And now for something totally different…

Cactus pattern! Since I’ve begun sewing clothes and plushies and working with fabric more,  I’ve become quite interested in pattern and print design. This is a page from my sketchbook, in original colors as scanned, and then a color variation created in Photoshop. I flipped a couple of pots around to balance it, since everything in the original seems to lean slightly to the right,and filled in a few “mountain ranges” in the background texture. What do you think? Original or Crispy?

Perhaps my next challenge will involve patterns and prints… I do love texture, visual and/or tactile. Definitely on my To-Do List for 2015: Create and upload fabric designs to Spoonflower.com; create my own textiles.

As for the Rocked that Look series, I’ve cooled off on it a bit for the moment in order to redirect, to push more into experimental techniques. I also have quite a lot of holiday gift production to catch up on at the mo’… Where does the time go?

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A Pile of Cats!

I’ve been playing with pattern and surface design a little bit. I think this pile of cats would look great as linocut print,and I fantasize that I’ll get around to that someday… It only took me 3 months to add a little bit of color to the original doodle…

Now available in my society6 shop! Leggings, even!

Right now I’ve got about 5 projects in the “almost done” phase, including my Halloween costume, Thank You cards for my friend’s wedding, and a sexy iguana plushie tentatively named Inigo. All coming soon to le blog!

Thanks for dropping by!

Narcissa and the Consumerists

 

Rather than let another week go by waiting for an ample opportunity to make a proper post, I’m just going to throw this out there into the blogosphere, dash off a quick sentence or two and run back to my Cave of Intense Stuff-Doing.

(Aside: Why is winter always so busy? Doesn’t art know that I am half-bear, and I just really want to sleep?Not complaining though… Busy means alive.)

This is the latest project from my Eccentric Illustration class. This unit was about historical propaganda, persuasion techniques, and influence. I got a little rant-tastic about my anti-consumerist ideals during class discussions, but I won’t do that here, now. You’re welcome. It is sufficient to say this: We are more than our appearance. We miss so much of the stuff that really matters– because we’re so busy looking in the mirror.

As always, thanks so much for popping in. Tell me your thoughts. I want to hear them. 

CAT101: A Beginner’s Guide to Being an Awesome Kitty

What the world needs now: a picturebook primer for kittens entitled  CAT101: A Beginner’s Guide to Being an Awesome Kitty. Great cats do not just happen naturally, as anyone who has ever lived with a kitten will attest. With CAT101, your kitten will be on the fast track to success, learning such essential lessons as appropriate locations for tail chasing, and the main difference between people and trees. (Hint: one does not drop the f-bomb when climbed.)

I will get this book published one day. If you’re only planning on having one kitten in the future, you should probably just wait until this book is available. Just sayin’.

illofri: wings

I’m happy to have an excuse to draw these cute little owls for this week’s Illustration Friday challenge.

I drew them out first in ink, and then took a low-res photo with my phone and emailed it to myself. Then I took that into Illustrator and manipulated the Live Trace settings to get the right balance of woobly line and clarity of detail.

I made a few changes here and there (compare the digitally colored version with the scan of the original drawing below.)

I tried a few color schemes, including a brown/orange/grey one that made perfect sense, but wasn’t as interesting as the lime/cyan/yellow.

And then it seemed that the happy fellow on the top needed a reason to be so happy. So I gave him a yellow pork pie hat. He’s pretty stoked about it.

I’ve been playing with vector textures lately to get that sweet vintage look. I was thinking of maybe taking a  screenprinting class sometime this year, and this would make a great first print.

My Society6 store is up-and-running now, but so far there’s just this one print… Must bump that up on le to-do list. If you’d like to see more of my work, check out my portfolio site, or my other blog about a book about a dog.

And hey– thanks for stopping by!

angie brown | owlstack– the prequel

brought to you by the letter A

This is my last semester at design school, and I could not be more happy about that. There’s just not enough time in the day for life and school… which is why I only post here once a week if I can manage it, and why my BFF is still waiting ever-so-patiently for her still-to-be-designed website.

At any rate, here are a few posters I designed in the first 3 weeks of class this semester.

I… um, co-opted the flag idea for this one from a conference theme proposal I’m working on for my employer. I showed this poster to my boss, and she’s decided to co-opt it back for the cover of the conference event guide– with a few changes, of course. The flags are actually an alphabetic code, and spell out “Charleston Harborfest”.

This one, though receiving attention from the judges, did not win the contest. I expected as much, as it’s not quite as colorful and simple as some of the other entries. I took the image from the last painting I completed, and developed further for another project –namely a magazine spread about toxic advertising and corporate mind control. Quite appropriate for a graduation exhibition show for a graphic designer/marketeer, yes?

& as long as we’re  subverting the dominant paradigm, y’all, let’s have a little sumthin-sumthin about global warming:

This one is due next week, for another school-based contest. My instructor likes this a lot– she tends to favor typographical solutions. I think it’s got a good chance of winning…no monetary prize for this one, just a minuscule amount of campus fame. yay.

For my next trick studio practicum project, I am creating a self-promo piece for the Exit Show and beyond. This will consist of a handmade/painted portfolio case (constructed from two 18″x24″ canvases) which will match my super deluxe business card. As part of my process work, I am photographing the daily progress of said canvases. Here’s what I’ve got so far…

first layer of acrylic paint. green and gray. hinges in place and functional.

oil color added– split complementary color model- blue-green, orange and red. seems to cry out for purple, but we’ll let her dry first.

papers, layer one– brought to you by the letter A, which, btw, is the grade I hope to get. It also stands for Angie, which– btw– is my name, if ya didn’t know. 😉 I am slightly concerned that the big red A might call to the literary mind a little book called The Scarlet Letter. ahem. not exactly an association I want to encourage in the professional world… thoughts? When you saw this painting/future portfolio case, did you think immediately “ADULTERER!” or no?