Happy Valentine's Illustration

In celebration of Valentine's Day weekend, here's the creative process behind an illustration I completed last Fall for a story in Sparkle magazine.

Final Illustration: 

Valentine's Day Illustration by Cheryl Kugler for Sparkle magazine.
Gouache and colored pencil on paper. 

Thumbnail Sketch:

Thumbnail sketch.

Sketch:

Sketch.

Painting:

Painting and colored pencil.

Finishing the illustration:

Finishing the illustration.

Close up:

Close up.

Published:

Published in Sparkle magazine.

Have a happy Valentine's day! Thanks for stopping by.

"Hiking in the Dark"/Sparkle Magazine Illustration

A new illustration for Sparkle magazine - now completed!

The challenges:

* Nighttime
* Depth of field

The Final Illustration:



The Thumbnail:



The Sketch:


If you enjoyed this post, please check out previous posts of Sparkle Magazine illustration:
* A Change of Heart
* Watercolor Walls

Thanks for stopping by!

Sparkle Magazine Illo - "A Change of Heart"

Creating illustrations for Sparkle magazine are always enjoyable. This one called "A Change of Heart" depicts a sister who is feeling as though everything is unfair. The story starts with her brother getting to open a box holding a butterfly chrysalis that they found a few weeks earlier.

The final illustration:

The rough sketch:



Base colors added in:



And, a few extra little illustrations to go with the story:





If you enjoyed this post that shows the creative process, you may also enjoy:

* Illustrating a Dog-Gone Cute Christmas Card
* Bumble Bees for Sparkle Magazine

Thanks for stopping and come visit again!

Bzzzz...Bumble Bees for Sparkle Magazine

A rainy Saturday afternoon provided for the perfect day to set up at my art desk and knock out an illustration for Sparkle magazine.

Although the magazine is geared towards girls under the age of 10, I must admit I learned a few things about bumble bees.....like the fact that they do a dance when they find nectar, and (sorry guys), the girls are the worker bees who do all of the work!

The final art (uncropped):

The artist assistant:



The sketch:



The close-ups:






It was a bright, cheerful project for a gloomy, rainy day. Hope this brightens your day a bit too! Enjoy~

A few links to other Sparkle illustrations:

* Cupcakes! and annual Sparkle Mission illustration

* Too Much!

Cupcakes! - New Sparkle Illustrations

I'm excited to post a few illustrations I recently completed for Sparkle, a magazine for GEMS Girl's Club.

These two illustrations will appear in the October 2009 issue:

And this illustration will appear along with the Sparkle mission statement on the back cover of the magazine for one year:

I have so much fun creating the illustrations for this magazine. Their stories have really helped me in developing girl characters in my artwork. I've always got to think about how to create the emotion in the character's faces and body language; and make sure that the clothing is fashionable with the young gals.

I'll be posting a few more in upcoming blog posts. Thanks for stopping by!

Girls Club Mission Illustration

This is a fun illustration that I just completed for the back of a girl's club magazine - Sparkle. It reflects the mission statement of the organization: "Teaching young girls to become world changers." My cat wiggled his way into this drawing - his long tail and all! *meow*~