Illustration can be applied in so many fun and interesting ways. Here are a few of my recent works.
Illustrative Series
Visual Narrative - Always
A visual design project rendered in acrylic paints, photographed, and then set to music.
It tells the story of two unlikely friends and the beauty of having a true friend, no matter how different he or she may be.
Aesop's Fables
I have always enjoyed Aesop's fables, especially their frequent use of anthropomorphized animals. For this series I wanted to use the fables as my theme; however, my other goal was to select fables that were less well-known. Certain fables, such as the Tortoise and the Hare, are commonly featured, so I wanted my fable selections to be unique while still featuring animals I would enjoy designing.
These were rendered in Tayasui Sketches app on iPad for display at the Fishers Art Gallery in Fishers Indiana in 2020.
Digital Narrative - Ready Cat in "Superhero"
This was a project for my digital narrative class at Grace College, Winona Lake, Indiana. I was to develop an illustrative story that used sequential images to create a narrative. The main catch was that I had to used minimal to no text - the story had to be communicated through visuals. Ready Cat was my "superhero" identity when I was a child, so I decided to use this idea of childhood innocence and imagination to build my story off of.
Comic Strip: Pet Tails
This was a project for the Sounding Board Newspaper at Grace College, Winona Lake, Indiana. This comic follows the adventures of the three pet characters, Pepper, Faith, and Cricket.
Pepper the orange tabby cat is the baby of the trio and the (self-appointed) boss. She’s somewhat cocky and overly confident, but isn’t as brave and tough as she thinks she is. Though she would never admit it, she really cares about her “big sisters.”
Faith the beagle; is the “middle child.” She doesn’t always get along with Pepper, and is probably the most down-to-earth of the group. She tends to be on the receiving end of Pepper’s teasing, but when push comes to shove she’s always there for her kitty “sisters.”
Cricket the calico is the oldest. She is sweet but a little absent-minded and vain. While she and Pepper sometimes annoy each other, they usually get along well as “sisters.” She and Faith have a neutral relationship, and unlike Pepper she hardly ever goes out of her way to annoy the dog. She usually tries to stay out of Pepper and Faith’s arguments (or perhaps she just doesn’t notice that they’re happening...).
Books
Fur, Feathers & Fangs: My Friends at the Zoo
This coloring book was my final project in my senior-year Advanced Illustration course. My task was to create an illustrated project and to have it professionally printed by the local print shop. This was a huge project that was to combine all of my gained knowledge and apply it towards a finished, portfolio-worthy project. As of the time the course started, I had approximately five weeks to finish my project and send it to the printer; this forced me to work diligently to meet my deadline.
Because of my love of animals, I decided to create a zoo-themed coloring book. I wanted it to be engaging and educational, so I included information about the seven animals featured and had BrushHound Beagle talking to the reader all throughout the book.
All images were rendered digitally on an iPad. Coloring pages and other linework were created in Adobe Draw, and all color-renders were done in Tayasui Sketches. The final project was formatted in Adobe InDesign CC and professionally printed.
Wildlife Wonders
I created this coloring book as a personal project. It contains all seven of the coloring pages from Fur, Feathers, and Fangs, but has a simpler layout and an added 25 animal species.
While I did feature the standard wild animal choices like elephants and giraffes, I also featured animals less commonly seen in coloring books such as weasels, jaguars, and porcupines. I feel that having a wide variety of animal species makes the coloring book more interesting and appealing to children.
Meep's First Flight
For my senior practicum with my Creative Writing minor, I had to create some sort of portfolio piece. I decided to tie my written piece in with my major and create an illustrated story, specifically a comic. This story is based off of a project I had created in high school, but this time refined with the writing and illustrative skills I had gained throughout college.
This story is about a little bird named Meep and his adventures on his first flight. It incorporates a quirky sense of humor and visual irony to entertain the reader and make the story accessible to young and old alike.
The illustrations were rendered in chalk pastel and edited in Adobe Photoshop. The final layout was created in InDesign.
The images below are just a sampling of three of the pages in the story; the entire story is 24 pages long (excluding the cover).
Meep's First Flight, Page 2 - Mama Meep and Papa Meep have different opinions on parenting.
Meep's First Flight, Page 10 - If you need directions, it's best not to ask a chicken for help.
Meep's First Flight, Page 15 - Meep finds the pond, but watch out! It's getting close to bedtime!
Contact
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Please contact me and we can discuss options available.
- BrushHound