The online portfolio of Page Redford
Alas it comes but once a year, Happiest of Halloween’s to all you boos and ghouls! Here is a selection of small (about 1x2foot each) chalkboards featuring some of our favorite scariest treats.
These small boards generally take between 30 and 60 minutes from start to finish. They are a fun way to try new color markers and paints as well as new styles of lettering.
Today I’m sharing the colored version of Inktober prompt 7. As I said before, I just loved the movie Labyrinth growing up, and even enjoy it now. I added a little embellishment to the Goblin King’s suitcoat that was inspired by the gemstones and crystals in the labyrinth. A little glitz goes a long way.
I used a broad marker brush in Procreate to get this chunky marker look. I work mostly with black and white line and real paint or marker for color, so digital coloring sometimes feels a little rigid for me. I love blending with “real” paint and pigment. That being said, I do like the broad-stroke marker rendering look. I hope you like this too!
Today’s Inktober prompt was “fancy”
Inspired by one of my favorite films, Labyrinth, I decided to do a sketch of the dreamy Masquerade’s beautiful ballroom attire. It is one of my favorite scenes from the movie and it features a favorite David Bowie song. As a little girl I always wanted to go on an adventure like Sarah…wear the pretty costumes and maybe meet The Goblin King.
This drawing was once again done on my iPad using procreate. I’m consistently impressed by this software as a drawing and painting tool.
I found out recently that there was a “labyrinth masquerade” party in Los Angeles. Unfortunately we never did get the chance to go.
Once again I am doing a dual-prompt post. Today’s drawing is inspired by the prompts “blade” and “rodent”.
She is also heavily inspired by my favorite television show and comic “Sailor Moon”. In the Japanese version of the story, her name is “Usagi Tsukino” which means “Rabbit of the Moon”. We have the “Man in the Moon” in the West, and in Japan it is a rabbit making mochi in a mortar and pestle. Which not only inspires her name, of course, but also the drawing/tattoo on her back.
I picked a stylized drawing of Usagi holding a katana BLADE and drew her with a number of tattoos including a rabbit. I thought rabbits were RODENTS but they are actually of the taxonomic order “lagomorph”, so this drawing for the prompt “rodent” was made under that false assumption of rabbits as rodents. You learn something new every day. ;-)
Often when I am asked to do a semi-permanent sign, I try to focus on animals or food items. I am making signs for a grocery store, after all. Occasionally, however I draw people or flowers. I have been redesigning the signage for our floral section the last few weeks, so I felt inclined to draw a portrait of a lady with flowers.
This illustration will be featured on the reverse of one of our display “end caps” and will be a semi-permanent fixture in the store. I plan to draw another lady in a different color scheme opposite her.
I wanted to share a new personal favorite display sign. We recently got these new crunchy snacks a lot like flaming hot corn snacks of another brand. I love the look of the packaging and really wanted to try making a display that had a true 3-D look.
We did not have a lot of time to make a wild and crazy display with papier-mâché or other materials, but I was able to pull off a 3-D style that really popped using paper, foam core, and sharpie and paint markers.
My biggest illustrative skill is using bold lines for a classic illustration look that blends well with the TJ’s style. I’m very pleased with how this display turned out. As a bonus, customers really seem to enjoy the look which really is the most important part. I have heard people say that the sign was the big reason that they decided to try these chips out!
I am so excited to share these new custom pieces for a wedding with you!
I was recently asked to make chalkboards for a wedding. Each chalkboard was hand-drawn by Yours Truly. I am quite pleased with how these have turned out!
These were a joy to make and are something that I look forward to making for other happy couples in the future. Please enjoy this lovely piece featuring a quote from Julia Child. I really love this quote AND how this piece came out.
I also really liked how the Bar Menu board came out. This is something that can be easily customized for different venues and …well, menus! The wedding reception was held at the BEAUTIFUL Downtown Market in Grand Rapids, MI. One of my favorite places in the city!
I also really liked how the Menu board came out. I had a lot of fun experimenting with different fonts for this board. The menu is something that can be easily customized for different venues and …well, menus!
Detail shot of the Julia Child quote. I am so pleased that the bride and groom chose such a lovely quote to write for them. They said they may even hang this piece in their kitchen!
I am so excited to share a series of new artworks with you all!
I was recently asked to make chalkboards for a wedding. Each chalkboard was hand-drawn by Yours Truly. I am quite pleased with how these have turned out!
These were a joy to make and are something that I look forward to making for other happy couples in the future.
Welcome friends and family!
This was the largest piece that I made. This measured nearly 3 feet by 2 feet. It features the bride and groom’s names and their wedding date. This is a standard inclusion in the package and can be customized to fit the couples’ needs! I really like how this one turned out with the gold detailing.
Please stay tuned for some of the other CUSTOM PIECES that I made for the wedding!
With the extra hour today, I made this cute little illustration. Lovely little typography sketch.
I am excited for the trend that a few restaurants and businesses have been following, where designs are hand-painted directly on their walls. While this is nothing new, it is refreshing to see many businesses putting value in the skill of traditional sign painting.
I created this piece today as an exercise/sketch for a restaurant/bar. I tried to come up with a fun, bold saying that would look nice in the small dining area around a larger bar setup. I used bold, yet legible typography that highlights some of their specialties, and a fun custom tongue-in-cheek phrase. 
Made to look hand-painted. Digital paint using photoshop and illustrator.
What do you think? Would you want to see a similar style of artwork in your neighborhood bar or burger shack?
Page Redford 