Mardi Gras

Please note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which help pay for the upkeep of this site. That being said, I will never, ever promote anything I am not 100% in love with!

It's Mardi Gras and Shrove Tuesday (also known as Pancake Tuesday), so how could I not celebrate with some pancakes and a little illustration, complete with giant glitter pieces!

I used Tombow Dual-Tip Brush Markers with water and a paintbrush (you can read more about that technique here) along with Mono pencils and erasers to create this piece. I finished it off with some hexagonal glitter in giant and regular sizes. It's tricky to glue it down in individual pieces, but with a bit of patience you get a fun sparkly effect. 

Here's a timelapse video of it all coming together.

And the pancakes? I made orange and almond pancakes with orange-infused maple syrup and toasted almonds on top. I also sweetened some light sour cream with confectioner's sugar and fresh-squeezed orange juice to serve with fresh strawberries. Delish! Did you make pancakes today?

Creating content for holidays is idea number five on my FREE, downloadable guide '21 Social Media Prompts for Artists'. Grab a copy of the guide here, to give your social media content a kick in the pants and stop feeling stuck for what to post! 

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Fashion Illustrations from the Oscars Red Carpet

Please note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which help pay for the upkeep of this site. That being said, I will never, ever promote anything I am not 100% in love with!

I love awards season, because with it comes an amazing array of red-carpet fashions. Some of them just cry out to be illustrated and painted, so here are three of my favorites: Felicity Jones in Dior, Olivia Culpo in Marchesa, and Emma Roberts in vintage Armani Prive.

Olivia's gown was a collaboration with Stella Artois and Water.org, where the beads on her dress are made from Stella Artois chalices and for each chalice sold five years of clean drinking water is provided for someone in the developing world. I love seeing people use their influence and fame for good!

I used Tombow Dual-Tip Brush Markers with water and a paintbrush (more about that technique here) and Mono pencils and erasers to create each of the sketches.

Here's a quick time-lapse video of me painting each dress.

Participating in public events like the Academy Awards is number 9 on my FREE, downloadable guide '21 Social Media Prompts for Artists'. So if you ever feel stuck for social media post ideas, grab yourself a copy of the guide here. 

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Dance, Dance, Dance

Please note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which help pay for the upkeep of this site. That being said, I will never, ever promote anything I am not 100% in love with!

I was a classical ballerina for about 19 years (and also did tap dancing, jazz ballet, street funk, hip-hop, Bollywood, Ceroc, swing, ballroom.....you name it I've danced it) and I still find so much beauty and strength in it. Ballerinas are disciplined, graceful, and make such hard moves look simple. So when I saw a series of photos by Ken Brower and Deborah Ory I fell in love and just had to interpret them in watercolor and ink illustrations.

These are the first in the series! I sketched them out using Tombow Mono pencils and erasers, then used watercolor for some of the base skin tones, and Tombow dual brush-tip markers with water and a paintbrush for the colors!  

Did you ever take ballet classes? If so, did you enjoy them?

Creating a series of art work or posts is number 6 in my FREE, downloadable guide '21 Social Media Prompts for Artists'. So if you ever feel stuck for social media post ideas, grab yourself the guide here.

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Sketchbook Project 2017

I finally finished my 2017 Sketchbook Project Book, with the theme of hand-drawn, repeating patterns. It was a really nice project to work on in-between other commissions and illustrations. And because I kept it simple and just used ink over watercolor backgrounds I found it quite relaxing to do. If you haven't heard about the Sketchbook Project before, check out more details here, it's very cool!

I also got the chance to test out Instagram's newest feature where you can upload multiple photos and videos as part of one collection. This could be really fun for us artists, giving us a chance to show a piece in progress, and add both videos and photos to really tell a story, rather than just choosing the best image to try and portray the whole thing. Let me know in a comment if you can think of any other ways you'd use the new multiple photo/video upload to show off your work?

If you haven't played with the new feature yet, here's how I used it.

A post shared by Jessica Mack 🎨 Colorado Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Feb 22, 2017 at 1:56pm PST

And here is the video from Instagram, explaining how the new feature works.

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Jenny Packham Fashion Illustration

Please note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which help pay for the upkeep of this site. That being said, I will never, ever promote anything I am not 100% in love with!

I've really enjoyed seeing all the collections on show as part of New York Fashion Week — and of course, creating fashion illustrations from my favorites. 

I fell in love with this orange and blue outfit by Jenny Packham and recreated it using Tombow Dual Brush Tip Markers, pencils and Mono erasers. 

I wanted to add a 3D element to my illustration but I didn't have any blue ribbon, so I used the Tombow markers to color in some pale pink ribbon and then stuck it on using Mono Multi XL liquid glue (which has a useful fine-tip applicator on one end and a broad tip on the other).

As a Tombow Ambassador I was sent the erasers and glue for free, and I've got to say they've quickly become my go-to tools, and I've been using them all week!

You can see how I created this illustration in the time-lapse video below.

Have you been watching any of the runway shows from New York Fashion Week?

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New York Fashion Week Illustrations with Tombow

Please note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which help pay for the upkeep of this site. That being said, I will never, ever promote anything I am not 100% in love with!

New York Fashion Week starts today, and to celebrate I'm taking over Tombow's Instagram account with some of my fashion illustrations. 

I love seeing next season's fashion previewed on the runways, and to prepare for this week I poured over trend and color forecasting and picked a few of my favorites to illustrate.

One of the trends we're likely to see is bolder colors in geometric and more structured patterns and designs. I'm all about color, no matter what season it is, so I'm excited to see what comes down the runway! I used Tombow Dual Brush Markers with a Blending Palette and paint brush, Mono pencils and Dust-Catch eraser, along with the Tombow Fudenosuke Twin-Tip Brush Pen to create this piece. Tombow is running a Fashion Week promotion this week if you're interested in picking up some new supplies for 25% off.

Watch the timelapse video of my first fashion illustration below:

I'm also expecting to see some neutral knits, pared with sheer fabrics, on the runway this week, with grays having a lovely blue tint to them. I used Tombow Dual Brush Markers with a Blending Palette and paint brush, Mono pencils and Dust-Catch eraser, along with the Tombow Fudenosuke Twin-Tip Brush Pen to create this one.

And lastly, delicate Japanese floral prints have always been a favorite of mine and I'm hoping we'll see some on the runway this week, particularly in shades of purple and lilac. I used Tombow Dual Brush Markers with a Blending Palette and paint brush, Mono pencils and Dust-Catch eraser, along with the Tombow Fudenosuke Twin-Tip Brush Pen to create this piece. 

If you'd like to see how I'm using Tombow markers like watercolors, check out this post.

In the spirit of full disclosure, if you buy Tombow products by clicking on the links in my blog I get a small percentage of the sale. This helps pay for web hosting and all the other things I need to keep this site running. So thank you in advance!

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