2010 Calendar for Sale

If you're still looking for a fun 2010 calendar to brighten your space, I have about 25 calendars left for sale. The calendar is a desktop style and comes in a plastic case which folds back on itself to sit on a flat surface. Each card is 4 5/8 x 5 3/8 and digitally printed on Classic Crest Recycled Bright White stock.

Rather than putting them in my Etsy shop, if you would like to purchase one, drop me an email at fern(at)annebryantcreative(dot)com and I will send you an invoice through Paypal. It's very easy and secure. The price is $12 which includes shipping. You can click on the images for a closer view.

You know what this means?

It means I've gotten through ALL 12 illustrations for my 2010 calendar and it's currently at the printer! I thought I'd get this done sooner this year, but my December got really busy with client work (which I'm thankful for). I'll put some in my Etsy shop as soon as they're delivered. :)

2010 Calendar: coming soon!

I'm halfway through illustrating my 2010 calendar. Last year was the first calendar I did and got lots of great feedback on it so I was excited to start on 2010. This year I'm doing the illustrations by hand and collaging them in the computer—I technique I started using this past year. I like seeing the imperfections of something drawn by hand. Here's a taste, more to come soon!

It's baking season!

The holidays are upon us and I'm determined to not leave everything to the very last minute as usual. We spent the weekend getting our holiday decorations up and even got a little tree for the first time. The Christmas tunes are loaded on the Ipod and we're getting in the spirit. For me that means baking and making gifts to give—those are often the most meaningful and from the heart. Here is a fun holiday illustration I recently did for Corbis and their new collection.

November News

I can't believe it's already November and I didn't get one update for the whole month of October. Every since September hit I've been non-stop busy with work: brochure, magazine, identity project, tradeshow, web interface and illustrations. Hopefully I'll have time and some finished projects to show here soon. In the meantime, here is a new illustration that is part of a collection I'm creating for Corbis. Even though it's fall and I should be putting my garden to bed for the winter, I can't stop thinking about everything I want to do in the spring. It will be here soon...

Green Eyed Lady

A couple of weeks ago I was so excited to be asked to create an illustration for an article in the March 2010 issue of Horticulture Magazine. The article is about a very lovely, but invasive berry vine that spreads it's roots and seeds while trampling native vegetation. The art director really liked the Georgetown Garden Walk poster that my sweetie and I designed, and wanted to show the plant with human qualities.

I thought it should be represented as a bit of a vixen/temptress lady—she's alluring, but a little bit dangerous. The palette came from the actual colors of the plant, but exaggerated to be more stylized and graphic. Here is the final illustration and my sketch below it. I look forward to seeing it in print!

Neat-O

Have you noticed a new addition to my blog? Those cute little boxes to the right? Those are links to my Etsy site—check it out! I'll be adding more prints and other goodies for sale over time. And if you have a special request—illustration, custom jewelry, etc—just let me know. Currently the prints are listed as 8.5 x 11, but I can print them at other sizes as well. As of today, there are 111 days left until Christmas. Just sayin'.

Fresh Fruit

I'm on a roll—here's the third illustration in my breakfast series. I figured that after donuts and bacon we could use a healthy option: oatmeal, fruit and juice. With all the amazing fresh, local produce from the farmers market this summer I think I've eaten my weight in fruit—I can't get enough! As always, you can click on the image for a closer look. :)

Bacon: the downfall of a good many vegetarians

Oh boy, I can't believe it's almost September! What a beautiful summer we've had in the NW. The garden is bountiful and we've got so many tomatoes, squash and beans it's not even funny. So no excuses on the lack of blog updates. Instead here's a new illustration which is part of my breakfast food series. (Remember the donuts?)

For the Birthday Girl

I just delivered this special request necklace and earring set for a dear friend's birthday. I heard yesterday that she loves it which I'm so happy to hear—it's always a little nerve-wracking because I want it to be the perfect gift. For this set I knew it should be natural and semi-precious beads, nothing to sparkly or man-made would be right. It also shouldn't be too matchy-matchy or symmetrical. The focus is a silver pendant I made a couple of years ago when I took a metal smithing class at Pratt. The silver has an emboss of fern leaves which is created by putting the silver and leaves through a heavy duty roller. A very cool process, I'd love to do more of that some day! The necklace is on silk string done with a knotting technique unlike the previous piece I posted which was all wire work. Doing this set reminding me I love the look of knotting and want to do more of it in the future. For a closer look to see more details, click on the images above.

If you're looking for a custom jewelry gift for yourself or someone else, drop me an email. :)

Gardenwalk Follow Up

It's been awhile since I've updated my blog—I've just been too busy enjoying this beautiful summer we're having here in Seattle. I think it's the nicest one we've had in a long time. Last weekend was the 14th annual Georgetown Gardenwalk and of course that was the first day in a while that it decided to rain. Luckily the sprinkles were light and the cool air made the day enjoyable for strolling. A little rain doesn't deter Seattleites, after all. My sweetie and collaborator in the poster snapped a few pics of the poster in the neighborhood windows—it's always fun to see them up!

Pretty things for you or someone special...

Here's a necklace and earring set I made as a special gift for a friend to give to his wife. The request was to include blues & greens. I found the glass and leaf pendant at my favorite bead store, Fusion, and that inspired the rest of the beads: apatite, sunstone and some swirly blue & green ones that I already had in my stash. I use sterling silver wire for the wire work and the chain which I break and reconnect depending on the design. If you're looking for a special gift for yourself or someone else, I'd be happy to make something for you. Fancy gift wrapping is included. :)

Museum of Science Magazine, Spring

I recently wrapped up a big project with Plural—the spring issue for the Museum of Science in Boston. This is the second time we've done the design for the magazine, the first time being their fall issue. Once again it's chocked full of impressive and engaging stories about what's going on at the Museum. The design follows the look and feel of the previous issue so that the Museum's brand is consistent to its audience. The 32 page, plus cover magazine was printed with post-consumer recycled paper.

As always, you can click on the images for a closer look.

Butterfly, Flutter by

The other day I was sitting on the patio trying to figure out what to draw. First I tried drawing the hops but they were too detailed and I got frustrated trying to be precise. Then I noticed the white butterflies dancing around the flower bed—the kind that almost look like they must be drunk the way they flip flop around. I started sketching butterflies with stylized patterns. I liked the play on words of 'butterfly' and 'flutter by' and used the text in the background, kind of like a wallpaper effect. I added some scanned papers because the flat colors seemed, well—too flat. :)

I thought it might be interesting to see my original sketch so I'm including that as well. 

Georgetown Garden Walk: Sunday July 12th

Friends and fans of the Georgetown Garden Walk have been chomping at the bit to see this year's poster so without any further ado, here it is! This is the first year that the poster will be screenprinted in a limited edition of 200, making them a nice keepsake for the event. The files went off to the printer this week and hopefully will start popping up around the neighborhood in the next few weeks, so keep your eyes peeled and mark your calendars for Sunday, July 12th 10 to 5.

As I mentioned earlier in my blog, this year it was a collaborative effort between Jay and me which was a lot of fun. We brainstormed on the concept and wondered just what flowers would look like if they were Georgetown hipsters—voila! 

For more information about the Garden Walk contact Jon Dove at 206.763.9595. Free maps of the garden locations are available on the day of the walk at the Bank of America parking lot, 1112 S. Bailey Street.

Playing with Patterns

If you know me, you know that I'm a total pattern junkie. Can't get enough of them—florals, geometric, traditional, mod, hand drawn, etc. I love them all. (Well, ok maybe not leopard or zebra unless they're on the animals themselves.) A while back I came across this tutorial for making a repeating pattern by Julia Rothman (love her work!) and I've been meaning to give it a try. She made it so easy to understand how repeating patterns are made—a ha, that's how they do it.

So I took elements of this drawing I made and created some patterns from it, playing with different color combinations—so much fun! I would love to screenprint these on giftwrap. :)

As always, you can click on the image for a closer look...

The Living is Easy...

Recently there has been a strange phenomenon here in Seattle—sunshine and warm weather! It's quite rare to have such good weather weekend after weekend here this time of year. Usually summer doesn't really hit until after July 4th and it's not even June! Trying not to jinx myself here, but I'm hoping it will stick around until, hmmmmm, how about October? That would make up for the terrible winter and spring we endured.

So here's a new illustration for you inspired by the sunshine. Enjoy. :)

Georgetown Garden Walk Sneak Peek

I've been busy working on big project—a 36 page magazine for the Museum of Science in Boston—which just went off to the printer. I love that stage of a project. Now I just sit tight and wait for proofs from the printer before it hits the press and ink meets paper.

In the meantime my sweetie and I have been cooking up the design for Georgetown Garden Walk materials. This is the 6th year that one of us has done it: he did it three times, I did it twice and this year it's a collaborative effort. And if I do say so myself this is the best one yet! We've retired the chicken and gone in a fun new direction. So mark your calendars for Sunday July 12th and hope for sunny skies!

Here's a tiny sneak peek to tide you over...

An oink oink here...

It must be all the swine talk of late that made me think of these illustrations I did for Migo mugs a while back. Wash your hands folks and let's keep our sneezes to ourselves. Hopefully the news will be back to talking about happier things such as the recession before we know it.

Cute hoots

The other day I did a new little illustration for a friend's baby onesie—a little blue owl. I thought he needed some friends so I did a few more to hang out in his tree. Here are the owlies in the day and also how they look at night time. 

Bertschi School: Teaching Sustainability

My client Bertschi School in Capitol Hill has an on-going commitment to sustainability and uses a global approach to education. Recent additions to the campus include an impressive LEED certified building, water cisterns, solar panels, a green roof and more. Last year I designed an interpretive signage system to highlight these features, as well as inform students, parents and visitors. The signage functions in tandem with an interactive kiosk which gives additional information the viewer.

I created a system of 14 signs that cohesively fit with the style of the existing campus signage. Each of the signs represents one of the 5 main categories—sustainable sites, water efficiency, solar energy, air quality, materials—and has a corresponding illustration at the top of the panels.

We created the signs to be: intriguing, engaging, fun, informative and to have a 5-8 year lifespan. They also needed to have the ability to display the students' artwork year round. The signs are made from steel and allow the metal's natural finish and oxidation to show through, then were protected with a clear coat finish.

Poppy pods

I did this illustration a couple of years ago and just rediscovered it in my sketchbook. I always liked it and thought it would look nice with some color and texture added. One of these days I'll get around to planting poppies in my yard—the big frilly orange kind that are so perfect they almost don't look real.

Happy Easter!

Wishing you a peaceful Easter and sunshine on your egg hunt. Moms and Dads—keep track of where you hide them, it's no fun playing 'find the rotten egg' two weeks from now. Me, I'll be hitting the after Easter candy sales—there's nothing like stale Peeps. Mmmmmmm.... :)

Snail snack

I've often heard the old adage 'write what you know'. Sometimes when I'm stumped on what to draw I remind myself the same thing applies—'draw what you know'! So here's what's going on in my little corner of the world: starting seedlings for the garden and keeping an eye on two pet snails. I curse the snails and slugs when they're chewing holes in my hostas and ligularia in the garden, but I can't bring myself to kill them. Most often they spend their retirement in the yard waste bin.

So here's a new illustration for you. This time I incorporated painted textures, paper and a scan of a rusty background. Hope you like it.

Donuts make people happy

Here's another illustration for you inspired by the yummy donuts at Top Pot here in Seattle. Nothing like a fresh donut and good coffee! This time I scanned some origami papers and combined them with the drawing and painted textures I made. Enjoy! 

Launching DZO Strategists

I recently created this system of business papers for DZO Strategists. Their objectives were to convey a solid, confident, smart and solution-driven brand. I designed the DZO identity last fall so it was great to take it to another level and apply it to their printed materials. I selected Neenah Classic Crest in Avalanche White which is another of my favorite enviro-friendly stocks. When choosing the perfect red for their identity, we felt limited by what Pantone had to offer so a custom red ink was mixed to exactly match what my own printer had produced.

Robot love

My onesie winner Aly had a special request for her little guy which I was happy to make. Beep beep!

Onesie winner!

Thank you to everyone that left comments about my onesie designs! It's great to hear positive feedback and encouragement. I'll work on getting some up on my Etsy site and post a note here on my blog when they're listed. 

The winner of the giveaway is Aly! Drop me an email and let me know what design I can whip up for your little guy. :)

Laundry time

Here's a new little drawing for you. Must be the spring weather, sunshine and fresh air that inspired me. That and striped socks.

Onesies for your little one

The other day I had a request for some of my hedgie onesies which really made my day. I've only made my iron-on onesies for friends in the past, but this gave me the idea to perhaps try selling them. So I'm dipping my toe in the water to hopefully get some feedback on interest. I might put some up on my Etsy shop at some point, or I can just sell them through my blog—Paypal makes it very easy. Here is a pic of some designs I've done in the past but am currently working on new ones and can also do custom requests.

I'd love your feedback. If you are interesting in purchasing just drop me an email. Prices are $10 a piece (plus shipping) and for sizing please visit here.

And as a bonus if you leave a comment, I'll randomly pick a reader and send them a onesie in the size and design of their choice. :) Check back a week from today (March 26) when I announce the winner.

Toasties!

I've been having fun doing these little drawings, then playing with them in the computer adding color and fabrics. Here's a new one! 

As always, you can click on the image for a closer look.

Coffee & Tea

Here's a quick little drawing I did. First I drew it with pen, then took it into the computer, added color for accent plus some hankerchief fabrics. It's definitely busier than my recent illustrations, but I like that about it—it makes it feel more girly and tea partyish.

Fun + Friends + Fitness = Boardwalk 5K!

Here's a project fresh off the presses announcing a fun upcoming event for Treeswing. It's for their 4th annual 5K Run/Walk on April 26th which helps fund physical education programs in the Seattle Public Schools. I wanted it to be attention-getting and lively so I made the text bold used the bright colors of the Treeswing palette. If you and your family would like to participate, go here to sign up!