Behind the scenes: Nylon Illustration, from thumbnail to print.

Thought it might be fun to show you all an illustration from concept to print. I chose the NYLON illustration I did for last May's issue. So, here goes!

The brief I got from art director, Evan Campisi, was SUGAR SWEET SUNSHINE, and to go hyper girly, pastel colours, candy etc. I was so excited about this, especially because I do happen to like daisy and hello kitty! I went ahead and researched the themes, and this is the thumbnail I came up with.

It had to be revised because of the gutter in the magazine, which I wasn't aware of, but it was no problem to shift the items away from the centre. This is the thumbnail that got approved.

Here is the final refined sketch. This was approved, and I went straight to colour.

The final illustration.

Colour pencil on Arches satine paper.

47 x 20.5 cm

Here it is in print!

Photo by artist Melissa Contreras of Axelhoney.

This illustration was such a joy to work on. It pushed me to try new colours and subject matter, and go outside my comfort zone. It definitely made me think more about using brighter colours, just because I loved their intensity on the paper. You can see that in the more recent gallery work I made for Petits Travaux. I have already had one other illustration gig that was inspired by this drawing, and it was just as much fun. I'll share that one with you in a month or so. I love this kind of work, and hope 2013 will send me a few more like it!

A little photo of it in real life. I know this has a filter, but I can't find my other photos of it. Anyway, it's a lot better than scans can capture, (but that's always been my opinion about everything I draw.) I think the original art always has something special which can't be captured digitally. 

This drawing is framed and available right now through Retrospect, as part of the Intricate Lines show. If you want to make it yours, click here for purchase info.