“Nothing to Wear” is a piece of commission art I completed for The MadLila, an eclectic vintage clothing shop in New Bedford, MA. The owner of the shop reached out to me looking for a design that would be featured on business cards, stickers, and other paper goods.

Whenever I am sketching, I start by drawing lightly in red pencil, and as the details come to light- I go over the ones I like most with a dark blue pencil. This process helps me sketch lightly, forming the details as I see what “feels” correct- for this design specifically, this process was the most helpful in the woman’s expression and the gestures in her hand.

This concept was pitched to me as “a tattooed pinup girl who has nothing to wear- I trust you with the rest of the details!” This client has come to me for projects before, and completely trusts me to run with a vague concept. I send them sketches in the middle of the process to be sure they like where I’m going with it- and then send the final design.

Pictured above are two mockups I created for this client so she could get a feel for what the business cards were going to look like. The client sent me a picture of them on the front counter once they were printed, pictured below.