Amanda's Logo

After Luke and Jeff got their pictures, and responded positively, I felt a bit more confident about the whole endeavor.  The most important person in my life hadn't yet gotten a logo, so she was the only option for what to work on next.

I wanted to do something simple, but bold, and it needed to be a challenge.  I liked the results of my first few projects, but they didn't really push my limits.

I've never drawn an octopus before.  I spent some time looking at google images, figuring out how their anatomy works.  The sketching and rough work went well, but took a long time.  The hiccups came when I was drawing the final outlines.  I find that a variety of bold line weights can turn a mediocre drawing into a statement.  I work with detailed building drawings all day long, and line weight is one of the most important aspects of visual clarity.  In architecture, the line weights have to be extremely clear and precise to 'tell the story' of the construction.  I guess that is probably where I learned the value of strong lines.

Anyway, I did the octopus' outlines, and they didn't work at all.  Too thick, too consistent.  I had to go through each limb individually and use a few different weights, and feather the edges to get it right.  I think it made all the difference in the world.

Here is the original, click to make bigbigbig:

I'm very happy with the results.  I had a lot of fun creating the planks that her name is written on.  The little green orbs are a sort of abstract representation of the suckers lining it's tentacles.  It's amazing how just three simple layers: Wash color, shade color, and highlight can make something pop.

Amanda loved it, she loved the color of the octopus (so do I) and said, "He has sad eyes"

Here is Variation number 2:

Simple color swap.  I haven't done any crazy variations on Amanda's drawing yet.

As I write this, I realize that probably the most important element of this kind of drawing is the composition.  I spent a lot of time making sure that all the limbs were spread out and arranged in a way that complimented the structure of the drawing.  That goes for the placement of the planks as well.

Hope you like it.  Leave a comment if you're so compelled.

Next post, Scottie2Hottie's logo.