Postcard Illustration: Orlando, FL.

 Digital.

For Illustration, we had to create a postcard for our hometown. It's times like this that I wish I were from somewhere awesome like Iceland or Australia, but alas I am from Orlando and I had to make due. The assignment was very open and I wanted to do something that I actually wanted to do, not something I was just doing for class. I think I definitely accomplished that. I had a blast doing this. I originally got three different concept thumbnails approved, but I chose this one because it was slightly more complex and I felt like I would learn a lot from it.

So my concept is pretty straightforward. Orlando can't be defined by one type of person or landmark. It's actually a fairly big place that encompasses many different walks of life. I decided to split up my perception of Orlando into four distinct slices, all represented by a person on the bus.

There is the business man, who represents the wealthy built-up suburbs. Windermere, Islesworth, that sort of thing.  Next to him is the obvious: tourist mom and kids with all of their Disney merchandise. There is the artsy hipster youth, which represents the un-florida like areas of Orlando, with hole-in-the-wall places like Austins and Stardust Video & Coffee. And on the end is the homeless person, representing the struggling, poorer side of Orlando like Parramore and the waves of homeless all over downtown.

I really love the way this piece came out. It was a ton of fun and I really tried to experiment with color and colored line (I looked at a lot of Sam Bosma's work for inspiration) and I think that it was pretty successful.  I got a good critique (Anna pointed out that I forgot to fucking put cast shadows on the floor and I want to die) and I got a few compliments that meant a lot. Happy with this one.

Process:

Super messy rough line work.

Finalized line work and value study. The line work was consistent but the value shifted a bit when I started coloring, but not to the point where it became unreadable. I try to turn my color off pretty often, just to see where I'm at value-wise.