I know I haven't posted in more than a year. Honestly, I haven't had time to post because I've been doing a lot of freelance work and keeping busy with my traditional freelance. But about three weeks ago, an opportunity came along that may have just influenced a change in the way that I create my illustrations.
When I was at NIU, I was the only student in my graduating illustration class to have a fully traditional portfolio. I still use Prismacolor, acrylic, and a clear varnish on my boards. I never felt comfortable with the disconnection of hand and eye coordination that went along with using a Wacom tablet and stylus. I didn't feel like I could fully control my strokes or layering well, and I just didn't really give digital medium a fair chance.
My fiance is a film editor, but also a very talented graphic designer as well. He was given the opportunity to pitch a design to Bryan Burk, producer of the motion picture Super 8. After some brainstorming and layouts, he decided that he wanted to go for a more traditional, Drew Struzan-esque, design with that nostalgic Amblin feel. He had only one night to come up with this and had a vision of exactly what he wanted to do. He only lacked the skill to illustrate a portrait or scene for the poster. That's when he came to me.
We both pulled an all-nighter creating the poster. But I have always thrived while working under pressure. Also, I needed to create my drawings for the poster completely digitally. Of course I had classes on it and had minor experience, but always HATED every moment working on my computer before. But something clicked and I was drawing like I would on my illustration board. It was such an awesome feeling, and my drawings turned out the way I would have wanted them to on illustration board!
Working under pressure for such an amazing opportunity with my best friend and fiance was fantastic. But even more thrilling is that I think I am truly getting the knack of working digitally. I know, I know...I'm a bit late on the band wagon, but I love knowing that I can work with both traditionally and digitally to make my work exactly how I envision it!
I hope that more opportunities arise for us in our collaborating. And we are definitely going to keep working as a team, experimenting with techniques and just generally streamlining the process. I think this is the start of something great and I look forward to sharing the experience with you on my blog!
Read about our entire experience at Living In Cine.
