Introducing My Summer Series (And What Inspired It)
There’s a particular kind of creative energy that comes with a new season. Not the forced “new year, new me” kind, more the quiet, organic kind that sneaks up on you while you’re doing something completely unrelated to making art. For me this time around, it happened in the garden.
This is my summer illustration series to show where it came from, and where it’s going.
The Season That Started It
This time of year is one of my favorites. We’ve left the cold spring weather behind and are now in that period where everything starts to emerge. The buds on the trees sprout to green, the flowers are starting to peek through. Nothing gives me greater happiness than seeing color pop up after a long, dull winter.
With the change of weather comes a fresh perspective, and fresh inspiration. This season I’ve been growing seeds, specifically vegetables. Tomatoes are coming along nicely, and I’m also trying my hand at eggplant for the first time. If it goes south, the grocery store isn’t too far away.
Into the Sketchbook
The subject matter chose itself: strawberries, pansies, violas, tomatoes, the small everyday things you notice when you slow down enough to look.
The sketches for this series feel different from how I usually work. My illustration style tends toward the considered and finished, bold shapes, deliberate color, clean edges. These started much looser. More gestural. I let the pen move quickly and didn’t clean anything up at the sketch stage, which isn’t always comfortable for me but felt right for subject matter this cheerful and small-scale.
Where This Series Is Going
The plan is to take these sketches into finished illustrations over the coming weeks, letting the style stay a little lighter and more hand-felt than my other work without losing the boldness that runs through everything I make.
And then onto products. Tea towels feel like the natural home for this kind of work, something you’d actually use in the kitchen, something that brings a little color into an everyday moment. Napkins are on the list too. There’s also something interesting about the repeat pattern potential here, a scattered strawberry print, a tossed pansy pattern, the kind of thing that works on fabric, on wrapping paper, on stationery.
Following Along
I’ll be sharing more of this series here and on Instagram as the pieces come together. If you’re a brand, buyer, or art director and this direction speaks to something you’re working on, feel free to get in touch.
And if the eggplant survives the season, that might make an appearance too.
