The Last Sign

The only thing I had left to do for the baby shower was a Congratulations! sign, and since the shower's theme was story books, I decided to draw Rapunzel and Jack and the Beanstalk. (Also, I was forbidden to include any more Alice characters, which helped narrow down the pool of candidates.) At any rate, I barely sketched the figures in pencil, and worked almost directly in marker and ink. It took me about an hour and a half to draw the whole thing, and it turned out rather cute, so I hope you guys like it!

Whimsy Galore

Here you have a picture of the actual Alice bookmarks. We made twenty or so for the guests, and they look great. We printed them on nice paper, and then we laminated them and cut them individually. It was a lot of work, but the result is well worth it!

Throne Room (4/4)

Here you have the finished piece after going over it with my black pen. I like the way it turned out, and I am reasonably satisfied with the likenesses. Now, all we have to do is put the invitations together, and send them out. Needless to say, I will try to get a picture of the finished invites before we mail them, so that you can see the finished product. I hope you have enjoyed this series!

Throne Room (3/4)

Here you have the colored version of the last picture I drew for the baby shower invitation. I used my handy Copic markers and, as usual, I find this stage very strange due to the lack of lines. Having it all be shapes like this makes me uncomfortable, and I can't wait to ink over the whole thing to see the finished product. If you would like to see it as well, come back in a couple of days!

Throne Room (2/4)

Here you have the pencils for the Throne Room picture. You can see all the presents the different characters were bringing to the castle in the first illustration in the series, and now you get to see who they were bringing them to. The king and queen are supposed to look like my wife's sister and her husband, as they are the ones we are throwing the party for. According to my wife, the likenesses are pretty good, so I guess you'll have to take her word for it. As usual, the next stage will be coloring the picture, so come back in a couple of days to see how it turns out!

Throne Room (1/4)

This is the third one of the illustrations I created for my sister-in-law's baby shower invitation. This one is supposed to be the interior picture, and it will be a portrayal of her and her husband as the monarchs of the realm. As usual, the first stage looks rather lame, but I think you can get a pretty good idea of what the end result will be. Come back in a couple of days to see the penciled version!

Fantasy Invite (4/4)

Here's the finished picture I drew for my sister-in-law's baby shower invitation. As you can see, I added a lot of detail when I inked the piece, such as folds, wrinkles, grass, and all those stone blocks the castle is made out of. I think inking the castle took about as long as inking everything else, but I think the results are worth all the time I spent working on it. Now it's just a matter of seeing what it looks like when it's printed as a tiny invitation for our guests. Well, that, and the interior illustration, because the invite is going to be one of those cards you can open. Needless to say, if you come back in a couple of days, you will be able to see the sketch for that one!

Fantasy Invite (3/4)

Just like I did with the Alice bookmark and the Town Crier, I colored the baby shower invitation with my Copic markers. It probably took longer than it should have because I drew way too many things, but I think the illustration is shaping up rather nicely. If you come back in a couple of days, you'll be able to see the finished piece, which I hope you will like!

Fantasy Invite (2/4)

Here you have the second stage of the baby shower invitation I have been working on. Once I sketched out the composition, I started all over on a new sheet of paper, and this is what I drew. The invite is going to be much smaller than the original picture, so I knew I did not need to go into too much detail, and yet I ended up with a lot of visual information that I hope will translate well into the smaller format. In any case, you can see the characters are a lot more finished than the castle, because I decided to work on the building mostly with colors and inks to expedite matters. To see what the whole thing looks like once colored, come back in a couple of days and see what you see!

Fantasy Invite (1/4)

As you are probably bored to hear, my wife and I are planning a storybook-themed baby shower for her sister, and besides drawing the sign and favor I have already shown you, I was also in charge of drawing the invitation. After some brainstorming, this is what I came up with: a bunch of fairy tale creatures going to the castle for the big party. As usual, the sketch looks really rough and kind of lame, but stay tuned to see how the illustration progresses!

Town Crier

My wife and I needed a town crier to announce her sister's baby shower, and apparently Ian McKellen was available to take this role, because the picture I drew reminds me a lot of him. Whether this likeness is true or simply in my head, I hope you guys like the picture!

The Sign

In preparation for the baby shower my wife and I are throwing for her sister, I drew a sign to hang up outside of the house so that the guests know where to go. Since the shower's theme is story books, and since I had already drawn an Alice- themed bookmark, I thought I could use my old friend the White Rabbit to decorate the sign. (See him bigger here.) Next to him you can see a church, which is only a couple of houses down from us and where we want the guests to park. My cartoony depiction of the church resembles the actual building quite a lot, but since there's no way for you to know that, you'll have to take my word for it. At any rate, I hope you like the sign!

Whimsical Bookmark (4/4)

Today, at long last, you get to see the finished Alice bookmark. What an exciting prospect! Anyway, as you can see, all I did after coloring the penciled picture was ink the whole thing. You will hopefully notice the lines are more elegant and elaborate than their pencil counterparts, and I think the black ink really makes the picture pop and ties all the elements together. At any rate, my wife and I are very happy with the end result, and we hope our guests will enjoy our little present about as much as you guys enjoyed watching it happen!

Whimsical Bookmark (3/4)

Here you have the second-to-last step in the process. Once I had finished with the pencils, I moved in with my Copic markers and colored the whole thing. I find this stage of the process very strange, because the picture looks a lot like what the finished version will look like, and, at the same time, it looks nothing like it. Sound weird? Well, then come back in a couple of days, and you will see what I'm talking about.

Whimsical Bookmark (2/4)

To continue with our Alice bookmark series of posts, here you have the finished pencil drawing. I didn't go into too much detail, so several parts of the picture look unfinished and rough, but I'm trying to work as quickly as I can, which means I can't really finish every little detail in this stage of the process. This is all I need to start coloring, so the next installment in the series will be very colorful indeed. Come back soon and you'll get to see it!

Whimsical Bookmark (1/4)

My wife and I are planning a baby shower for her sister, and it is going to be fairy tale- themed. I am in charge of drawing several posters and signs as well as the invitation and the favors for the guests. Said favor, we decided, is going to be a bookmark, and what better theme for a bookmark that Alice in Wonderland?

Since Nash loves it when I post the creative process for anything I make, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to keep the blog going and my dear co-blogger happy. (Am I full of great ideas, or what?) Therefore, here you have the ultra lame sketch for the bookmark. I will let you guess who the characters are, but fear not-- you will find out soon enough!