Happy Accident - speed inspires design

This weekend Lauren asked me to create a fast and spooky "Keep Out!" sign for her niece and nephew's bedroom door. What followed was a most delightful 'Happy Accident' (thanks to Bob Ross for that term).

The challenge of quickly cranking out a skull and cross bones lead me to a rather fun and dynamic design. I liked it so much that I decided to experiment with it further (after I printed and handed off the sign of course).

Up top are the fruits of my experimentation. I like these skulls. I think the design is pretty solid and they have a really fun feeling. Once finished I submitted them to my Shutterstock collection so perhaps they'll even earn me a few bucks. Below that is the original sign that I put together for Lauren's niece and nephew (10 minutes).

Larkshop Secrets... No hand drawn sketch this time. I dove straight in with Adobe Illustrator.

13 Ghosts - Boo!

Ooh, spooky! Here's a new collection of ghost vector illustrations that I created for Shutterstock.
I designed thirteen different ghosts for this collection and then created three different color options for each one just to spice things up. For me the most fun part of it all was doodling in my sketchbook and coming up with the thirteen different ghosts.
Hope ya dig it!

Larkshop Secrets... To create this I first scanned my hand drawn sketches from my sketchbook. After that I imported the scanned jpeg into Adobe Illustrator and vectorized the line work (using the pen tool and bezier curves). Then I dropped in the color (also in Illustrator).

Halloween Collection

Here's a new collection of Halloween vector illustrations that I created for Shutterstock.
As I post this I can look out of my studio window and see an enormous cloudy sky. I've got the window open and I can feel the cool temperatures drifting in as I work. So cozy, I adore this time of year.

Larkshop Secrets... To create this I first scanned my hand drawn sketches from my sketchbook. After that I imported the scanned jpeg into Adobe Illustrator and vectorized the line work (using the pen tool and bezier curves). Then I dropped in the color (also in Illustrator).

"Flying" - for lllustration Friday

Here is my latest submission for www.illustrationfriday.com
The topic this week is "Flying".

Well I'm definitely guilty of taking the obvious approach on this week's topic but by golly I love it anyway! For me it was great fun to think back to childhood and all of those wonderful memories of running around pretending my blanket was a cape.

I took that old nostalgic feeling one step further in this picture and imagined the same fantasy applied to a certain youngster we would all come to know in his adulthood. All the clues to his identity are in this image.

Any guesses?

P.S.
www.illustrationfriday.com is a website that posts topics each week for artists from around the world to interpret, illustrate and post.


Larkshop Secrets... To create this I first scanned my hand drawn sketch. After that I imported the scanned jpeg into Adobe Illustrator and vectorized the line work (using the pen tool and bezier curves). Then I dropped in the color (also in Illustrator).

October brings the boogie man!

OCTOBER IS HERE!
I am so giddy and excited to be ushering in another fall season. This block of time from now through the new year is my favorite time of year!
So allow me to kick off October with a few fun classic monsters. I thought it would be neat to take an unconventional approach and illlustrate them all as silhouettes.
Hope ya dig it!

Larkshop Secrets... To create this I first scanned my hand drawn sketches. After that I imported the scanned jpeg into Adobe Illustrator and vectorized the line work (using the pen tool and bezier curves). Then I dropped in the color (also in Illustrator).