For this project, I chose the quote by Audrey Hepburn, "to plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." I come from a gardening family so I've always loved that quote and it immediately came to mind for this project as color and texture could be so fun on this.

For my inspiration board, I found several vintage seed packets.

To Plant a Garden - image 1 - student project

I worked on several looks for the lettering warm up but really wanted to mix in something ornate.

To Plant a Garden - image 2 - student project

Here are some thumbnails I started.

To Plant a Garden - image 3 - student project

And then this one to a more detailed sketch.

To Plant a Garden - image 4 - student project

I liked the layout so I got more precise and measured the lines out and used a compass for the curve.

To Plant a Garden - image 5 - student project

A little while later, final sketch ready to ink.

To Plant a Garden - image 6 - student project

And the inking begins!

To Plant a Garden - image 7 - student project

I didn't quite think this through until I got the inking process and then realized I would need different sheets for the different colors of flowers! So, 6 pages later, time to digitize.

To Plant a Garden - image 8 - student project

I'm currently working on color options. Originally I wanted to go vintage tea party but now I feel something more dramatic would be fun.

So, I have the key parts digitized.

To Plant a Garden - image 9 - student project

Here are some of my top picks on colors that didn't make it :)

To Plant a Garden - image 10 - student project

I liked the citrusy palette but thought it was a bit too dark for my taste so I softened it up a bit and then added some textures I made. I have never made my own textures and loved it!

I sketched over the letters.

To Plant a Garden - image 11 - student project

And also stamped some paper to go for that worn, vintage look.

To Plant a Garden - image 12 - student project

So here's the current version.

To Plant a Garden - image 13 - student project

I still may go back to the darker one and play around with it a bit more not that I have all the layers in photoshop and think it would be fun to work with more textures on the darker.

UPDATED:

I couldn't help myself and had to work on the darker option. I orginally scrapped it but then seeing it next to the lighter one, it just felt so much stronger and I had to take it a step further.

I added some texture and really like how the dark turned out.

To Plant a Garden - image 14 - student project

UPDATED: I changed the drop shadows inside the banner and darkened the pink flowers.

To Plant a Garden - image 15 - student project

And the finished piece! I love how it turned out. Thank you for all the feedback and help on this.

To Plant a Garden - image 16 - student project

Lesley Zellers

artist / designer / letterer

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Company

Community

Teaching