The Birth of DEAD Shakespeare

My most recent piece was inspired by a list of things. It's been coming together for a several weeks, I guess. Started as a simple sketch for fun, developed into a final piece I'm very excited about. I feel this piece will lead to many more similar ones.

Several Saturdays ago, I lazily sketched out a skull without much thought. I added some wig-like hair. All of a sudden, the sketch became a dead Shakespeare.

One sunny Sunday afternoon, a couple weeks later, I ventured to Chapters with a friend who's asked me to illustrate some children's book she's writing. We went to the graphic novel/comic section looking for ideas. I came across a comic that caught my eye - bright, youthful colours, beautiful type work, unusual layouts - The Death Ray by Daniel Clowes. Published by Mtl's own Drawn and Quarterly and soon to be made into a movie. Clowes also wrote Ghost World! And man, do I love the colours. These jpg's don't do them justice but these are the colours that inspired DEAD Shakespeare.

Last week I was looking through pictures from En Masse and Station 16's recent visit to the Fountain Art Fair in NYC. I came across a photo of the back of a van that they were all painting on. Some beautiful typo work. I found out yesterday, from my buddy EARTH CRUSHER, that the work was done by an Mtl artist named What is Adam.

Here's a pic of that awesome typo!

Check out this great vid by Fred Caron, showcasing En Masse and Station 16 at the Fountain Art Fair:

En Masse @ NYC x Fountain Art Fair from Fred Caron on Vimeo.

I let the thoughts wander a few days and voila - they just melded together to form the base for this new piece.

Love how unexpected the creative process is.

Here's the final result:

The Deep-French Nail DIY by Eebs Berenstein

The new-age CAT LADY.

Oh, you haven't heard? It's cool to be a cat lady again, in fact, it's chic. Been sketching a lot about the modern, Montreal woman, in her many facets. Well, the sketches are more representations of myself, I guess. But they're coming out interesting and beautiful and full of narrative (which is something I've had difficulty with in the past when sketching). I will be doing a series of these I believe... I'll keep you posted.

I've been drawing a large/intricate/detailed sketch a day. It's been keeping me centered and allows me to focus my thoughts and keep my vision aligned towards creativity. It's also helped me realize the positivity in letting go while creating and just trusting myself for the next step. This becomes easier and easier the more I draw and more I allow myself creative freedom and guiltless lines (ie. drawing before planning, just doing it, not worrying).

This notion of letting-go really comes through as I bring the drawings I've made into photoshop. It's all about playing around and seeing what works. 

Le Catnap - C'est Rich

This is a great example of a few elements of design that are essential for me when creating: Texture (created using a few scans of really nice paper that I recently purchased), Contrast (lines in hair, title, central point of focus), Colour coordination (love me some turquoise but especially love it when it's next to a sanguine), Strong lines (see for yourself). Oh, and as an added bonus, my new favorite element: Typo.

Hope you enjoy it - I LOVED making this piece. Stay tuned for the next installment of the Modern Montreal Woman.

Shine A Light *** Looking back...

My loving mother has been a great supporter of my design endeavours from the very beginning.

Three years ago, she hired me to create a promo poster for a gala fundraising dinner organized by the Bishop's University School of Education.

Looking at these three pieces, you can see really how far I've come as a designer. Wonder what it'll look like next year!?

Here's my most recent Shine A Light poster for the March 31st, 2012 event:

Same event, under a different name: Teachers For Hope, March 26, 2011. Followed by the First promotional poster I ever designed I think... for the February 13, 2010, Shine A Light event.

Insane how far one can come in 2 years... Really makes me thankful for the decisions I made - moving from marketing to design was tops at that point in my life. Also really makes me thankful to have such a supporting family and group of people around me who encourage me to create! Not to get all mushy about it but, here's to following your instincts and passions!

I am Eebs Berenstein - hear me roar!

Beginning sketch. (After a few practice attempts at the 'Eebs Berenstein' portion). Came to me as I was walking home... Was thinking about the stitching on baseball caps as inspiration for the Eebs.

Final product. Round 1. Tweeked the sketch after I scanned it and worked with some fantastic paper and a picture of myself to create texture and depth. 

Makes me think of a circus/burlesque show!

Eebs Berensteins' Visual Identity

On the wake of the realisation that I need to invest more into my professional development, I've been working on my visual identity!

Doing a project a day (or round-about that) has really given me a new sense of purpose and has re-ignited my creativity! I'm sketching daily, investing time into reading articles, taking more pictures.... They're little things but they all add up. I find myself daydreaming of my next photoshop creation or drawing. I find myself choosing the computer chair over the couch and a show. I feel I've found my way back onto my path!

So as an effort to come off as more put-together as a designer (and also to encourage myself to feel more put-together), I've developed an invoice layout, quote layout and have reworked my c.v. so that everything is in line with my portfolio and business card!

My end goal here is appear as professional as my design work but I think it will also benefit by showing clients that I cross my t's and dot my i's. Hopefully, this will encourage their trust in me and therefore they may be more inclined to accept a higher quote :). Let's face it, clients can be cheap and first impressions count!

As a reminder, here's what my business card looks like:

Here's the first page of my portfolio book: 

First page of my pdf portfolio:

A page from my pdf portfolio: 

First page from my CV:

Front page of a quote. The invoice looks very similar...

Any thoughts, my people?

LA COQUETTE

Design by Eebs Berenstein

Visit The Famous Burj Khalifa

Photo by Hicham Eid - Design by Eebs Berenstein

ILLUMINATION

"illuminati" by EebsBerenstein. Photo by Hisham Eid. Texture created by William Morris pattern.

POWER OF THE MIND

Changing my mentality and being proactive about a positive change. I'm going to experiment with the powers of positive reinforcement and envisioning the future (short, medium and long term) that I want for myself. Taking a few moments several times throughout the day to remind myself of my value as a creator. Also, reminding myself of where I want to be in the next year and therefore, lighting the fire for the actions I must take in order to get to that point.

MANIFESTING THROUGH ENVISIONING AND ACTING ON/TOWARDS GOALS.

For those of you who need a little kick, as I often do:

A fantastic collection of manifestos for the creative in all of us. Btw, if you do not follow this blog, you absolutely should! (Pics of journal were borrowed from this page)

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/04/08/five-manifestos-for-life/

A great blog of inspirational design. Dedicated young designer who did one design a day (the end goal being simply creation) for a year.

http://alldaysgoby.tumblr.com/

Follow me on twitter! I like to share creative stuff! @EebsBerenstein

Collection of weird, interesting, stimulating, visually appealing:

 http://www.laughingsquid.com

Hedonistic Sustainibility -- Europe is at the forefront of design, architecture, living-well... optimal living, you could say! Check out this great TED Talks by inspiring and innovative architect/visionary Bjarke Ingels: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogXT_CI7KRU