Lilla Rogers' MATS Class Part B: WEEK 2

Woo! A little behind on the posting! Truly, last semester during the MATS class I had NO TIME to breathe, let along blog, but this time I am trying to talk about the class as it happens, rather than just making one post afterwards where I desperately try to remember everything.

So yes! Here was my piece for Week 2: Baby Apparel. I think everyone in this class has one week in the schedule where they kinda feel like it may be an assignment that throws them through a loop- maybe they are even a little concerned about bombing it. I wouldn't say I was worried about utterly failing at Baby Apparel, but I was curious to see how I would do. Even though my work seems to be very child-friendly, the market can have a very fine line when it comes to determining what's "cute" versus "cute but a little weird". Or "edgy". People love to use that word , so let's throw that one in. With kids' stuff, it's ok to be "edgy". "Edgy" can be fun and age appropriate. But babies...usually you don't push it for that group. My challenge was to have my homework look like "mine" without going too far in that "edgy" world (ok, we're shelving that word now. It's had plenty of stage time during this post).

In Part A, I was not able to make the optional coordinating patterns for my bolt fabric piece, but this time I wanted to make sure I had everything: the main art, the extra patterns, the placement graphic... After I was done uploading it to the class Flickr page, I just kinda sat in my chair and looked at it. I mean, I REALLY looked at it. For like a good 20 minutes. Part of this was because I was letting the adrenaline leave my body after coming waaaaay too close to the submission deadline. However, another part of it was, well...I had pleasantly surprised myself. I liked it. It was strange looking at it, because in a way I was meeting another artist for the first time, and that artist was just a different facet of myself. It was very rewarding to see it all come together and realize that I could do this age group without loosing the essence of my characters or artistic "flavor" as I like to say. Furthermore, I was proud that I accomplished making the animals the stars of the show.

I actually need to post about the most recent assignment: scrapbooking! We just turned that assignment in this past weekend- I'll get it up here later this week. :)

Lilla Rogers' MATS Class Part B: WEEK 1

A week ago, the second semester of Lilla Rogers's Make Art That Sells Class started, and boy it's been hectic ever since! Our assignment was to make a Christmas card inspired by vintage holiday items (ok, technically we were suppose to make 2, but I was lucky to get one done considering I had about 2 1/2 days to pump this out).

In the end, this is how I feel about it.

PROS:

I like the color. I had a collection of pantone chips from work taped down to one page in my sketchbook, and I realized it was perfect for this assignment. During my research, I noticed there was a lot of black used in old holiday tablecloths and such. It seemed so dramatic, and I loved pairing that with more delicate shades of green and pink.

I like my icons. The first week of Part A, I was missing something very vital from my piece: my characters. There was nothing that seemed to nod back to that strength. This time I managed to be inspired by all the vintage bird ornaments as well as the partridge from The Twelve Days of Christmas and came up with this guy. In spats! He adds a much needed warmth to the whole imagine. Other things, like the addition of geometric pattern and the candy jars, were favorite details.

I like my hand-lettering. In a perfect world it would be bigger, but in the end I'm quite pleased with it.

CONS:

I'm not crazy about the composition. The truth is, depending on what I'm doing, sometimes it's better for me to make art and then assemble it digitally, and other times I do just fine getting it right paint to paper. THIS image, however, was caught between multiple ideas and just never got solved. It's not an organic mosaic, but it's not a grid-like illustration either (places like the small candy under the partridge or the holly seem to awkwardly fill in space and break up straight lines). Although the icons are all fun, it's crowded. This either needed to be busting full of small cute icons, or one icon should have clearly dominated the composition with others removed. The partridge is bigger...buuuuut not quite as big as it should be to really be the focus. It's just a little awkward.


CONCLUSION:

Although I'm not 100% satisfied with my illustration, I figure if I can walk away saying I like three things about it (and only have one major complaint), that's not too shabby. The first week is always a little wobbly, AND did I mention I only had 2 1/2 days??? Phew!