Pink Ink: Peony Ink Illustrations

Happy Monday my creative friends! Hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing summer weekend.

We kicked off the summer season with margaritas during Santa Barbara's Summer Solstice parade and ended Saturday with a dip in the pool with fabulous friends.

In a nod to the free spirited nature of the parade I created a couple of flower crowns for me and my BFF to rock during the festival. Wired faux flowers and some extra wire for tying it all together are all you need! (Can you tell I shot this in the car?)

In between outdoor gatherings with friends I have been playing around with some of Prismacolors' super fun art markers. The doubled ended (chisel and fine tip) pens make for some fun contrasting texture. So far I have been experimenting with loose floral shapes using the large chisel edges. I plan on framing this sketch to hang in my bathroom. I kinda love its vintage 70's feel.

Happy Summer Solstice

Wishing you a beautiful and celebratory Summer Solstice!

Santa Barbara Summer Solstice is know for its wild, wacky and free sprited celebrations. This year we will head down to State Street with friends to watch the parade of half naked locals dance in honor of my favorite season, before heading to Alameda Park for refreshments and Santa Barbara's food truck deliciousness.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Retro Pool Parties

Ever dream of simpler times? Before computers, before cell phones, before things got complicated? Well, sometimes I do. And it mostly looks like this:

All of this pretty retro imagery inspired my own retro pool girl illustration. Done in white charcoal and colored pencil on a pool blue paper.

Image sources - source, source, source, source, source

Pink Summer Peonies

I broke out the watercolors this weekend in an attempt to capture the pink petaled beauties stuck in my mind. It is peony season here and here in Santa Barbara the farmers markets and store displays are filled with the feathery petaled blooms in pink and blush and white and burgundy.

According to the all knowing Wikipedia, I have gathered some interesting facts on peonies for your next trivia night:

• Peonies are native to Asia, Southern Europe and Western North America.
• The peony is among the longest-used flowers in Eastern culture.
• The peony is named after Paeon, a student of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine and healing.
• In 1957, the peony was voted as the state flower of Indiana, and still is today.

Now that your brains are filled with facts, I will fill them with pretty colors to dull the throbbing.

My first play was a loose and bright swash of paint to allude to soft and delicately, layered petals of the peony.

Round two was slightly more detailed - with a desire to both let the paint do its thing while also capturing the feathering look of the peony petals. 

It's been a while since I painted - primarily because my paints and brushes were tucked away in storage, but it feels good to paint, and I plan on leave the kitchen table a mess for some time. I am working on a quick study for another painting, larger painting I hope to get to soon. I'll keep you guys posted on that one. 

Spring to Summer Flower Crowns

Happy summer everyone!
Spring, and May in particular, was a bustling month for me. A trip to Italy and Amsterdam for 3 weeks, topped off with a beach house excursion and a trip to Philadelphia for a design conference (AIGA, anyone?). It was a great way to kick off the beginning of my favorite time of year.

In recent spring and summery months on the fashion blog scene I have seen an increase in the oh, so fancy flower crown. I make no judgements. In fact, I find the wearing of flowers on ones head to be a delightful way to showcase flower blooms. Why hide them away in your unvisited kitchen when you can top your crop with the seasons bounty?

Some of my favorite flower crown looks  from the blogs I regularly visit:

  

Kelli Murray

  

Late Afternoon

Fashion Toast

From all this lovely flower crown inspiration I illustrated my Spring and Summer Princesses. These lovely ladies embody the feeling of the seasons, all topped off with a royal crown of flowers.