new moly exchange 69, work in progress

I am participating in a new moly exchange, Moly x 69. The theme of the moly is William Shakespeare. I just started my piece and here is a sneak peak. It's still a work in progress. I decided to do a conceptual portrait of Lady Macbeth. I recently went to see the opera Macbeth and the character of Lady Macbeth made a strong impression on me. I really wanted to do something with her. Because of the small size of the moleskin, I decided to do a portrait. Well lots of more work to do!

Clud de dessin challenge: Detective

I participate in this illustration challenge blog called "Notre club de dessin" (our drawing club)
This week the theme was Detective. I decided to do a portrait of one of my favorite detective; Hercules Poirot from Agatha Christie's books. I did some research on the character and found this phrase that really inspired me:
"Poirot has dark hair, which he dyes later in life and green eyes that are repeatedly described as shining "like a cat's" when he is struck by a clever idea."
So I decided to go with that idea.
Really quick sketch and always fun to do ! Hope you like it!

ps: I did 2 versions and you can see them and the illustrations of the rest of the club on the Notre club de dessin blog

ps: You can also see my take on a previous challenge here, the theme was Poe.

Big Illustration Party time

I have recently found this podcast that is really great. It's called Big Illustration Party Time and is hosted by 2 illustrators/ comic artists, Kevin Cross and Joshua Kemble. Even if the comic industry and style is not a big interest of mine, this podcast has been very inspiring and instructive. The 2 hosts speak about their experiences has freelance illustrators and cover various extremely important topics, like pricing, contracts and promo. Plus, they give great advice on printers, products and other useful resources. Check their podcast and blog to find more great resources.

moly x 70: mail art no 2

Here is my envelope with Racheal's moly for moly x 70. I had a lot of fun creating this envelope. And I'm really happy with the results. It has great impact. Like last time, I used a cereal box to do this envelloppe. Recycling is important to me and I love the cardboard texture and color.

If you want to learn more about this, here is an excerpt form my blog:
"The other day I was surfing trough various blogs and I found this tutorial on Trans-Canada Etsy Team's blog on Making Your Own Mailer from Cereal Boxes or in this case granola bar boxes."


I also found this book about Mail me art. It is called Mail me art, going postal with ..
They are open for entries and I think I"m going to participate. Could be fun !
Since this is their second round, I wanted to know if any of you have heard form this book or have any feedback on this project. Thanks!

Tutorial: How to do photocopy transfer

Do you remember my "I little bit of lingerie" illustration. If not, you can see it here.
The lace background was done with photocopies transfers. I wanted to share this technique with you. It's very useful but I bit smelly because of the acetone.
So here is what you need
- acetone
- a photocopy ( color or black and white)
- a piece of paper ( the photocopy will be transferred on it) ( in this case, I'm using tracing paper because it creates almost perfect transfer. Textured paper give a lest clean result. Just try it to see the difference)
- scotch tape
- a metal spoon ( or any metal object)



Here is a video I made to show you the whole process. It's very simple. Take your photocopy, place the photocopied side toward the paper. You can take color photocopies or black and white photocopies. Both work but some color don't transfer as well, like yellow. Take a natural fiber brush. This one is made out of pork hair and it's very cheap. Acetone will melt plastic brushes.
Dip your brush in the acetone and brush your photocopy after taping it. Apply pressure. Be careful not to put too much acetone or your transfer will diffuse and be a bit blurry. To make the transfer perfect, I apply pressure with a metal object, in this case a spoon. And voila, you are done.
Don't forget that the type of paper will also change the quality of your transfer.
Hope it help and that you will have fun trying this technique
Don't forget to close the acetone otherwise you will get a headache, it's pretty toxic!

my process, step by step

A lot of people ask me about my process. How do I create my images ? So to help you better understand my process, I decided to show you my process step-by-step with these photos. Here you can see how I created my Pierrot illustration for moly x 70.

First, I do a rough sketch of what I want to create


Then, I find images in books or on the internet and print them in various sizes. I cut them and try to find the right ones for the illustration.


I clue the chosen pieces


I blend everything with white gouache


I start inking everything up with all my favorite pens ( find out more about the pens I use here )

half the inking is done


Time to add the last touches


done !

well I hope this answers all your question about how I create my images.
You can see the final piece here

moly x 70: entry no 2

Last week, I receive my first moly in the mail. It was Racheal's moly form moly x 70.
This is so exciting, feels like Christmas. Racheal had done a piece on the moon and stars. So inspired by the song "Au clair de la lune", I decided to do a Pierrot. I love Pierrot, so beautiful and sad at the same time.
Hope you like it!

ps: since a lot of you have been asking about my process, I decided to show it to you. While I was doing this illustration, I took photos at every step. I will be posting them shortly

Fell in love with a postcard

I don't know if you remember my illustration "Heart attack". It's a piece I did in my old sketchbook about 2 hearts. Well I decided to rework the whole piece and to transform it into a promotional postcard. Here's the result. Hope you like it!
ps. I like the result and I think I'll do a serie of 3 on the heart theme. It's simple and fun

moly x 68: in the mail

The other day I was surfing trough various blogs and I found this tutorial on Trans-Canada Etsy Team's blog on Making Your Own Mailer from Cereal Boxes or in this case granola bar boxes. I'm all about being green so I decided to give this great idea a try. So this envelope is the product of my test. As usual, I did a little bit of mail art on my enveloppe, but only on one side this time around because the postman didn't know where to put the stamps last time.
I really like the cranola box enveloppe, like the color and fell of it.. and of course the fact that it help the planet a little bit.
So moly x 68 is now ready to go in the mail. Bye bye little moleskine!
ps: you can follow the progress of the sketchbook exchange Moly x 68 on its blog

A great resource for business tips

I found this great blog... that is not about illustration ( sorry to all illustration's fans) but about business and marketing. I read this blog religiously everyday and have found it to be a great resource for all self-employed or business starters out there. The Modish Biz Tips covers many subjects like marketing tips, etsy tips and doing your home website tips that are focus on creative business ( like photographers, illustrators, graphic designers). Just to give you an example, their latest post was a link to a Free Etsy Sucess book. In addition, it also features showcases of sucess stories that are sure to inspire you. Hope it helps. I just wanted to share this amazing resource with you.

zodiac: taurus

New piece for the Zodiac series: Taurus. So far, I have done Libra, Pisces, Leo, Cancer and Sagitarius. Now with Taurus, I'm half way done. Yeah! I really love doing this serie. It's fun, creative and I feel like I can really do whatever I want.
So to all the taurus out there, happy birthday ( a special happy birthday to my "Abuelita" ( grand-mother in spanish) who is no longer with us. but was a very special taurus to me.

DIY Chain stich sketchbook

After being inspired by my post on homemade sketchbook, I decided to create my own. I took a old children book that I found at a yard sale for a quarter and various scrap papers I had at home. I think it turned out pretty good. For the binding, I used a chain stitch binding. I followed this tutorial and also viewed this video. It really was a fun project and I intend to redo it soon !

Moly x 68: first entry

Last week, I was invited by Kelley to join the sketchbook exchange Moly x 68. And I was trilled to accept her invitation. The theme of the exchange is Pin ups. I have been wanting to work with lace for a moment now and this felt like the perfect occasion. I did some acetone transfers with red photocopies of lace for the pattern in the first pages. Acetone transfert is always risky and you never know what your are going to get but it turned out pretty well. Now the sketchbook only needs its envelope and its going in the mail. Have nice trip masked pin up !
ps. You can follow the exchange on its blog.