New Custom Pieces

Here are a few custom illustrations I've done recently.  I really love doing this kind of work!  Perhaps it's because I know that someone is going to own work I've done and enjoy it.  Perhaps it's also because so far I've been commissioned by fantastic people that allow me to have fun with my illustrations and have been a joy to work with!

My sister is a runner and I got started doing custom art through running friends of hers.  As a result, many of my new contacts have been runners too.  So these pieces feature runners and athletic events.  They are ink drawings colored with either watercolor or colored pencil.  I tend to use watercolor for smaller pieces and colored pencil for larger ones.  Some of the lettering has been obscured.

Ink with colored pencil, 7"x9"

Ink with colored pencil, 5"x7"

Ink with watercolor, 5"x7"

Ink with watercolor, 4"x6"

To see more of my custom work, please visit my Facebook page and my portfolio site.  My contact information can be found on those two sites as well.  As always, thanks for visiting and come back soon!

A Portrait of Shoes

My Mizunos

Shoes have so much life in them after we've worn them around for a while, don't they?  These are my old Mizuno running shoes.  They are old but not worn out, and very bored from lack of use lately.  I needed to do some trials and work on style anyway, so I made this shoe portrait in hopes that I might get inspired to lace them up and get out of my house!

I used ink and watercolor on Strathmore 400 series watercolor paper.

Illustration Friday: "Tall"

"Sweet on Red"

The height of platform pumps has gotten ridiculous, to the point where they almost look like a joke.  But when I see pictures of women wearing them, they actually look pretty good!  This shoe is made up for this illustration, which is a pen and ink drawing colored with Prismacolor colored pencils.

Illustration Friday: "Highlight"

I was working on this today and realized there are highlights on the shoes so I could use it for Illustration Friday!  The pencil lines and markings are due to work-in-progress.  The original art is 2.5x3.5 inches but was designed to crop at closer to 2x3".

I found a picture of these shoes in the September 2011 issue of "Vogue".  This is a bit of an interpretation because the shoes were very small in the photo, but they really caught my eye!  They were designed by Tabitha Simmons for Creatures of the Wind. 

Little shoes

I've discovered that I love drawing in ink on watercolor paper.  I'd figure the ink would bleed or the pen would catch on the texture of the paper, but those things don't happen and the lines can get such nice variation! These were done small, 2x3", as gifts.  I think I'll do more, perhaps a series.