Daleks love cats on t-shirts

My friends are big Dr. Who fans and cat-lovers, so when this meme came around I couldn't resist creating a series of t-shirts for them as xmas presents! I believe the original drawing is by Lilian Tula, a web designer and creative person (and lover of Dr. Who and cats, evidently!)

I printed with different coloured inks because the tshirts were different colours. I'm particularly pleased with how bright the fluorescent pink turned out because it's a transparent ink, not opaque like the gold. 

Here's a link to the other t-shirts I've made!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My parents are into birdwatching in a pretty big way. They have nice binoculars, but sometimes ducks are shy. So they bought a sweet Vortex scope. It's got awesometastic optics, let me tell you. Of course I had to include their new pride and joy in my latest card!

One of their proudest sightings this year was of a King Eider (pictured in the above card on the right, the left-hand duck is a Green Teal), an absolutely gorgeous duck that is apparently pretty rare in these parts. I made them souvenir-looking t-shirts for xmas, working from one of their photos. 

The meticulous little label on the photo is my mom's handiwork. They have eight giant D-ring photo albums full of bird photos that are just as carefully catalogued. My dad takes the photos and prints them off on their Epson PictureMate, my mom does all the record-keeping and the making of the lunches (taken on particularly long excursions). They haven't gotten to the point of keeping canned food in the trunk of their car yet. We shall see what 2012 holds.

I remember reading fairy tales as a kid that made mention of eiderdown. What a shame it would be to stuff such magnificent plumage into a pillowcase! After some research I've found that Common Eiders are the ones that fill the duvets of fairy princesses (eiderdown can be harvested without harming the birds, as they line their nests with those soft feathers). Were King Eiders safe, I wonder? That would be a major case of duck class warfare, or at least appearance-based discrimination!

Dark Side of the Rainbow

Two more weeks left to go on Ryan W. Cox's "A Circus Mind" Kickstarter project! Here's another illustration I did for the book for a poem entitled "Dark Side of the Rainbow". Prints (and more!) of this image available for sale on my Society6 shop page!

For the Society6 t-shirt I've altered the image a little -- faded away the bottom a bit so it melds into the tshirt colour and added the bottom to the lowest falling brick for added effect.

This is my second Wizard of Oz-inspired illustration. I did the first one for UPPERCASE Studio's Work/Life 2 book. I have a lot of love for Alice in Wonderland and Dorothy, so I couldn't resist illustrating Ryan's "Dark Side of the Rainbow" poem. I really wanted to capture an ominous, dream-like feeling while keeping the image looking kinda storybook. I think the red linework gives it a bit of extra kick!

Here's my initial sketch. Sometimes I like to use grey tones to get a better idea of how an illustration is going to look when it's done. This sketch was done with my tablet.

And here's the sketch I did by hand. This is an extra step I'll do occasionally when the digital sketch requires a bit more finesse before I head to final.

One of the reasons I love the Wizard of Oz so much is that there is such a strong sense of colour throughout that story. The yellow brick road, the ruby slippers, the emerald city... Even the four countries that comprise Oz (Gilliken, Munchkin, Winkie, Quadling) have colours associated with them. Love it!

New t-shirt! Tree-shirt?

Craig and I recently did a road trip to Vancouver. We met up with yet another friend we met in World of Warcraft (five so far, three to go!) and to commemorate the occasion I made him this t-shirt! Being handy with silkscreening has its advantages :).

A little while back my work was featured on popular WoW news site WoW Insider. It showcases a bunch of the other Warcraft stuff I've done, as well as a lengthy interview about my process and how I came to be a freelance illustrator.

I mention in the interview that for my fan art creations I don't draw the designs (my freelance professional work is 100% me, though!), but I do fiddle with my reference images a good deal before they are ready for silkscreen printing. Here is the picture I used for this t-shirt. It's all about picking out the right lines and emphasizing the shapes to make sure it prints clearly, not to mention processing the screen properly so the design transfers well. Especially all those picky little leaves!

Here is a link to my Warcraft-related stuff.

I've done a couple non-Warcraft related t-shirts, to see those and more, click here!

Okami T

I've never played Capcom's "Okami", but it comes highly recommended by a friend. She's lending me her copy, can't wait to get started! Here's a t-shirt I made for her.

Warcraft Paladin or... THOR!!

I mentioned earlier that my boyfriend plays a female draenei paladin in World of Warcraft. I even made him a shirt with his toon on it. So for another gift, I decided to do the Warcraft paladin logo. Some people interpret it as Thor's hammer, which also works!

Ryu Super Ultra Combo Finisher

Another shirt for the boyfriend. He has an intense Super Street Fighter 4 rivalry with his friend. Ryu vs. Ken. Yeah, they are practically the same character, but don't tell them that! Honestly, what with Sakura, Akuma, and Gouken, Capcom got lazy, eh? KIDDING! They all have their subtleties, etc. Don't shoryuken me, please!

Here's the shirt I made of that arrogant rival, Ken. :P

More t-shirts!

Shoryuken!

Another gift t-shirt! The giftee is a big Super Street Fighter 4 fan (and an even bigger Ken fan!) and just so happened to pick out a red shirt without knowing what I was planning on putting on it. The colour combo couldn't have been more perfect!

I'm particularly proud of this shirt because it took a fair bit of finagling on my part to get a Ken image fit to screenprint. Google Image Search "Street Fighter Ken" and you'll probably find the image I worked from, but it's not nearly crisp enough to use as is.

Gnome Rogue T

I made this t-shirt for a gnome rogue our guild met online and then in real life! We totally did a guild meet-up with the five of us at an Indian buffet and it was so much fun.

I mailed this to him later for xmas (along with some xmas cookies) to thank him for meeting us and although he doesn't play Warcraft any more, we still keep in touch. In fact, I've met FOUR guildies who we initially met online in real life and they all turned out to be super-cool individuals. And we still do fun email chains and share life news. I never thought I'd enjoy the social aspect of WoW so much :).

xmas Warlock t-shirt

I designed this for my brother-in-law for xmas. He's an evil warlock! I printed it using opaque yellow ink on a navy blue t-shirt but unfortunately I can't find the pic anywhere.

So far I've made my boyfriend, sister, friend, and now brother-in-law each a t-shirt with their character on it. Strangely I haven't gotten around to doing my own :P.

Two Expansions Ago

I started playing World of Warcraft at the start of the Burning Crusade Expansion. Back then, the big baddy was a dude called Illidan and he had this pair of swords called The Twin Blades of Azzinoth. Getting on of these swords or the other, let alone the set, was the coolest accomplishment in the entire game. Very rare and hard to obtain, it was almost an honour to be cut down by these swords when another player had them! Their green glow and eye-catching shape and size are so distinctive that I think they remain the signature weapons in WoW.

World of Warcraft has since moved on to other evil villains and legendary weapons, but the warglaives will always hold a special place in my heart. Which is why when I stood in line to pick up Blizzard's newest WoW expansion, I was inspired to put my favourite weapons of all time on the back of a t-shirt.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has been lots of fun so far. But it is a little sad that the game world has changed so much and I'll always miss the way things used to be. Change happens and as Illidan used to say, "You are not prepared!"

Julia Minamata site/blog

Paladin!

Another t-shirt for the boyfriend, using a pic of his main toon. A female Draenei paladin. Yeah, I know.

mrrgluruglgurlglr

Thought I'd buckle down and post the other Warcraft-related stuff I've made over the years. In case WoW Insider actually posts my submission, I want people to have more to look at than the one t-shirt!

T-shirt I made as a gift for my boyfriend. Who can resist a murloc? No one? Didn't think so!

Mage!

Here's a gift for my sister, of her mage main!

New work on t-shirt @Rogue Monk: Please vote!

Here's something new and fun! I submitted my work to Rogue Monk, if it gets voted up enough they stick it on a t-shirt. Please visit the site and vote me if you like it! You have to sign in, but that means you can also vote for a bunch of other cool designs. Try it! -- Julia