New Illustration Listing - Blue Phase

Title : The Blue Phase  Medium : Gouache/Color Pencil with Digital Touches

Challenge of the Month -Blue Nature Illustrations

 Hello There,

Here I am again with the challenge of the month. The challenge is to illustrate scenes of nature using the color blue.

I don't work with blue as often as I should. It's a very versatile color with the ability to be bold, calming, fluid, and peaceful. That's just scratching the surface of the color blue's potential.

Also, I could brush up on my nature illustration. Nature is always something that transcends boundaries, not to mention puts us at ease. No matter where you're from seeing a painting or illustration of your favorite animal always puts you in a good mood.

Plus, I had to use watercolors/gouache, a medium that I enjoy but isn't easy for me to work with.

Here is what I came up with. For the first three pictures, I used a specialty paper I had never used before. The paper absorbed the color very quickly and the colors were very high saturated without having to try. Therefore after some practice I learned that the brushwork had to be quick, the first stroke determined the shape.

The last two where used on standard cold press watercolor paper that doesn't buckle when water is applied judiciously. The paper has less absorbancy so you have time to make long brushstrokes and control the water beads. But with no texture , the colors are less bright and require a high pigment mixture to achieve a bold color

Robin's Egg Nest - Watercolor on specialty paper

Blue Koi - Watercolor on Specialty Paper

Blue Scorpion - Watercolor on Specialty Paper

Bluebird - Gouache on standard watercolor paper

Victorian Crowned Pigeon - Gouache on Standard Watercolor Paper

Welcome to the Chocolate Factory

Album Art Cover for the Artist NRCD.

The artist wanted something psychedelic and dreamy to blend in with his jazzy style.

                                                                  

Add caption

Snake Eyes - Creative Chewing Gum Packaging

Snake Eyes -  Creative Chewing Gum Packaging
Concept: Narrowed Eyes of a Snake, Mysterious, Graffiti and Tattoo Influences.

Snake Eyes Front

Snake Eyes Box

Dueling Chaos Ember Flames Album Art

Dueling Chaos Album Art

Genre: Nu-Metal with Syphonic and Thrash Influences

Inspiration : Clashing Colors,Clashing Wills

The artwork had to represent two opposing struggles, be aggressive yet still retain an undercurrent of beauty.

Dueling Chaos Ember Flames

Sammy Midas Album Art

Genre : Contemporary Jazz with Hip-Hop and Rock Influences

Inspiration : Chaos, Graffiti Paint, Concrete

The art had to be vibrant yet edgy and still include the concrete splatter vision of the artist.

Sammy Midas Concrete Jungle Album Art

Watching the Moonrise

Watching the Moon Rise - Pencil over Specialty Paper

Events Poster - Graffiti Artist

Events Poster - Graffiti Artist

Miss Mayweather - Album Art Design

Miss Mayweather Album Art Design

Genre: Soul

Inspiration : Sepia Photographs, Vintage Records

The concept behind this was something that was warm, reminiscent of sepia photographs,old fashioned wind socks and microphones and handwritten love letters.

Newest Logos Designed - Color Themes

Yello Clothing Co.

Chroma's Solutions

The Red Poker Restaurant

Blue Geisha - Pencil Illustration

Blue Geisha - Pencil Illustration

Challenge of the Month - Purple

Challenge of  The Month : Purple

I'll be the first to admit that purple is not my favorite color. My moniker is 'Red Moth Art' not 'Purple or Lilac Moth Art'. So, it was only fitting that I use this intimidating color more so until it became approachable. 

I found that purple is actually a very beautiful, powerful, regal and calming color.

So, here is my attempt. Various illustrations with different tints and shades of purple.

What do you think dear reader, hit or miss ?

Purple Hurricanes

Pompadour

Purple Punker

Rasberry Swirls

Little Violette

Madame Butterfly Event Posters - 3 Versions

Choosing the Right Option - Example Madame Butterfly Gig Posters

It's no secret that some initial concepts work better than others. The samples themselves can all be good, but which one really conveys the idea better?

Here to test that theory is three concepts for a Madame Butterfly Event Poster. Each conveys the tragic opera in a different way. So,which do you feel in your opinion really grabs the viewer into saying 'I think I'll go to the opera today."?

Madame Butterfly in a nutshell.  A beautiful young Japanese woman referred to as Butterfly by her indifferent and immature American fiance sacrifices herself as proof of her unrequited love. Spoiler Alert : She gets the short end of the stick throughout the entire opera, yet the visuals and music are beautiful.

Step 1 - Rough Ideas

 

The ideas are as follows :

Idea A (Top Left ) : Half of Cio-Cio-san's face is shown, her hair up, eyes closed with deep red eyeshadow.

Idea B ( Lower Left ) : The short blade that she uses to commit hari kari dipped in blood splatters a red butterfly at the bottom.

Idea C ( Right ) : Back view of Cio-Cio-san's nape of her neck with a red butterfly.

All concepts will be hand illustrated, using the color scheme of white, black and red.


Step 2 Execution

A hand rendered illustration is used as the base image for each poster.Then, each illustration was altered digitally to give it more punch!.

Idea A

Idea B

Idea C

So which do you feel personally is the best poster and why? I'd love to hear your thoughts !

KookaBoo Radley Gig Poster

KookaBoo Radley Gig Poster

A hand rendered acrylic illustration was used as the base and then was heavily altered via Photoshop to create a spinning, wild thorn flourish feel to it.

Red Headed Cap O' Curls - Acrylic Illlustration

Red Headed Cap O' Curls

Medium : Acrylic

Golden Scarf - Pastel and Colored Pencil Illustration

Golden Scarf - Pastel and Colored Pencil Illustration

Blue Ribbon - Acrylic Illustration in my Signature Style

Blue Ribbon - Acrylic Illustration in my Signature Style

Blue Jay's Music and Bistro --- Logo set

Blue Jay's Music and Bistro Logo Set

Logo Design Process - Client - Austin Realty

 Logo Design Process - A Step by Step Guide

Have you ever wondered what goes into designing a logo? After all, it seems that any monkey can slap some type together along with a shape and call it a day, right? Well, first off if you hire a designer that has that M.O. , run. Run as fast as humanely possible.

The truth is, that the rest of us designers take the design process very seriously. It takes research, creativity, and patience. Add that to the fact that a client is expecting good results, means that to make a name for yourself in the freelance biz you can't afford to cut corners.

So, if you're looking for logo design work and are curious to see what happens behind the scenes, read on. Similarly, if you are designing your first client logo, the following came help establish a game plan for you to knock the clients' socks off.

1. Research

Research other logos in the same field.That way you get an idea of what's already out there and  which logos work and which ones don't.
Make a note of the ones you like/don't like. Plus, note what elements all of those logos have in common. This will be your base in determining what rules you will break or keep.
Include all of your findings in a report.

2.Thumbnails

Now the fun begins! For at least 30 min. sketch non stop any of the ideas you may have, numbering them as you go. Don't worry about the details, make them messy. You're just getting the creative juices flowing. This thumbnails will be from where you'll draw your rough samples for the next.

3.Digital Samples - Rough

Using Illustrator/ Photoshop/etc make clear markups of various thumbnails you like. Keep it in black and white, don't add any color or gradients.(You'll do that later) Right now we want to focus on just the concepts.The client can then make their choice on the design , nothing else.The following rough samples were based on thumbnails 10, 11, 30, 29, 33, 38.

4. Client Approval
Ask for the client to approve a design(s) and then add color variations.

5. Wait for final color approval, and then apply to files.
Include PDF, JPEG , GIF files and the original AI and PSD files upon payment.
Don't forget to include both CYMK and RGB profiles for each design, clients may need both in the future and having this done will save time.

Album Art - Mikkel Torv Album Art

Album Art for Contemporary Pianist - Mikkel Torv  Cobalt

Flutterwrites - Logo - Process

Challenge : Create a Logo for a Start Up Writer Creating a Blog

Name : Flutter Writes

Parameters :  Approachable , Whimsical , Legible

Concept : Hand written Logo with lots of curves and flourishes as if the authors signature

Initial Sketch

Verdict : Love the flourishes, but make more legible and add something else to show that it is related to writing.

2nd Attempt

Verdict : Excellent ! The letters are legible with still a touch of whimsy strokes . The curly brackets at the side and the typewriter font below hint at writing. 

Now on to color

 

Verdict : The Top Left Blue color is the best choice. It's bright and eye-catching without over powering the lettering. Some of the other colors are too washed out or not happy enough.

Final Choice

Verdict : Client loves it ! It is put to good use on her blog - flutterwrites.blogspot.comhttp://flutterwords.blogspot.com/