Tried & True Techniques for Surviving a Feeling

I made my first zine! And it's now available in my shop. It's a little book about feelings and how to deal with them. A little bit serious, a little bit silly, and very honest.

This project was really the culmination of a lot of factors. I'd been wanting to make a longer-form personal project for a while, but I also wanted to make sure it was something I could definitely finish. My experience at SPX last year got me really interested in zines, and eventually I figured it would be cool (and a good motivator) to try and have one ready for SPX this year. (Which I managed!)

I was also spending a lot of time working in my sketchbook, due to taking a daily doodle pledge in a workshop my friend Zara gave. During that, I realized that despite the fact that my work tends to be very tightly finished/colorful, I was really drawn to the simplicity and honesty of my straight-to-ink sketchbook drawings. I liked that they felt so personal, but also the messiness gave me more chances to be funny, too. Eventually that work developed into a series of drawings that I then pushed further into this little tiny book.

I really enjoyed getting to step away from my usual children's-oriented stuff and try something a little bit different (although hopefully it still feels like me!). It's also incredibly satisfying to have a little stack of physical booklets to look at and know that I put them together completely myself, from start to finish. Really, really looking forward to making more!

Cardinal Stickers

Another sticker pack for imo! I have so much fun making work for them, I feel so lucky to have them as a client.

They gave me pretty free reign to pitch a pack, and so I decided to go with one of my favorite birds: cardinals. (Who doesn't love them?) I was inspired by the fact that you can always tell when a pair of cardinals is nearby by the gentle "peep" they make to keep track of each other. Listen for it next time you spot one - odds are their partner is around somewhere, peeping back.

For this pack, apart from the usual goals of clear emotional expressions and appealing animations, I also tried to experiment with a color scheme outside of my norm. I'm trying to incorporate more neutrals and unexpected color combinations in my work, and that's been very rewarding so far.

Bad Beets

For years, I've dreamed of illustrating a board or card game. My senior project at MIAD actually was a series of illustrations for a card game I'd come up with. (I can't claim the game was any good, but I'm still reasonably happy with the art!)

A few months ago, Stone Blade Entertainment gave me the chance to make this dream come true! They asked me to illustrate their new kid's card game, Bad Beets. It's a bluffing game where you try to get rid of your awful, gross, nasty beets using every trick in the book deck. And as of TODAY, it is released into the world!!

One of my favorite things about the project was getting to draw a diverse cast of kids. Not only was my awesome art director Ryan O'Connor on board with that plan, he was absolutely insistent that we go that route. I got to take a lot of inspiration from my art class students, too.

And my other favorite thing?

Stone Blade got a BEET COSTUME made up for Gen Con!!! Does this count as the first cosplay of a character I drew? ;) Seriously, the coolest, funniest thing.

#badbeets !! Shoutout to the dude in the background, hil wait for it larious! #gencon2015 #gencon2015 #badbeets

A photo posted by Samantha Lynn (@mrs_analoggamer) on Jul 30, 2015 at 2:32pm PDT

(Photo credit to @analoggamer, thanks for letting me share it!)

Poodle Painting

Ever have one of those pieces where you feel so stuck and it's just not working and then all the sudden out of nowhere it's finished and you love it?

I really struggled in the mid-stages on this piece, a pet portrait commissioned by an old friend. It just wasn't coming together. I got some feedback from friends I trust, let it sit for a day, and came back to it with some fresh ideas. Kept working at it, let my failures go so I could try new things, and the result is something I'm really proud of!

Here's a little process gif showing some of my struggles:

Coral Reef

(Print Available)

About time I put together a new piece for postcards!

This is probably the most ambitious illustration I've taken on in a few years, but I have to say that that felt really good. I've been starting to feel a bit stagnant recently, and I wanted to do something new to really push myself and see where I'm at. I used this piece to try a few new things:

A much tighter sketch than is typical for me (and in pencil, too)

Value studies beforehand

Working primarily in Manga Studio for lineart/flatting

And happily, I feel that all of those new paths took me to good places. The value study especially helped immensely. I knew this idea was going to be overwhelmingly colorful and detailed - and that was part of what I wanted to do, a hugely detailed, colorful environment. I knew value was going to be the only way there could still be clarity, and I also knew as a color addict, a study was going to be the only way to get me there. I used the study and actually did a good chunk of my flatting in grayscale as well - until it got too hard to see what everything was (since I didn't do full lineart for everything.) I also checked how I was doing on value frequently once I was working on color, by switching on/off a grayscale overlay. Definitely something I'll be paying more attention to in future work.

Using Manga Studio more was a great experience, too. As far as lineart goes, I'm a convert - drawing lines in Photoshop has always been clunky and frustrating for me. Sometimes I wonder if the main reason my work went in a painterly direction for a long time was because I just hated trying to get nice lines in PS! As soon as I picked up Manga Studio (and brushes from the excellent Ray Frenden) my lines felt natural and went where I wanted them to. Drawing lines digitally suddenly became.. FUN. I was even able to use this to speed up flatting, outlining the shape and filling it in rather than painstakingly "painting" it in as I had done in photoshop.

I'm not sure about doing work 100% in Manga Studio - there are definitely a lot of production things I can accomplish faster in Photoshop, plus I'm addicted to my Kyle T Webster brushes. But, I'm enjoying the exploration and I'll see where it takes me next.

Paintings for Sale!

I have original water media paintings for sale!

When I'm feeling down or in a bad mood, drawing some kind of badass lady helps me feel better. I started using this impulse as an excuse to mess with traditional media, as well - doing small paintings of these badass ladies that were filling my sketchbooks. After a few months, I realized I had a whole collection of them lining the drawers of my flat file. Since they make me so happy, I thought they might make someone else happy- so they are now available to purchase!

Cuttlefish Stickers!

Hey all! Pleased to announce my (small) part in the launch of a new chat sticker app, StiKey! The neat thing about StiKey is that you can use the stickers you purchase in it in a whole bunch of other messengers, rather than needing all your friends to use the same app you're using. (The reason I never get to spam people with my other stickers..)

I got free reign to make whatever I wanted for the app, so I thought I'd take the chance to draw one of my constant favorites- cephalopods! I went with cuttlefish specifically because I thought they'd fit into the square space of a sticker the most easily. It wound up being quite a challenge to express 24 different emotions without the help of a MOUTH, but I enjoyed finding other tricks - squishing the body, changing the color scheme, and so on.

I do have plans to do more with these guys, too - I actually just put in an order for a set of magnets! Time for me to finally make some physical merch.. stay tuned for more on that front!

But in the mean time.. go ahead and inundate your friends with squishy cuttlefish and more in StiKey!

Snail Stickers for imo

My latest sticker pack for imo has been released!

I was asked to come up with a love-themed pack, and in my research, I came across the factoid that snails fire “love darts” as part of the mating process. (Apparently they, ah, assist fertility?) There are theories that this behavior was part of the origin of the Cupid myth, weirdly enough.

That was enough for me to decide that making some lovey-dovey snails would be an interesting route to take, and here we are!

Tron Bonne for Light Grey Art Lab's BOSS RUSH Show

My piece for Light Grey Art Lab’s awesome Boss Rush show!

I wanted to to a tribute to Tron Bonne from Megaman Legends. The Megaman Legends games had a huge influence on me in my formative years. Enough so that I actually (still) have a notebook from about 6th grade with a section devoted to Megaman Legends fan characters. There’s something about the color palette, chunky but unique designs, and the fun fantasy/sciencey world that just.. got into my mind and stayed. I think this influence is directly responsible for some of the work that came through in even my thesis project at MIAD!

As for why I picked Tron over one of the terrifying Reaverbots... well, this lovable genius-engineer air pirate had her own spinoff game called The Misadventures of Tron Bonne which remains one of my favorite games of all time. (Just looking at my piece has me humming the music and remembering the taste of scrambled eggs & toast after an all-nighter playing at a friend's house...) You get to be an air pirate with an army of cute robots that goes around destroying and looting buildings and stealing cows!! There was no choice but her.

Prints are available from the Light Grey Art Lab shop, and of course, check out all the other incredible work!!

And as a bonus, I present to you... some 6th grade drawings of Megaman Legends fan characters, by yours truly:

What a difference 15 years makes!

Lizard – Sticker Pack for imo

As you can tell, I've been drawing lots of stickers lately! No complaints here, in some ways it's very relaxing to get to work on illustrations that actually don't take days and days to complete.. though happily, I have some larger-scale projects coming up, too.

These are part of a set of Lizards I completed recently for imo. Feeling some winter blues creep in, I thought it would be nice to incorporate some warm-weather activities along with the usual set of emotions. Happily, I can also report that with every animated sticker I learn another little something about how to animate effectively. Looking forward to playing with it in more and more ways, especially in my personal and sequential work!

Holiday Mice for Path

Happy Holidays, all!

I got the chance to create a sweet and warm holiday sticker pack for Path!

The challenge here was that it needed to represent Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Years. To be honest, all I knew about Hanukkah when I started this project was what I learned from an old Lamb Chop's Play Along special as a little girl, so I had a fair amount of research to do!

I also felt that the color palette was going to be key. I wanted to be able to give a nod to the traditional Christmas colors without being cliche or excluding Hanukkah. Eventually, I decided that I really just wanted things to feel warm and a little nostalgic, so I wound up mixing earthy tones with a few fresh pops of color. (Took a lot of color inspiration from the incredible Teagan White.)

Brushes from Kyle T Webster were also vital to creating a hand-painted feel.

Alien Invasion

It's an adorable invasion!

I got to do another animated pack for imo- what a blast these are!

I thought this time around an alien in a ufo would give me a chance to let these stickers really focus on expressions. That way, I could practice creating a really memorable personality with very simple elements- which can be quite a challenge for me!

He'll be zooming into your imo app soon :)

Big thanks to my AD Brandi Kolmer, for giving me such fun projects to work on.

Media Playtime

Ever since participating in #inktober, I've been trying really hard to continue exploring traditional media. It gives me a nice break from the computer, and a chance to just play around and see what sticks! This is one such experiment. Normally, in my sketchbooks I tend to just draw figures and characters. However, in the children's art classes I teach (ought to write about that sometime) I often find myself drawing lots of background stuff- trees, houses, and so on. I emphasize the importance of a nice background environment to them, but I realized I'd been neglecting it in my own work!

So, one day, I took a scrap of illustration board and doodled a little house in the hills with brush pen. A few days later, I wanted to add color. Unfortunately, since I'd used a water-soluble ink in the pen, my options were limited. I wound up using copics, since I had some on hand from when I used to draw playmats. It came out okay, but felt a bit simple.. so I also layered in some colored pencils.

All told, I'm not sure I love how it turned out, but I at least enjoyed playing with it. I think it would benefit from gutsier color choices (I'm not sure I'd let my students get away with boring green grass!), which is at least a nice lesson for next time!

Swamp Monster Promo

  It's that time again- promo postcard time!

I confess, I find making personal/promotional work extremely difficult. I prefer working within the constraints of an assignment, I tend to psych myself out when I can draw anything I want! 

So, for this promo, I just thought to myself- what would be the most fun to draw? Monsters and kids! Then, as the sketch evolved I was struck with the idea to draw them making something together, a nice theme for a promo I'm sending potential clients. Add in some plant life, which I always enjoy, and there you have it.

For the back, I thought it would be good to show the little girl's face, since drawing kids is a big part of my job and she's not the star of the front:

swampy-back-web

Go off into the world, my postcards! Find me wonderful clients to work with! :)

(P.S. Many many brushes by Kyle T. Webster used on these illustrations!)

(P.P.S. Print available, too.)

Marie the Scientist - Sticker Pack for imo

Meet Marie!

I got to create another messaging sticker pack, this time for imo. And, as you can see, this time, it includes animated stickers!

This was my first time doing this kind of animation, and it was an absolute blast. I wound up going a little overboard and animated just about everything I could think of an animation for.. and now, I just want to keep going! What a fun new tool to have in my toolbox, and I'm really looking forward to getting better and better at it!

Meow the Cow!

Meet Meow the Cow!

This little cutie is the star and titular character of the second book I illustrated for Pin the Map Publishing. As you can tell from the illustrations, she's suffering a little bit of an identity crisis! It was a really fun exercise trying to make a cow feel like it was acting like a cat.

You can find out more about this and the other books on Pin the Map's Facebook page. They'll be coming out this fall, but in the meantime, enjoy this sneak peek at the interior!

Suggested Serving Size

I drew this comic last night.

Animating is fun. :)

It's Shark Week!

Shark week starts tomorrow! To celebrate, I'd like to share this freshly-released set of shark stickers I made for Path. :)

Behind "The Do-Good Squad"

Hey everyone! I had the pleasure (and challenge) of illustrating my very first children's book last winter and I'm finally able to share some of it with you! It's The Do-Good Squad, from a great new publisher called Pin the Map Publishing. Part of their mission is to support great causes by donating a portion of the proceeds from each book to a corresponding charity. This one will help raise money to bring fresh water to Haiti!

I thought it would be fun to share some of the process that lead to the creation of this book cover. When the art director at Pin the Map Publishing first contacted me, he asked me to do a test illustration so he could see my take on the characters - Jack, Jomo, Jin, and Frannie. That was over a year ago, and at the time, I was incredibly proud of it... and in that year (my first year freelancing full-time) my work has grown so much I almost cringe to show it to you now:

What a difference a year makes! The designs stayed pretty much the same, but the faces have somewhat different proportions, and things just look much tighter in the final cover. Also, Frannie got a total overhaul!

After the test illustration, when we started the project in earnest, I decided it would be helpful to draw up some character sheets to make sure I had details fully nailed down and kept everything consistent:

I referred to these sheets almost constantly while illustrating the book, especially whenever I drew Jomo's teeth!

After finishing the rest of the book, it was time to figure out the cover. This is when I went back to that test illustration and realized it needed to be completely redone.. after all, I'd had an entire book's worth of practice drawing these kiddos! So that's what we did, keeping the elements that worked and changing the ones that needed it. And that is how the cover was created!

Look for the book on sale this fall! You can get updates on that and the other books from Pin the Map Publishing.

Wisconsin Storytime: Farming and Agriculture

I got to do a piece for this lovely project called Wisconsin Storytime, a loving homage to Wisconsin put together by designers Josh Cox and Doua Vue. My subject was Farming and Agriculture, and when I signed up my concept for the piece was completely different than when I finally got around to drawing it! I guess that shows how much my work is evolving.

I absolutely knew I wanted to draw a cow no matter what, though - I adore them and they are everything Wisconsin to me. After I got her nailed down, I started drawing food and piecing things together to find the shape. Honestly, it was all a bit generic looking until my bud Chelsey pointed me to vintage produce ads, which became my color inspiration. Then I fell back in love with the illustration and I'm very happy with how it came out. It will serve as a reminder to me not to ignore my neutrals!

Prints are available at my INPRNT store for those so motivated!

And be sure to check out the other cool stuff in Wisconsin Storytime!