Dog Lover Stamp Digital Thumbnail

This is as far as I've gotten so far with m stamp. I decided to create a digital painting based on a photograph than an actual painting (which I do all the time). I still have to design the entire background with lots of colors and natural imagery, but I really like the way that it's coming out so far. As I continue to work in photoshop I become more knowledgable about the software, which is something I haven't really experienced before.

Second Round Thumbnails - Dog Lovers Commemorative Stamp

-For these thumbnails, I took my favorite images from my first round of thumbnails and developed them a little more thoroughly with color. I attempted to color them in an art nouveau style, which really brings character and life to the images, and I really enjoy the results. When I start working on my illustration I think I'll try to paint it with watercolors and possibly bold dark lines from marker of something similar. The hardest part of this project thus far is choosing the image out of these three that I like the most. Any suggestions or opinions are appreciated!

Step 4 - Concept Thumbnails

For my design, I chose to do a "Dog Lovers" commemorative stamp. All of these thumbnails were sketched from pictures I had on my camera and my phone of the three most important pups in my life. Jeff and Anya are my two pups who I love dearly, and Bob is the cocker Spaniel who was my best friend throughout my childhood and lives with my mom. I tried to sketch them in an "Art Nouveau" style by making the lines extra flowy and I hope in my next round of thumbnails to further present the art nouveau style with use of color (probably colored pencils or something of the sort).

Step 3 - Art Nouveau Movement Stamp Examples

- The three stamps below were designed in the Art Nouveau style, which was most popular with designers, painters, and architects between 1890-1910.- The term "Art Nouveau" or "New Art" is a French term used in the 19th century to describe the then modern response to academic art, which combined both Neoclassic and Romantic styles.
-Art Nouveau styles were inspired by natural structures and forms. There are hardly any straight lines (besides a border perhaps and obviously architecture) in an Art Nouveau inspired designs, which is what made it stand out to me amongst all the other movements.

- The stamps above are good examples of Art Nouveau inspired designs. Each illustrates in a different way the natural curves of living things.
- They all are similarly simple designs with bold lines. I myself am an animal lover, but I also wanted to show a colorful expression of human form, so I included the woman with the flower as well.

Stamp 3, Step 2 - Art Nouveau

For this stamp I chose a stamp created from an original painting named "Le Rubis" from 1900. The artist was Alphons Mucha, a Franch painter during that time period. It's a U.S. stamp that costs 44 cents. The stamp was posted for sale on the Imagina Zazzle blog for sale in November of 2010. The bright colors immediately attract the eye to the petals of the Christmas poinsettias. It seems like the painting was edited in photo shop for reprint-ability on color lithograph. It has a vertical layout, but can look good from all angles. The large blossom towards the top is leading the hierarchical arrangement, then the eye travels down it's stem to the secondary and tertiary points (the other blossoms), where it then travels through the greenish negative space back to the top. It's an asymmetrical design, and gives the illusion of depth through the overlapping flowers.

Stamp 2, Step 2- Modernist

This stamp wasn't one of the originals that I had found, but it really caught my attention when I first saw it. It's a modernist design with both symmetrical and asymmetrical elements. It was made in March, 1983, but design elements were adopted from modernist styles of the 1940's. It's a horizontal design with a thin border line around that accents the matching colors within. "Equality and dignity" is in a modern type, and the negative space in the design brings the eye around and under the rainbow birds, and into the type. There isn't a whole lot of illusion of depth in the piece other than the width of the hands, where one hand overlaps the lower bird.

Stamp 1, Step 2 - Post-Modernist

This is the first stamp I chose that really stuck out to me. It's a post-modernistic style, with which I guess I relate to the most in my own work. I also like the message it serves, however dismissed the idea is by the public. The element of scale is most prominent in this design, and the size of the hand,which is the central image, in comparison to the size of the "waste" reinforces the text on the side of the design. The colors immediately grab your attention, as with many post-modernist pieces.  The stamp was created in July of 2008, and was one of four similar stamps in the set.

and More Stamp Examples!

and some more stamp examples!!

Stamp Examples!

STAMPS!