Chalk lettering illustrations on "I Call Shotgun"!

A few weeks ago I was given an incredible opportunity to create some chalk board illustrations for the set of AOL's webcast I Call Shotgun. This video segment features Bravo's Andy Cohen interviewing Jerry Seinfeld as he wraps up the second season of his web show Comedians in Cars getting Coffee. Here's a clip from youtube, you can see a nice closeup of the set illustration at 0:07.

The full show can be seen here.

In lieu of the cars and coffee theme, the set was designed as a retro, right-off-the-highway diner, and some typographic chalkboard menus fit right in.

Retro chic, right down to the cronuts

Time was tight, with one night spent sketching up ideas, and the next night to executing them on a set that was only half built after working an 8 hour day.  But the set designer, who happens to be my very talented brother, must have know that I couldn't say know to hand drawn art, especially when typography and Seinfeld are involved.  The panels totaled 6 in all, and I kept with one food theme for each that could be the point of emphasis.  Here are some pics from the set as well as all 6 after the jump.

Left side panels

Right side panels

Illustrated Cityscapes: Chicago

The Chicago skyline stands tall in this black and white illustration, commissioned for a save the date. I've never been to there, but it's on the "to visit" list right below Boston, only because Boston is  driving distance from me.  Done in the usual fashion: India ink on watercolor paper.

I like the skylines the best when they include boats.

Happy Father's Day!

A happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

Ink on watercolor. With rocks.

The wolf

The art store in my Jersey City neighborhood displays murals on their outside wall, and the current one is particularly awesome.

I love the contrast of the fierce, radioactive wolf against the sad Disney bunny and the geometric shapes mixed with the eerie forest. Or maybe I can't get enough of neons. Either way I'm going to enjoy walking past it every day.  

He won't think twice about eating you

Smoking is bad, especially for bunnies

Map Illustration: Reading Terminal Market

Maps are awesome and I love them. Now you know. So when commissioned to do a map illustration for Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market, where you can apparently have weddings, I was suffice to say, pumped. If you've never been there, it's a seemingly endless hall of food vendors selling delicious and mostly decadent foods. To be honest I'm not sure how it works when you hold a wedding reception there, but I was tasked with helping the out-of-towners and towners alike navigate the events of the celebration in a fun and easy way. 

Not to scale.

Each vendor is marked by a little illustration showing the kind of food they have, and there are illustrations for the dance floor, seating, desserts, and of course the bathrooms.  The map was included in the invitation, which would get anyone excited for a belt-loosening cocktail hour.  Here are some close ups.  

Sushi and a Thanksgiving turkey: world's collide

You'll know where to bring your song requests before you even get there.

Here's an overhead of the whole thing:

To Market!

I'd like to continue some map explorations, especially one of my trip out west, and incorporate some of those deep reds and blues.  I smell a summer project...

Want to chat about a customized map? Email me at info@studiohearttohand.com.

Oh baby (announcements)!

Last week I returned from a two week trip to the Southwest, full of camping, hiking, having fires, and being unapologetically dirty. But more on that in the next post. While I was away, summer officially started, and it's the first summer in years that I have no weddings to go to. 

With lots of friends moving on from marriage to babies, so have I moved on from wedding invitations to baby announcements.  And the smiling face of this little babe will truly melt your icy heart. 

Look, a baby.

Though her parents didn't have professional photos taken, they still wanted to include a picture of their pumpkin for those family and friends who are long distance. In that case, it was best to make the photo part of the announcement, as opposed to having it take up the whole page. The photo is attached with a pastel green paperclip and can thus be easily removed for those who might want to hang onto it. The simple flowers, ladybugs, and butterflies are a cute alternative to storks and diapers and perfect for a baby girl.  The type is a mix of a fat bold font and a soft handwriting, and all is wrapped up in, what else, but a pink envelope. 

The illustrations feel a little Dutch, the colors, not so Dutch.

 

Hey girl, hey.

Looking forward to meeting this bugger in person and calling her all sorts of silly pet names to her face.