Back to blogging

I kept forgetting to blog so much as I started getting busier with commissions and illustrations, but now I've made time and I'm back.

I wanted to get the blog back as I was trying to cram all my information on all the pieces that I've made into the description section of Instagram. Which is good sometimes but not for every photo that you look at. So I thought this space would be better to explain the process of my pieces, show them off a bit more with close ups, explain what they are for, and show the products that I use for them.

I wanted to share as much information as possible for people to look at as I was always interested in where illustrators or designers got things or how they made them. There's nothing I love more than a good process or behind the scenes video.

So I've decided to keep this one short and sweet, and just tell you what I've been up to since the last blog post. I created a illustration series called PaperIreland on Instagram which really took off quite well. I love creating new buildings or pieces for people for them to have in their home or business. Trying to figure out each new piece is a challenge that I love each time. I usually work off a photograph that is sent to me or one that I’ve taken myself. I dont use vectors or stencils but instead draw everything by eye so you know it’s well thought out but also not perfect, so it feels more like real life.

If you want to see more of this work you can check it out on Instagram @PaperIreland http://instagram.com/paperireland

Thanks for stopping by.

Jess

Lemon drizzle cake

Since I haven't done a baking post in a while and it's GBBO day, I thought i'd pop up a delicious recipe for lemon drizzle cake. It's really easy to make and is split into two parts, the cake and the drizzle. This mix fills a whole loaf tin, so be prepared to eat it all yourself or having people to share it with. I also think lemon curd would be amazing baked into the middle of this, I haven't tried it this time but maybe next time.

You'll need:
3 large eggs
170g self-raising flour
170g caster sugar
170g butter (soft)
1 teaspoon baking powder
110g icing sugar
2 lemons

What you have to do:

Preheat oven to 180°C
Mix your eggs together and slowly add the flour so there's no lumps.
Add in the sugar and butter until combined.
Add baking powder and the zest of the 2 lemons.
Cook for 30-45 minutes depending on your oven.
Check if it's done by putting a knife into the centre and if it comes out clean, then it's done.
Pop out of the cake tin and put on display plate or dish.
Next you'll want to poke holes in your cake with a skewer.
Mix the icing and juice of 2 lemons, and pour on top of your cake.
slice and EAT!

Enjoy,
Jess x

Grand Budapest book cover series: The making of

After seeing the popularity of my previous Wes Anderson book covers that I had made into prints that you can frame and hang on your wall, I decided to carry on in the series and make the rest of the movies as book covers. I decided to start off with The Grand Budapest Hotel, after already doing The life aquatic with Steve Zissou, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Moonrise Kingdom. Since I was doing this recently, I thought i'd share the process in how I make the piece as it might be interesting for some to see.

As all of the other book covers are overview shots of that characters doing something with their hands, I thought I would keep along the same theme, so it seems as if you are the character. After watching the movie over and over again, I finally decided on the scene in the prison where they are cutting into one of the Mendl's 'Courtesan au Chocolat' with the prison shank/shiv, as it seemed like the iconic pastry in the film. So I started off this piece by looking at the film screen grab and sketching it over and over again until I was happy with the final layout. I also had to head down to Evans Art Supplies and the Art and Hobbie shop to get the exact pastel tone of paper that would suit the piece.

I started off by making the doily that would sit underneath the pastry as I thought it would be easier to shape everything else around that, and also so I could judge how big I would need to make the base of the pastry. After that I made the shape of the bottom part of the pastry and then made another a little bit smaller and another a little smaller than that so there was a large, medium and small pastry. After that I made the shapes for the different coloured icing that goes on each different size. I then cut out the shape of the Mendl's box that the cake would go inside. I lay it all out on my watercolour wood texture, that I painted to be the table the box would sit on, to see what it looked like. I decided that the pastry needed a lot more detail at this point as it needed to seem fancier than it was.

Before that I made the prison shank/shiv that cuts into the pastry, finally being able to use my metallic paper for something. I then shaped the fingers and hand around the shank so it looked like it was holding it and about to cut into the pastry. I wanted to add a bit more texture to the piece so I decided to find some blue ribbon, like the one that the Mendl's box is tied with, and use it in the piece to make it more interesting. After all that was done and the hands were complete I went back to making the pastry look more exciting. I decided that I would paint on the different details to make it look more appetising and glossy like the pastry in the film. I used gouache to add the little details on as it give a nice strong colour and blends well for the detailed parts. I also added gouache to the hands to fill in the details and added a matte top coat nail varnish to the nail parts to make them seem more realistic, it also gives them a nice shine for when you photograph the piece.

It was now time to put it all together, which meant printing out the title block to match the rest of the series of Wes Anderson prints, which you can find here. So I printed it off on the same paper as the others and cut it to size. I then laid everything out to photograph in the layout that I wanted. And finally edited the photo on my laptop until I was happy with the final piece. And this is it, the print will be available to buy very soon, in the same size as the rest of the Wes Anderson prints, on my Etsy and from Jam Art Factory (online and instore).

Hope you enjoyed this weeks post,
Jess x

August Faves

It's that time of the month again, no not that time, the monthly favorites part of the month! When I was trying to compile the list of things I was loving this month nearly everything was repeating from last month, because i'm clearly such an exciting person, but mainly because I binge watched Once Upon a Time and finished it. I totally regretted flying through all of the episodes as the new series won't be out till the end of September and now I've to wait a whole month to see what happens next. But after listing everything that i've been loving this month, I actually had more than I thought, and decided not to add in Once Upon a Time again as this little paragraph summed up how much i'm still addicted! SO lets get into it..

1. Mac Retro Matte: Relentlessly Red
This has been my favourite lipstick as it's the perfect shade between pink and red. If you apply it lightly and smudge it with your finger you get this beautiful deep dusty pink shade and if you apply it normally then you get the amazing pinky red shade. I'm also a huge fan of matte lipsticks so this is perfect, and also stays put on your lips, no need for much re-applying, unless you're eating.

2. Wacom Bamboo tablet
Since the month of August has been really busy for me with work, i've been using my Wacom drawing tablet a lot more. It's so easy to use and great if you want to creating digital lettering pieces with your own hand lettering as it's the same as using pen on paper.

3. Urban Outfitters WIP nail varnish: Burst
This is such a fun top coat with any colour nail varnish as a base. It has different shapes and sizes of confetti pieces such as pink hexagons, black dots, smaller blue hexagons and more. It's great for making any plain nail varnish colour that bit more fun.

4. Aldi Pizza base and homemade pizza with dough balls
I've been loving using this roll out pizza dough from Aldi as it's ready to go and you just have to add your sauce and toppings. As our oven is a little bit smaller than regular ovens, the whole dough doesn't quite fit so I have to cut a section off from the side, but then I just use that small section to make garlic butter dough balls by making garlic butter, spreading it on the smaller bit of dough, rolling the long end in, cutting it into sections and standing them on baking paper on an oven tray on their opened rolled side. They cook at the same amount of time as the pizza. I use my pasta sauce recipe, without the added ingredients, for the sauce base then add whatever toppings and cheese I want. It's such a delicious dinner and so easy to make.

5. Swatch watch
Since wearing my other swatch watch to death everyday for about 3 years it was time to get a new one for my birthday in March, so after having a navy one that went with every outfit, I decided to get a more colourful one. I got the Shunbukin swatch watch with the pink and purple straps with the green face. I've been loving it for the whole summer as it's so bright and goes with all my summer outfits, not that i'm going to take it off for winter, but I just thought i'd share it as it's one of my favourite fashion accessories at the minute.

6. This American life podcast
After listening to the whole Serial podcast series, I needed something else to listen to, so keeping with the same people I decided to give the 'This American Life' podcast series a go and i'm really enjoying it. It always has a great narrative and different interview with different topics about American life each week. I'd recommend it to anyone who is looking for something new and interesting to listen to.

7. The Great British Bake Off
The best time of the year is when The Great British Bake Off comes back on our screens. This has to be one of my most favourite things to watch, I love seeing the amazing ideas and learning new tips and tricks about baking, mostly what not to do when making particular things. And it also means we get to watch Mary Berry on our screens again! This show makes my love for baking grow more and more with each episode.

8. Insomnia Orea Ice Caps
When I downloaded the new 3Plus app I noticed that you could get 2 free Insomnia Ice Caps to try, only one at a time, so I was curious to see what they we're like. When I went in there was 4 different flavours to choose from, but of course I opted for the oreo one and it was amazing! Almost like an oreo milkshake but cool and refreshing like a slushy.

9. Audiology Portable Phone Charger
I got this charge in the sale in Urban Outfitters for €6 (usually €32) and it's great. It's small enough that it fits into any bag. You simply leave it on charge until you see a blue light and then it charges your phone on the go. I think it has usually lasted 3 full charges until i've needed to recharge it again. But this is so handy to have on the go, especially since I usually watch Netflix on the bus. I got the plain pink one but you can find the same ones here with different patterns.

10. 3 Plus app and 2 for €10 cinema
I'm such a huge cinema fan, especially if it's just an excuse to get cinema popcorn (YUM!). So when I heard about the new 3Plus app and the 2 for €10 cinema tickets in any IMC, ODEON, Screen and Savoy cinema, I was sold! This deal starts from Sundays after 6pm till Thursdays, and you can book online with the code or show the code on the app in the cinema when you're purchasing the tickets.

11. Pixar's Lava short film and song
Since getting the 3Plus app we've been going the cinema a lot more than we used to, and recently went to see InsideOut, which was such an amazing movie by Pixar, as usual! But before the movie started, we we're shown the new Pixar short film, which is usually shown before each Pixar movie. This one was about a singing volcano with a play on the phrase 'I Lava You', it was so heart warming and I immediately fell in love with the song, and have been playing in on my Spotify playlist almost every day.

Hope you enjoyed my favourites this month,
Jess x

FBF: DIT Graduate show

This week I got an email to let me know the dates of when my graduation would be in November. Yes that's right, I'll be officially a graduated adult with a Bachelors (Honours) degree in Visual Communications. This was such exciting news as now I could plan my outfit, hair, etc. and also make sure I had enough money saved up for the night. This also got me thinking of the DIT Graduation show that we had in May of this year, that I never got to write about as I hadn't started my blog at that point.

The graduation show was space themed (I know, amazing right?), this was picked in a sense that we would be blasting off out of college. The title of the graduation show was Lift Off. This idea came from the brains of Sarah McCoy, Grainne Barry Wallace and Alan Harbron. The attention to detail through the whole exhibition was amazing to say the least. As we were in a new building for our final year, in the new DIT Grangegorman campus, everything had to be built and design from scratch, a fresh start. All of the display boards were built and painted from scratch by myself and a few other classmates for the Visual Communications room.

The whole show was beautifully thoughtout even to the smallest details. There was lovely wayfinding all around the new campus using large vinyl type, silver balloons were printed on, vaccum sealed silver invites were sent out so it looked like space food, the advertisement and posters printed on reflective silver paper/steel, and there was even a rocket in the middle of the floors. The attention to detail was amazing and the whole show did not disappoint.

And the catalogue, such a silver embossed dream! The pace of the book was beautifully thoughtout from the different types of paper to the countdown of page numbers. My favourite part of the catalogue is the images from NASA which subtly break up the catalogue, but which tell a story of a rocket blasting off into space, and ending with the crowds reaction. Genius. I've recieved so many selfies from family members taking photos of themselves in the reflection of the catalogue, which is so much fun!

I used my 'Bear and the Night Scares' book as my main piece on my display board for the show and for the side panel I used my Trendy Dublin project. I wanted to show off the main scare in the 'Bear and the Night Scares' book aka the shadows, so I got a huge vinyl sticker of it and had it coming out of the shelf and somehow framing the area where the book is. I also wanted to show off the hero of the story aka the bear, but I wanted to show him to scale and have him somewhere where he would just catch your eye. As this was my only copy of the book, which I handmade myself, I didn't want it to go missing or for the pop ups to get ruined so I encased it in this box and had the torch working so you could see the shadows (sort of, as it was very bright in the studio). I also had photos of the working shadows in the book on the edge so people could see how it worked. I also had a video of the book with the working shadows opposite my display board so people could see the flick through and how the book works, I also had a pop up bear and the screen too. For the Trendy Dublin I wanted to show off the detailed illustrated map and show how the thumb characters would work around the city.

The whole night was a bit of a blur, it all went by so quickly and I didn't manage to get many photos, not even a full outfit shot. As it was space themed I decided to embrace my love for holographic fabric. I got a long pleated holographic skirt from Lashes of London and paired it with silver glittery brogues from Office, a simple white crop top with lace trim from Urban Outfitters, and a light blue cropped denim jacket from Topshop. Lauren Hanley also done my make up for the night which I was in love with, but also forgot to take photos of it. These are all the photos I managed to get from the night but most importantly I got a photo with my inspiration for the book and the main character, my brother Jack.

Hope you enjoyed my flash back friday,
Jess x

Disastrous Dates: The process

This week I thought I'd show you how I create my paper cut stop motion animations. I started this project in my last year in college, and hope to continue it with more disastrous dates that i've heard. This is such a long process as it takes hundreds of photographs to complete. You can see the full videos here.

My top products to use when you are making a stop motion animation using flat objects are show above. These are a good quality camera, tweezers to move the little pieces of paper, blue tac to temporarily hold the pieces of paper in place, a tripod so you can keep your camera steady, a flat surface, and some sort of lighting (I usually try and use the daylight from the window, but you can get good lighting from amazon or you can make your own using white lightbulbs).

All of the stop motion ideas started out the same, with a storyboard. This is where I decided what I wanted the animation to look like. I wanted it to seem as if you're friend was talking to you or bitching about their terrible dates, and then little images that they we're talking about would pop up in the video as if you were imagining what they are talking about. Each of these videos took around 300-400 photographs to make and then put together with the voice overs, that I forced my friends and boyfriend to do.

Behind the scenes of the stop motion animation

To make different pieces of the face move, you have to move one of the pieces of cut paper a little bit and photograph it each time you move it. I wanted to keep it all about the expression in the face, of you looking at your friend when they are talking, so this bit was very important to get right. Each part of the stop motion is made from watercolour illustrations which are then cut out individually and made into separate moving pieces.

Moving the mouth piece by piece so it seems like she is talking in the video.

The titles are also the same process of using watercolour cut out letters and a hand drawn signature. I wanted the titles to seem messy and a bit of a disaster to match the theme of the animations. I originally had the titles coming in one letter at a time and really neat but it didn't seem right having neat and perfect titles when the rest of the animation was supposed to be about a disaster. I'd also thought i'd show you how I test these stop motions out on my phone (using an app called iMotion on the capture setting) before taking proper photographs. The iMotion app is so handy for when you want to see what your video will look like, or to see you idea come to life, roughly and quickly, so you can see if it will work or if it needs to be changed or altered in anyway. For me, I thought this title sequence was too neat to match the disasterous dates that were being told so I made it more messy. But here is a sneak peek no one else has seen yet.

Disastrous Dates: Title draft from Jessica Rooney Deane on Vimeo.

This was always going to be a time consuming process, but the end result is always worth it. With having a 4 year old laptop, this was going to take a little bit longer than expected to match up the voices with each of the photographs in the sequence that I wanted, but I liked how it turned out in the end and I can't wait to make more. I've also added the little moustache test that I made with the iMotion app below.

Disastrous Dates: Moustache test from Jessica Rooney Deane on Vimeo.

Send your disastrous dates to: jessrooneydeane@gmail.com and you might see them come to life in the same way!

Enjoy,
Jess x