Recently, I found some old sketches I did years ago for a (killed) project. I’m feeling a bit inspired to revisit them and take them a bit further, now that I have regular, living reference buzzing around outside the window.
I’ve added new work to the illustration section of my portfolio (here and here). These were created for 2 +15’s (the covered, elevated walkways located above street level) in Calgary, AB to celebrate winter activities in the city’s parks.
The final illustrations were cut from frosted vinyl and adhered to the windows (vinyl and install by Artcraft Display Graphics), then lit by Eos Lightmedia. I haven’t seen the photos of the final install so I’m not really sure what the final installation looks like – but this is what the final vector files looked like when I handed them off for vinyl cutting. The work was installed January 2010.
The top illustration is 7’6″x aprox 90′ and covers all the window panes on one side of the walkway. The lower illustration (the snowball fight), spans 4 windows.
I’ve had a lot of projects on the go over the last few months. But as they’re all ongoing, I can’t quite post them yet. However, here are some of the sketches for the very newest project that might actually be done and installed before all the rest. This image is fitting because it looks like it’s just begun to snow in earnest here and the roads are covered with the first of tonight’s forecasted 15cm.
Edit: the final work is here.
Thank you to the kind folks at The Canadian Design Resource blog who recently blogged one of the illustrations I created for lululemon athletica last year.
The CDR has become one of my favourite blogs recently as it showcases such a range of all types of Canadian design and illustration both contemporary (and quirky) and delightfully retro. There are hay balers and overpasses, trivets, beer packaging, Newfoundland dogs and everything in between.
The canning jars are a particular favourite of mine since my boyfriend and I made our first foray into canning by making refrigerator pickles in his grandmother’s old made-in-Canada glass-lidded canning jars:
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While on the subject of Canadiana, I have to sneak this stamp design in:
Back when I was a graphic design and illustration student, the illustrators in my class were almost unanimously united in worship of the paintings of Bernie Fuchs. A class trip to New York found a group of us sitting on the floor of the Illustration House Gallery with our noses mere inches from his original paintings that had been kindly brought out from the storage room and propped around the floor for us.
Upon purchasing a collections of posters at another illustration institution there, I found they had been rolled up and packaged for me in a mailing tube that had previously housed one of Mr. Fuchs paintings. His name and studio address were still affixed to the tube.
Bernie Fuchs died last night.
Portfolio update:
I’ve added work that I designed for lululemon‘s Walnut Street, PA store to my portfolio. The Ganesha in the process image above is the centerpiece for it. A while ago, I blogged a few early drawings.
Like the East Hampton and the Palmer Square artwork, I haven’t actually seen the final pieces as they were printed and assembled in Boston. I’m used to doing everything from beginning to end, including going to the printer’s and hovering over the piece as it slowly inches out of the machine. So it feels a bit odd to send the files off across the continent all by themselves and never see the result.
I’m assuming this piece made it up onto the wall… I’m not likely to be in Philidelphia anytime soon to see for myself, so if anyone else does, do let me know.
I’ve also licensed another version of this piece for another East Coast lululemon store, so you might come across a very similar one in another city.
Portfolio Update:
This is a portion of the manifesto artwork I originally designed for the Palmer Square, Princeton, NJ lululemon store. This photo shows the top panel before it was cut out and mounted on a printed background. (photo courtesy of Seaport Graphics). The artwork was printed, cut and assembled at Seaport Graphics in Boston.
I’ve posted the full piece in the illustration section of my website.
There are a few work in progress drawings blogged here.
I’m working on something new these days. These are early concept sketches for it, as well as one of my pieces of reference that I photographed while visiting my Grandparents (and their large garden) in the interior of B.C.
I’ve updated my portfolio with another piece for lululemon. This one was for the East Hampton store.
The image on the left is a detail from the printed piece, sent to me by the printer.
Illustration designed originally for the Walnut Street, PA lululemon Athletica store and the Union Square lululemon Athletica store in New York, NY / instore (behind cash) artwork.
Final artwork here: http://kirstiwakelin.com/projects/illustration/71
Kirsti Wakelin 