My Process (the wedding invitations)

I've been asked to show more of my process on here, so http://arossell.blogspot.com/: you got it.  I'm working on my friend's wedding invitiations.  She wants a fairy representing her with blonde curly hair and the Autumn colors because her wedding will be in October.  Her fiance was in a really terrible car accident a few months ago, so we're drawing him as an owl, but with a bandaged wing. (I think that is adorable). Today I went kind of nuts going crazy with one idea to see if I would be happy with this style and process.  After spending an hour trying to draw a circle in Photoshop  (turned out to just be fixed by complaining... I changed NO settings), it worked.  

We're going to change the colors to be more specific to her dress, and that's fine, because I've left each color in a separate layer.   By making the owl larger, I will have a better oppportunity to work with details and style on the owl. I'm considering making the owl brown and then changing the indications of feathers in a lighter color.    The toughest part is that she wants the owl to be bigger and the fairy to be leaning on the owl. I only have Allan as a human model. I might have to bust out the old wooden human model. haha. 

This was my 5-10 min sketch and pic I took using Photobooth on the Macbook.

This is my first attempt in photoshop. I did it in plain old ball point pen and then scanned and colored it. The colors on the sides are just my temporary color pallet. 

I have to remember to stay simple and cartoony.  This doesn't come natural for me  Fortunately my bride knows this.  I'm also trying to avoid gradation. I later want the leaves on the trees to look similar to those on the dress.  I'm going to put her in a really simple tree. Based on a picture like this:

Btw, my dear Eric.  (He has commissioned another painting).  The reason I am starting this one first is that I need more feedback and then I can get it cracking.  I think we already have a good idea on what we want for your adorable ape painting.

Flower Series

flora1
Originally uploaded by nicoleillustration

I'm just starting a flower series. They will all be square images in pencil and ink. This is my first one. i just had two prints made and was going to sell them.... and then I realized they would make great gifts for my two cousins who just graduated high school. It's one of the more universal things that I've done.

I have absolutely nothing to do today, and it's so exciting. I'm going to get so much painting done and maybe start a new flower drawing today.

Depression

14inthebathroom
Originally uploaded by nicoleillustration

I'm in kind of a bummer mood today, so it seems like a good day to post this painting. I did it a couple of years ago as part of a series about teenage corruption and depression. My cousin Tiffany and I were in a motel with my grandma, so we put a ton of eyeliner on her and took pictures in the bathroom. My favorite part is the towels and the subtle shades of white.

My Postcards are done!

nicole alfaro illustration postcards
Originally uploaded by nicoleillustration

My promotional postcards are done. I won them through Candace Trew Camling's blog and Uprinting.com. I'm really happy with them. I am just going to try to hold back on passing them out until NicoleIllustration.com is up and running. Thank you, Candace!

Long Lost Work

alexinink
Originally uploaded by nicoleillustration

This is one of my favorite pieces I've ever done. It was lost, when I displayed it in a friends home art show. The only evidence I had left was the fact that my friend had posted it on his myspace, which explains the poor quality. I think that it's till a fairly good representation of my capabilites and style.

I want to do more things like this.

parrotskissing

parrotskissing
Originally uploaded by nicoleillustration

I'm happy to get something up this weekend. I could not get this to photograph the way that it looks in person. This was a custom piece for my friend Eric. He and his girlfriend have an inside joke about parrots He wanted me to keep it simple. I like the feathers and the tree.

EDIT:
I'm thinking about reworking this before I give it to him. I love the birds, but the background is kind of bleek. I feel like I should just paint it black or and some bright colors that are very painterly and less representative of a "jungle"

Busy weekend.

I've been hanging out with my little sister all weekend. She drew me a hip hop rhinoceros. I started working on a flyer for my friend's party. It's 1920's Gangster-inspired. I need to work on my self-promotional postcards, but I'm not sure if I should use new work or something I already have. Since my style has changed so much, I feel like I should use at least 2 different pictures.

I got a new printer this weekend. It's photo quality. Probably not nice enough to use to print my own high-quality prints for selling, but it's nice for references and my personal photographs. It's also got a scanner. I'm hoping to start posting some more sketches and unfinished works soon.