slow poke

I have a lot of projects finishing up these next few weeks, I wish I could show all of them off, but instead I have this turtle drawing. I have been working on some fun sketches, thinking about patterns and fabric, and jotting down lots of ideas for the future of Nisee Made. It is starting to hit me that the end of my pregnancy is here (34 weeks and 2 days) and I can't believe this little girl will be here within a matter of weeks! There is so much I want to do, but I'm going to force myself to be a slow poke these next couple of months and enjoy just being. I am looking forward to seeing what direction my illustration starts to take and I can't wait to share that with you!

Rag Doll

I was at the library last week looking through Martha Stewart Living and I came across an article about Jess Brown and I instantly fell in love with her work.  I'm sure you will to when you see her beautiful dolls. I highly recommend watching her Artists & Farmers series -- I think I might want to move into her studio and start making rag dolls. 

sketchbook week (day 5)

The last sketchbook of the week. I'm pretty sure I could keep going for about a month or so. This past summer I found out that The School of the Art Institute of Chicago was offering a certificate in Illustration - so I jumped at the chance to go back to school. Meeting new illustrators, learning new techniques - it was pretty fun! The intro to illustration course was 5 weeks long and we squeezed in 4 projects! From coming up with an editorial illustration, a poster, a children's book cover, to self promotional postcards. I took tons of notes and filled up my whole sketchbook from front to back. 

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my sketchbooks this week, I hope you enjoyed them! 

sketchbook week (collaborations with courtney)

It must be hard for my husband, Courtney, to live with such a talented artist and not want to take up drawing as well! :) Okay, so I am just kidding, but we do go to the coffee shop often and make these silly drawings together. He is pretty much into drawing ninjas and skateboarders - it's a fun excuse to get out of my normal drawing pattern of elephants and little girls with pigtails! (Can you tell which are his? He draws very lightly!)

sketchbook week (day 4)

I hope you are not getting sick of seeing my sketchbooks, as I'm having a lot of fun going back through them! Lots of wedding paper good ideas in these newer books, as well as logo design sketches.

Sabina (who has a beautiful website full of lovely design) asked yesterday who are some artists/illustrators that influenced me while I was developing my style - and I am having a tough time answering that question! It is probably the same people I still love today; Edward Gorey, Margaret Kilgallen, Olle Eksell, Camilla Engman, Shinzi Katoah, Alice and Martin Provensen - there are probably a million others.... I really try hard to look at other peoples work and enjoy it, but bring my own way of illustrating it to the table and I hope that shows through in my work. 

sketchbook week (day 3)

Phew! Lots of pictures here and more to come! My newer sketchbooks are way more exciting to me. Most of these sketchbooks are filled with nisee made logos, little character drawings, cats and recipes. I don't know if you know this about me, but the first page of my sketchbooks usually has a cat on it! 

Sketchbook Week (other people's sketchbooks)

Wit & Whistle

Marina Grechanik

Anke Weckmann

Noferin

Irina

Virgin Honey

Art School Girl

Other people's sketchbooks - flickr is a great place to see images of sketchbooks. 

Sketchbook Week (day 2)

These are starting to bring back memories! My first drawing style in illustration had a definite folksy, western, old timey influence. I am pretty sure at this point I thought that my illustration career would be to make these beautiful drawings, print them and sell them in my etsy shop. It's funny how much has changed since then! 

Sketchbook Week (day 1)

Welcome to sketchbook week! I thought it would be a fun idea to have a week of blogging about sketchbooks. I have saved all of my sketchbooks since high school, while some are pretty embarrassing and awful, it's fun to see how far I've come and how my style has evolved. 

Types of sketchbooks: I can't help it, but I love Moleskine sketchbooks. I love all the sizes they come in, the paper quality, and the different type of books they carry. I have tried Field Notes, Muji, and MiquelRius, but I always end up coming back to Moleskine. 

How often: I always carry a sketchbook with me. The pocket Moleskines fit in my purse and are perfect for doodling at coffee shops, writing down notes when inspiration comes, sketching something you see while your out walking and easy to scan in once you get home. I also have larger books for keep thumbnails for client projects, but those mainly stay in the studio. 

Drawing tools: I have one pencil that I use for drawing and sketching - 0.5mm draft/matic. I have probably had this very same pencil for the past 4 years. 

What good are sketchbooks?: I love having a history of my illustration career. I get to see how my little drawing world has come to be, what inspires me, and what I like to draw. It's nice to be able to go through them and bring back to life old ideas that I never used. Some are filled with daily lists, directions to a museum, and names of artists that I like. And some end up being pretty useless. However, I think they are a good way to bind all of your thoughts, ideas and inspirations. And what a better system to have documentation of all your hard work? 

Inspiring books:

Drawn In 

An Illustrated Life

Typography Sketchbooks

Street Sketchbook

Books to get you sketching:

One Drawing a Day: 6 week course

Drawing Lab

Illustration School: Let's draw happy people

Ed Emberley's Drawing Book

Drawing from Life

642 Things to Draw

Finish this book

Blog about sketchbooks: (really there is only 1 good one...)

Book By It's Cover

Courses I found on-line (I have not taken these):

Visual Journaling (Pikaland Artist Bootcamp)

Alisa Burke Sketchbook Delight 

Get your Paint on 

What is your favorite sketchbook brand? What books do you recommend? Do you have images of your sketchbook to share? I'd love to see! I hope you enjoy my sketchbook week!

lumberjack

drawing lumberjacks in my sketchbook

more elephants

Just a quick little elephant doodle. 

I recently discovered the work of Hiroe Nakata. You can read an interview

here. 

People

We received some pretty amazing gifts at our baby shower this weekend. One of them being People by Blexbolex! I have had this on my wish list for sometime, baby is going to love it!