Custom Illustrations Make Great Gifts!

It's been a while so I thought I'd check in and show you what I've been up to. A friend of mine just celebrated his tenth wedding anniversary (congratulations!) and was looking for a unique gift that would acknowledge the passing of specifically ten years, and the addition of triples to their family. He suggested the idea of a hot air balloon with his current family and their newlywed selves on the ground.

I started with many (many, many) sketches to get a feel for where I wanted the balloon and family on the page, then opened Illustrator and literally scribbled some gestures of characters and poses.

Once the portraits and poses were done I experimented with some backgrounds. This family is from NYC and wanted to have that represented somehow, but I also gave them a simpler background that would allow the family to pop off the page. This all happened over the course of a few weeks so I sent screen shots for approval along the way. I edited haircolor, added personal details, and experimented with some different treatments of the background. This is going to be an anniversary gift, so it needs to be special, personal, and accurate.

 

Believe it or not, there are actually hours of work between the image on the left and the final image on the right. I double checked details, corrected inconsistencies in the way I drew eyes, aligned the stripes on the balloon, filled holes where the vector shapes didn't quite line up. I also added details to the kids' clothing. This art will be printed at 18"x24", so the tiny details I could miss on the screen need to be refined.

Spoiler: To acknowledge the passing of ten years I added just a few elements in groups of ten. I also added roses from her bridal bouquet into the balloon piece of the image but they are too small to see on here.