neat treat: found an easy contest online

Hello fellow illustrators!

I came across a little contest on gizfolio.com which, as it looks, is easy enough. Just send artworks via email, and one can win a 2 year's worth of an online portfolio site. Watch out, deadline is August 10th!

Good luck!
Astrid

Glimpse of Children Picture Book Dummy

On August 1, I submitted my contest entry for the children book contest www.der-meefisch.de. I was contacted by the author of the story, who asked me to illustrate it for her. Since the market custom doesn't seem to welcome the submission of illustrated stories (unless the author is the illustrator), I agreed to "just" take part in contests with her, creating a dummy for her (Of course I will later also submit the artworks to art directors). Here, you see a small glimpse of the dummy, as well as a preview of the finished illustrations. It's my first children book illustration project! What do you think? Questions, thoughts and comments welcome! (Click the images to enlarge).

Astrid
astrid@potatomammadesign.com

Illustration Friday "Discovery"

I did this illustration for Swarovski online, where the Stella illustration – that's her name – appears monthly to her fashion column. I thought it fits okay to the topic "discovery", wonder what she just discovered? Bear with me if I didn't create a brand-new illustration =)

Happy Potato Greetings!
Astrid
PotatoMammaDesign.com

gelaskins rock!

Okay this is not a hidden advertisement, but I truly love gelaskins - illustrated covers for ipods and laptops. And I'd love even more if one day I might get to illustrate for gelaskins. One of my dreams on my list...! These are a couple of suggestions that I submitted to gelaskins for consideration. No new artworks, I just used existing illustrations at this point. So far, truly great artists have been published on gelaskins, quite intimidating almost. Wish me luck, and good luck to you too, if you like to submit samples too.

illustration friday "signs"

Recently, I've started to do illustrations and graphic design for the wedding market. Looks like there is a demand out there for custom tailored illustrations by artists who are published in magazines (you artists out there should try it out =)). This image here is in a style that I've never done before: the couple asked me to make them recognizable. I strictly don't do portraits, and don't advertise caricaturing (my deepest respect to all the portrait artists out there, I think this is so HARD!). Somehow I managed to make them kind of look like them, and the clients were happy (I'm not posting their photos for privacy reasons). The customers gave me a clear briefing and their photos, and put this image on the front of their wedding invitation card. They were not the pretty in pink wedding type, and asked to be portrayed on a tandem, travelling through Tuscany with their cat, following a sign that says "20 km to the registry office".

I'm posting it to the illustrationfriday.com theme "signs" because, well, it has a sign ;-) Hope you like it, even though it's different from what I usually do =)

Greetings! Astrid

The Little Bird Project

I was asked to contribute to the good cause project "The Little Bird Project". Illustrations of birds will be printed on a poster, sold, and the profit will be donated to UNICEF, to support their work against child labor.

The project still runs until May 30, check it out and take part! You won't get money, but they list artist's reference and website. More information here.

I did one illustration with background, and one without (no background is their requirement). I kind of like the one with the dreamy sky better though. Or does the belly get lost in the sky where it's pink? What do you think?

illustration friday "citrus"

Something enTIRELly different for once! I created this illustration specifically for the IF topic "citrus", so it's not commercial, but just crazy. Seeing the word "citrus", I instantly got an image in my head of a woman biting into a lemon. I started playing around in Painter, then Photoshop, and look what happened. You tell me!

illustration friday "neighbor"

Hi everyone! Okay this post is a little far fetched to the topic "neighbor", but I thought I post it anyways. The women are neighbors on the beach, and, in the case of the left one, very critical ones at that.
The drawings are done in a new style! I combined vector with Corel Painter drawing additions (fabric detail and swirls in the hair), plus airbrush-like shading. The 2 illustrations are part of a series of 6 drawings done for a swimwear special in the magazine Femina, Switzerland. I kind of enjoy this new style, more easy-going and friendly than just vectors - what do you think?

Astrid
PotatoMammaDesign.com

illustration friday "remember"

This is one of my character designs, Stella. She appears monthly on the Swarovski website, where she gives styling and decoration tips for the latest Swarovski glitz. I posted her to the topic "remember" of illustrationfriday.com, because she kind of thoughtful here.

We're currently in the process of modernizing her image, and giving her more lightness, fashion feel, give her attributes of the term "transparency", and a less rigid, but more sketchy illustration feel. Left is the current style, right one of the suggestions for the new direction. Which one do you like better?

Curious what you think!
Greetings, Astrid
PotatoMammaDesign

vote for illustrations and win!

On April 1 2007, "PotatoMammaDesign" turns 1 year old!
Celebrate with me, and win one of 5 great prizes! Elect Miss PotatoMammaDesign 2007 in the PotatoMammaDesign birthday contest!
Enter now: first 3 entries win a surprise gift
deadline for last votes: April 23 2007

(to get to the contest click here)

Good luck!
Astrid
-PotatoMammaDesign

my current favorite

This illustration was one of the suggestions for a manufactuer of gift products for the teen and young twen-market. They were looking for fashion-inspired, feminine imagery to print on articles like stationery, diaries etc. The artwork has not been published yet.

Astrid
-PotatoMammaDesign.com

illustration friday "crash"

Here's a little fun idea I did for illustrationfriday.com. Shall we call it the sweet revenge of all birds? (Click image to see larger). Greetings to you all!

Astrid
-PotatoMammaDesign.com

free publicity wanted?

Dear illustrator friends!
Via the great illustration inspiration source drawn.ca, I recently came across 49sparks.com. It's an artist collaboration community and free portfolio opportunity. I also got lucky: as soon as I posted an image, they asked me for an interview, which was even more free publicity.
Go to the interview on the 49sparks.com website, or click the play button twice to listen


powered by ODEO
I hope I have a few tips in there that are interesting to some of you. I'm only just starting out in the business (opened in April 06), so bear with me. If you have more questions or suggestions, feel free to comment here, on 49sparks.com, or to send me an email. I'd love to hear from you.
Greetings from an illustrator colleague,
and good luck to you all!
Astrid

illustration friday "sprout"

It has been a while since I last actually created an illustration for illustrationfriday... I finally got around to it again! This is a quick idea I created, to the topic "sprout". Hope you enjoy it, despite my minimalism ;-) Greetings! Astrid

happy winter season!

I know, Christmas has passed... but Christmas CARDS are being produced year-round! This is a pending greeting card design that I did for my agent. All was done in Adobe Illustrator CS2, with gradients for shading, and shapes that are set to "multiply" mode as shadows. Okay, and now let's hope for springtime =) Greetings! Astrid