Caro's Design

Alinea Collective: Interview with Mélanie Foster

2012-01-12T09:29:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, I had mention the intention of creating a illustrators' collective.
Well, I have been working on this idea really hard and the collective is starting to take shape. The name of the collective is Alinea and we are still looking for members. If you want to join, contact me.

For the moment, I would like to introduce to you one of the members of the collective.
Her name is Mélanie Foster and she is a very talented illustrator from Québec, Canada and the co-founder of our illustrator Alinea.
Here is an interview of Mélanie, where she reveals a little about herself.

Interview with Mélanie Foster, illustrator and member of Alinea

Can you tell us a little about your work as an illustrator?

I think that the work of an illustrator is to give the viewer an emotion through a very special art vehicule : illustration. The colors, shapes, transparency and composition come as one and can be interpreted in many ways by people watchering the illustration.

How did you find your style?
I have always loved materials, drawing and painting. At university, I could adapt to any style of illustration but I didn’t have a real personal style and technical skills. When I decided to be a professional illustrator, I had to do a lot of research to find my style. In the end, I decided to work principally with vectors, after few years of experiments with paint and other materials. I also love illustrating faces and living beings. Sometimes I still use traditional techniques but I prefer to work with vectors.

Can you explain your process ?
In the beginning, I search for artists that I love and I group words, sentences and images that inspire me. Then I draw about ten sketches to find original ideas and compositions. After that, I take pictures of persons and objects to help me to draw my illustration. I make a first photomontage in Photoshop with the principal colors. I draw versions in black and white and in colors. Then I scan my images and I begin my work with vectors. I trace the outlines, then I add colors and I use Photoshop again to incorporate textures to the final image.

What is the most important to you in your illustration work?
The most important thing to me is to see the result of my work and the happiness it brings to people. My style is in general very soft and includes many pastel colors. I think it’s important to find some lightness in every day.

What would be your dream job as an illustrator?
My dream is to only live from my illustration. I have studied in graphic design but I consider myself as an illustrator. I would like to work on children books projects and graphic novels. I like the imaginary of children stories.

Do you have any upcoming projects or plan?
I’ll work on my personal Web site for 2012. I also want to produce promotional objects. I’m in the early stage in the making of a graphic novel that I want to edit. I will participate in some exhibitions in the next months. Of course, the Alinea collective is going to keep me busy and it will give me a lot of good projects to work on.

Thanks Mélanie for the interview
You can more of Mélanie's work on her website: http://www.fostermelanie.blogspot.com/

I'm continuing with the adding color to the zodiac series

2011-11-15T18:22:00.000-08:00

I started adding color to the cancer sketch
But I'm a bit stuck
Here are my variation up to now
What do you think?

Zodiac serie - adding colors

2011-11-05T16:30:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to add colors to this series for a while
But I was totally stuck, I have done many versions and tried many different concept
but this is the one, i think, that I prefer.
Let me know what you think. Cuz I have been losing sleep over this one
I'm going to change the background. There's something to bugs me about it
but I think i'm on the right track.... or not??

New t-shirt for Threadless

2011-08-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

I have created a t-shirt design for Threadless's design chalenge against Gmo.
It was really fun to create.
I am having fun doing some other illustration styles. Vector illustration is just so quick to do!
I wanted elements of the t-shirts to be underground. Since with GMO all the troubles are in the earth.
Well tell me what you think? and please go vote for the t-shirt on Threadless

illustration friday: Swell

2011-08-15T04:18:00.000-07:00

This week's theme for illustration friday is Swell!
I decided to focus on the feeling of happiness even when things aren't so good.
So here is a little birdie that is happy to sing in the rain. Don't you love the rain when you new rain boots to try on!
it's all about being optimistic and see the good in every thing... something to keep in mind on this monday morning when I have to go to work after a too short wek end. I guess all is Swell!

As for the little dilemma: I decided to do a combo of both head, the eye of one and the black feather above the eye from the second one. What do you think?

need help, having a illustration dilemma

2011-08-13T18:15:00.000-07:00

option 1

option 2

I currently working on this week's illustration friday and i have found myself in a illustration dilemma.
I'm doing a little bird and I can figue out which eye fits best
Would you help me and tell me what you think?
I think option 2 fits more with the felling of happiness that i want my bird to have
but I think the bird in option 1 has more character and i like how the black line meets the eye
Any advice?
I'll keep working on it and keep you posted on the results

PaperWings podcast

2011-07-27T09:54:00.000-07:00

I have a lots of professional goals... a lot! And when I'm at work as a graphic designer, I often feel that I'm not doing enough to achieve those goals even if I work in a very creative and fun workplace. So to do more and feel inspired to do more, I listen to podcasts while a work. A lot of podcasts. They are not enough podcasts out there about illustration to fill my work week but the new PaperWings podcast is a great addition to the bunch. Created by Chris Oatley ( he also has another great podcast called The Chris Oatley Artcast, check it out) and by Lora Innes, this podcast focuses on helping visual storyteller reach their dreams. It's very well structured and gives great tips on how to organize your time and on what to focus. I really enjoy their list format where they explain the 10 things to keep in mind. They shows on Tips for achieving your dreams and Tips on time management that give out really good advice.

IF: gesture

2011-07-18T09:43:00.000-07:00

This week's theme is gesture. I created a while ago a pattern and I thaught it fited the theme perfectly. It deals with hand gesture in a different way. I use this pattern to make envellopes that fited my branding.
You can download them and use them if you wish. Here the link for the pdf version

ps: don't be scared by the google docs preview, the pattern is definetly there when you download and open the enveloppe on your computer

Squid longboard process

2011-07-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share with you the creative process behind the squid longboard I created for Amnesia.

I know I love seeing the process behind other illustrator's work, so I taught I would share mine.

This illustration started a simple and quick sketch. I drew the hole thing true to size and trying the place the different elements taking in consideration the chucks placement and the size of the longboard.

Then the sketch was scanned in multiple shots and reworked a bit in photoshop to check that everything was lined up correctly. I then retrace everything in illustrator. I know there's a vectorize command in Illustrator but I don't really trust it for my artwork. It makes to many points. So I retraced everything with the pen tool and added some photo references for elements that the clients ask me to make the background more full.

Then it was time to add the color. Lots of color!

And the final product was done

I'm really happy with the result. It was just so fun to make something real! I hope you like it!

New longboard

2011-06-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

I just created a longboard for the compagny Amnesia. They wanted a naval themed longboards for girls. When I saw the shape of the longboard, I just got this idea of a giant squid and immediatly stated drawing it. It turned out really great. It's so fun to work on an actual object.

I know this is a different illustration style from what I usually show on this blog. But I felt that this project needed something different.

For those of you that live in the province of Quebec, the longboard will be available in Amnesia stores really soon at a great prize

Here are some close up of the artwork. The client wanted lot of little details to make the board more fun. It was fun to create the different little faces of the mean fishes

I hope you like it!

Party invitation for my baby girl

2011-05-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

I know this isn't really related to illustration but I'm just so happy at the final result of my baby girl birthday invitation.
I create this invitation for her first birthday... can't believe she's already turning one.

This invite just makes me happy, it was so fun to do

Hope you like it

Just won the Art here contest

2011-05-11T03:34:00.000-07:00

HI everyone

I just wanted to mention that I am one of the winners of the Art Here contest organized by Newad.
You can check out the other winners at http://www.artici.ca/
There is some amazing art in there.
Thanks Newad for selecting me

Moly x 68

2011-03-06T09:38:00.000-08:00

The other day I just wanted to create something. No thinking, no preparing... just draw and create something. So I grab a moly and did an entry. Here is the result. It was really relaxing to just sit and draw without thinking about the piece to much. I have a tendency to over think my project and sometime you just need to do it and stop thinking about it.

ps: You might have notice that karo design is Caro's design. The name change was demanded by a design company based in Vancouver. They have the canadian trademark of the word Karo and by using I was in violation of this trademark... so I have to remove all the karo everywhere. I think at some point I will have to migrate to another domain name too. This is very frustrating but I think trademark laws are important and they are often there to protect creators. Any advice on this whole matter?

Call for submissions

2011-01-20T19:06:00.000-08:00

For the past years, my main career as been as a Art director. When I needed to find an illustrator, I always search art reps websites It's ideal for me because I can find many quality illustrators with various styles in one place. Now that I want to become a full time illustrator, I find that promoting myself is the hardest part. A illustrators agency with a rep feels like the perfect solution. But why wait for a rep to come and save me? why not start our own illustrator agency, a sort of collective that aims to promote and help each other in our guest to the perfect illustrator career ? Let's be our own reps!

There will be many pros to this association
- As a group, we can have one website that promotes all our different styles. It will attract more clients looking for illustrators.
- The group would be easier to promote. We could do group mailers and share all our mailing list. Cheaper prices for printing and bigger mailing list
- We could help each other with all the legal stuff and create contracts that fit our needs
- We could do advertising on website together, one agency to push but many illustrators to sell.
- We could help and give each other advices and critiques

What do you think? Interested?
I love this idea and I really want to realize it with an amazing group of illustrators
If you want to join this collective, contact me.
We are currently searching for great illustrators that feel the same way.

Illustration Friday: Chicken

2011-01-19T08:46:00.001-08:00

This week illustration friday theme is Chicken
Here is my illustration on the theme... an angry scary rooster!
This creature is based on the french proverb When chickens will have teeth. It's the french equivalent to when pigs fly.
Hope you like it!

Zodiac serie - Aries

2011-01-13T11:41:00.000-08:00

Another zodiac sign: Aries
Simple but effectif
Only one more left, Capricorn.... and I'm a little bit stuck with this one. The capricorn is a sea goat. I'm not feeling to inspired by a sea goat. Whatever it's supposed to be. Well let's hope for the best. Sometimes the biggest challenge give the best illustration.

Ape on the moon interview

2011-01-06T04:39:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to everyone!!!
What a year 2010 has been! For me, this past year has been really full of really big ups (like the birth of my daughter) and really big downs. Let's hope that 2011 will fix all my troubles and will be great for you and me.

I wanted to let you know that I have featured on the website Ape on the Moon.
Check out the interview here

thanks Katriona for interviewing me and thanks to Ape on the Moon!

My work space

2010-12-12T18:35:00.000-08:00

Recently, Joanna Fallon asked me for a small interview and a photo of my work space.

I taught it would be nice to share the photo of my work space with you. I always enjoy looking at other artist workspace. Makes me feel like a fly on the wall of their studio.

My workspace has been reduce since the arrival of the baby. My office has been transformed into the nursery. In the future, we are suppose to build a mega fantastic studio space in the basement but for now, I have installed my desk in a corner of the baby's room. And it actually works really well for me. Because I can work while the baby plays in her crib. The only problem is that when the baby sleeps, I have no more access to my desk..snif, snif. Well, I guess there are some sacrifice to be made for my beautiful baby girl. I guess I'll keep dreaming of my super basement studio.

Collage images

2010-12-08T18:32:00.000-08:00

The other day at the art store I found these amazing collage images and I wanted to shared them with you. Have fun creating some amazing art!

ps: for those living in Quebec, I found these images at Deserres the art store.

zodiac: aquarius

2010-12-04T18:25:00.000-08:00

Here is the latest of the zodiac series: Aquarius

2 versions, tell me which one you prefer

only 2 signs left to do... Libra and Capricorn

you can see the rest of the series here

illustration friday: savour

2010-12-01T12:39:00.001-08:00

Here is my illustration for this week Illustration Friday. The topic is Savour.
With the holiday season upon us, I was reminded of a traditional Chilean christmas drink: Cola de Mono.
My family is Chilean and every christmas, my aunt makes her traditional Cola de Mono. Mmmm... can't wait to savour this year's ration!
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:

1- Bring to a boil 6 cups of milk, 1 cup of sugar and 2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
2- Dissolve 1/4 cup of instant coffee in the mix
3- Put in the fridge and let it cool down
4- Once cold, add 2 cups of aguardiente
5- serve very cold and enjoy!

By the way, Cola de mono means Monkey tail... I guess it explains the illustration

Karo design on society6 and on urban outfitters's print shop

2010-11-07T20:13:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to let you know that my illustrations are now available as print on society6

check them out here

Also, some great news! My illustration the crow as been selected by Urban Outfitters to be part of their Print Shop! Yeah!

Check it out here

heart serie is finally finished

2010-11-07T20:08:00.000-08:00

I finally finished my heart series.
The last piece is Think with your Heart.
Hope you like it!

ps: sorry for being absent for a long time. Life just gets crazy sometimes... a with a 5 month old it just gets crazier. But I really miss doing some illustration and I decided to think with my heart these next weeks.... and create some art! anyway sleeping is overrated and creating isn't

wish me good luck

Zodiac serie - Virgo

2010-09-12T12:47:00.000-07:00

Like promise here is Virgo
I really like this one. I like the concept behind it of the lock between the legs. Hope it's not too shocking
to see the complete zodiac serie, click here

Illustration Friday: Dessert

2010-09-08T19:13:00.000-07:00

This is my entry for this week illustration friday. The theme was dessert.
I decided to play with little cupcakes and a pattern. It's still a work in progress. I like the little chocolate cupcake but the vanilla one still needs some work. Tell me what you think

Zodiac serie - Gemini

2010-09-06T12:44:00.000-07:00

I am currently continuing the zodiac series. And I have just finished Gemini.
This series is going really well ... and I am almost done
Just 4 more to go...next sign virgo

Illustration Friday: artificial

2010-08-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

here is my piece for illustration friday's theme artificial

I worked around the theme of artificial smiles. On how you can smile, show happiness with your mouth but have dead eyes. hope you like it!

Scorpio

2010-07-27T06:05:00.000-07:00

Do you remember my zodiac series. I just finished the illustration for scorpio. Hope you like it!

This serie is going pretty well. So far I have illustrated: Sagittarius, Pisces, Cancer, Taurus, Libra and Leo. Click here to see them all

ps: I presently working on Virgo and Gemini.. I'll keep you updated on the process

Tea time or Sharing your knowledge

2010-07-18T22:47:00.000-07:00

Here is another illustration I created for the show. I created this illustration quickly and just for fun. The theme given was Tea time.... but I feel that this illustration reflects more the concept of learning/teaching and sharing your knowledge with another. What do you think?

Snowman: my process

2010-07-16T22:18:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy seeing the creative process of other illustrators. It makes me feel like a fly on the wall of their studio. It's so inspiring and I usually learn so much! So I thought I would return the favor and share with you my creative process with the creation of the illustration The Not So Abominable Snowman.

1- I first start with doodling some concepts. Here I finally choose this idea of the snowman eating some popsicles. I liked the color palette that the popsicles brought to the illustration and the repetition of shapes between the popsicles and the teeth. The general idea was that the snowman is so comfy, happy and warm in the North Pole that he enjoys eating some popsicles to cool off. Plus, for me, this concept has a little touch of global warming awareness. In some way, it shows that the North Pole is geting so warm that even the Snowman needs to cool off.

2- Once the concept is chosen and the doodle with the final composition is done, I scan the drawing and import it into photoshop.

3- Then, I do a lot of image search. I have a very big collection of old engraving and I go trough it in search of the perfect eyes, nose, etc.

4- Once I have found my images, I placed them on my doodle in photoshop at the right size and angle.

5- I then print the result on bristol paper with the doodle at 10% opacity

6- Now it's time to draw everything else. I use my micron pen and some white gouache to get the wanted result. In this case, there was a lot of fur to draw. Once I'm finished, I then scan everything and clean it up with photoshop

7- the final step is adding the color and voilà with have a not so abominable snow man

Hope you enjoyed seeing my creative process.

I use various technique but this gives you a pretty good idea of the way I work

show in montreal

2010-07-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

I'll be participating in a small group show in Montréal. This event promotes a drawing club I have been participating in. If you want to see some of the illustrations created within this drawing club, check out our blog. If you lived in the area, please come take a look around. I'll be at the opening on the july 15th around 6pm.

Here are the info:

Notre club de dessin s'expose

from July 15th to August 23rd 2010

Opening: Thursday, July 15th starting at 6pm to 9pm

at L'!llustre Galerie

372 St-Catherine Street West, Local 123

Montreal (Quebec) H3B 1A2

www.illustrationquebec.com

I'll hope to see you there

The not so abominable snowman

2010-06-30T02:02:00.000-07:00

I'm currently participating in a drawing group called Notre Club de dessin. It's like illustration friday but on a much smaller scale. A theme is given every 2 weeks and everyone in the group draws its vision of it. Here is my version of the theme The Abominable Snowman. I was inspired by my previous illustration The Scared Scary Monster for the look and color theme. Hope you like it! t was quite fun to draw.

ps. The drawing club is organizing a group show soon in Montreal. I'll give more details soon

I'm back! My baby girl is finally here

2010-06-28T01:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the past lack of posts, but my last month of pregnancy took all my energy and creativity away. But now, all that is over.

On May 27th after a hard day of pain, my little girl Eva came into the world and changed everything. Maybe she's my muse. Maybe she inspires me. Maybe it's the sleep deprivation. But since she's been here, my creativity is back. I'm back on my drawing table now with a baby on my lap. I'm creating new illustrations that I can't wait to share with you! But for now, let me share with you this cute picture of my little bundle of joy.

Zero2illo 12 week challenge

2010-05-01T05:15:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

Sorry I have been MIA for a little bit but with only 17 days until my due date ( ps : I'm pregnant) life has gotten a little chaotic. I have been in renovation madness since the baby's room isn't even started and we still have to finish the kitchen, bathroom, office and hallway. Ahhh so much to do and so little time!!!

But let's go back to the world of illustration, I wanted to share with you an exciting new project I have joined: The Zero2illo 12 week challenge. This challenge is organized by Jonathan from the zero2illo blog and aims to bring illustrators to the next step in their career buy doing 12 taks, one by week. For now, we have been researching clients, making a business plan and we are finally starting to do portfolio pieces. It's a really great idea and the support group is amazing. So take a look and maybe you can join all the fun too.

My first entry for Threadless - Please vote

2010-03-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

With my last illustration, The Scared Scary Monster, I could really see the little monster on a t-shirt or on a onesie for the upcoming baby ( ps: I'm expecting a little girl in 2 months.. so going a bit baby crazy here). So I decided to submit the design to Threadless. Here is the result. You can go and vote for it. If the votes are good, this little monster might get printed.

Illustration Friday: Brave

2010-03-07T18:55:00.000-08:00

Here is my entry for this week Illustration Friday

The topic was Brave. As usual, I was more inspired by the opposite... in this case being scared.

So here is my scared scary monster, that is even afraid of its shadow.

It's so fun to do some more children oriented illustrations.

Hope you like them!

My process for the illustration Propagate

2010-02-25T11:03:00.001-08:00

By popular demand here is my process for the Propagate Illustration posted earlier this week.
My process is not always exactly the same. But I think that this post will give you a good idea of the way my illustration are created.

At first, when I receive the topic, I do some research about the word and all his variations. I search the word in the dictionary, read quotes with it, and try to find themes that fit with the word. While I'm doing this research, I sketch some ideas in my sketchbook. I do a lot of thumbnails with different ideas and different compositions. Here is one of the pages of my sketchbook.

Then I select the final idea and the final composition of my illustration and blow it up. I use this sketch as a base for the rest of the illustration because I want to keep the movement and composition that the small thumbnail has.

Then I do a lot of image research. I look in different books and websites for vintage images of birds, of eyes, of profile, etc. I then select and place the images on my sketch.

Once I'm satisfied with the look of the collage, I print the images on a bristol and take my micron and inks. I ink the every element that needs to be drawn. In this case, I rework the eyes, the wings, the body, the clouds, the beaks and the border.

I then scan the image and clean up everything. This is my final sketch.

Then, I take a moment to think about the colors, texture and overall feeling I want to give to the piece. For this illustration, I wanted a textured background, with lots of blues and colored birds.
For the background, I did a texture with acrylics and scanned it.

Then I put all the elements together and filled every element with the right color.

And voilà !
All done
I hope this post helps you have a better understanding of my illustration process.
Feel free to ask me any questions, you might have.

Illustration Friday: Propagate

2010-02-23T12:31:00.000-08:00

Here is my entry for this week's topic for Illustration Friday. The word this week was Propagate.
I decided the illustration the propagation of ideas that fly away from your mouth to the rest of the world. I hope you like it!
I'm thinking of posting my process for this piece ( thumbnail, sketch...)
What do you think? I'll be waiting for your feedback.

Molys!!

2010-02-15T19:30:00.000-08:00

I'm currently participating in 3 moly exchange and with the holidays and falling asleep everyone because of the pregnancy, I had a lot of catching up to do. So this week end I did 2 entries.

First one is for Moly x 68

The theme is Pin ups.

Second one is for Moly x 70

This is my moly and we are now going for the second round. The theme is Alice in Wonderland.

I'm glad I caught up a little.

but I still have 2 other entries to do...

Faithful Heart

2010-02-14T08:25:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine day to everyone!

for the occasion, I just finished my second illustration of the Heart Serie

This one is entitled Faithful Heart

Hope you like it.

Here you can see the first illustration of the Heart serie: Fall in Love.

Just one more to go to finish this serie.

I hope that everyone will have a great valentine day ! Lot of love !

Chinese papers to print and have fun

2010-02-13T11:15:00.000-08:00

While I was doing research on color for my rooster illustration, I found these great papers at the Chinese grocery store. I scanned all the papers and decided to shared them with you. I'm sure you will find a great way to use these images in your artworks and crafts. Enjoy!

Chicken that bytes

2010-02-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

I did this small illustration this week for Notre club de dessin (an illustration group that challenge themselves with a new topic every 2 week)
The topic was Teeth.
I decided to illustrate a french expression: Quand les poules auront des dents ( which means when chickens will have teeth)
It's the french equivalent of "When pigs fly"
I wanted to make something childish and kind of funny. I think it turned out pretty well... now I'm just a bit uninspired for the color version... well we'll see what comes out when it does.
For now, I hope you like the black and white version

Illustration Friday: Muddy

2010-02-06T18:38:00.001-08:00

Here is my piece for Illustration Friday this week

The topic is Muddy

Hope you like it!

Illustration Friday: Focused

2010-01-31T14:55:00.001-08:00

Have you heard about Illustration Friday?

It's a weekly illustration challenge. Each week a topic is given and everyone can share their interpretation of the topic. It's a great way to motivate us to create new illustration in a short amount of time. I have been wanting to participate for a long time and finally here is my first entry.

This week the topic is FOCUSED

And here is my version of it

I was more inspire by the opposite of focused. This piece is entitled Out of Focus Thoughts.

Hope you like it.

Ps. Escape from Illustration Island has started a Illustration Friday Challenge for the month of February. There is a great prize to be won at the end of it. Wish me luck!

note: this print is available on etsy here

I feel sick

2010-01-28T18:07:00.000-08:00

I caught a small cold this week. I was feeling like a big stuffy noise had remplace my head. So it gave me the idea of this little sketch. Which color do you prefer, pink or neon yellow?

Mail me art: my entry

2010-01-26T13:06:00.000-08:00

Do you remember the Mail Me Art Project. The deadline is fast approaching. You must post your entry by January 31st.
So being an eternal procrastinator, I just finished my piece. It was inspired by the theme from Illustration Friday: Confined. This piece is entitled: Never be Confined. And I wanted to play with element of the postal industries, like stamps and security envelope pattern. I think it turned out pretty well and I'm really happy with the result.
So I have put a digital print version of it on Etsy. You can get it here.
Hope you like it too!

Making DIY gift tags

2010-01-14T22:17:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, I decided to make me own handmade gifts tags. With not a lot of time on my hands and lots of tags to do, I decided to reuse my little bird stamp and some alphabet stamps I bought at the Dollar Store. This method was really fast to do and I really like the final result. Just stamp, cut the corner and punch a hole et voilà! you have a gift tag. Hope this inspire you in your next gift wrapping experiences

ps. If you want to learn how to make your own handmade stamp, here is the tutorial

Just doodling

2010-01-11T20:00:00.000-08:00

Here a new drawing that I did for fun.

Not my usual style but I just wanted to draw something and play with my pentel brush pen

Hope you like it!

Happy New Year!!

2010-01-09T19:46:00.000-08:00

Well better late than never... here it is HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

I hope that everyone is going to have a great new year with plenty of inspiration, health and happiness. On my side of thing, 2010 is going to be a big year because.....drum roll please....we are going to have a new addition to our family! We are expecting a new baby for the middle of May.

So Happy New Year and enjoy it as much as you can

I'm back, moly x 70 entry

2009-11-06T13:07:00.000-08:00

I have finally found some time to draw a bit
Sorry for the lack of posts but life just got a bit crazy this last month... and still is
But I just had to draw to escape the crazyness.
So thanks for sticking around
Here is my newest entry for the moly x 70 exchange. It's based on a saying my grandmother used to say whenever she saw a crow. She looked at the crow, crossed her fingers and said: "Martes hoy, martes manana, martes todo la semana" Which means Tuesday today, Tuesday tomorrow, tuesday all week. She told it was to protect us form the bad luck the crow brings because they are witches in disguise. This precious memory of my dearly missed grandmother just inspired me to do this illustration. Hope you like it!

Marie-Antoinette 2

2009-09-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry guys for the lack of posts, but it's really hard for me to create any illustration without any desk, scanner or printer... or even table to work at home. We are still in renovation hell but it's suppose to be the last stretch. Here is a fun collage I did at work. I just love Marie-Antoinette and her crazy hairstyle. Feels like you can transform it into anything. Hope you like it!

Inspiration: Gemma Latimer

2009-09-18T05:18:00.000-07:00

Found this great artist via Pikaland.
Her name is Gemma Latimer and she is a freelance illustrator based in Liverpool.
Gemma uses old vintage images in very raw collages ( love how we can clearly see the scissor cuts and the hard transition between the images). I really enjoy her color palette. It's quite soft and consistent which gives a great serenity to her art.
On her website, she offers a great collection of objects like t-shirts and buttons. Love her little birdy illustration which is available on a T-shirt.
It's great to find some else who use collages as I do.
Great inspiration for you and me

having fun in madrid

2009-09-09T06:29:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

sorry for the lack of posts but I'm on vacations in Madrid, enjoying the sun and the great food.

Here's a little photo of the Parque del Retiro, the biggest park in Madrid (18 hectares). It's pretty much the central park of Madrid. It was full on people, some were playing drums, other were having pick-nicks just like us. It was a great day! Hope you are enjoy the summer also whereever you are!

The Littlest Print Exchange

2009-09-02T06:11:00.000-07:00

Here is my entry for The Littlest Print Exchange
What is the Littlest print exchange ? Here is how its creator Christopher Clark explains it:
"The Littlest Print Exchange is a juried trade of tiny 3.5" x 3.5" art prints. Each artist is invited to submit an edition of 50 prints and will in turn receive a complete portfolio of 50 prints from all 50 individual artists. "

Well my 50 prints are ready to go
Can't wait to see the rest of the pieces

diy letterpress

2009-08-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

I'm completely in love with the letterpress prints I have been seeing lately
And I really want to try it for myself
I have began to do some research on how to do my own letterpress print at home... here is what I found

On instructables.com, there's this great tutorial on how to built your own letterpress
Here is the link

Also, Ready made has also it's own diagram on how to build your diy letterpress
here is the link

Or if you are feeling a bit lazy like me, Urban outfitters has some great press. I'm not sure if they can apply enough pressure to letterpress the paper. But the Printmaster press seems prefect! (just too expensive)

There is also the option of the cuttlebug. This small machine is primary made for Scrapbooking but can be adapted to do some diy letterpress. Instructable.com has a great tutorial on how to adapt the cuttlebug to custom letterpress printing.

Do you have any other options.?
Have you ever tried letterpress printing at home?
Please tell me about it, I would really like to learn how to diy letterpress

Pikaland

2009-08-25T10:09:00.000-07:00

I was recently featured on pikaland, a great new blog showcasing great illustrators and artists.
Check it out at pikaland.com
thanks pikaland!

new house

2009-08-24T12:10:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!
sorry for the lack of posts
but I very recently to my new house and creating illustrations has become quite hard, since I have no desk, no art supplies... just boxes
but still, you might say that art can be created and found out of everything... and you would be right. but time management is my other big problem. Since my renovations are not completely done.. I have been spending my time trying to achieve a livable home. So working toilet before illustrations, working shower before putting up new posts.
Thanks for understanding

great diy: matchbook notepads

2009-08-11T10:43:00.000-07:00

Found this great DIY on Design Sponge.
This little Matchbook notepads are just the cutest thing
I'll have to try to do one myself!

moly x 70 new envelope

2009-08-04T07:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry for my lack of post. I have been so busy these last weeks... in my own renovation hell
But I could manage some time to do my entry for the moly x 70. Here is the envelope
That little birdy stamp is quite handy!
Hope you like it!

My heart beats in technicolors

2009-07-21T10:14:00.000-07:00

With all the stress regarding the new house, I have been craving stamps to relax me a little.
Here is another one. A big heart. I had fun testing all my new colors. I really like the look of the 2nd one. It's more used and distress. I achieved that look by restamping without adding any ink.
Hope you like them!

Little cat

2009-07-19T04:42:00.000-07:00

The other day as I was walking to work, I saw the most gorgeous cat ever. It was a Lynx point siamese as I found out later. It was gorgeous, like a small piece of art in the middle of the street. It had incredible blue eyes and it starred at me intensly. He remind me of a little sphinx, a little good luck sign for the day to come. I was so impressed by this cat that when I got back home I decided to draw him. Here's the result. Hope you like it!

Willy Wonka

2009-07-17T04:37:00.000-07:00

I participate in this illustration challenge blog called "Notre club de dessin" (our drawing club)
This week the theme was Willy Wonka. I wanted to do something with a lot of colors. So I played around with colorful patterns and papers. I think it turned out pretty good. As for the background, I found this old physic book in the trash and I used pages from it as a background. I wanted to represent the factory, chemistry and little bit of mad scientist aspects of Willy Wonka's personality.
Hope you like it!

tutorial: DIY handmade stamps

2009-07-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

What do you need:
- a carving block ( I bought this one at the art store for $2.95)
- a linoleum cutter ( the pink thing, $12.95)
- a ink pad (I used the brand color box, color red, $4.95)
- some paper

Now we are ready to get started

So first, I drew the design I wanted for my stamp. In this case, it's a little bird. I drew my design on tracing paper with a pencil. Then I place the tracing paper on the carving block the design face down on the block. Then apply some pressure with the back of a spoon or a bone folder and the design will transfer itself on the block. ( step 1)

Now we are ready to carve. I use the smallest point with the linoleum cutter and remove everything thing that I don't want printed. Basically, you retrace with the cutter the lines of your design. Then I cut the borders of the design with an x-acto knife. ( step 2)

Then I tested the stamp on a piece of paper. It still needed some tweaking. So I reworked the stamp and tested it again. Now it was perfect. (step 3)

I had so much fun doing the stamp that I went in crazy stamp mode and made lots of them.

And the create a more finish product, I stamped Manila tags with my little bird. Perfect for gift tags!

If you want more info on creating your handmade stamps, check out it Gennine's art blog

new header

2009-07-11T20:04:00.000-07:00

I finally had some time to customize a little bit my blog. Check out my new header and tell me what you think.

ps: I have been trying to learn more about css and blog design but I have been having trouble finding good documentation. Any good tutorials or links to share?

new house. new blog

2009-07-10T10:28:00.000-07:00

As you may know, I have recently bought a really old house.
It's my first house and I'm in renovation hell or heaven
And I want to share my experience with everyone
So I created a new blog. It's called 2 cats + house in honor of my 2 kitties!
Take a look and tell me what you think

I'm in DIY stamp heaven

2009-07-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

Since the discovery of Geninne's Art blog, I have been wanting to do some handmade stamps.
Last week, I went to the art store and bought all the necessary tools and materials.
Back home, I started my art stamps experiments. This is the results
Hope you like it! It was so fun to do ! Now I'm a DIY stamps addict... I just need to go back to the art store to buy more supplies and do more stamps

ps: I took photo of my process , I'll soon post a tutorial on my handmade stamps

Art Shop Experiments: bienfang watercolor brush pen review

2009-07-03T05:34:00.000-07:00

I have decided to create a new section in my blogs. Art Shop Experiments!!
These posts will share my experiments with products I have just bought at the art store.
Art materials are really expensive and I think it will be useful to everyone to know what works and what is totally a waste of money. I hope you will share with your opinions and your experience on each product.

So let's get started
This week, I tested the Bienfang watercolor brush pens.
I already own a water brush pen and I love it... so I taught putting colors into them will be great too.
So I bought 3 Bienfag watercolor brush pens ( at the price of 3.95$ each). I bought the 3 primary colors thinking that I could recreate all the colors with just these three like with usual watercolors.

Here is the results of my test

At first, I had the remove a small white plastic ring form the pen and pierce a whole in the watercolor reservoir. This was quite easy but them it took forever for my brush to fill with color.
Actually, nothing was happening so a pressed the reservoir and try to push the ink out. It finally came out with it started to drip a bit. I wiped the excess watercolor on a paper and then I was ready to draw something. The brush pen gives a great variety of line weight. You can achieve a very very fine line with them. It really has the flexibility of a good brush. The color are nice and vibrant but the watercolor dried very fast and I could mix the color as much as I wanted. As you can see on my test, I only achieved to created the basic secondary colors.

I'm still not convince buy the Bienfang watercolor brush pen. I think they can be practical but if I need to buy 20 pens to achieve all the colors I want and need... they will become very expensive and not very portable. I think I still prefer my watercolor travel kit for sketches outside of the house.
To me, the Bienfang watercolor brush pens feel more like color inks than watercolors. They don't make the paper wrinkle and I think they can become handy with illustrations on molyskine paper. No wrinkle, vibrant colors... could make great results

So based on these results I give the Bienfang watercolor brush pen a 3/5

moly x 69: in the mail

2009-07-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

Here is my envelope for the moly x 69 exchange.
I really had a lot of fun. With the help of Gennine's Tutorial, I did my custom stamps.
I'll post photo soon of the complete process
Hope you like it and hope it survives the road to the UK!

thank you!

2009-06-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

2 mores envelopes to go form my etsy shop
thanks for all your support!!
you can visit my shop here
it's still very small but I'm working on adding new things
Any suggestions on what print I should make available??

moly x 69: sign in page

2009-06-29T16:36:00.000-07:00

I just finished my sign in page for moly x 69. This moly exchange is all about Shakespeare, so I had a little bit of fun with M. Shakespeare. You can see my first entry here
Hope you like it!

from my sketchbook

2009-06-25T17:00:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was a national holiday here in Quebec. So I had the whole day to draw, yeah!!
So on wednesday morning, I grab my sketchbook and had a little bit of fun. The result was this little indian cat.
Hope you like it!

Crazy week!!

2009-06-22T11:04:00.000-07:00

Wow this week has been crazy! To name a few, I caught a cold, bought a house, had crazy work hours and celebrated father days. Ouf! At least it's over
So sorry for my lack of post. But I had no time... I just had time to do this envelope for Mia
Mia bought a print on my etsy shop and I decided to customize her envelope to make it a little bit more special.

Now I 'm back to my normal crazy work week and should be posting new things soon
Hope you had a great week end and nice fathers days!

ps. my etsy shop is karodesign.etsy.com

2009-06-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

There's this blog that I really love. It's called Modish Biz tips.
And they have a great business advice for freelance artists, like me.
I have joined the monthly goal meet up to try to motivate me to achieve my business goals

Here are my goals for May
And I 'm sorry to say that I didn't achieve them like i wanted to... snif snif
but I will try again this month and hopefully it will go better

Goals for May
1- build my website ( update: I have decided on my site map, my overal design style and I have hired a web programmer.. so that's going pretty well but not fast enough. It's my number 1 priority for this month)
2- enter in a illustration contest ( this is the worst one, I had found my contest, and I had a great illustration to send... but I totally forgot the submission deadline... oups!)
3- keep up with 3 posts / week on my blog ( this is going great! just have to keep it up)
4- do more illustrations that have a "financial" or promotional purposes ( contests, etsy prints) (i have to keep in mind this one)
5- learn more about the business part of starting your own business (I have been reading a lot of blogs on the subject but I need to see what are the legalities in Canada)
6- put 3 new products on etsy ( product creation is taking more time that expected... better luck next month)

So this month was not the most productive one. Maybe my goals were a little bit unrealistic
I will try to do better next month

So here are my goals for June & July
1- build my website
2- keep up with 3 posts / week on my blog
3- finish 2 other Zodiac signs

that's it, let's keep it simple... so I can achieve all my goals
Here you can view all the other goals from all the members

So let's hope I can achieve my goals and you too !!

Images from the past

2009-06-17T05:42:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine recently asked me to post her favorite illustrations. She is going through hard times right now.. so I hope this will cheer you up!
These are 2 illustrations I did a while ago but that I am still really proud of
The first one is based on Paul Auster's book, In The Country of Last Things
and the second one is based on The Little Mermaid by Andersen
Hope you like them and that it will cheer you up too !!

Geninne's art blog teaches you how to make stamps

2009-06-10T04:42:00.000-07:00

I found this great blog called Geninne's art blog.
On this blog there are great tutorial on how to make hand craved stamps. I really want to try it, the result are so beautiful. Another trip to the art store. Here are all the tutorials

Here is one of her stamps.

While you are there, check out Geninne's amazing illustration. They are a mix of colorful watercolor, collage and stamps. And are a great inspiration to all artists including myself.

I'm on twitter

2009-06-08T19:58:00.000-07:00

I'm finally on twitter ! Seems like a great place to meet new people and share
Go see me at http://twitter.com/karo_design

moly x 69: final !

2009-06-06T07:02:00.000-07:00

I finally finished Lady Macbeth
It turned out totally different form what I initially had in my mind but I'm still happy about the end result. Now I'm going to get started on the cover pages.
Well hope you like it and that the rest of the members of moly x 69 do too!

Lady Macbeth à la Mucha

2009-06-03T04:24:00.000-07:00

While I was working on my portrait for Lady Macbeth for Moly x 69, I could not decide if I wanted to do a profile or a face portrait. So I decided to do both in a quite different style. While sketching my profile portrait, I was reminded of a piece by Alfons Mucha. Alfons Mucha is the leader of the Art Nouveau movement. And He did very aesthetic pieces of women for various ads campaigns in the 1900's. His style is known for a very thick line and for curved lines like in the hair.
Doing my Lady Macbeth's sketch, I was reminded of the piece "Calendar for the Astrological signs". They were many resemblance with my piece; the profile women, the crown. So I decided to do my portrait Mucha style. Even if it's not really my style, it's was fun to do and I think it came out great! Hope you like it!

TOP 3 FLICKR GROUP FOR IMAGE SOURCES

2009-06-01T05:14:00.000-07:00

Finding the right image for my collage can sometimes be hard and tedious. But I have been playing around with this style for a while and I have accumulated a great amount of resources. Internet is an amazing place to find vintage images and I have a couple of sites I prefer when It comes to finding my images.

Time to share!

Flickr can be a great place to find images. Some group specialize in vintage images. And what I love most about flickr groups is the search option. Makes searching the perfect image really easy!

Here are my TOP 3 favorite flickr groups:

#1- Collage images:
This is by far my favorite. It has over 23 000 images. The tags are great and you easily find what you need. This flick group is always the first place I go.

#2- Vintage illustration:
When Collage images doesn't have what I want, I go here. Great group, a lot of images ( over 2000) A little bit of everything. Really old images, 50's images, lots of color images

#3- mid-century illustrated:
And finally, sometimes I go here. Great place to find more recent images with a 50's twist. It has over 12000 images and lots of them in color. Great to find funny images and 50's ads.

Well that's it for my favorite flickr groups. Flickr is a great ressource and recomend you take a look. There are a lots of other sites to go, blogs, deviant collections, digital librairies.... but that will be for a next post.

And how about you, what are your favorite image ressources sites?

new moly exchange 69, work in progress

2009-05-28T17:14:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-26T09:34:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-21T04:59:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-20T04:47:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-16T16:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-12T04:53:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-10T16:59:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-07T06:06:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-04T17:35:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-02T18:28:00.000-07:00

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.

diy sketchbook inspiration

2009-04-29T15:06:00.000-07:00

With all these sketchbooks exchanges, I have been buying a lot of sketchbooks. And I starting to find them a little boring. With their black cover and off white paper. So I think I'm going to make my own sketchbooks. Here are some inspirations that I found for you and me.
I have recently discovered to work of Erin Zamrzla at her blog Erinzam.
I love bookbinding and she does amazing little notebooks that are sure to inspire great drawings out of us. Love her Japanese binding, the recycle aspect with the tags and bingo sheets, the different sorts of paper in the same sketchbook.
To make things even better, on her blog she explain all her process, and even has photos of her tools. No excuses now to buy already made sketchbooks, to your binding kits !

ps. Erin Zamrzla has also an etsy shop. take a look

moly x 70 in the mail

2009-04-27T04:29:00.000-07:00

My moly x 70 is ready to go in the mail. I decorated my envelope again, just to make it more special. I think it's just more fun to send something special. Everybody who sees it, comments on it. People that deal with the mail are use to boring white envelloppe and I think they like seeing something different. Anyway it's fun to do and i think it completes the whole process.

Bye bye little moly 70 ! Hope it comes back... and with even better illustrations in it.

The Raven

2009-04-23T19:09:00.000-07:00

I joined this new blog called "Notre club de dessin" (our drawing club). All the members of this blog are invited to create an illustration every 2 weeks on a precise theme. This time around the theme was Edgard Allan Poe. I love the work of Poe, all the macabre and the darkness of his stories. I was very inspired by the theme. I decided to do an illustration based on the story THE RAVEN. I am really about the result... and I think I will continue the theme and transform it into a serie. I'll keep you updated on the process.
Hope you like the piece !

ps: you can buy a print of this piece at my etsy shop
http://karodesign.etsy.com

moly x 70: final piece

2009-04-21T11:13:00.000-07:00

So I have finished my piece for the moly x 70 exchange. Here it is. Hope you like it. I decided to go with a Alice in Wonderland theme, with white rabbits and queens of hearts. I'm really happy about the results, so happy that I'm bit scared to send it away in the mail. Hope it comes back ! ps: Don't be shy tell me what you think about the piece.

New Sketchbook Exchange: Moly x 70

2009-04-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

I started a new sketchbook exchange with the Moly_x flicker group. They follow the adventures of artist groups from around the world as they exchange Japanese Fold Moleskine sketchbooks. I'm participating in group 70. Make sure you follow the progress of the group in the following blog. I got my japanese fold Moleskine sketchbook and I started my spreads. Here is a sneak peak of it ! I'm really happy on how it's going. I'll post the final result really soon.

sketchbook ... having fun with the xyron

2009-04-10T20:09:00.000-07:00

Here are the results of the xyron creative station experiments made earlier today.
Came out pretty good !
What do you think ?

New gadget: Xyron creative station review

2009-04-10T11:08:00.000-07:00

Last week, I was working on some illustrations. I wanted to clue images printed on tracing paper. But when I applied my dry clue on it, the tracing paper became all wrinkled and clued unevenly. I was very disappointed by the result. So I started searching for a better clue on the internet. While searching, I didn't find the perfect clue but the Xyron Creative Station, which was supposed to make instant stickers out of everything you put in it. It looked pretty great so I bought it.

Well I got it this week and here is little review on the Xyron creative station 5" ( there are bigger and smaller model but mine makes 5 inch wide stickers )

So it is pretty simple,
Here is the Xyron Creative Station

You can put 2 types of adhesives in it: permanent or re positionable. The adhesive comes in a roll and you have to place inside the machine ( mine came with the roll already in place and ready to use)
In my case, I am using permanent adhesive.

Here are images I choose to become instant stickers
In this case I tested images printed on tracing paper and delicate cut outs.
I wanted to see how the station will handle this 2 types of images since the glue stick has trouble with them.

Here are the images ready to go in the machine
You have to push them gently till then get in

Then you start to turn the handle and your pieces of paper go in the Xyron and come out like this on the other side:

There's little blade that you use to cut the piece of paper like this:

And here is the result

You then remove the plastic film and you are ready to stick the images

I was really happy with the results. Everything came out great. The tracing paper clued perfectly to my surface, no wrinkles. The delicate cut out came out great also. And everything is clued evenly. It is a very good alternative to spray clue. Since it has no smell, no drips, no making your floor sticky because you didn't place enough newspaper under your image.
As for durability, I'll keep you posted... will see if everything last.

ps: I wasn't payed by anyone to do. I just wanted to share my find with you

(Here is a video I found of the whole process if you want to see more. But since this is a scrapbooking device... most videos about the xyron are done by housewife that use it for scrapbooking and craft with the kids... very martha steward)

sketchbook exchange... in the mail

2009-04-07T18:38:00.000-07:00

My sketchbook exchange with artist Sarah Atlee is in the mail. Now it is her turn. I just wanted to show you the envelloppe. I had a little bit of fun... with my mail art.