Random People

Been working my butt off. Here's a sneak peek at various components of a recent project. Stay tuned for details!

Illustration Friday: Phenomenon

This week's word for Illustration Friday is Phenomenon. I have been enthralled with the story of Anastasia since I was a little girl. I still am. Anastasia Romanov was the most mischievous of Nicholas' daughters. Their family was murdered in 1918 by forces of the Bolshevik secret police. It was believed that Anastasia and Alexei escaped the slaughter because their bodies were not found with the family- sparking a worldwide phenomenon of various loons pretending to be the heir to the throne. It was only in 2009, thanks to DNA, they were finally accounted for- they did, in fact, die with the family but were buried in a separate grave. So tragic.

I've overlapped a hint of Ravel's Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess.) I love playing that one on the piano- some of the most beautiful music ever written.

Happy Holidays

Our Christmas Card for 2010! Happy Holidays to all my blog friends.

Illustration Friday: Prehistoric

Boy, I hope she had a good personality. The Venus of Willendorf, also known as the Woman of Willendorf, is a 4.3" statuette estimated to have been made between 22,000 B.C.E. and 21,000 B.C.E out of oolitic limestone. She was discovered in 1908 near a village in lower Austria. Her name is kind of funny because she predates the mythological figure of Venus by millennia. The original has no face, so I took the liberty of adding one. I imagine if ol' V of W could speak- she's say something like "get me more ribs".

Big news... HUGE.

I got one of the greatest freelance jobs ever...
This is a viral demo/promo/sweeptstakes for Dell computers. I was responsible for all illustrations- and that is my only photogenic body part (my left arm) demonstrating the software. What an amazing experience.

Illustration Friday: Savour

The most prolific female serial killer of all time... we think. Elizabeth Bathory liked to play with her food before she ate it. What began with severe beatings to her servants led to a very dark road into the occult and human sacrifice. She would seek out torture devices in Venice that allowed her to extract the most blood possible from a body in her lust to drink and bathe in it. Savouring every drip. Torture methods included starvation, mutilation, star-kicking, the iron maiden, and skin peeling.

Stories passed on through the generations claimed that she tortured and killed exactly 650 female victims. This was all written down in a book- but that book was never found.

I think it's safe to say, Bathory was a sociopath.

Illustration Friday: Sneaky

Sarah Hussey was born rich, so of course- poor-ish nobles were lining up for her hand in marriage. She ended up marrying George Carpenter- the Earl of Tyrconnel. He had already been married, but quickly swept that under the carpet. Sarah was quite bored with her old husband and began partying and boyfriend-hunting. She hit the jackpot in 1788 when she began an affair with Prince Frederick, Duke of York. The press had a field day and like an 18th century version of the Lohans... Sarah's father and brother were quite proud of the attention she was getting(creepy.) Frederick broke off the affair a year later, much to the dismay of the Hussey men.

Sarah moved on, and had another affair with John, Earl of Strathmore. Once again, satirical prints loved the  little Countess' affair and publicized it mercilessly. But this time- it was different- Sarah was in love. She packed up, left poor George and ran away with John to live in sin. Pretty sneaky aye?  She died at the age of 37 from a very bad cold. She is buried in Westminster Abbey.

They Draw & Cook Holiday Recipe Contest.

Here is my submission for the holiday contest at They Draw And Cook. There's money to be had- so if you haven't checked it out--- GO FOR IT. Anyone can enter.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Forgot to add this...

Just got back from my Chicago trip- can't wait to post a link for what I was working on--- an interactive, fully illustrated story for a Dell Computer Commercial- they filmed me drawing! Strange and wonderful.

Anyhoo... Forgot to mention that the lovely and talented Salli S. Swindell brought me a much treasured autograph from another one of my favorite illustrators... Mr. Michael Robertson.
I shall treasure it always... :) I Love all my blog friends.

Blog Family Ties.

I had the amazing pleasure of meeting a couple of our blog family's royalty tonight...
I've been saying all week that the stars are aligned above Chicago- and they truly are. I flew in Monday and it just so happens that Super Salli and Nate the Great were here too.

Good times, many many laughs...  I wish I brought a camera.

I'm flattered to be a part of They Draw and Cook- so meeting them was like meeting a couple of rock stars.
And just for the record- Salli has AMAZING jewelry. Just Sayin'

Deborah Mori's name came up quite a bit. I think Salli & Deborah might have been cut from the same mold. Were your ears ringing???

I can't wait to meet more of you...

-Lisa

Illustration Friday: Afterwards

Anne of Brittany led a very sad life... she gave birth 14 times, but only 2 survived childhood. She died of a kidney stone attack at the Chateau of Blois in the winter of 1514. AFTERWARDS- they mourned the queen for 40 days (inspiring all future French royal funerals until the 18th century) and per her will-  Anne's heart was placed in a raised enamel gold reliquary. It is currently in the Dobrée Museum in Nantes.

Although she had many admirable qualities as a patron of the arts and Queen... I find the fact that she wore white to her 3rd wedding the most impressive.

"I'm not drinking any f'ing Merlot"

Holy Mixed Media! Watercolor, ink, colored pencil, digital overlays, and grapes OH MY!

Trick or Treat

These designs were rejected or revised- so I think its ok to peek. Gives you an idea of the fun things I get to work on. Have a great weekend everyone. 

23 Illustrations in 2 days with 2 kids.

One of my clients gave me a very specific list of 15 editorial illustrations... i.e "girl in hospital bed", "setting the table", etc. Unfortunately I had to put it off until the last minute - and - HORROR - had to ask for a 1 day deadline extension. In the same 2 days, I worked on 8 new product designs  (which I cannot show yet) so all in all, a very productive week. I am really REALLY really looking forward to our vacation. Whew. Now I have to move on to Motorcycle Shop postcards, a cheese shop logo and a Border Patrol shirt. Hmph.

busy busy busy.

My 5 top clients all gave me projects at the same time with the same deadline and then a rush project (less than 24 hours) plopped on my plate a day later. I'm so happy to be busy- but in desperate need of a real vacation. It's been 6 years.

An illo that's still in progress for one of my favorite clients.

Illustration Friday: Old Fashioned

What can I say... I just can't resist sketching royalty. An old-fashioned case of "Poor Little Rich Girl". An unhappy princess unless she was traveling- Sisi was also known as the Wandering Empress or the White Lady.

Great Story

I was asked to do an illustration to accompany a story for December's issue of Sparkle Magazine. You'll have to read the article to appreciate this sweet story about a little girl and her grandmother. To learn more about Sparkle, visit their website HERE.

Illustration Friday: PROVERB

I'm on a roll with the controversial historical figures... this week's word for Illustration Friday is Proverb.

Illustration Friday: DESSERT

This is my concept for this week's word: dessert. I immediately thought of Marie Antoinette and had so much fun drawing her. Sofia Coppola's take on this queen is excellent. Click HERE to learn more about the movie. Click HERE to get to illustration Friday.

Smories!!! Hooray!

One of my little stories was selected for filming on the smories site. Please go to this LINK to view "The Queen of Tarts vs. The Queen of Farts". The most viewed Smory wins a prize! Watch, send to friends... help a girl out! Mama needs some new shoes! You can also click the photo to go straight to my smory.
Thanks!

Editorial illustration

Working on an editorial illo for a girls magazine. The red team is not prepared for a hike.
Adding some little illos to go with the piece- a map, flashlight, backpack, etc.

Dance Dance Dance

these are DVD covers for one of my favorite clients. View her website here. We get to work together on all the fun stuff: ballerinas, tap dancers, recital pages, etc.

Among other things...

I wear many hats. Doing so is a like going on a first day every day, however, product development/gift design is my first and true love. Halloween and Garden are my favorite. I love creating the shape, format, and concept for a new gift as well as generating illustrations, setting type, and choosing colors that will help it jump off the gift shop shelves. The industry took a hit with the bad economy, but I think it's back on track now. 

I've been around the world... and I always come back to it. ahhhhh. 

Logos on the fly...

Worked on some logo ops for a new friend. Great name and I always thought it would be fun to work on a bakery logo. This was my first round of quick concepts. Which one do you like?

Illustration Friday: Artificial

Had a little fun with this one- went outside the usual kid-friendly stuff.
To view other entries for this word, visit the illustration friday blog HERE.

It's here!

I joined the Sketchbook project. Very exciting stuff. I received my moleskin sketchbook in the mail on Friday and I've begun the process of transforming this little book into something I think is worth going on a nationwide tour. I've started by covering it with an ivory and black textured paper- where it goes from here, I  do not know.

I chose the theme "Make mine a double" which sets me up for some witchy magic. Stay tuned.

Kids Draw and Cook

My little Buzz was the first entry at Salli & Nate's new blog Kids Draw & Cook. They were kind enough to send us this amazing cookbook illustrated by Salli along with some excellent mini cooking tools. Someone was very happy to get a package in the mail (Finn too!) Thank you Salli!

Illustration Friday: DOUBLE

This week's theme for Illustration Friday is "Double". The moment I decided to work on an entry, my 3-year-old daughter went from playing nicely with her princess costumes to a screaming witch in a matter of seconds. I would complain, but she got it from her mother.

This is the first time in months that I haven't digitally colored an illustration. This was done with watercolors, colored pencils, and a lovely new pen that I bought this morning.

They Draw & Cook new entry

I did this for Nate and Salli's recipe blog (which is amazing- if you haven't checked it out, you should be ashamed of yourself!). This is a bastardized version of my mother's recipe... or should I say "baconized" version. The more fat, the merrier is what I always say.

Illustration Friday: BREAKFAST

This was just a quick, silly illustration. I decided to give myself a one hour break from a brain-drain project to come up with something for this week's theme.

Keep your eyes peeled...

Would you believe its almost time for Halloween product to hit the shelves??? OutRAGEous! I love it. Halloween has become my favorite holiday for so many reasons. I can't help but run to the store to purchase Martha Stewart's October issue of Living every year!

I know its early- but keep your eyes peeled for some of my new designs coming out this fall. I'll be the weirdo beaming in the corner of the store like a slightly damaged light bulb.

The line includes wine glasses, snack trays, appetizer plates, plaques, aprons, dishcloths, cards, charms, and more.

out and about.

I was shopping with my mom in a little boutique on Cape Cod when I spotted Diane Duda's work from across the store! I was so excited- this one came home with us. Congrats Diane! the line looks amazing.

 Visit her blog HERE.

Illustration Friday: DIARY

I've always kept journals/diaries. I remember one journal being completely dedicated to the notion that I should be the next "Annie" with all the lyrics to every song carefully written out- with special emphasis on "Maybe". Ahhh... a tortured (ahem... dramatic) soul even at the age of 9.

Happy Birthday

My first-born son is 13 years old today. Which I think makes him about 74 in dog years. I picked him out at a shelter- 500 dogs to choose from back then. He looked like a pint of Guinness - so there was an immediate love! lol. He's been with me through thick and thin, good times, bad times,  at least 3 fiancés, dozens of boyfriends, city life, country life, marriage, kids... New York City, Westchester, Upstate NY, and now Massachusetts. He also came very close to being a New Zealand citizen.

He goes by Josh, Sir Josh-A-Lot, Joshmeister General, Josh-wosh-oo-wah, Joshy, Joshonater, Snoop Doggy Josh and Shnookems. He protects my children- and he's never destroyed anything- not a single shoe, toy, clothes, etc. Nothing. He is truly the best friend I've ever had.

Happy Birthday Josh.

Lobstahhhhh.

Did this for a great client. If the party were here in Massachusetts, I might have gone in the direction of "serving up wicked pissah lobstahhh... fresh from Cape Cawd."

Illustration Friday: GIANT

Yup. At a party--- found out too late that my dress was tucked in to my underwear. GIANT MORON. This situation could have been much worse. Luckily, I just made a bunch of people laugh. Good times. Good times.

Recent work.

Some projects I've been working on. Branding information has been removed- but you get the idea. Fun stuff. 

Illustration Friday: SATELLITE.

My oh-so-dreamy satellite office location...

Advertising hat.

This was presented to a national brand for possible use on a mural, along with 10+ other illustrations. *Fingers crossed*

Bears in space...

this was recently rejected from a client- but I think I still want to go forward with this as a portfolio piece. Every time I look at it, I think of the muppets "pigs in space" clips and start laughing.

little girls, little girls, everywhere I look I see little girls...

Gotta love Mrs. Hannigan. :) Just did these this week for a client.