1. MY PROJECT PLAN and BRAINSTORM

For my stamp project, I wanted to go with my country (Canada) but make the theme really personal. I went with Winter in My Childhood.

I will be using the recommended 1 x 1.5 aspect ratio for the stamp, which makes it possible to use the provided sketching, artwork and stamp mockup templates.

I created this in Procreate.

TIP: Making your theme more about a specific, personal experience like this can make it easier to think of ideas for each stamp.

Winter in My Childhood - image 1 - student project

As you can see, I brainstormed my ideas right overtop the Project Plan (above). I landed on the following concepts for each stamp:

Single Object - GT Snoracer
Still Life - Boots/Shoe Mat
Flat-lay - Backyard hockey
Figure - My mom in her 1 pc. ski suit, or Snow Angels (I ended up going with Snow Angels)
Scene - Shovelling the driveway
Montage - Suburban winter (boring, quiet, night time in winter)

3. OBSERVATION MODE DRAWINGS (FROM REFERENCES)

Here are my O-Mode drawings from my reference images. I went a little crazy with the boots and added red. I drew these using the 6B pencil brush in Procreate.

Winter in My Childhood - image 2 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 3 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 4 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 5 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 6 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 7 - student project

3. Thumbnail Sketches

Now, here are my rough sketches (Ideational-Mode). For these, I used the Stamp Sketch Template (PSD) file that is available for download on the Projects page.

Winter in My Childhood - image 8 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 11 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 12 - student project

4. REFINED SKETCHES

Once I made my selections, I went onto refine them. For some I refined more than one. I left my Harmonic Armatures grid visible so you can see how the sketches align to it.

As you can see, at this stage I was not necessarily decisive about which sketch I wanted to go with. In a real world project, by this time, the refined sketch would be approved and I would have to just go with it. Which saves a lot of time and pleases the client, but it's not always my favourite. So since this is MY project, I get to be a bit picker and change my mind as I go!

Winter in My Childhood - image 14 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 15 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 16 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 17 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 18 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 19 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 20 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 22 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 26 - student project

5. FINAL ILLUSTRATIONS

And of course, here are my final illustrations! While I did go through different versions, I will share only the ones that I ended up with here.

Winter in My Childhood - image 27 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 28 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 29 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 30 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 31 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 32 - student project

MOCKUPS

Of course, these little badboys were meant to be STAMPS! So here they are in the mockups! I'll start with the individual stamps and then show them as a set (which I ended up placing over a yellow background).

Winter in My Childhood - image 33 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 34 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 35 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 36 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 37 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 38 - student project

Winter in My Childhood - image 39 - student project

Tom Froese

Illustrator and Designer

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