Heraldry

Recently, as part of a private commission I was asked to recreated several English coat of arms. It was a  gift to the client's father as part of a larger research project into her family's history. There were four in total, Pyke, Jewett, Gilbert and Woodman. 

By combining written descriptions and very low res imagery of the shields or just parts of the shields I recreated each one in illustrator. Each one had its own unique challenge depending on how much information was available and then of course making sure they all still worked with each other.

The end result was a 11 x 17 poster of each coat of arms with a description beneath. I hear that both she and her father are very happy! 

Dingada

So I realized today that I have never mentioned my etsy store on my blog before. Its called Dingada. The name came from a phrase my grandmother used to use, which roughly translates from grandma-ese to a "thingamajig" or "whosie whatsit." Originally, it came from the German phrase "Das ding da" or "that thing there."

Dingada is a place for me to play with and sell some ideas, products and designs that I wouldn't really have an outlet for else where. There should be some new cool stuff come up there in the future, but as of right now I am selling several shirts and totes with some cool designs I came up with a couple years ago.

The ever popular Huginn and Munnin/Two Ravens design.
Available as a ladies' tank, men's t-shirt and as a tote.

As of right now I am have an special for the month of December. If you put in the coupon Yule2012 when checking out, you will get 10% off! So check it out!

Ullr

We are rapidly approaching ski season here in the Northeastern US. It is time to break out the wax, figure out where the cat hid the ski socks and watch the skies (and weather channel) for signs of snow. 

As a Scandinavian mythology dork as well as a girl who loves some fresh powder- I can't help but think of the god Ullr this time of year. While Scandinavian gods weren't really "gods of" anything, Ullr was known for exceptional skiing and archery. As a result he is hailed by skiers across the western world this time of year in hopes of a good snow season.

Below is a thumbnail I did last year for a drawing of the winter man himself.
Perhaps this year I will get a chance to finish it. 

Happy Thanksgiving

I think turkeys in particularly the Tom's are hilarious. Whenever I see one all puffed up like this, all I can think of are bad pick up lines.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

It's electric! Boogie woogie, woogie!

I have started a new project based on the "War of Currents" and its key players. I am still in the research phase but I thought it would be fun to share a couple portraits I did: George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison.

Nikolas Tesla to come!

website reboot

I am pleased to announce that my website has been rebooted with all new design and updated portfolio, logo, and info.

Please go check it out if you have a chance.

www.cfoltzer.com

Gai Paree

I have been going through some old sketchbooks of mine when I came across this little drawing from Paris in 2010. It made me smile and I had to share.

Silly Love

My boyfriend and I just recently shared our one year anniversary. As part of my gift I made us a photo book of our first year together. I decided to make us a little illustration to go with it. Our love is definitely the silliest! The font used was Lady Rene. 

Moritz

Moritz being fat and sassy.
—Christine

Happy Belated 4th

Better late than never I suppose!
Here are some drawings I did of George Washington in honor of the 4th of July!

Hoh Rainforest

This is another drawing from my Washington State trip. Its from the Hoh Rain Forest, on the Olympic Peninsula.

Gas Works Park

 I recently returned from a wonderful trip to Washington State, to visit family and spend sometime running around, playing outdoors. In between hiking, kayaking, and family barbecues I took a few moments to draw.

Here is a drawing of the Gas Works Park in Seattle.

St. Ambrose Cellars

A little over a year ago I worked on a freelance job for St. Ambrose Cellars, a new mead and wine company, started by the owners of Sleeping Bear Farms. The design was based around the Melissa, the bee priestess/goddess from Greek Mythology. An avid fan of mead (having based my college senior thesis around the delicious, honey-based drink), as well as having home-brewed a couple small batches myself, I was excited to do the job.

I recently decided to check in on St. Ambrose Cellars and see how the they were doing and I was happy to see that they are doing quite well. Their site is beautiful and they have used my work I did for them in some quite amazing ways. Not only did they put it on the label for their Riesling wine but also on their corks and casks.

You can check out their site to see the label, cork (on the top banner) and the casks (in the slide show of pictures on the page) at http://www.stambrose-mead-wine.com/ .

Dalvero Mystic Show

I have the tremendous honor of being part of an art show put on by the Dalvero Academy at the Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut along with 23 other amazing artists. The show features drawings, paintings, sculptures, animations and more all inspired by the history, and environment of the Mystic Seaport and the Charles W. Morgan; the last surviving whaling ship from the 19th century. The show opens on April 28th and will be up for several months. I encourage you all to check out it out.

Gratitude

A thank you card design I recently sent out. 

Scruffy Train Man

This man was sitting across from me on my train ride home. He looked a little like he belonged working on an old sailing ship. Which is pretty coincidental considering I just finished packing up several prints that will be in a show at the Mystic Seaport later this year!

Autumn in Mystic, Conneticut

A drawing of the landscape across from the Mystic Seaport last fall.

Quick Museum Weekend

Went to the American Museum of Natural History with some friends this past weekend. Didn't get a ton of time to draw, but I snuck in some time to play with pencils and pastels. Its been to long since I had last been to the museum. I need to get back there again sometime soon for a good drawing session. 

Walrus!!

T-Rex!