Sometimes I get to design product using my own art style, like the Disney Designer Princess or Villains collections. Or more recently, the Tink sketch art collection I posted about. Other times I work on designing 3D collectibles. But, some times I do traditional character art used just for product applications. I start out doing my own rough poses and clean-up drawings. I then work with the inker to make sure the final ink’s and color stay as true to my original drawings. Shown here are a few examples of final clean-up pencil art, as well as one application of the art on product. This particular art also ended up on t-shirts , bathing suits, art kits and table ware, etc. I am still excited to see where this type of art ends up, because it will generally be used off and on for years to come. I still recognize every piece of art I’ve done , every time I see it. No matter how long ago I drew it. 

Going into the way back files, more unused  ”Art of the Disney Princess” artwork. There were a few pieces I had worked on that were never finished in time to submit for publication along with the pieces I did for that book. It’s a shame , as I really liked the direction they were headed. Ariel and Jasmine made it to tight pencil , but never to color. They almost made it onto the “Charming Collection” packaging I referenced in my last post. Unfortunately the collection that was to include these girls never came to be. So, back in the bin they went. After many years, here they are. Enjoy. :)

Back when I worked on a few projects with Kidada Jones, she fell in love with the story book art I had done for the Art of the Disney Princess book and wanted to use the art for packaging. At the time I submitted art for that book Tiana was still in development, so I had not yet drawn her in that style. When it was decided that some of my previous art would be used for packaging of the “Charming Collection”, I was asked if I could add Tiana to the mix since she would be represented in the line of charms Kidada had designed. Here you can see my original rough concept drawings , as well as how the final art was used on packaging and product.

Keeping on the theme of inspiration and “mood boards”, I often keep folders of images that I set aside to hopefully inspire me at some point. As with my last post showing a few images that inspired me to design the Disney Villains Designer Collection, here I’ve taken a few images out of my Rapunzel folder. The images maybe have a color that I like, a textile or architecture I find interesting , or maybe something that just gives me a feeling. When I do finally sit down to design something, I draw upon these images to get me in the right headspace. An image of a painting might inspire a snow globe. That Image of the scarf might inspire a doll. The thing is, the inspiration is there to do just that, inspire. And you never know where inspiration will strike! So, here’s Rapunzel……….