SCBWI Presentation

scbwi-presentation

I’ve opened a shop on Etsy.com

Just a quick post to make everyone aware of my shop on Etsy.  I am starting out offering a few prints in various sizes.  More will be added and I’m looking into other products for the future.

Here are images of the current prints I’m offering, please click on the name of my shop below to order…and while you’re at it, take a look at all the other wonderful items Etsy has to offer!

Denise Hilton Campbell Art Prints

 

Cherries

 

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Winter Scene

 

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Fireflies

 

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Magnolia Lady

 

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Woman with Fan

 

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Coffee Lady

 

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Woman with Tulips

© denise hilton campbell – 2014

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Organic Gardening Magazine

I received a call from art director Susan Eugster from Rodale this past Spring.  She had been admiring my work for some time and finally decided to have me do the illustration  for the May/June cover of Organic Gardening Magazine featuring cherries.  I couldn’t have been more thrilled!

The art would be used for the cover of the magazine and also for a possible poster and t-shirts.

Susan indicated the images of mine that inspired her….

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…and provided a rough sketch of the cover composition…

 

I got busy working on sketches.

 

This last sketch was an after thought.    I threw it in because it seemed more iconic and better suited for use as a poster and t-shirt.

 

Susan loved them all but she and the Creative Director finally decided on number three, probably for the same reason I submitted it.  All she needed were eyes….

 

…Here are the color sketches with the refinements…

 

I really liked the pinkish combination.  It seemed more cherry-like to me but in the end it was decided to go with the blue, red, gold, colors that would appeal to the greater number and catch your eye from the news stand.  I had to agree in the long run as you can see in the final result.

 

 

My husband wondered why she didn’t have her eyes colored in and to tell the truth I did fill them in at one point but some of the “magic” seemed to go away when I did, so I left them alone…

…And here it is on the news stand!

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Homegrown Magazine

I have done two jobs for magazines lately, both of which I have enjoyed very much and both of very different styles.  Here is the first for Homegrown Magazine.  The article was about wine.  Specifically about the Pinot Blanc  grown and bottled in Michigan.

The client was inspired by one of the samples in my portfolio and contacted me through my agent Richard Salzman.

 

Here is the initial layout….

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The client wanted to show the parent and sibling grapes, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, of Pinot Blanc all together to show the differences between them.  I came up with three different sketches.

 

 

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The client chose the third sketch.  It seemed the most appropriate to the layout.  We decided to add a subtle background, and here is the end result as well as the way it appeared in the magazine.

 

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Thank you to  design director Ken Cendrowski, who was a pleasure to work with.  The whole process went very smoothly and the client was pleased with the end result.

 

iPad Babies

It seems whenever I take a few days off I end up making more of these iPad doodles.  Here are two more…

Illustration House

In December I went to up-state New York for a couple of weeks to work on a project.  While there I was beside myself excited that I would get to take a day to go down to the city to see the “The Original Art” exhibit of children’s book art at the Society of Illustrator’s.

Sadly, because of snow storm Elektra’s timing  it was not to be…sigh…I couldn’t begin to tell you how disappointed I was.

My friend and fellow artist Eunice, felt my pain and wanted to cheer me up, so on Sunday with the storm gone,  we hopped a train to the city where Eunice had arranged an appointment with Roger Reed at Illustration House.  Roger was kind enough to come down in the cold and open the gallery just for us and it truly saved my weekend.  They were getting ready for one of their bi-annual auctions so there was art hanging on the walls, leaning against chairs and stacked on tables.  An Illustrator’s heaven!

I had heard of Illustration House but never  had the opportunity to go visit this fascinating treasure trove.  The owners are dedicated to the art and history of illustration, as their web site will tell you, and they have in their archives original works of the likes of Maxfield Parish, Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth, and Charles Dana Gibson, to name but four.  There are also those I remember from when I was just starting out in the business, like Mark English and Bernie Fuches, Ted Coconis and caricaturist David Levine.

Norman Rockwell – Preliminary study for magazine cover, Saturday Evening Post, 1944

Charles Dana Gibson – Striding woman with hat under her arm – 1894

Bernard Fuchs – Woman standing alone in airline terminal.
Story illustration: “The Terminal”, Good Housekeeping, 1963;

Much of the work had been created for magazines, books and various other publications.  There were works from the 1800’s, the 1920’s and ’30’s.  Some of it had notes in the margins… Roger knew the story behind nearly every work of art or was investigating it’s origin.  I could easily have spent the entire afternoon digging around…

I am sorry I didn’t get to see the exhibit at the Society of Illustrator’s but I am comforted to know that a select few pieces of the show will be touring the country and will be here in San Diego.  In the meantime I am able to add another favorite to places to visit in New York.  Thank you, Eunice!…and Thank you, Roger!

Denise and Eunice at Grand Central Station

A Wintery Scene

I was asked to contribute an illustration for the monthly SCBWI newsletter here in San Diego.  A nice wintery scene.

I didn’t have anything already made up so I decided to take a sketch from my “ideas” file and work something up.

After refining the sketch and playing around with the color, it was ready to go into Photoshop.  Many times I’ll paint some of it outside the computer and then scan it in.  This time I decided to do just the line of each element separately so I could color it and move it around until I got everything where I wanted it.  I love Photoshop that way.  I can change my mind about a color or sizing of an element without having to do the whole thing over.

…And the finished piece…

all rights reserved – denise hilton campbell – 2013

New Addition

I’m gradually adding to the “caterpillar” series.  Maybe someday it will become a book.

…and here they are in order…

Coming in October at Yellow Book Road…

The Yellow Book Road will be featuring San Diego Illustrators on the First Friday at Liberty Station.

The event will take place on Friday, October 4th from 6 to 8 pm.

The Society of Illustrators San Diego is teaming with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators for their first show together!

There will be original illustrations on display as well as live demo’s and book signings.

I will have two pieces in the show will be posting pictures and more information as the time approaches.

If you would like to participate in the show please click here to contact Lori Mitchell.

Someone mentioned I haven’t posted lately so…..

We had a lovely, informative, inspiring lunch on Saturday with a group of artists of diverse specialties and disciplines.  We had sculptors, painters, teachers, fabric designers, illustrators, fine artists and graphic artists and probably more since most of us are interested in all things creative.  Many of us had never met one another but thanks to our hostess, Lori Mitchell,  the ice was soon broken.  We shared art, ideas and inspiration and in the end all agreed that we need to do this more often.

Lori found some especially beautiful pears at Von’s so we all tried our hand at a little impromptu pear painting during lunch