Conan O'Brien Cover

I feel so lucky that I got a chance to depict Conan O'Brien this week. I love Conan and he's coming to San Diego! This was a last minute illustration for our Night & Day section of the newspaper. I only had a day and a half to do it, but I was pleased with the result. Andy Richter as the surfer was an afterthought, believe it or not, that ended up making the whole thing work. I didn't have as much time to tweak the colors like I usually do, but it is newsprint, after all, and it will never print as perfectly as I'd like. One thing I've learned about working at newspapers is to make the illustration the best you can, then let it go. How it prints is out of your hands.

Then there is letterpress printing! Letterpress is my chance to be totally involved in the printing process. Yet, even in letterpress there comes a time when you have to let it ride. After you've mixed and re-mixed the right ink color, changed the packing so the impression in just so, and made any adjustments so that every letter down to the smallest punctuation mark prints, it's time to let go and let the press do the rest. I suppose we could all live by that philosophy -do your best, then let it go!

I am so upset because I really, really, really wish I had tickets to go see Conan this weekend!! I guess I'll just have to let it go.

images belong to The San Diego Union-Tribune

Longboard Birthday Card

We finally got around to printing our new surfing birthday card yesterday. This one is a longboarder, like us - well, I suppose Kevin can ride anything, but I love my longboard! It was a fun day in the print shop and left us just enough time to hit Beacon's for an evening surf. I've been so excited about this card because it's on this awesome 140# kraft card stock from French Paper. It's our first #10-sized flat note card - long and skinny. It has plenty of room for a message on the back and comes with a kraft paper envelope. All in a days work.

Mother's Day Card - blog mentions

Our Mother's Day card was mentioned in the Mother's Day round-up from two of the best stationery blogs around. Wow! Check out both postings and get a look at some really great cards from other letterpress gurus.

• Oh So Beautiful Paper

• Paper Crave

Honk if you like discounts

Night Owl Paper Goods is offering Illustration+Letterpress readers 15% off of any order from them until April 30th. Take advantage!! Read the comment section from our previous posting to see how!

Night Owl Paper Goods {letterpress}

The amazing duo of Alan Henderson and Jennifer Tatham, that make up Night Owl Paper Goods, are killing it these days! I ran into some of their cards at Mable's in Solana Beach and I just love what they are doing. Their wooden cards, to me, are their signature items - I can't get enough of those adorable wooden gift cards. I also admired their letterpress cards - check out the awesome cosmic red birthday card design in my favorite colors (red and aqua.) But now they are combining the two. They put a little wooden owl on some letterpress snowflakes to let us know there are "better days ahead!" So cute! Great job you two!!!

By the way, now they will print your art on their wood cards. They have minimum orders, but what a great idea for "save the dates," business cards or announcements. My head is spinning with the possibilities.

Images from nightowlpapergoods.com

Sowing Success {illustration}

What fun it is to play with pretty seed packets and a scanner! This illustration was quick and dirty but oh so fun to execute. The trip to Target to buy the seeds was a nice diversion too! I wish I could plant them all, but alas, I have no time for a garden this year. Luckily my neighbors are sowing their seeds already and I'm sure there will be plenty of veggies coming across the street to us soon. Yummy!

Rough Seas {illustration}

This was a tough assignment that ended up being fun. It was a story by Dean Calbreath on the top companies that have managed to stay afloat during these uncertain times. Sometimes business stories can be so serious and seem so dry to illustrate. I hate to admit that I dread brainstorming these types of stories, but when you connect with your concept it can be so worth it. I really hate resorting to adding type to illustrations, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. Making the waves was the best part of this process - scanning money makes me feel like a criminal!