Tumblr

I've been posting a lot of stuff to my Tumblr, recently. I don't typically link to it from here, because I try to keep this blog and my website somewhat "professional", but what the heck! Most of the work I post there is pretty silly, some of it is mildly NSFW, but perhaps you will enjoy it all the same!

http://tickledfancy.tumblr.com

"Morning Hair"

Warmed up this morning with a sketch!

Critters

Some critters I designed! I plan on fleshing them out, drawing more angles, etc., but this is a first glimpse :)

Family Portraits

Art For Japan

Talented sisters Alice and Meg Hunt have enlisted the help of artists from around the world to raise money for Japan's relief efforts. All of the donated artwork will be (or is already) up for auction on eBay, and 100% of the profits are going to AmeriCares Foundation, Inc.

The piece I contributed, an ink drawing of San & Moro from Princess Mononoke, is now up for auction! Please take a gander and bid, if you desire, and be sure to check out the other excellent offerings available!

The piece was inked with a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen on watercolor paper and measures 9"x12". Perfect for framing, or sticking in a drawer and forgetting about forever, save for the lingering warmth that comes from knowing you contributed to a good cause. Or a combination of both!

Batgirl sketch

Batgirl sketch! I still love Barbara's original design from Batman The Animated Series. Did I ever mention how obsessed I was with that show? I used to record it every day so I could watch it as soon as I got home from school. Memories!

101 Reasons continued!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that there are a few selections from 101 Reasons To Shop on my website! Have a peek!
http://www.carlymonardo.com

101 Reasons to Shop

Remember just a few days ago when I said I was often secretly working on things I couldn't share? Well this was a big one!

101 Reasons to Shop was written by Jessica Waldorf, designed by Mary Austin Speaker, published by Harper Collins, and illustrated by yours truly!

As you may know, I'm a closet fashion geek, so spending months immersed in images of couture and runway shows was a fitting use of my time. I spent many a sleepless night working on this project. It's my first book and it was a wonderful and exciting challenge! I'm so thrilled that it is out there in the real world now! Kate Spade even tweeted about it!

You can sneak a peak at the book at the Harper Collins website! I will eventually (and with the author's permission) post some images here as well.

Thanks to everyone who supported and encouraged me throughout this process. Special thanks to Jessica Waldorf, Stephanie Meyers, Danielle Corsetto, George Baier IV, and of course my amazing husband, Christopher Hastings; I couldn't have done this without you!

Stumpy Pencil

Have I ever talked about Stumpy Pencil? My good friend Mike Foran developed this Photoshop brush that beautifully replicates the look and feel of your favorite worn-down pencil. I use it ALL the time, so if you're a regular visitor of this blog (then gosh, thank you! ♥) you've seen it before; like here, and here, and also here!

The brushes are pressure-sensitive, so you can really experiment with different textures and finishes. I highly recommend downloading the preset and playing around with it.

I will leave you with my most recent Stumpy Pencil doodle; a comic depicting what happens when my husband makes me a cup of coffee:

Denim Day 2011

My friend Min works with the Korean American Family Service Center, which is a great non-profit organization "serving in the New York Tri-State area to prevent and end domestic violence and relationship abuse". Earlier this week, Min asked if I could step in and design a flyer for KAFSC's Denim Day event, and I was happy to do it! This is a wonderful organization and an important cause, and the event promises to be a good one, so if you find yourself in NYC on April 21st, be sure to check it out and lend your support!

Finished Flyer:

Original sketch:

Credits:

Denim textures courtesy of Six Revisions

Concrete & brick textures courtesy of CG Textures

Fonts used: Futura & Bebas Neue

"Right On, Red"

A lot of the stuff I work on can't be shared while the projects are in development, which often leads to a lot of radio silence over here. So with that in mind, I am throwing this drawing up in its inked stage!

"Right On, Red" is part of the fashion-inspired illustration series I kicked off in my last post. I chose to feature Cacharel's Pre-Fall line (which I lo-o-ove) this time around. I was immediately taken with the bold but simple colors and silhouettes in this collection, and the "story" came to me almost immediately. The title is a nod to Joanna Newsom's "The Book Of Right On", which I didn't hear for the first time until well after the drawing was underway; still it felt like a perfect fit!

I'd like to acknowledge the model who posed for all of the Cacharel shots, whoever she is. Her look was obviously a huge inspiration for the sisters' designs here. I think she's lovely!

Color will follow eventually!

Marc Jacobs In Space

I was having dinner with my friend Stephanie a week or so ago, and we were talking about our careers. I mentioned to her how I love the idea of working on the fringe of the fashion industry...illustrating fashion-related drawings but not doing fashion illustration, per se (though I would do that, too: hint, hint!) She came up with this fantastic idea of taking various designers' collections and illustrating them in a new way. So I started with Marc Jacobs, since he's the first name Steph mentioned, and I tried to create something based on the feelings I got from his 2010 Spring RTW collection. The results are now here for you to see!

Detail shots:

Starfire

Cross-posted again from Facebook:

"My take on Koriand'r, better known as Starfire! I wanted to accentuate her feline qualities, so I gave her "whisker"-like freckles and thin pupils. I kept her hair big on top (flat-haired Kori just doesn't do it for me), but pulled it back in a thick braid so it's slightly more manageable. The armor was partly influenced by ancient Persian armor; the symbol I designed as a sort of Tamaranean emblem that could also appear on a flag or...more armor I guess. I kept some cleavage cos I thought Kori would want it that way."

Additional comments:

Basically I wanted to have Koriand'r as a sort of foil to my Raven design. Whereas I made Raven willowy and androgynous, Kori is more statuesque and voluptious, and a little sunnier in both color and disposition!

ADDENDUM: Dean Trippe was kind enough to feature this design on his excellent blog, Project: Rooftop! P:R is one of my favorite websites on the whole dang internet, and Dean's one of my favorite super-hero artists, so it's always a treat to be included! Thanks, Dean!

Raven

EDIT: Now in color!

Cross-posted from my Facebook:

"My take on Raven from New Teen Titans. Not sure how I wound up with such a complete departure from her original look! I guess I wanted to play with the balance between her human and demon sides, which manifested itself in Victorian-inspired menswear and a lot of crystals. Oh, and those eyes in the close-up are painted on her eyelids!"

I guess I'm into feathered capes at the moment! Color coming soon, plus possibly another Titan or two.

Kytássin

Front-on drawing of Kytássin, since her outfit was pretty obscured in the original "design". In color, just cos I like ya. ;)

Delák and Kytássin

These two bozos are twin wizards! They're going to pop up soon in The Walking Weapon (which WILL continue!) The boy is Delák and the girl is Kytássin.

What kind of Pokémon are you?

Steve Wolfhard started a side-project a while back called "Portrait-dex", which is a blog collecting self-portraits of other cartoonists -- as Pokémon! I'm in love with the idea, and a while back I created my own Pokémon. Here she is!

Machine Of Death

You may have heard recently of a little science-fiction anthology climbing the Amazon bestseller charts to #1. The book, Machine Of Death, was the pet project of two very good friends of mine, Messrs. David Malki(!) & Ryan North (it was also co-edited by a Mr. Matt Bennardo, who I do not have the pleasure of knowing, but whose last name almost rhymes with mine).

In any case, David and Ryan reached out to some writers and artists with this idea of creating stories and illustrations based around a machine of death: a mechanism which tests your blood and then churns out a slip of paper telling you the cause of your eventual demise.

The premise may sound bleak (and I suppose it is), but don't let that fool you! Thar's pathos and love and humor in them pages!

Particularly dear to my heart is, of course, the story I illustrated: NOT WAVING BUT DROWNING by Erin McKean.

The story is available, read by Ms. McKean, as the first episode of the Machine Of Death Podcast! I highly recommend giving it a listen. I'm about to! And if you're interested, please consider buying a copy of Machine Of Death from Amazon or Topatoco! Let's keep this success story going!

The Walking Weapon (pts 1 & 2)

I had so much fun with The Walking Weapon that I decided to do a few comics with him! I plan on doing more; I'm really enjoying myself so far!

Fearsome Creatures

Having some fun with my moleskin!

This is Chelsey. She's the most popular girl in class:

Dabbling in furry art:

This guy is fearless: