Art Posts

Father’s Day and Anniversary Cards!

September 14, 2011
Father's Day and Anniversary Card Designs
New Cards!

I’ve been busy making cards again! This time I had two special occasions within a week of each other – Father’s Day and my anniversary with the boyfriend. Both of these dates totally crept up on me so I didn’t have a lot of time to make them ^^;. I think they both came out alright though!

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To Me? To You! A Very Happy Unbirthday Gift Tag

August 24, 2011
Unbirthday Gift Tag
A Very Happy UnBirthday!

The other weekend I attended a very unique type of party  – an Unbirthday party! Conceived in the wonderful imagination of my friend, everyone bought some of their favourite cake and a small gift to be given out randomly during the night. And when it comes to gifts, it’s time for me to make a card, or in this case a gift tag.

Because I didn’t know who would be receiving my gift, I wanted to create something that reflected the theme of the night. I went with a teapot based off those seen in the Disney Alice in Wonderland movie.


I also wanted to try something with typography, keeping it simple due the small space I had to work with.

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Favourite Artists: Justin Cherry (Nivbed)

August 14, 2011
Nivbed - Oremus
Oremus

Going through my laptop folders I suddenly came across a long lost favourite artist of mine: Justin Cherry (better known as Nivbed). I feel a little bad that I forgot about him in my planned favourite artist posts and now that I think about it there’s probably a few I’ve missed ^^;;. I first discovered Nivbed’s work by chance through another artist’s site back when I was in high school. Since then I’ve always admired his skill and have followed his work for a while.

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Semi-Permanent – Brisbane 2011

August 10, 2011
Semi-permanent 2011 - Brisbane
Semi-permanent 2011 – Brisbane

Last Friday I attended the Brisbane Semi-permanent Creative Conference – an annual event with speakers from all fields of the Creative Industries. This is the third time I’ve had the chance to go and I always look forward to listening to the artist’s and designer’s stories and presentations. I come away feeling inspired and ready to take on any design challenge ^o^. Getting the SP Pack is always a nice touch too (beautiful art book and freebies!) but more on that below.

This year we had a jam-packed day with eight speakers, ranging from designers to artists and photographers. I think all of them showed that obsession, passion and persistence are key qualities to bettering your craft and getting you places in the industry.

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Favourite Artists: Mary Blair & Eyvind Earle

July 28, 2011
Mary Blair and Eyvind Earle
Mary Blair and Eyvind Earle

This is the last of my planned favourite artist posts until I find/remember someone else to feature. It’s a double whammy with 2 artists I discovered while in Melbourne at the Disney Exhibition. Both worked on some of the studio’s most classic films including Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan and The Lady and the Tramp. So let’s get into looking at some of the fantastic work by these 2 artists.

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Favourite Artists: Vermeer

July 13, 2011
Vermeer - Girl With The Pearl Earring
Vermeer – Girl With The Pearl Earring

Most people will recognise the above picture as one of Vermeer’s most famous works: Girl with the Pearl Earring. To be honest, my love of his paintings started when I saw the movie based off this work (Who wants to see Scarlett Johansson with no eyebrows?). I found myself captivated by the idea of the story behind the picture and as I looked more into Vermeer’s work I discovered that each one has a tale to tell.

For those wanting a bit of history, Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter who lived in Delft between 1632 and 1675. He had a mostly well off life with his wife and 11 children who he supported by selling paintings and art dealing.

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Favourite Artists: Yoshitaka Amano

July 1, 2011
Yoshitaka Amano
Yoshitaka Amano

It seemed fitting to post about Amano’s work since he did the concept art for Final Fantasy X, which I only just finished! I know that game came out years ago, however it’s been in my pile of shame of ages anf I thought I should finish it (the ending was so sad, I got teary eyed :() – but back to the artist! This week I’m featuring Yoshitaka Amano, a well known Japanese artist who has created numerous character and logo designs as well as concept illustrations for Square Enix.

His work is always so full of detail and beautiful wispy lines that seem to just flow through the artwork. I like how he uses colour as well; it’s not exactly bursting out of the canvas like Sylvia Ji’s paintings, but he knows how to balance it with the surrounding space and work with tones. His illustrations are often of fantasy/sci-fi subject matter and have a lovely asian styling to them, despite being influenced by Western comic books. They remind me a lot of traditional Japanese paintings actually, in the way he uses colour, the thin pencil lines and the intricate details.

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Birthday Cards Ahoy!

June 24, 2011
Pikachu and Clarice Cliff Card

I’ve been pretty busy lately so I haven’t had a chance to get back into my anatomy drawing but in the meantime I’ve been making cards for my sister and mum whose birthday are within a week of each other! I wanted to make each card about items they really like ^_^.


The first one was a cute Pikachu card for my sister who is a huge Pokemon fan. I wanted to challenge myself to try my pattern style within a custom shape like Pikachu’s body. I found a picture and printed it out before I started to draw out the pattern. Once I worked that out I got some cooking paper, traced him in and coloured the back with a 6B pencil before retracing it to the special paper I use for cards.

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Favourite Artists: Jasper Goodall

June 16, 2011
Jasper Goodall - Pink Polish
Jasper Goodall – Pink Polish

This weeks favourite artist is Jasper Goodall, someone whom I only discovered recently even though he’s apparently been quite well known in the industry since the late nineties. He was one of the last speakers at the 2010 Brisbane Semi-Permanent Conference and I was completely taken by his illustrations and skill.


From what I’ve read, Goodall is known for his images seen in The Face magazine as well as his Poster Girl Series and cover artwork for *shudder* Muse. His images have combined illustration and photography and often have a fantasy element to them. I admire the way he plays with colour and meshes different mediums together. His recent projects like the New Goulston Street art and this Rene Grau inspired cutout really show off his talent of working with negative space and minimalist style.

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Favourite Artists: Tim Biskup

June 9, 2011
Tim Biskup
Tim Biskup

My next favourite artist is Tim Biskup with his wonderful characters, colours and conceptual pieces. I discovered him around same time I was searching for artists who create that ‘1950s storybook illustration‘ style, though I now can’t recall how I came across his work specifically. I do believe it was for researching my graduate project though back in 2009.

I’ve been debating on whether or not to write about him because his work has evolved since I first started following him. His latest works have become more surreal/cubist/structured in nature, while I prefer his older whimsical pieces. His website seems to have also changed and he doesn’t have a lot of work featured. Luckily I have some saved work on my computer and there’s always Google :P.

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