Jessica Bartram Design & Illustration
This is a blog on which process shots and final versions of both personal and school-prompted projects appear, as well as selected photographs (many from my phone - only the good ones, I promise).
If you have any questions/are interested in a commission for either art or design, please email me at jess [at] thecommonwealthstudio [dot] ca.
Finally (FINALLY) got that minicomic I finished aeons ago scanned/ready for a test-print on Monday. Now to look into maybe going through those 500+ Chicago photos (note to self: RAW photo-files may seem like a good plan at the time, but the extra effort they require is hardly worth it!).
So yes. Still no Chicago photos, but there might be a minicomic coming soon, which shall become yet another thing I’m selling (though not on Society6).
Ain’t no party like a freelance artist party, am I right?
Hey dudes!
Just a quick reminder that my print-shop on Society 6 is open & that shipping is free (worldwide!) until this Sunday. THRILLING.
Have you ever wanted to own a non-original-art-price version of any of my paintings? Well you’re in luck, because I’ve finally gotten my butt in gear and am selling selected art prints (gallery-quality giclée & all) on Society 6.
Click here to visit my store, and if there’s a piece I’ve posted on this blog/on my website in the past that isn’t up there (and you’d like to buy a print of it), please do let me know!
Oh, and, as an added bonus, shipping on the site is FREE until this Sunday. EXTRA CONVENIENT!
Here’s a proper Sketchy Sunday for this fine holiday weekend. You’ve got some fungi dudes (they’re…FUN GUYS, guys! Get it?), some assorted botanicals (painted/drawn from my perch in the ravine!), and some slightly creepy (on purpose. They relate to my latest idea/future project) deer.
Check out previous S-Sundays here!
There’s been loud construction going on right beside our apartment since yesterday (the parking lot across the lane is being ripped up - in my dream world, I imagine it becoming a cute little park/community garden/both, but I assume they’re just resurfacing it) and this morning, when I sat down to finally paint, the combination of jackhammer and little digging machine was vibrating my studio.
After a few moments of screaming frustration, I realized that (a) it’s a gorgeous day out there, and (b) watercolours are pretty portable. So I wandered over to my neighbourhood ravine (sidenote: I highly recommend having a local ravine in which to wander) and descended into its cool, green depths.
I spent the morning painting en plein air, doodling some fungus monsters and a few bits of botanical nonsense. The air was redolent with new growth and sunshine and birdsong and every time I looked up a new dog was being walked on the path below my hilltop perch.
I plan to make this kind of adventure a more regular occurrence from now on, as spending time surrounded by rustling trees and kissed by dappled sunlight left me completely giddy and and buoyant.
Remember I said I’d be flooding you with Chicago photos? Yeah. That will happen as soon as I get around to taking the good quality ones off my camera.
Until then, please enjoy these snapshots from the Marimekko show that was on (today was the last day, sadly) at the Textile Museum of Canada. I’ve long been a fan of Marimekko’s vibrant, graphic fabrics and seeing them beautifully displayed in a gallery setting was wonderful.
The accompanying ephemera (especially that photo of the model in the first image up there - how darn fabulous is she?) was great as well, especially the various promotional materials from Marimekko itself and various shops with which it was associated.
The bits of writing that talked about the original factory in Finland and the atmosphere there made it sound like the loveliest, most idyllic place - if time travel was possible I’d be sure to drop in for a visit!
Seeing the various patterns also reignited my desire to get my hands back to sewing (it’s been too long!) as well as those other patterns I’ve been meaning to put together.
It’s always fantastic to be able to combine visual stimulation with an intense dose of inspiration and leave a museum feeling creative and invigorated. Onwards into textile adventures!
[P.S: This counts as a long-delayed entry in my Inspiring Things series. I really should get back to posting those more regularly.]
Since I’m still catching up on regular life after my trip, this week’s Sketchy Sunday contains only one (old) sketch. This was done in my life drawing class first semester of this past school year - we were doing a two-week pose and I kept taking breaks to do quick my-style sketches of the model in between the more proper/traditional drawing I was doing on my large paper.
Personally, I liked this one better. Had more personality than the big one!
View previous weeks of S-Sun here.
In lieu of more Chicago photos (I’m seriously procrastinating on getting the photos off my camera) here’s a sneak peek at my latest project that I just finished today.
It’s a mini-comic about a star-hungry monster’s nightly forays up its favourite mountain for a wee nosh and will be available for sale sometime soon (once I work out that whole printing thing).
Welcome to the first (of oh so many - you’ll be sick of Chicago by the time I get all the photos up) photo roundup from my trip!
We took an Art Deco-focused Chicago Architecture Foundation tour (this one to be exact) and our guide took us inside a number of incredibly preserved Deco lobbies. Above (click to see pictures larger & read captions) are selected shots from said lobby adventures.
The stylized birds had me swooning all over the place, and the utter splendour of the lobbies was unbelievable. I was already a staunch Art Deco fan, but this put my love of the style all the way up to 11.
Once I have a chance to upload my actual-camera photos (these are from my phone, which hilariously does far better in low light than my SLR), I’ll post shots of the outside of many of these buildings so you can see how the extreme luxury of the lobbies contrasts with the relative subtlety/simplicity of most of the exteriors.
Last night in Chicago. Wish I’d had at least twice as much time here - on our walk back to the apartment in which we’re staying we kept talking about all the fantastic things that we couldn’t fit in (Field Museum, I’m looking longingly at you).
But there were zillions of glorious things we did see, from splendorous Art Deco lobbies to the city from above as we traversed the Loop on the L.
These shall appear within the next few days, but until then, please enjoy my official trip mascot, a taxidermied giraffe head/neck from an incredible wee shop near our place in Andersonville called Wooly Mammoth. Isn’t he dapper?
