DIY Glittery Spiderweb Halloween Cards with template

Last October, Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy prevented most Halloween celebrations, and although I don't usually get too into the holiday, having a year off may have been just what I needed to get the spirit back.  For my cards this year, I'm going all the way with glitter. 

Using some regular Elmer's Glue and black glitter, these spiderweb cards are a synch to make. You can freehand a spiderweb design, or download and trace the template I've created from my sketch. Obviously you could glitter up anything, for any occasion, but hey, let's focus on the coming holiday.

Step 1: 

Create a spiderweb design freehand, or download and trace the template I've created from my sketch. Remember to keep your pencil marks light.

Step 2: 

Trace over the drawing with white glue.  I used a toothpick to get in small areas or to clean up any slips (there will be some).  Hold the bottle at an angle to prevent it coming out in globs and work in small sections so that glue doesn't dry before you can add the glitter. Superfine glitter will work best on these thin lines.

Step 3:

Sprinkle glitter over top. Let stand about 30 seconds, and then tap off excess.  You can go back in with a toothpick and clean up any smudges.  I like how non-uniform the lines are, it almost give the feel of water droplets on the web.

Optional: To keep glitter in place, cover the card with 1-2 coats of acrylic spray.  I used Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic.  Make sure to spray in a well ventilated area. Right outside your front door with the door open so all the fumes go back in the house is not considered a well ventilated area (I'm telling myself this).  

Have a spooky Halloween!

Tree and moon etching #tbt

As the instagramers and tweeters say, it's Throwback Thursday!  Although I'm sure you'd prefer to see a picture of me in the tub as a fat baby, you'll have to settle for this class project from the college years. 2005 to be exact.

I was really into trees, at the time

This was a plexiglass etching, sketched freehand directly onto the plexiglass.  The paper is wet and then run through a printing press with the wall paper (moon) and tissue paper (blue leaves), where the pressure fuses the two papers together.  Oh the glory days of having unlimited access to gigantic studios and commercial grade machinery!

Pug and Bulldog Illustration

Though I've never met Frank and Lola, this pug and English bulldog have a rather charming story. Found together as puppies sharing an abandoned box in downtown Philadelphia, they love and take care of each other like brother and sister.  This pen and ink line drawing of the two pudgy pups will make its final home in a logo (though I'm not quite sure for what).  India ink on watercolor paper.

They love each other.

Lola, the bulldog

Frank, the pug

The collars were added to the original illustration to add some personality and ensure the dogs wouldn't be taken to the pound and euthanized. Here's the original, sans collars.

This is being naked for a dog.

Interested in a custom illustration of your dog? Email info@lightheartpapercompany.com

Colorful Dreamcatcher Art

After my recent trip to the Utah and Arizona, I was feeling the inspired by the brilliant colors and native spirit of the southwest. I got a little caught up in the vacation mindset and bought a dreamcatcher from a little mountain shop.  I built one from a kit when I was just a little guy (one of the many craft kits that actually resulted in a finished project), so when I got home, I decided to make an adult version (in a totally SFW way). The result is these linocut prints in yellow/orange and gold.

Very Boho

Gold, or dorado

Both colors are available to purchase in the Etsy shop, Lightheart Paper Company, orange and gold.

Unlike a lot of my other prints, this one I drew entirely by hand, no Adobe Illustrator involved.  Here's the sketch, which started in pencil and ended in sharpie.

Originally I had intended to add some text at the top saying "Sweet Dreams," which you can see ghosts of in the sketch, but in the end it seemed better to leave it off.  I may add it as separate stamp in the future, that way it can be printed with or without the text.

I'm going to hang one or two of these above my bed with the real one in hope that I can stop having the dream where I am in school but don't know where I'm supposed to go!

Now announcing the Etsy Shop: Lightheart Paper Company

Finally, I'm proud to announce the launch of my Etsy shop, Lightheart Paper Company!

Here it is

To start, I'm selling some familiar prints as well as some newbies, and slowly expanding to home items. Here are a few of pics of what is available.

Grow wild print

Life of Love woodblock print

Remember this guy?

Roaming octopus woodblock print

And this one, honoring my great home state post Hurricane Sandy, or Superstorm Sandy according to insurance companies.  All profits still going to the Red Cross!

Still Strong NJ print

As usual, I'll be writing plenty of posts showing the creative process for my pieces and giving away all kinds of trade secrets (if I can think of any).  So check it out here and send me any feedback!

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. 

Ink and watercolor flowers

Last week with Mother's day approaching, I decided to experiment with a new style for card, and it turned out to be one of my favorite pieces that's I've done a while.  It works well as a single flat card that doubles as a frameable illustration, and I'm going to tell you how I did it. A little inspiration from my Pinterest flower board, a print I have at home, and all the ink illustrations I've been doing lately, I set to work sketching out these blossoms.

Free style sketching

I wanted to keep the style feeling loose and organic, so I didn't strive for exact replicas but instead used the images as a guide for the movement of the lines. If you're recreating at home, just a reminder you can do some major damage with an eraser, so you want to sketch as lightly and as little as possible. I'm using some pretty heavy 120lb stock watercolor paper and a 2H pencil which helps a little.

Next I drew over the lines with India ink, adding some variation in thickness. I am in desperate need of a new bottle of ink if anyone is looking for a for-no-reason gift for me. It starts to gunk once it gets to a certain age and I can't seem to find a replacement anywhere. 

Now you can actually see it.

Unlike watercolors, India ink is permanent once it is dried so I was able to do the watercolor last.  You could of course add your color first and ink second if you prefer. It did start to smudge if I pressed too hard with the paintbrush. When I started I wasn't sure if and how much color I would use so that's why I added mine afterwards. To avoid looking hippie psychedelic, I stuck with a 4 color palette of sherbert-y colors. 

Yum

I was so pumped, I even did a second one. 

Definitely going to use this style more in the future.  They didn't even take that long, only a few hours!

Watercolor wishes

This watercolor illustration has been a long time in the making. I hesitated on it for a while because I couldn't find the right words and wanted to use my own instead of a quote. It was, however, inspired by a meditation/prayer which I learned on my spiritual journey, but was unable to trace the origin of, "May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you live with ease."  You're supposed to say it to yourself when someone has pissed you off or has caused some deep therapy-necessitating emotional damage.  This one is more suited for a new home or marriage.

It's like, my version of an Irish wedding blessing

While technically I "hand drew" the letters, I did pretty much copy actual fonts while adding embellishments.

Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater. Wait those aren't the words.

The colors aren't playing nice together and I don't like what's going on with the wind illustrations here. So those are changes that I'll be addressing in the next round.

You can even still see pencil marks--someone's lazy!

I do like the sunshine!

So there's the beta version, a happy wish for friends and enemies alike.

Busy springtime

With the collision of weddings, birthdays, and deadlines, it's been nonstop action this April.  My  conversations all begin with my asking, "When is it going to get warm?" to which my boyfriend sincerely responds, "I think this week it's supposed to be nice." And after one nice day, it goes back to 50 degrees.  But now that the storm has passed, I'm looking forward to a few creative weeks before a road trip vacation to the wild, wild west (this one, not this one).  The biggest news: the soon-to-launch etsy shop where I'll be selling my prints!  And now that I've written it here, I'm committed to it.  Here's a preview of the newest woodblock.

Here you are, a message of love. 

I'll be sure to make an announcement when it goes live!

Bridge illustration no. 2

Not too long ago I posted an illustration of the Manayunk Bridge, and I'm here to post another illustrated river crossing in Philadelphia.  I'll be spending a few weekends there this spring, and I look forward to exploring this city that I'm coming to like more and more with each visit.  Maybe I have a soft spot for old Ben, being an F&M alum, or maybe it's the fact that the mortgage payment on a 3-br house is as much as the rent for my studio apartment.

Anyway, I'm not actually sure what the name of this bridge is so if anyone does, please post in the comments. 

And as always a close up.

You can tell the lights are on from the light bursts.

Happy first day of Spring!  Although the forecast tomorrow calls for snow.  We might as well be living in Canada!

Celebrating 2 years with a throwback print

Taken by the Hand turned 2 yesterday and to celebrate I ran a few woodblock prints of an old favorite. This was the first block print I'd done since a long post-college hiatus from printing after being inspired by an old piece of poplar I'd found in my parent's basement. The design was one I'd done in Illustrator, something that started out as a doodle but just kept going. It was the melding of digital and hand-made that I'd been seeking.  But alas, my first few print runs were lacking pizazz, a problem quickly solved by jumping on the ombre trend. The original print blends pink and blue ink for a vibrant gradient. This guy holds a special place in my heart, and a specialer place on my wall and the walls of a few friends.

The words came first and inspired the twisting and curling lines,
alluding to graphic vines and roots

So for the refresh I added a third color and instead used yellow, pink and orange.

A little like a sunset

Oddly, these colors remind me of 90s era Oakley sunglasses, and you can judge for yourself whether that's a good or bad thing.  Number two color combo was turquoise-to-blue printed on a sheet of wood paper that'd been sitting in my stash for way too long.  I'd have loved to do the brighter colors on this but didn't think it would show up on the light wood.

Woodblock printed on wood: a world turned upside down

Here's a few more shots.

Group shot!

The block and tools. Pink!

I'm planning on doing a few more color combos when I get some more paper, and putting them up on Etsy along with the new woodblock that I'm working on.  Lots of projects have been done over the last two years and this one got me out of a slump and kickstarted them all!