THE MARVELOUS NATIVE PLANTS OF NYC
This started out as a very different idea and meandered into a deep fascination of mine, native plant species of my home, New York City. I have always had a great time amusing myself and bothering those around me with plant identification as we walk around this city…or really any city. I don’t know why, I just love knowing what’s around me and all the weird creatures that live in and around these plants. I like thinking about how they used to grow here before taxis and roads and buildings. How they have found a way to adjust and thrive even among the cars and smog and trash tornados. There’s something ancient and awesome about these plants, the way they continue to offer their beauty and utility no matter how much pavement we dump on them.
This illustration features many of my favorites, I love them for their shapes and colors and their super-cool medicinal uses. Next time you see them, say hey for me!
From Left to Right: Cherry Tree / Butterfly Weed / Goldenrod / Jimson Weed / Blue Lupine / Aster / Elder / Milkweed / Cinnamon Fern.
WIZARDS AND WITCHES MOUNTAIN RETREAT
Fictional client, Camp Cloakwood hosts the annual Wizard and Witches Mountain Retreat. Through School of Motion’s course, Illustration for motion, I created style frames for their summer promo to attract young magical folk to their autumn getaway. This series of frames was the final project for the course, incorporating all the techniques and creativity cultivated by instructor, Sarah Beth Morgan.
I have been designing my own assets for motion for several years but never really felt like I knew what I was doing. Sometimes I could tell that things were working or not working and could sort of figure out why but I wanted to build a foundation to really understand and grow in illustration. This class was the ticket!
I’ve included my process as a slideshow for each image (even embarrassing reference photos that I took myself!) Scroll through to see my process.
NORMAL COFFEE
Another fun exercise in Illustration for Motion was to create styleframes for a coffee/donut shop. This is probably the assignment where I felt the first big boost in my skill because the project involved… characters [panic intensifies]. The fictional client also threw a curveball mid-way and changed the gender and race of our character. It was really difficult but the difference between my initial sketches and the final product was very satisfying!
GRANDMA’S KITCHEN
These styleframes are for a(nother) fictional company via School of Motion, called Grandma’s Kitchen. It’s a protein shake company with a focus on good tasting homecooked flavors.
