New Mobile Device Cases With My Artwork!

Exciting news! I'm partnering with Keka Case to offer my artwork on cases for the iPad, Kindle and, very soon, the Galaxy and iPhone. I have a collection of ten plaids and stripes. Take a look at them here and let me know what you think!

My Stuff—Fox Terrier

My first real-life professional job was with Buster Brown Apparel where I drew lots of fun, happy artwork for kids' clothes. I dug up this old sample to show you, plus one of the artwork options that I created as part of the collection. I worked with a great apparel designer (hi, Oriole!) on this group and many others. 

Asian Floral—Rothko Palette

Voila... yesterday's Rothko Palette applied to a set of prints I created after a trip to Vietnam. Rothko and Vietnam don't have much to do with each other as far as I know but I do think he would approve.

My Stuff—Mosaic Print

I created this mosaic print for my art rep a while back who sold it to a bag company. I recently ran across this photo of the purse it eventually landed on and I love it. It looks so happy, I'm glad my print found a good home.

Raining Garden—Green Palette

Inspired by the green palette I posted yesterday, I colored up some old artwork of mine. It reminds me of trees in a forest.

Just Some Chicken

This is a random chicken, colored up in the floral palette I posted yesterday. Bok bok.

My Stuff—Paisley Print

One of the fun things I get to do these days is dress my daughter in the clothes I designed. I started creating artwork for kids' clothes 1998 so I have a decent-sized stash of portfolio samples that I'm pulling out of boxes and outfitting her in. Now these lovely garments are covered in every manner of permanent grime. I'm sure they're not portfolio-worthy any longer but it's totally worth it to see her wearing something I created. The little top above was something I did for Target about five years ago.

Little Flowers—Spring Palette

I wanted to see how the flower color palette from my last post looked in a print so I tossed the colors around in a little floral I designed a while ago. Which is your favorite?

Me, Painting.

I took a painting class at the beginning of 2013 to get the creative juices flowing. Here's the progress on one of the pieces I worked on...

Work in progress:

Left—random wash on canvas. I had no plan here.

Right—A lot of time elapsed before I took this second photo. 

The shape was inspired by a bull clip I had on hand.

Work in progress:

Left—I was at a loss for what to do so I added texture to the background. Bleh.

Right—Covered over the texture, trying to mute out that background a bit. 

This is where I landed. Splashes added to the foreground and I decided to flip it to the side.
Anyone have a good title? It's meant to be abstract but come up with a subject if you see one!

Fun with Travel Photos

Original Photo of Duomo through stone window (L). Same photo tweaked in PhotoShop (R).

textured print from Florentine windows, originally uploaded by nrillustration.

I'm always looking for interesting textures and patterns to turn into graphics. The photo above started as an attempt to capture Florence's Duomo through a stone rooftop window. After a little cutting/pasting/reducing/repeating/coloring, I ended up with the textured repeat above. I'm imagining it as a tile floor? Quilt pattern piece? What do you think?

Kitty Silhouette

cat silhouette, originally uploaded by nrillustration.

Random design project: I was inspired to create a silhouette of my cat today after looking at this how-to video about creating DIY wall art. I took the photo on the left and simplified it in PhotoShop. There was some speckeldy schmutz left over on the image which I decided to leave for texture. And voila, Tiny the cat been immortalized as wall art.

Pretty, Pretty Snake...

snakes, originally uploaded by nrillustration.

One of the best things about being in New York is the number of fantastic museums nearby. I recently went to the Museum of Natural History and was horrified/fascinated by the giant python bones. This snake was so big it could probably have swallowed me whole. I'm sure Mr. Snake would've been proud to know he had a print designed form his bones.

Splotch Art

floral splot, originally uploaded by nrillustration.

Last week I featured a design based on my fish dinner. My design project today is a continuation of the dinner table theme, but this time I was snapping (blurry) photos of a stain on the table. This little stain became the floral print you see above. My favorite color combo is the turq and green.

Fishy Art

fish dinner art, originally uploaded by nrillustration.

I constantly snap photos of whatever seems inspiring... like the fish skin on my dinner plate. This most certainly makes me a strange person to have dinner with, but let me assure you I actually do something with these photos. Above is a recent example of how a fine fish dinner transforms into beautiful butterflies.

The Birth of a Logo

The Birth of a Logo, originally uploaded by nrillustration.

As NokHoo has gotten off the ground, lots of people have asked about the unusual name. NokHoo laptop bags were born while I was living in Thailand and learning the Thai language (or at least trying to!).

The idea behind the bags is that they're both attractive and practical-a combination I was having a hard time finding when shopping for my own bag. I wanted our name and logo to represent that idea so the beautiful and wise owl seemed like a perfect choice. I chose the Thai word for owl (nok-hoo) and used the letter 'h' for the logo, which is directly associated with the word "nok-hoo" in the Thai alphabet (this association is a Thai thing, hard to explain in English).

The picture above shows the progression... the top line is Thai 'h'. Below is its association with the word "nok-hoo". Next shows how letter became logo became owl's face. Last is the whole picture.

NokHoo Spreads its Wings...

wine ring logo, originally uploaded by nrillustration.

Today is the official launch of NokHoo Laptop Bags!! We have bags, a working website and a marketing plan. Since it's Columbus Day, I thought I'd write something about embarking on a new journey, but that seemed cheesy so instead I opened a celebratory bottle of wine. As it happened, the wine bottle left marks on the counter (top photo) and I couldn't resist incorporating them into our official launch logo. Good luck NokHoo!

Click here or on "shop laptop bags" above to see the new website.

Chair Print

chair print, originally uploaded by nrillustration.

I put this print together based on the chair photo from yesterday.

Roof Leaf Design

Roof Leaf Design, originally uploaded by nrillustration.

Inspired by the roof artwork in my last post, I put together this little geometric/leafy design.

Soup, Four Ways

Soup, Four Ways, originally uploaded by nrillustration.

I took a photo of my soup today while it was cooking, then Photoshop'd it into soup art...

Hogwarts Ceiling Art

ceiling art, originally uploaded by nrillustration.

I took the ceiling from yesterday, reduced the colors and flipped it all around to make this pattern. The V-shaped lines are the arches and the fans are scattered on top. It's abstract but I like it as a texture.