San Smith

Art update: Kerorican, Marceline + commissions

A quick little art update for this week... first off - if you're going to San Diego Comic Con, go check out the "Girls Drawing Girls" booth and pick up their latest book (with my artwork inside!!)

I wont be there unfortunately, but tons of other talented ladies will be running the booth! :) Go here to find out who will be working at the booth and what stuff they will have!

 

And now onto some current work... Above are some logo sketches I did for a company called "Tokyo Cutie". They wanted everything to be hand drawn instead of using an existing font which was a little challenging for me but I enjoyed the work. Actually, I got so caught up in the letter designs that I accidentally added an extra "O" to one of them! Hahaha - Tokoyo Cutie it said. It's fixed now, but I thought that was kinda funny. :)

Here are the three finals that we came up with together. I think it's kinda interesting that so many of my clients like pink and turquoise together - I can't complain, I like it too! I think my favorite is the 3rd one... I don't have a link to their store yet, but when it's up and running I'll be sure to share! It sounds like it's going to sell super cute stuff!!

Above and below is some fan art I did during warm up sketches this week... The frog girl is "Rhyme Rider Kerorican" (ライムライダー・ケロリカン) from an old wonderswan game. I love her goofy helmet - she's like a cute astronaut dancer girl. You can watch some of the game play here - it's a wacky rhythm game. It's not totally finished - I need to add the detail to the heart in her stomach, but over all I like it! I didn't plan on coloring this sketch as much as I did. :)

The robot looking girl is an action figure I own... the character is "Fei Yen Kn" from the arcade Virtual On, but it's her as a tiger robot instead of her typical pink sailor moon-esque look. I don't remember the game being particularly fun, I just liked the design of the character and wanted to draw her because of all the little parts - I might finish it later and color it!

More warm up doodles - here are some plans I made for the Marceline (Adventure Time) costume I want to make for Dragon*Con! I haven't made a costume this elaborate in a while, so I'm kinda excited! I figured out cost of materials and how to make the guitar based on this deviant art entry, and I think it shouldn't be too bad! The main item making the cost so high right now are the red cowboy boots I've been pining after for a year - I would love to get them but if it doesn't fit in my budget before September I might have to pass!

 

It's been a ridiculously busy week for me but I managed to sneak away for lunch with my mom today... I almost said no due to my workload, but I hadn't seen her in over a month! My aunt and my mom's fiance's granddaughter joined us. This is what I wore... and here is a peek at the cute lunch counter:

Oh and check out this awesome Creative Loafing newspaper mailbox! I love the tiger - too funny!! Well back to work I must go - hope you guys have a great weekend!!

PS - If you'd like to hire me for a commission...

- portraits, logos, web banners, or whatever else you need illustrated -

Send me an email! san@san-smith.com

I'll be taking new projects on 2-3 weeks and would love to get something lined up for you!

Art update: Harry Potter sketch + recent commissions

 

"Luna had decorated her bedroom ceiling with five beautifully painted faces: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville. They were not moving as the portraits at Hogwarts moved, but there was a certain magic about them all the same: Harry thought they breathed. What appeared to be fine golden chains wove around the pictures, linking them together, but after examining them for a minute or so, Harry realized that the chains were actually one word, repeated a thousand times in golden ink: friends... friends... friends..."

I'm so excited to share this drawing I made this for my friend Lillian! It's the mural Luna Lovegood painted on her ceiling in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", which is why it's signed with her name. :) Lillian is recreating the Lovegood house as a wearable costume... and will be putting the mural inside when it is complete. She is still tinkering away on it though, so I'll share pics of her creation next week! 

Here is the original sketch I did for this. I focused on doing this in a simple and slightly messy manner so it would look like Luna really did paint it on her ceiling. I'm very pleased with how it turned out! I might put a few prints of it in my etsy shop... would you guys be interested in that?

 

Here are some other commissions I've been finishing up. This one was a portrait of the lovely miss Hannah and her cute pup, which happens to look a lot like my dog!! Hooray for pudgy cute chihuahuas <3

She picked the sketch on the right but had me change the dog's pose. I think my favorite part of this is her tattoo - I had a lot of fun drawing that! 

Last but not least, here is a web banner I did for Jaclyn Michele's blog, "A little bit hippie". She had an image she found online and liked, but wanted me to expand on the idea to make it look more personal. I think my favorite part of this drawing was figuring out how I wanted to do the rainbow. I can't wait to see it up on her blog! 

Off to bed I go - I can't wait to go see the new Harry Potter film!!

Art update: Girls drawing girls book + Costume sketches

 

A little art update for this week... First up - my mermaid piece for the Girls Drawin' Girls book is complete! For those who missed the post in April, here are the sketches and concept work for this illustration. It was inspired by vintage photos of girls dressed as mermaids at Disneyland in the 60's!

I'm so excited to be a part of the Girls Drawin' Girls Vol. 4 book!! Some of my favorite illustrators are also in the book so I can't wait to get a copy and look through it all. 

If you'd like to get your own book, the GDG blog has a pre-sale page up and if you order early you get a pin-up bookplate with your purchase! Click the below image to read more info on the Girls Drawing Girls Vol. 4 book and how to buy it:

 

I also thought I'd share some sketches I did the other day. Sometimes I get wacky ideas for costumes I'd like to make... And before I start sewing, I sketch out the concept to see what I'd have to buy and how involved the design is. Recently I was kicking around the idea of making a Harley Quinn themed romper for Dragon*con! 

I really like the idea that I came up with - it would be so simple and comfy to run around in! I decided not to make it though because I didn't think I'd wear it more than once. My concept though involved a simple halter romper working with the tattoo I have on my arm, chunky white plastic bracelets with black squiggles of rhinestones, possibly a blond wig, black heart shaped sunglasses and some cute platform 50's style shoes.

I daydream about costume ideas a lot... Also, outfits to sew! I guess that sewing still lingers in the back of my head even though I stopped doing it many years ago. Here is another rough sketch I did a while back of some Noa costumes (from the comic "Sky Doll"). I was really excited to make them because the designs were so creative - but once I drew out all the pieces for the 3 different outfits I decided it was too much to do! These days, if I do sew anything I like to keep it simple so I can focus more on having fun.

Do you like to sew or sketch outfit ideas?

Art update: latest commissions

I've been a busy busy bee lately, and I thought it was about time I did an art update post to share some of the stuff I've been working on in May! Above are sketches for a web banner for Suzanna of Zannidify...

And here is the final that Suzanna went with! The pattern tiled in the background is also something I illustrated - you can see it below! And if you'd like to visit Suzanna's blog, it's http://zannidify.blogspot.com/ - she doesn't have the banner up yet though!

Above are sketches I did for website icons for L'Erin... I ran into her a few months ago at the post office and she told me she liked my blog...and then ended up emailing me about a project later on! Small world!! You can see not a lot changed from the sketches except the twitter birds - that became a little more realistic.

Here are the finals! I don't have a link to her blog yet because it's still being created... but it looks like it's going to be great so far from what I've seen!

More after the cut!

Art update: "Bunnies and Bows" girl

 

My friend Michelle asked me recently if I'd like to contribute art to her Bunnies and Bows show in LA - and here is what I made for it! I really want the outfit I gave her... haha - the shoes too! Fashion dreaming through drawing.

A framed metallic print will be for sale at the show, and I'll also be doing a limited run of giclee prints for sale on my etsy... I'll post more about that in a few days!

 

I planned most of this out last week - It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do, but the fun part is it left me with a lot of sketches to share! The sketch on the upper right with the giant carrot was my favorite, but it didn't fit well with the paper size I wanted so I decided to save it for another day. 

I think these were the worst ideas of the bunch... but it's always good to get that sort of stuff out of your system while working.

Just when I was getting frustrated on ideas, I decided to doodle a retro playboy bunny and give my brain a break... and then after that I finally came up with the idea I wanted to do! 

While I was working on all of this, I was trying to capture a feeling of Playboy Bunnies from the 60's and Pin-up Girls mixed with Lady Lovely Locks from the 80's... I really loved that toy and all her cute clip in animal hair accessories - which reminds me a bit of Michelle! Probably because of all the pastel rainbow hair colors and all the animals had little bows :)

If you live near Los Angeles, you should come check out the show on May 7th!! You can read more about it here. Take pics and send me some... I really wish I could go but I'm not able to travel there at this time. Another day! :)