Tuesday Coolsday

Trying something new: Cool finds from working the google reader on the internet machine.

Cool Collection: Best Custom Lettering of 2009 (so far)
This work from around the web is simply amazing. It inspires me in a big way, but also makes me want to bury my moleskin where no one will ever see it. I'll get there. {via Design Observer}

Cool Dude: Paul Heaston
I simply cannot get enough of this guy's sketchbooks. I actually have a crush on one drawing specifically (sorry, Jason). I highly recommend subscribing to his blog. {originally discovered via Lines and Colors}

Cool Write-Up: David Apatoff on the Illustration Academy
Having attended the Illustration Academy and spent 7 grueling weeks day-in and day-out with these people, I have to say I'm biased. So I'm always happy when an outsider sees what the fuss is all about and gives the IA gang the recognition they deserve. {via Illustration Art}

Cool Friend: Erika Steiskal's penguins
Erika is a roommate from aforementioned Illustration Academy so we have a special bond that will keep us close for a lifetime. She just recently entered the freelance world and started working on a children's book about penguins. She's such a dedicated artist - she made little penguin sculptures! A LOT of them! Just so she could have accurate lit reference photos! Impressive. Also look for her sketchbook stuff and an almost-complete Bernanke illustration.

That's it! Tune in next Tuesday for more coolness.

Oh the Weather Outside...

I have slacked on the blogging because My Biggest Fan had a birthday this week. My free time was spent showering him with love, attention, and PRESENTS. One gift was a t-shirt that I designed with a movie quote from Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

If you haven't seen the flick, you are probably thinking, "Wow, she butchered that Christmas song," and/or "Why is she illustrating Christmas songs in June?" To give you some context, the character who utters these ridiculous words is played by the hilarious (and easy-on-the-eyes) Paul Rudd. He's a free spirited surf instructor who may have burnt out a brain cell or ten. The weather outside, well, it's just weather!

Now go see the movie. Go! Now! Put it in your queue! Get it from a RedBox! Go to Blockbuster! Wait, do they still have Blockbuster?

The shirt is available from Zazzle. Anyone know of another site I could submit the design to?

Also, what do we think of my new little link buttons on the side? I'm undecided. I like the idea but might try something else. Would love some feedback!

Be on the lookout for the new beer painting to be posted this week!

aloha

Santa Monica Pier

Another lunch break drawing adventure in my Moleskin.

This little gem was created during two 30 minute lunch breaks (for the on-site pen drawing) and a little bit of time with the acrylic paint and GAC 100 at home. I was watching "Intervention," a show on A&E, while I worked on this, and will now forever associate my drawing with a crack addict named Chad. Don't worry, he ultimately sought treatment and is now sober.

Similarly, I have a drawing of apples that I worked on while watching the 9/11 coverage; I can't look at the apples without being reminded of the details of that day. I'm sure it's normal to associate what you're drawing to whatever you're listening too; it's like I heard; "if you doodle, you remember more."

For fun, I thought I would share a nice aerial view of this drawing vantage point and scene:

Happy Father's Day

Views from the 16th Floor

My office is located on prime real estate in Santa Monica: Pacific Coast Highway and some sand separate us from the ocean. It's pretty ridiculous when you enter the main reception area: Floor to ceiling windows line the entire west (ocean) facing walls, and you see blue sea for miles (or just a mile, depending on the smog that day). The other sides of the building look out over the city - north to Malibu and Pacific Palisades, East towards Brentwood and Santa Monica (and on a clear day, towards Big Bear), and South towards Venice - and I find these views to be much more interesting. While waiting for a job to print in our production room, I grabbed a few scraps of paper and doodled some of those views and thought I would share them with you. This is another one that would be cool if I had paint on hand because the colors make a big difference. Maybe I should start bringing my gouache set to work :)

"Sunset in Malibu"; or "View From Parking Garage"

Leaving work last week, I was taken with the view northwest towards Malibu from the 9th floor of the parking garage in Santa Monica. So I sketched it. This has potential to be a pretty cool painting; but maybe just a small gouache one.

In other news, I started a Facebook Page for my biz. So now I have yet another site to keep updated! Woo hoo! Check it out here and become a fan! Cat Scott Illustration + Design

St. James Court Art Show Poster

Every fall, there is a huge, beautiful art festival in Old Louisville called the Saint James Court Art Show. Every spring, there is a competition for the poster for the event, and every year, I think, "I should enter." But I never do - not living in Louisville, I tend to forget about things like that. Earlier this week, while finishing an illustration for Louisville Magazine (coming soon to a newstand near you!), the poster contest popped in my head and I hopped over to google to check it out.

The due date was 3 days away. I took it as a sign.

I have been diligently plugging away at it ever since I sent off the final illo to LouMag. I ran into some technical difficulties though: How could I scan or photograph original artwork for a 24"x30" poster (I always work bigger than the final printed piece)? And if I were so lucky as to win, how would I get such a large piece to Louisville?

So I decided to tackle this project in Illustrator. I've been digging Jessica Hische's work lately, so my piece was very heavily influence by her, as well as various Victorian/Art Nouveau artwork I found online.

Doing the handwritten text was the best part. First I sketched it out with pencil:

Then I filled it in with ink:

Then I scanned it and used the AutoTrace feature in Illustrator to make it a vector shape. I hate doing that part because it never looks quite right to me. It lost a lot of character when it was forced into vectors.

Overall, I really like the way the poster turned out. I included the famous statue that is in the heart of Saint James Court and some of the beautiful Victorian homes that line the court, and embellished the design with the ever popular Fleur-de-lis.

This piece was a challenge for me stylistically, and it is a risky entry.. most of the past winners have been pretty paintings of the statue with some super kerned out text. Let's hope the gang at St. James Court likes my approach!

Busy Gato

I have been quite busy and will remain busy the rest of the week. Here's a small sketch to whet your appetite.

Fleur de Lis

Fleur de Lis, Hi-Tec C and Acrylic in my Moleskin

When I was in Louisville, I saw this symbol popping up everywhere. It has long been a part of Louisville's history, but it recently became a main stream icon to represent the 'Ville. My dad, who seems to have become a Louisville historian in his spare time, explained to me where this symbol originated from.

Louisville was named in honor of King Louis the XIV. He was French. The French dig the Fleur de Lis.

Of course, he put it much more elegantly than that.

This lesson came in handy at the Smithsonian a few days later. We saw a 17th century violin called The Louis XIV embellished with fleur de lis. The more you know!

Jason at LAX

I ventured East last week with Jason, a.k.a. My Biggest Fan. First stop was LAX, and since it's vacation, why not grab a beer before boarding our 4 hour flight? While drinking cold, refreshing, delicious Sam Adams (alcohol always tastes best when you know your coworkers are sitting at their desks), I sketched my traveling partner.

I drew with a Hi-Tec C, .4 mm, while at the Chili's To-Go (there aren't a lot of options in the American Airlines terminal!) . Tonight, in the comfort of my living room, I applied color using GAC 100 and acrylic paint. I learned about this acrylic medium from Andrea Wicklund, and I'm glad I did. It really adds a lot of interest and complexity to a simple cross hatch pen sketch without covering up the line work, and it's fairly easy to apply a few washes while catching up on episodes of Flip This House.

Immediately following the consumption of our beers at the airport, we saw Jose Conseco at Chili's and Jason shook his hand. So by extension, I think this drawing should be pretty famous, or at least chock full of sterioids. It also validates our choice in restaurant, because famous people eat there too!