) and a kids camp for an after school program. I also added that it is a new studio and to register now.

I really love how this ad turned out. The elegance of the photo I tried to bring into the actual advertisement by using the same text throughout but adding a tag line of cursive font. I also like the small addition of the red to the information, I believe it stands out but isn't throwing off the balance.

Please leave any and all comments!

Happy Blogging! Check in next week to see challenge 4!

*The photo used was not my own and all credit goes to this amazing photographer!* 

Challenge 2: "prepare" --- illustration fridays

Hey y'all! So heres week # 2's challenge - "Prepare"

This is a picture by Harry Diamond. This week this picture was my inspiration to "prepare". I chose this picture because I think the cartoonish appeal could work in my favour. I find that sometimes a more childlike feel in an advertisement brings back old memories or a "youthful" experience. 

Sketches!

(image corrupted)

 My idea is to make a Tampon carrying case that looks more "fashionable" and less obvious. A case by Tampax and o.b. I am going to take the "cartoon" feel from the inspiration piece and take the "Tampax" and "OB" logo and turn it into a cartoon. My background I am sticking to the blues of Tampax and add some dark blue swirls that will fade into the background to give it a more feminine look. Over all I will add a catchy phrase and the "pocket pal".

Here we go! The stages to the final :D

Background: started of with the background and swirls to get the appeal and the catchy introduction to the product

Stage 2 : adding "prepare"

Stage 3: Adding the product to show the consumer

Stage 4: Showing the actual selling product - "pocket pals"

Stage 5: Final

This is the ad fully finished with the Tampax and o.b name and logo. To create the logos into cartoon I simply did a live trace ( adobe illustrator) on them. I really like the look it gave to the finished ad. 

Over all I think this ad turned out really well and covered "prepare".

* this is a fictional product / project, no harm was intended to the Tampax or o.b company*

Happy Blogging Everyone.

  

UPDATED International Women's Day!

Hey everyone!

So I am starting an International Women's Day poster to support all women! This is the journey I will be taking and how each step goes in designing a poster.

This is a picture created by Al Parker and is the centre of my inspiration. In this picture I love how the woman has her arm over her head and a soft yet elegant pose. I chose this as my inspiration because I believe this pose is the very essence of a woman. Soft and beautiful.

Woman of Choice

For my poster I chose Lady Gaga because I believe she is someone who inspires all women. Although she can be a bit odd, she's very secure in who she is and many young girls need that inspiration. Lady Gaga doesn't care what people may say about her and she try's to get the message out that beauty isn't "who your wearing" and how tiny you can get your waste, but how beautiful it is to be different. She has inspired me.

Sketch Work

(images corrupted)

Alright, so here is my idea. I want to incorporate an image of Lady Gaga - maybe a stage picture of posed one - and have a microphone with a cord leading out along the page and turn into her name. Music is here life so I thought I would turn her name into music. Another idea was to go with just a face, some of her outfits or even go with a more modern art look for her thats more cartoonish. 

So far I am still in the idea stage but moving forward on a final design. Check in soon to see some updates!

Happy Blogging and a BIG thank you to all Women in the world! <3

I'm really excited to get started on the final!! The colours are going to be:

Background: black

Name: white

"International Women's Day": black - tattoo

Lady Gaga's outfit: combo of reds

Check back soon for some pics along the way!!

Happy Blogging :D

Illustration Fridays Challenge #1 : Grounded

"Grounded"

Hello fellow bloggers! So here it is, the first challenge. Since the word was "grounded" I decided to go with the actual ground approach. The photo above inspired my final work of art because of the use of lines. At the bottom of the boat you see many twists and turns in the water that never fully reach from one side to the other. To be more explicit, I like that the water looks complete without straight or curvy lines from side to side. To incorporate that into my work I decided to start a curve at one end of the page and stop it at mid point.

(sorry no image)

My sketches are for an Advertisement promoting landscaping. Yes, landscaping doesn't really have anything to do with "grounded" but my train of thought went to roots. Trees are so strong, not because of the size, but because of the roots. Roots are strong and hold the trees in place making them grounded. I also chose landscaping because grounded can also be thought of as "stable" or "balance" and gardens after a wild winter could use some balancing.

So for my final work I started of with the logo. I thought of doing deep roots mixed with a modern tree to catch the attention of the viewers.

Next I thought of how I could incorporate the lines that "don't reach the other side". I came up with a rounded banner around the tree and a green "grass stripe".

In the end I took out the green strip because I thought it made the image off balanced and didn't flow well with the background. Over all I am very happy with my outcome and feel I created a "grounded" image. The elements I mostly used were colour, line, and shape.

The advertisement would be an effective poster, mailed advertisement, newspaper ad, or even a tv or internet ad.

 Look for next weeks challenge. 

Happy Blogging!

Hello Fellow Bloggers!

Hello Bloggers! 


This is my first blog and I am very excited to start! I am a Graphic Designer and I will be posting all my work to show the world!


For the next 14 weeks I will be doing the Illustration Fridays challenge! The challenge is to take the word of the week given and create a work of art. As the week goes on I will post my ideas, inspirations, and final piece.


I'm really excited to get started and hope you enjoy my work. Please leave any and all comments, I love the feed back!


Happy Blogging,
Rachel