I made it to the 2nd round of the GTS 2016

I am taking part in the Global Talent Search 2016 by Lilla Rogers’ Studio again this year and recently found out recently found out that my entry was selected to move on to the 2nd round of the competition! This is the third year that I have been fortunate to make it into the top 50. I am so excited and honored to be amongst this group of amazingly talented artists and illustrators. Check out the entries that made it into the top 50 by clicking here. Below is mine.

The brief this year was to design a teacup & saucer and paper napkin in my own style for our fictional muse Sunny. Sunny has just opened a new cafe and is interested in purchasing a tea service that fits her style and vibe of the cafe. 

We were able to  approach the assignment anyway we wanted to,to showcase our illustration style and concept. I chose to spotlight a single cup and saucer and set it up as if the cup was waiting to be sipped. Since it was a cafe with an emphasis on desserts I thought I would add a bit of chocolate and a used tea bag to set the scene.

I first started with as sketch that I scanned into Photoshop and then using my trusty PS brushes I began to paint my little tea cup to bring it to life. My current style (when dealing with subject matter that is not kid oriented) has evolved into a combination of some realistic elements, like the painting of the song bird featured on the left side of the cup with more stylistic elements, like the flowers and background. I enjoy developing subtle texture to weave throughout the image.

I have been trying to add more hand drawn type and was pretty happy with that addition on the base of the tea cup. The color palette was a bit of a departure for me but lately I have real been drawn to hotter pinks and blues. I still paint exculisely using my computer mouse, but I trying to wean myself of ruling on the mouse so much and use my Wacom tablet more so I can use all the wonderful brushes I purchased from Kyle Webster at the recent ICON 9. I really enjoyed this project and so honored to move through to the next round.