Custom "Thank You" card

Just a quick job I did over the phone. Got the request to sketch a thank you card for someone that had gone above and beyond at work, so the concept is "handsome nerdy" guy that hang the moon in the sky for the thankful recipient. The request was for a black and white illustration after the client couldn't find the exact card she wanted at Hallmark. The line work was drawn with my trusted Sakura Pigma Sensei 06 pen. Since I had many of my coloring tools laid out on my drafting table already, the color version was done for fun. I applied a Copic Sketch marker for the skin tone, Faber Castell Pitt Big Brush artist pens for the clothing and lettering, and a Prismacolor Premier double ended marker for the ground.

The advantage of the pigmented India inks of the Pitt pens is that they do not bleed through the back of the card stock. The alcohol based inks of the Copic Sketch and Prismacolor show through the back of the front of the card. Making custom greeting cards, is a good project for budding artists to exercise their illustration skills and apply their creativity in giving shape to their clients visions. You can have your kids work on birthday cards, thank you notes, and holiday greeting cards on rainy days, so that they do not have to rush through at the last minute.

Custom Birthday Pop-Up Card

Drawn with Sakura Pugma Sensei 06 pen, colored with Copic Sketch markers, and highlighted with Pentel Outline markers on colored card stock.  Pasted together with Yes glue.

ATC Manga template for Nuts About The von Liebig Family Day

One of the coloring reference sheets for the family day cartooning activities at the von Liebig Art Center later today. This page of manga-inspired cards were colored with Prismacolor double ended markers and some Copic Sketch markers.
Blank coloring template.

Manga style Coloring Trading Cards

ATC samples colored with Prismacolor and Copic Sketch markers.


Coloring ATC pages featuring manga-style sketches to be used in cartooning classes and special events.

Bit of Speed Sketching for the Evening - Trial for a new Sketching tool

While most of the students and their families decorated their holiday cards, I started taking requests for quick sketching demos. My trusted Sakura Pigma Sensei 0.6 mm pen which is my usual first choice for event sketching turned out not to be up for the task on account of being rather dry. Thus, I ended up switching to a black Copic Sketch marker outfitted with a medium round nib. This was the first actual field test for this customized sketching tool that I put together mainly for sketching cartoon portraits. Its line is much thicker than 0.6 mm, and proved quite suitable for drawing bold strokes quickly and smoothly. It is certainly a good choice for keeping up the sketching speed though it is difficult to render small details with it. Its other advantage is that Copic markers are refillable, so carrying a bottle of spare ink would ensure continuous reliable service even when the ink supply runs out halfway during an extended event.
The first sketch request for the evening was for a picture of Strawberry Shortcake.
Good thing dragons were requested often since they are one of the subjects that I can draw quite quickly. Since my family name means "Dragon" in Chinese (notice the dragon character printed on the back of my coat in the last photo of this entry), I am rather fond of them.

Demonstrating how loosely stringing a few basic geometric shapes together can quickly convey the concept of a robot city that would fit in the Transformers universe.
Since mermaids always seem to be a popular subject with Elementary and Middle School students, 2 of the available bonus sketching sheets featured them.
I think this was the third mermaid cartoon portrait request for the evening, but I have to admit I lost track of the actual number of sketches I managed to produce on this evening.

Tinkerbell was another popular request.
Trying to explain the drawing and design process while sketching as many doodles as possible can be a challenge sometimes.
Also recall doing a Sponge Bob, Patrick, Spiderman, and Winnie the Pooh quick sketches. Bit surprised nobody asked for a Batman sketch.
Kept on drawing the students' requests until the very end of the Family Night event. I think most were pleased with their sketches though I was not able to undertake all of them in the time allowed. It was quite fun and looking forward to performing in similar venues in the future.

Artist Trading Cards (ATC) early tests

Continuing to brainstorm material for art enrichment classes for Elementary school children next year, I am focusing on small format activities that could be accomplished in 50 minutes class periods while keeping supply requirements and clean up to a minimum for a quick turnover of the classroom. Given the popularity of Kodomo (Manga for kids) card-based games like Pokemon and more recently Bakugan, young kids (9-12 yeras old) are likely to get drawn to an activity where they could create their own Manga style trading cards. Creating Artist Trading Cards (ATC) is an ideal creative activity for kids that allow for effective experimentation with a variety of sketching and coloring tools (crayons, colored pencils, markers, pigment liners, watercolor, and even some collage) in a short time period. While cutting your own 2.5" X 3.5" cards typically used for ATCs from larger sheets is certainly a cost-saving option, they are also available in convenient packs of 20 Strathmore 300 Bristol cards (with smooth or vellum finish depending if the intended media will be India ink or graphite pencil) for when we might be a tad short on prep time.
For drawing the coloring outlines, I used a brush pen loaded with a Platinum ink cartridge, Copic multiliner SP pens, and a Staedtler Technical drawing pen since their waterproof ink would better resist smearing when coloring with alcohol and water-based media.
Always a good idea to have a larger piece of scrap paper beneath the ATC to facilitate coloring all the way to the edge.
Coloring stages.
Close up of the finished card.
First sample set of ATCs colored with Copic Sketch Markers and Faber Castell Pitt Artist pens.A few coloring cards ready for testing.
The small format allows for quick completion time with fairly satisfactory results. Nicole here looks quite pleased with the card she just colored in a few minutes.
Colored Mermaid card close up.

Getting closer on the Elf card design

First tried using part of an earlier elf drawing by itself for a less cluttered card design. Then sketched a few more pages of elves with a 1.0 mm Sakura Pigma Sensei pen until I came up with one I liked. Shrunk it down to 25% of its original size and pasted it on a blank card template.
I think this card template might be simple enough to color quickly and complete the target set of 6 cards for the card-making class.
First coloring test done with Copic Sketch markers
Digitally placed the scarf behind the arm and tried a slightly different color palette. Finishing with a couple of snowflake patterns drawn with Pentel Outline markers.

Brainstorming the last greeting card template for Class

Just having some fun doodling an elf in color without drawing a coloring outline first on blank Rhodia paper.
Trying out a few Copic Sketch marker combinations to render skin tones with some variety. Got to come up with a final design to complete a set of 6 coloring card templates to use for class.
Elf taking a coffee break with couple of buddies.

The Baker Elf concept cards. I fear they might be a tad too busy to color in the time allowed. Guess this is what happens when working often with the Food Network playing in the background.
Toy Workshop Elf card template. Left lost of blank space, so students could add their own background details like the rest of the workshop, a holiday tree, or a snow-covered field. Yet it seems rather busy for such a small format (1/4 of a letter size sheet). Not really happy with any of them, so I guess I will sleep on it.

Card Making Class Colored Samples

Colored a few card templates with Copic Sketch markers to use as finished samples for my upcoming card-making classes at Immokalee Elementary and Middle schools. These finished card samples simply need to be printed on letter size card stock, folded in halves twice, and they are ready to be fitted with an envelope for mailing.