Poe Project Part Deux

Here are the rest of the illustrations I created for my Poe Project.

Poe project

For the past week I've been doing a (nearly) daily illustration of an Edgar Allen Poe short story, going in order in which they appear in an old Poe anthology I have. This is just a personal project, to get me drawing something other than editorial cartoons and commissions. The goal is to do each illustration in about 2 hours or less, so I'm not taking up too much of my time. I'm flying by the seat of my pants on each one, doing maybe one or two quick thumbnails, but usually I'm just diving in with my Wacom, pushing pixels around until I find an interesting shape, and then running with it. I probably should have started this earlier in October, but oh well. Here are the six I've drawn so far.

The Tale-Tell Heart

The Masque of the Red Death

The Cask of Amontillado

Metzengerstein

The Pit and the Pendulum

The Fall of the House of Usher

My Mom's House

This is a picture I did for my mom, for her birthday that was...um, back in ...ahemOctober. I finished it just in time but then had it printed on gallery wrapped canvas by Harlan Graphics (excellent printer in town that I have experience with) and that took a bit of time. However, now it is finished! I just have to deliver it when we see my folks after Christmas.

After printing, the colors are a little more muted, which was what I was hoping for. It's a bit of an experiment for me, this new style that I seem to be digging. This is the first architectural-ish of drawing I've attempted. I honestly think it just looks kind of weird. I think I would have added some other things into the picture if I could do it again. At the end of the day, my mom likes it and that's all that matters. It is from a recent picture of the house that she was literally born in and then lived in until she was about 5 or 6. The fire hydrant in the foreground is significant because that is nearly the only memory she has from the house: playing around it. I wanted it to feel like a portrait, but also include that hydrant as an important item.

Hope everyone is having a good holiday season. Looks like the Christmas party was a lot of fun!

Clouds and Waves

I suppose this drawing is mostly about the colors and the line treatment. It's probably the most stock-art looking thing I think I've ever done. I added the birds because they make me laugh when I think about drawing as a child... Everyone's birds were V's. Or upside down V's for variety.

New to the Blog- Hi!

Hi! My name is Stephanie Smith and I'm a graphic designer working in Cincinnati.

Recently I've been drawing a lot–though by a lot, I mean one or maybe two drawings a week. I am having an absolutely fantastic time and would love to share some drawings here. I've been following this blog for a while and have really enjoyed seeing all of the inspiring images and talent that is clearly abundant in Cincinnati.

So this is my hello and here are a couple of drawings to start. I've been enjoying working in pen & ink (India ink pens) and coloring the pieces in Photoshop. The graphic designer in me loves the manipulation freedom of a digital file. Hope you enjoy! –Stephanie Smith

Winter Finished

I was waiting for feedback on my next book cover sketch and finished this little drawing off today. It is for a series of four illustrations based on the seasons. The sketch is here.

This will be the last and I sketched it when there was snow. Each will have a big colorful skirt-this is the final after the fall which will be torn and blowing away. here, the skirt is the equivalent of the bare tree. You get the idea.

Sketch for Digital Painting

This is basically a companion piece to this earlier image that I posted.

It has almost a Thumbelina quality but I am playing a bit with scale in the fairy painting tradition. The chipmunk may get bigger.

I will try to utilize Painter a lot more but we will see...

Final Illustration-Personal Piece

Here is the final image!

You may notice that the background changed quite a bit. I actually spent many hours working on a forest background but scrapped it when it was battling with the foreground.

I guess it is true that less is more... That is an advantage with digital-the background can be its own layer. I want to experiment more in Painter but it is a slow process. I secretly painted the crow by hand.

The design of the dress is inspired by the late 1700s (with modern touches.) Think Marie Antoinette pre-Bastille...

Work in Progress

Here is a picture I sketched the other day. I wanted to paint something gothic and fancy. Sketching a greyhound was interesting. Their physique is very horselike but they seem to bound almost like rabbits. I love seeing the movement.

I am attempting to paint this digitally. Wish me luck...

Another Personal Piece

This is an image colored completely in Photoshop and Painter over a pencil sketch. There are pros and cons to working this way.

I find acrylic painting to be much faster and spontaneous (and less tight). (This took a heck of a lot longer than two hours). A fusion still seems like the best route.

I love the feel of paint and I love the undo function once you are working digitally. Painter does have some awesome brushes...

Fairy Summit

This is a little doodle I did yesterday for fun. I had not done ink drawings in a while and thought this would be fun. (Yes, I SHOULD have been working on something else).

I wanted to experiment with flat color rather than a fully rendered piece. I like the simplicity and this may be a good style for a graphic novel type project. Color in Photoshop (of course).

Old Victorian fairy paintings were the inspiration for the design of this illustration. I love how they played with bizarre scales in some of them-big person, little person, giant bugs...

Animal Rescue Art Project

Here is the image I did for the Animal Rescue Art Project.

The show is February 14th at Loveland Art Studios.

There were so many orange cats at the factory that I painted 3 of them on 4" X 4" squares and mounted them on board. I have a soft spot for orange tigers.

Tea with Friends and a Turtle

Here is an image that started out as a quick doodle and I finished it in Photoshop. It was an excuse to play with the Cintiq and it got a little out of hand.

The turtle is very loosely based on a Galapagos turtle. I was also inspired by tribal decoration in Africa using plants and flowers.

I need to do more experimentation with Painter now that my system is a LOT faster. It was clunky on my old computer.