Up Up and Away

I recently illustrated a good friend's baby girl's first birthday invitation.

The brief: 
Hot Air Balloon
Vintage colors
Creative freedom.

I sketched it out with pencil in my sketch book then moved onto the big illustration (9x12"). I could make it a little smaller and keep the illustration pretty high resolution (since she was using a digital printer called VistaPrint). Thinking about putting on my Etsy shop that I have been neglecting, and customize some orders for first birthdays. Maybe do a line of them.
The world is my oyster.

Bows on Bows on Bows

Life has been crazy these past couple weeks, Andrew and I both got new jobs and moved to Brooklyn. Finally everything is settling down and we can get back to business. I have been neglecting some projects, because to be honest, I work better under pressure.

My good friends are getting married in December in Ireland, we are attending and I am creating wedding invites. She asked for a bow. I haven't been able to do a bow, I can barely create a bow in real life, let alone a 2D bow. So I drew it, then inked and live traced it in illustrator.

I didn't love the way it looked off balance, so I duplicated and reflected it, then placed the top bow right on top of the first bow.

I am excited at the effect and am going to keep playing with it. 

Viking on a stroll

This little guy just needed to get away.

Some friends can always make me laugh

One of the funniest people I grew up with owns this dog, she made this meme and it tickles my heart. Thanks Cassandra Duffey. 

Family

My family, the 5 of us, cousins. Inseparable, my best friends, my partners in crime, my sisters, my brothers, my everything. We witnessed eachother fall down, pick ourselvesback up, first loves, broken hearts, "I'm running away days," long walks in the rain to the ice cream shop, pizza, milk and many dinners that ended up in the dogs stomach.

In this photo, life seems simple, and it was; we just got done eating a popsicle after getting out of the pool on a hot summer afternoon.

Flash forward 20 years:
We are all busy people, our lives have turned into whirling swirls of mayhem, each one of us in our own funnel. Some of us have children, we all have crazy schedules, busy emails, busy phones, busy texts, busy facebooks, busy twitters, busy busy busy.

Some days I ask myself where the connection was lost with so much connection available.

I miss the days of sitting on the steps with a kitten and my best friends.

Sharky in St Kitts

We recently got back from St. Kitts, while on vacation we took a booze cruise snorkeling, without enough sunscreen. So needless to say, we spent the next day indoors. I of course couldn't just relax, so I watercolored this litte dude. 

He embodies my worse fear in the ocean. 

Cutest little guy out there.

Loved this so much. Figured everyone could use a little cuteness before the weekend. 

Happy weekend!

Phantom HD Highspeed Video

Dino-Wolf

This guy is making the best out of a situation.
©Melissa DiPeri

Soultry, Sexy Chicken Dance

This chicken knows what is up. Slather her in Franks Redhot Sauce, or she'll do it herself. My hubby and his partner worked hard to make this video happen, along with a very creative animator. Just love her, now I want some spicy chicken.

We fell hard, blissfully, in love

Coco is our 6 year old rescue dog (Corgi, German Shepherd, Bassett Hound) from Atlanta Pet Rescue, she is my best friend, my 2 year old niece's guardian, our foot warmer, little bear and sometimes a make believe villain. She came into our lives while looking for a totally different dog, we wanted a beagle I had stalked on the website. My husband brought me to the rescue center to pick up a new friend for my birthday. I had been monitoring the website for months, showing him every little pup and reading up on all their lives, and wishing I could take them all home. The beagle turned out to be very timid and seemed to be in need of a little more attention than my husband and I had could provide, with full time jobs and graduate school. Then I spotted Coco in the "big dog" pen, mind you she is 28lbs. She was laying in the middle of the room, with her big head, little legs sprawled out with all the massive dogs  playing around her, she paid them no mind. I said "that is Coco" noting I had seen her on the website, she was noticeable because her head is HUGE compared to her body. When I said her name, her big ears popped up, she grabbed a red ball and brought it over to the fence and dropped it at my husband's feet, he picked it up and threw it, she ran as fast as she could and brought it back and dropped it at our feet. We fell hard, in love, fast and blissfully. We asked to meet her, took her into the meet and greet room, and she put her paws on my shoulder and hugged me. It was over, we put in our paperwork, got her chipped and were out the door within a few hours. It really has been the best decision we have made, we love our pup.

We have some friends watch her sometimes when we go out of town for day trips. These friends get presents from Coco (usually their drink of choice or jewels); I had doubled up on the illustrations in one day to cut and paste and make it a little easier on me. 

©Melissa DiPeri

Images via personal instagram

Family gift hangtags

I did these for Christmas for my immediate family and their pets. Better late than never on posting these bad boys. It was a fun little project.

From top to bottom:

Clune's

Rumberger's

Boehly's

DiPeri's

Notice how my pup is with both sets of parents. They end up taking care of her a lot....my parents also have a beagle, she got lost in the scanner or something. 

©Melissa DiPeri

Giving artwork as presents is tricky

Giving art work as a gift is always a tricky road to go down. This couple I did this hand lettering for is pretty artsy though, so I figured this, plus some mula would be a nice little present. We couldn't attend this wedding due to going to a wedding in Atlanta.

This present was a fun one for me: my friend Mike has recently changed his name to his grandfather's (on his Mom's side) and then married his college sweetheart. We were excited by their union and they were excited by the new artwork and hung it up right away, which means they liked it, they really liked it.

©Melissa DiPeri

Skillshare class and Be Fancy

I am in a hand lettering class on Skillshare which has turned out to be a pretty fun little social experience. Lots of amazing artists, 1279 to be exact, collaborating on everyone's projects and pushing each other to higher design.  Check out how Skillshare works here.

Interested in getting in on this class: click here for Lettering syllabus

This is where my designs are now; going to bring them into the computer this weekend and decide which one is more suiting to a Kentucky derby invitation (which is the unicorn below).

This paper is a lifesaver, it is a free download at www.dottedpaper.com

Sheep's Clothing

Wear your true skin with pride. This little guys is confused.

©Melissa DiPeri

Best of 2012 (in my opinion)

Well 2012 I think I have finally come out of my shell both professionally and personally. Professionally, I feel like I really fit into a roll at my company and am working to make that roll fit my personality more.  My illustrations have taken a life of their own and I appreciate the amount of support I have received from my hubby, friends, family and people via the social media art community.

Personally I have made some changes in my life that needed to be made, made new friends, enhanced my current relationships, and became disconnected from some friends. I have bonded more-so with my family and all around tried to be a good person. Things are looking up and I look forward to 2013.

©Melissa DiPeri

Clune Christmas Hangtags

This year I did illustrations of everyone in the family so that Christmas morning they would all know which package was theirs. Before I left, I thought I scanned everyone of them in but alas this is the only full family I had with me for the break. The rest of them will follow in the New Year!

©Melissa DiPeri

Hang Tagging the Husband this Christmas

So I decided to doodle the family, that will be exchanging gifts with's person, as hang tags for my packages. I over thought it and came up with 2 concepts for what they could look like. My current style, sideway eye, big belly or tall and skinny, much like my loving husband (guinea pig). I am going with the right due to popular demand on Facebook. Hoping the ladies don't get offended by their rounded bellies. Motherhood isn't that far away, so I can use that in my favor.

©Melissa DiPeri

Zombie-Saurus

As if we needed someone else to do a doodle of a zombie, and make it as ambiguous as a zombie dinosaur. Talk about undead.

©Melissa DiPeri

Mad Hatter all Fancy Like

Mad Hatter always made me feel sane.

This guy likes to be fancy.

©Melissa DiPeri

Coffee Coco

Coffee, pen and paper. I am officially obsessed with my dog. 

©Melissa DiPeri

Little Red

This is the direction my next project is heading. Fairy tales, maybe even getting a little grim.

I finally got my Etsy shop up and running. Taking orders as of today:) Take a look. 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SketchCharacter

©Melissa DiPeri

Rawr!

I have been having a hard time not having any more alphabets to do, so I am just doodling my favorites a lot, until I come up with another little illustration adventure.

©Melissa DiPeri

Prints are in!

I am super excited!

Character Letter a Day - Z - Zebra

Final illustration! Got the first batch ordered this morning and liking the way they are looking. Going to get the Etsy shop loaded up this weekend and taking orders next week:)

Z is for Zebra. Zara the Zebra.

Sad this project is over. What to do next?

©Melissa DiPeri

Character Letter a Day - Y -Yak

Completely got files ready for print and realized I hadn't illustrated this bad boy!

Y is for Yak. Yolanda the Yak.

Character Letter a Day - X - Xeme

X is for Xeme, yes it is actually an animal...talk about trying to find an animal that begins with X.
X is for Xyl (yes I made that name up).

Character Letter a Day - W - Walrus

W is for Walrus. Walt the Walrus (named after main character on breaking bad:)

Character Letter a Day - V - Vulture

V is for Vulture. Vanessa the Vulture.

Character Letter a Day - Letter growth

I decided to redo all the hand lettered letters to make them consistent with each other. Finishing them up tonight then off to print:)

Character Letter a Day - U - Urchin

U is for Urchin, Ulysses the Urchin.

Finally finished these little guys. Redoing the letters like the style of the letter A and then sending off to print!

Character Letter a Day - T - Turtle

T is for Turtle. Tosh the Turtle.

I will be away the rest of the week so rest of letters will be put up next week. Then I am done with this series!!!

Character/Letter a Day - S - Shark

S is for Shark. Sally the Shark.

Happy after long weekend Tuesday:)

Character/Letter a Day - Q - Quail

Q is for Quail. Quinn the Quail.

Character/Letter a Day - P - Pig

P is for Pig. Piggy the Pig...Piggy piggy piggy, can't you see....

Character/Letter a Day - O- Owl

O is for Owl. Ottis the Owl...

Character/Letter a Day - N - Narwhal

N is for Narwhal. Nancy the Narwhal (unicorn of the sea).

Character/Letter a Day - M - Monkey

M is for Monkey. Manny the Monkey.

Character/Letter a Day- L - Lion

L is for Lion. Luda the Lion.

Character/Letter a Day- K - Koala

K is for Koala. Kippy the Koala.

Character/Letter a Day- J - Jellyfish

J is for Jellyfish. Julie the Jelly.

Character/Letter a Day, I - Iguana

I is for Iguana. Iggy the Iguana.

Character / letter a day - H - hedgehog

H is for hedgehog  Harold the hedgehog.

*Had some scanner issues, but back up and running! Getting closer to the birthday girls bday:)

Character/Letter a Day G - Giraffe

G is for Giraffe

Andrew the Giraffe, after my extra tall hubby:)

Character/Letter a Day F - Fox

F is for Fox, Foxy the Fox.

One of my favorites!

Character/Letter a Day E - Elephant

E is for Elephant.
This is Ella the Elephant.

Coloring on Ella is not quite up to par with the doodle, scanning has been my enemy this week. Bottom  image is from my iPhone, you can see the difference is significant. Any kind of advice would be welcome on how to make this color the same as the illustration. I have tried using levels in photoshop but to no avail.