I am always happy to receive a call from the wonderful people at Canson North America, and it was a dream come true when they asked me to create illustrations for their new Artist Series pad covers. I had not seen them published until my friend and Studio 1482 colleague Greg Betza sent me these photos of the marker pads on the shelves at his local Dick Blick art supply store. Now that they are published I can show them off a little. ;)
What I enjoyed so much about this project was the opportunity to work in five different mediums, on five different kinds of papers. I also though about what subject matter would be most appropriate for each medium, which is something I often talk with my students about.

This is the fashion illustration I created with markers on Canson’s Artist Series Marker pads. I had fun referring to different cultures with the fabrics and going for that 70s era pop color, to really let those markers shine.

For the Cagrain Paper Artist Series pad, I definitely though of Central Park. What better place to work with charcoal pencil and pastels, and really show off the lovely texture of this paper?

For the Artist Series Tracing paper pad, I thought of myself as an industrial designer, who just happened to design a Corinthian column and worked with the Golden Ratio at all times. I love blueprints and diagrams; my husband is an engineer, and I am always thrilled to find a small scrap of a diagram he’s working on around the house. It’s like the most lovely form of a foreign language in drawing to me.

To really have an opportunity to play with rich colors in acrylic paint for the Artist Series Acrylic pad, I thought that a lovely harbor full of yachts at sunset would be nice. On our way back from a visit to family in Connecticut, my husband patiently waited while I made drawings and color sketches at a coastal dock of the scene above.

For the Artist Series Vellum pad, I fantasized again; this time, I was an architect, designing my perfect Pacific Northwest coast home, complete with California-style tile and a stone exterior.

What a lovely project this was. I can’t wait to see more of these pads on the shelves of Dick Blick and other art supply stores across the country. With many thanks to Terri and Laura at Canson, and of course, to the late Robert Toth. Such a wonderful gentleman; he will be missed.