now live from london

Hello again, it's been a long time. I'm now blogging from London, where I'll be honing my graphic and illustration skills in Central Saint Martins for the next 3 years or so. Expect gallery postings, shopping hauls and lots of work.

Catch ya in a bit, cheers.

it's a you and me house

 

It was our anniversary recently, and here's the design of a wall mural that I created for the occasion! I'm so excited to paint this on her wall, we just gotta find the time to do it, and find the right shade of orange for her blue wall. Doing the tree in Illustrator almost blinded me, but I love how it turned out all old and woodcut-print-ish. I presented her with the card and a can of paint over a romantic dinner at le Bistrot du Sommelier, and had chef Patrick create a special dessert of chocolate profiteroles and strawberries for the two of us. Yum!

Birthday Girl

 

A digital painting for Apple's 21st birthday, commissioned by a friend. I really enjoyed doing this piece despite all the late nights spent making sure everything looked perfect, and I loved how toe symbols and colours come together so beautifully to make up a painting that speaks about its subject. My favourite part of the painting is her dress - Isn't it a dream? I used Mark Ryden's The Apology as a guide and just wingged it with the red silk underskirt and green brocade, and I'm loving the finished look. The "doorway" was inspired by Venetian windows and Magritte's The Mask, and painted to look like it was merging with the sky.

I'm going to continue doing paintings like these.. maybe portraits, or just different elements all put in together like a jigsaw. Anyone up for a portrait of yourselves?

We've got some catching up to do

I know I've been a little on the quiet side when it comes to updates, and I swear it's not an excuse when I say that I have literally been working almost around the clock on various projects, one of which I am very excited to show you all! It's a piece of commissioned artwork for a girl's 21st birthday, with a very dreamy, romantic theme that is just what I love to do. I can't put it up here yet since it's meant to be a surprise present, but I promise that you'll be the first to see it as soon as possible!

As for daily designs and weekly work, I will do my very best to keep up, and post at least twice a week. I'm new to this constant-updating thing, so sometimes I get carried away with running all over and forget that I have to post! Till next time, my fellow raccoons, and there will be more work posted up here very soon.

Beauté!

I ADORE this girl and her perfect, perfect drawings. http://www.garancedore.fr/en/tag/illustration
I love her life, her style, her writing, her drawings, this post is just full of love. She makes me want to run away to Paris and draw portraits for a living. Maybe I'll meet her there someday.

Glitterati

After much thought and much exhaustion from doing more work than what I'm used to, I've decided to turn Daily Raccoons into Weekly designs instead, and with more time I'll create better, bigger works. I'll be posting my weekly designs every Tuesday, starting from next week,
and next week's theme is Sea of Love, inspired by one of my favourite songs by Cat Power, whose concert I'm going to see tomorrow! I got so excited I even made glittery cat ears on a headband.

Monday Morning Muffins

Hello my forest friends, I didn't post a Daily Raccoon yesterday because Bunny and I were busy making muffins and watching documentaries on Egypt. To make up for it, I'll post some links to a few awesomely inspirational websites, and this link to my carbonmade portfolio just in case anyone's feeling generous enough to spread the love.

For times when you know what you want, but don't know how to get there,
ThinkDesign - 50 Great Illustrator Tutorials and Tips
Noupe - Vector Illustration 60 Illustrator Tutorials, Tips and Best Practices
Smashing Magazine - Useful Glossaries for Web Designers and Developers

For that after-lunch hour when your brain feels like a scoop of icecream,

Inspiredology 

Clients from Hell

Covers by Fwis

Comcast Town

For people who used to try on every shade of their Mom's lipstick,
COLOURlovers

Daily Raccoon: Marie

Day 4: I've always wanted a redheaded girl. I've been doing some digital painting work for a client, and a few nights ago I put Marie together in my sketchbook, then decided to give her the red hair I always wanted as a colour study for the painting. I love how the colour of the paper gives the drawing its warmth, and that sassy look in her eyes.

Ignore the spider, I have a weakness for them too.

Daily Raccoon: Lonely Bunnies

Day 3: And I'm tired already, but still not giving up. I know that better work will come, and that with practice, I'll be able to create what I want within the limitations of time. An exercise in efficiency! Anyway, pictures of these bunnies have been sitting around my computer for awhile now and were waiting to be turned into something else.

PS this is also for my own bunny, whom I have given up time with to work on other virtual rabbits, and who has never stopped being supportive even when I don't provide as many treats as I should.

Coming Soon

Inspirational sites, colorlovers, portfolio, future projects, and what Pixel thinks of local design. Any other interesting topics you'd like Pixel to talk about? He'll be happy to chatter away, just leave a comment to let us know. Also: this Daily Raccoon stuff, what are your thoughts? Will we persevere? Will we crash and burn? Have you done it before? In that case I'd really like to hear from you. Don't be a silent floater, share the goodies!

- Posted from iPhone