The first PixArt piece for the new year comes to us from Florida illustrator and designer Mandy France. Check out Mandy’s great work at her site, which includes some fun Disney stuff. Keep reading for more about this talented artist in her own words. Our thanks to Mandy for contributing this wonderful piece!
Name: Mandy France
Website:
Site and Blog: http://www.DesignerMandy.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/DesignerMandy
I currently live in… Celebration, FL
I consider my hometown to be… Cincinnati, OH
My favorite Pixar movie is…
Up. Not many movies make you cry your eyes out before the first montage is over. There also aren’t many movies where a dog says, “I hid under your porch because I love you.”
My favorite Pixar character is…
Dug. I’m secretly convinced that he is based off of my dad’s dog, Nala.
Tell us about your piece:
I’m a graphic designer and a children’s book illustrator. So I approached this piece as if it were a page in a children’s book. The overall story is that Mike volunteers to babysit Boo and her dog, Dug. The day seems to be going well until he takes them to a circus. Boo and Dug have a great time walking the tight ropes, swinging on the trapeze, and laughing with the clowns. Meanwhile, Mike keeps trying to catch up with them as he finds himself in the clutches of lions, tigers, and bears. This piece essentially is a closing page of the book. You see the joy on the faces of Boo and Dug because they had a fantastic time at the circus, whereas Mike will be lucky to get them home in one piece! Can you tell that I had a lot of fun working on this?
What inspires you?
Travel. Whether I actually go to a new place, read about it, or watch a documentary on TV (I’m looking at you, Rick Steves), I am completely inspired by travel. I just love seeing new places. I love the atmosphere that traveling creates. Learning about new cultures and new places really encourages me to get my sketchbook out and create. I trekked the Inca Trail in Peru this past September and when I got back I filled three sketchbooks.
Recommend something:
I’m sure I am a bit late to the game on this, but I am obsessed with the site, Pinterest. It is a visual bookmarking site with “boards” for you to “pin” up inspiration, etc. I was never cool enough to get an invite to ffffound, so I never really jumped on the visual bookmarking train. But now that I use Pinterest it makes looking at inspiration a fun and enjoyable event.
Self Promotion:
Visit my site and blog! I try and update it weekly- http://www.DesignerMandy.com
Thanks for the adorable piece, Mandy!
View all our PixArt pieces here.
