illustration on white Archives

This was a special piece to illustrate. A thoughtful wife reached out to coordinate something special for her husband. His father had passed away and the two shared a love of motorcycles together. To celebrate his memory, she commissioned an illustration of his Dad’s Honda, Indianhead motorcycle for his birthday.

I was really excited to dive into the intricate chrome and reflections. Reflective surfaces are a lot of fun to paint with watercolor. I also might have used this painting as an excuse to try a few new red watercolors…ended up settling on Da Vinci Red. It’s a perfect bright read that doesn’t pull orange or pink. It also is pretty easy to control.

The other element in this motorcycle I was particularly excited about was all that chrome! I branched out of my typical Payne’s Grey and Ivory Black (Windsor Newton) rut and decided to try Shadow Violet (Daniel Smith) and Grey Ochre (Ruby Mountain Paint Co.) for the chrome. I did pull some Payne’s in where I needed blue but for the most part those grey/purples carried the load! Because of the red of the motorcycle the chrome was picking up lots of pinks and purples and not so much blues/greens. Using a grey/purple helped keep everything cohseive.

I like to create a cheat sheet for each project’s color palette. You have no idea how quickly I can forget my color mixing recipes…yes even mid-project! I have my experiments and musings on the larger sheet of paper and my final color palette with recipes and pigment names on the smaller strip. I also used Bloodstone Genuine (Daniel Smith) for the pavement underneath the bike to get that nice gritty granulation.

I’m very happy with how the final motorcycle illustration turned out!

Illustration on White, 8×10″
Paper: Arches cold-press watercolor paper
Paint: Winsor & Newton Professional, Daniel Smith Artist, Ruby Mountain Paint Co.

Tags 8x10", auto, illustration on white, motorcycle

What started out as a fun camper illustration project turned into an opportunity to explore my illustration styles! Shallie from Set the Bar Rentals reached out for a custom illustration set of her business’s two adorable event trailers.

To first illustrate Shirley, her retro mobile bar trailer, I started out with my typical detailed approach, clean and precise. Personality still comes through but it’s very controlled and I think it has a certain elegance about it.

Then I felt a spurring on of inspiration and decided to give it another go and keep things quicker and loose.

The bottom illustration was the result – something I decided to call ‘sketch’ in comparison to my more controlled style which I’ve dubbed ‘tidy’.

Both styles have their unique personality and use. My Retro Camper illustration pack definitely utilizes the sketch style!

I took the same approach for the other piece – a modern little restroom trailer (such a smart idea right?!). The top illustration features my tidy style and the bottom is my sketch style.

Full disclosure – I do not paint all my commission projects twice! (Besides the ones I mess up or spill paint water all over…another story for another time) But when inspiration strikes, I’ve discovered it’s best to not try to thwart it!

I shared both with Shallie and she chose the ‘tidy’ versions as her final logos! She also shared this kind testimonial about her experience.

Rachel was such a pleasure to work with! She responded quickly and answered all my questions. She sent me a simple b&w [black and white] draft that I was in love with and even painted our mobile bar trailer in both “sketch” and “tidy” versions and let me choose between the two. I was extremely happy with the final product and can’t wait to get my original prints in the mail! True talent.
Shallie at Set the Bar

Illustration on White 5×7″
Digitized Artwork Add On
Paper: Canson Bristol
Paint: Winsor & Newton Professional, Daniel Smith Artist, Poems About You

Tags 5x7", camper, illustration on white, Logo, trailer

Lovely 5×7″ illustrations on white. Both places are filled with memories. My client’s Nana’s house as well as the Chi Omega house from Vanderbilt University.

The illustration of this sweet yellow house required a few adjustments to restore it to its former glory. With a solid reference photo and the right notes, it was smooth sailing; adding in the right flowers and removing a few other features.

Getting the colors and windows right for Chi Omega was especially fun! Using multiple reference photos I adjusted the season to ensure both trees and flowers were in full bloom.

Custom Illustrations

Home, Scene & Auto
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Both of these illustrations are 5×7″ and utilize my Illustration on White style. Illustrations at this size can fit directly into a 5×7″ frame or you can mat them for a more dramatic presentation style and frame them at 8×10″.

Illustration on White, 5×7″
Paper: Arches cold-press watercolor paper
Paint: Winsor & Newton Professional

Tags 5x7", Home, illustration on white