Fall grasses

Every year I wait for the tassels to sprout on top of the prairie grass in my garden. From my window I can see them swaying in the autumn breeze, highlighted by a sun that is slowly backing away from us Northern climate folks, soon to abandon us to winter's austere presence. I love fall....winter, not so much!

Another sketch, another cover

Here's another peek into the advertising world, this time the front cover of that 2004 Target electronic catalog which was the subject of the previous post. It's always helpful for an advertising designer/art director to have an illustrator sketch out what the art director is envisioning for the layout. But sometimes, when they arrive at the photographer's studio to do the final photography, it just doesn't look right! Maybe there have been last minute alterations. Maybe new props are added, or the product is substituted, or the pose needs to change. So right there on the spot, the sketch becomes a starting point rather than the final say.

Aren't these models the cutest? (I am never given photos of the models when I am sketching, I just invent them, so it's always a fun surprise to see the final version). And I love the color combinations!

From sketch to cover

Pardon my lapse in posting, but I've been working working working, for Target on upcoming printed materials, so now that I'm in a lull, waiting for revisions to hit the fan, I thought it might be fun to show how a finished cover evolves from a sketch. This is the back cover of Target's 2004 electronic catalog. You can see how the position of the boy and his dad remained the same (although flopped), but changes were made in the product - from two to only one. It always amazes me to see my drawing become a photograph, no matter how it transitions. I also liked the Mid-century feel of the type/script, since I'm partial to retro!

Catalog work

I often do sketching for retail companies, such as Target or Kohl's, and my friends ask, "Yes, but what do you DO???"

Well, I sketch! Those circulars, or mini-catalogs that fall out of the back of the Sunday paper, the ones that have all the photos of goodies that you need to buy, SOMEBODY has to do the preliminary sketches of all the products. Otherwise, how would the photographer know what to do or how to photograph all the merchandise that is brought to the photo studio?

Here are some sketches from the kid's toy circulars from previous years. I just love drawing kids and toys, it makes me feel like I am seven years old again!