The Life Pursuit: San Smith

Art update: Star Wars - A New Hope Wedding poster

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.

 

Left: Paper doodles trying to get a feel for the poses and placement for certain things...

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!

Prints giveaway winner!

So as promised - its time to announce the winner of my July Giveaway! Congrats to Jane for being comment #41! I'll be sending you an email shortly to get your shipping address :)

Thanks so much to everyone who entered! It sounds like everyone really wants totes!! Which is super exciting because I've been looking for an excuse to make some. 

For those of you who didn't win the give away but still would like to have prints, I'm selling copies of the prize prints in my etsy! Go check it out:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/sansmith

July giveaway and new etsy items!

I wanted to announce that there are now new prints, paintings and jewelry listed in my etsy shop! I will also be adding new items through out the rest of July! It will all becoming in at different times, so I'll be sure to keep you guys updated. I'm so excited about it all! :) Here is a peek at some of the items:

Click here to visit my etsy page!

Also...

To start off my new etsy listings with a bang and to thank you guys for following my blog - I wanted to have a giveaway! I'm so grateful for all the people who visit my blog and enjoy my illustration work, so its the least I could do in return. :)

Giveaway details:

What I'm giving away: 3 signed prints of my art work! One 8.5x11" print, an 8x8" print and a mini print! Pictured above :) Anyone can enter - there are no regional limitations! 

How to enter: Comment below and let me know what future items you'd like to see on my etsy! (Prints, totes, rings, earrings, necklaces, stickers, prints, journals shirts? I'm open to all ideas! <3) Be sure to include your name and email! 

Want to enter more than once? You can have multiple entries if you tweet, post, share on tumblr/facebook/whatever about the giveaway - just be sure to comment separately to links (or screen capture) where you did this! One link per comment, and each comment is an entry! 

The giveaway ends one week from today on July 20th! I will choose a random winner and announce it in a post. 

Looking forward to your entries! <3 And if you haven't already, feel free to add me on Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook! I'll be posting links to the giveaway that will be easy to share ;)

Live drawing demo + sketches to buy!

Well today was another Friday live drawing demo on Ustream! This time I took 2 word requests from twitter, facebook and tumblr to draw during my demo! I got some really fun ones: 

• tapdancing accordian! - thisisstar (twitter)
• Polarbear driving - MrMikeG (twitter)
• Flying Gorilla - Neomental (twitter)
• Sleepwalking barber, Armless ventriloquist, Marshmallow ninja, razorblade donut, monochrome peacock, fail whale - ZombieJP (twitter)
• drinking bikers! in honor of brunks on Saturday. Doesn't have to be beers - a lil teacup, martini, soup, from a hose, etc. - Abbyloving (twitter)
• Rainbow Sandwich - seekatiedraw (tumblr)
• PUNK CHIHUAHUA - Linnya (twitter)
• French Pelican, giraffe peeper or kitty sailor - Julie Malone (facebook)
• Eagle Haberdasher - Ben Hill (facebook)
• Meat Cat - JimHodgson (twitter)
• intoxicated dinosaur - GinnyMcQueen (twitter)
• NINJA ROBOT - Kidcruz (tumblr)
• drunk san - victorhatesyou (twitter)
• passionflower, mihoshi - Kelly Loija (facebook)
• puppet scientist - Brooke Napier (facebook)

Due to the fact that I only had an hour and half to work I wasn't able to draw them all... 

These are the ones I went with: 

This was so much fun! Unfortunately I forgot to hit the record button when streaming today, so there isn't any video for those who missed it... but I'll try to remember to record next time! 

Also, if I drew your words and you want a copy of the illustration for printing
 I'm taking $5 paypal donations in exchange for a high res file!  
 

All sketches fit on a 8.5x11" nicely. Be sure to let me know which illustration was yours in the check out! If I didn't draw your words but you still want one of the drawings, thats fine too ;) 
 

I'm still taking requests for next week, and I'll try to fit in a few that I wasn't able to draw this time too. Feel free to comment below with your two words for drawings!

To close this post out - here is a goofy quick doodle I did for my friend Katie. She is researching tween interests for pattern design, and when she told me about it I kept picturing her hiding out at the mall in safari clothes observing teeny boppers like National Geographic! hahahah... I can't wait to see the cool stuff she illustrates for her designs. I told her to draw Justin Beiber! ;)

Hope you guys enjoyed the live drawing demo today - and if you have any suggestions or comments on it please let me know! I'm trying to decide if the 1-2:30 pm ET time is good or not - feedback would be awesome!

More wallpapers, July's sponsors and more!

So here is the other desktop I promised, for those of you who aren't digging Katy Perry or live where its not summery... a cute little gal in rain boots... I've really been wishing for rain lately (I get so tired of the heat!) so that is what inspired this doodle. I'm looking forward to fall so I can wear comfy sweaters and stompy rain boots.

This is for personal desktop/iPhone use only and not to be edited for any other purposes! 

1900x1200 | 1600x1200 | 1280x1024 | iPhone

 

I also should point out that there are three lovely new ads on my blog now... I'm really excited to have these fun shops sponsoring my blog this month! Check them out:

      

A little about July's sponsors:

Zambicandy has adorable apparel, rings, necklaces and more
Monkeeboo is filled with cute cozy scarves and is offering free shipping to anywhere in the US if you mention "San" when you check out... 
and Julie Peach has awesome journals, art and home items with a handmade touch. 

Annnnd - If you missed it last week, you can check out almost all of the live drawing demo recorded on my Ustream page here. I worked almost 2 hours longer than I originally planned because I was trying to finish up a drawing for my boyfriend's birthday. Above is a peek at it - little Totoro on a bicycle with Catbus in the background! I'll be sharing the final illustration later this week. :)

Other news: I'm working really hard right now to bring some great items to my etsy and I'm looking forward to sharing about that hopefully around Friday. It looks like I'm going to have prints, stickers, journals, stamps and jewelry this go around! Maybe even some apparel - I'll have to see how the pricing pans out... Also, I should finally be announcing my contest this week! I just need to finish figuring out the details on that... Until then - Hope you guys had a great weekend and see you next post!