So a while back my friend Ginny contacted me about a wedding illustration commission: She said she wanted 11x17 posters featuring herself, her husband to be and their two cats in Las Vegas for Save the Dates... all while mimicking the Star Wars: A New Hope classic posters.
Of course I said YES! What a fun idea! That and I've always wanted to draw this poster - I tried once for a college project but had some difficulty with the poses and gave up... Here was finally another excuse to take a swing again! :)
I actually finished up the illustration a few weeks ago but was holding off on posting about it until Ginny created the Save the Dates and mailed them to her guests. (I didn't want to spoil the surprise!) Now that her guests finally know what it looks like, I figured it's ok to post the concept work and final design.
Right: Refining the concept sketch digitally. The background changed significantly on the final based on Ginny's requests, the ring became more realistic and the cats a little fatter ;)
And here is the final artwork! This was a little harder than most of my commissions because the poster I was mimicking was very different from my drawing style... Plus - I swear the background really kicked my butt... I have never been to Las Vegas before and I had to look up tons and tons of photos to figure out what her background request actually looked like. Ginny specifically asked that the beam of the Luxor to go through the ring like the poster/light saber - and I never did find a reference photo that matched up with what I wanted... I eventually had to mix a ton of views together to meet the background needs and then I digitally painted on top of them to keep it as realistic as possible. Hopefully it really looks like that view of Vegas! Maybe next time I'll use this as an excuse to fly to Vegas and visit her for reference photos ;) I think my favorite parts to draw were the dress folds, cats and oddly - the shine on the rock. I don't know why - just found that part fun!
For a more close up look at the faces, cats and what not:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanasaurus/4904217503/
And here is what Ginny designed for the Save the Dates! Didn't it turn out cute?! What do you think? :) I was so pumped to find out this morning that my artwork and her Save the Date were featured on Offbeat Bride - go check out the post!
Also, for those interested in hiring me to do illustrations for their weddings, websites, personal profiles, etc.: I'll be completely open in September and would love to hear from you! (Here is a link to my portfolio) Send me an email at san(at)san-smith.com and we can chat about your project idea!
