Flexibility, Distillation, and Immersion: Ellen Weinstein, Catapult Artist for March 2019
Filling that blank space is a mix of excitement and agony.
Recipes for Good Luck The Atlantic The New York Times
Can you tell us a bit about your process from start to final execution?
I start every project with pencil and paper thumbnails, including personal projects. If I am working with text, I like to distill down to one sentence what I want to convey in an image. Once I know what I want to say and the feeling I want to create, I sketch many thumbnails. I need to see an idea on paper to know if it is going to work or not. I paint in gouache and compose the final art in Photoshop.
“waiting and wading in a pool of red.”
And for “How to Move Through the Dark,” it was “mother’s arms at water’s edge.”
Nicole is the VP, Creative Director of Catapult, Counterpoint Press and Soft Skull Press. She is also founder of her own studio based in the Catskill mountains and the co-founder of She Designs Books, an organization that celebrates women in book design.
Awards include a Silver Cube from the Art Director's Club, Communication Arts, Type Director's Club, AIGA/NY, HOW International Design, PRINT Regional Design, the New York Book Show, the National Gold Ink Awards, London International Creative Competition, amongst others.
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“Working for myself is all about balance. Although illustration is my career and passion, I still need to have a life outside of art-making.”
“Craft your style carefully to own it!”: Shanee Benjamin, Catapult Artist for February 2020
“Find a unique niche and rock out! Understand that your illustration style is yours.”