Well, it’s official.. I’m finally hitched! After a wonderful couple of weeks down on St. Simons Island, GA, our small, sweet, and very DIY southern wedding was a complete success. I’m planning a post with some of the details in the near future, but have quite a few (well, more than a few) photos to sort through. Until then, I’m back in the studio and trying to get back in the swing of that thing called work. Much love.
With the printing all complete, it was time to move on to the cutting, folding packing and sending..
The tears being tears of joy that we actually finished these babies! We’ve received a few emails from friends & family asking us how we created our wedding invites, so we decided to do a little (and by little, I mean long) post on it. Read on below:
Hear Ye, Hear Ye! It’s summer SALE time!
In an effort to clean out my Etsy shop by the end of summer (need to make room for new Fall and Holiday items!), I’m having a summer sale on all drawings and paintings. Since I’m getting married mid-August, I’d like to try and have things cleaned out by the end of July. Here are some of the details:
**All original drawings, now $35 or 3/$90
**All paintings $50-150 off original price
click image for Etsy
I just finished up my Crazy 4 Cult 4 piece(s) for the show over at Gallery 1988! This year I decided to do a bunch of miniature paintings (each panel is 4in x 4in), depicting some of my favorite props, side characters, and other various semi-important elements from The Goonies.
Can you name all 18? (See key after the jump for the answers)
My brother and future sis-in-law are getting married this year on Halloween and are celebrating by having a costume party reception. I can’t wait! I’m doing a few drawings for their invites, which I won’t put up on here until they’re all sent out (don’t want to ruin the surprise!), but I will put up an initial sketch I did for the save-the-date.
I just recently added a few new drawings to my Etsy shop, with hopefully more on the way next week.
Also, for a limited time (& as a way of supporting my shop), I am listing some paintings from my sale site on Etsy.. all at least $100 off their current listed price!
**Apologies, soon after I posted these, a bunch of the paintings sold.. but there are still a few goodies left behind!**
Since Wes and I aren’t exactly web pros, we needed to keep our wedding site pretty basic (which is fine since all it needs to do is provide info). We also tried to make it easy to navigate, with simple categories that were pretty self-explanatory.
After coming up with the animation, I drew up a sign post, painted the color separately, and then placed the drawing on top of it. Below is a still from our homepage (click for larger image).
If you’d still like to view the actual site (dull details & all), feel free to click here.
So excited to finally have her up and running! We did a little test run a few nights ago, and it works perfectly (although we’re still learning all the proper settings). Can’t wait to really get things going.. to be continued.
Lady Letterpress
converted my sticker logo (used for shipments) into this:
our first test-run print! (though the scan doesn’t look all that impressive)
Here is my 2nd piece for the Twilight Zone show at Gallery 1988 (1st one here).. which we just got word is entitled Another Dimension and will now be opening on May 20th. This piece is based on one of my other favorite episodes, The Masks.
A wealthy old man is sick and close to dying. He invites his greedy heirs to a Mardi Gras party where they must wear the masks he specially had made for each of them.. or else be cut off from their inheritance. The old man wears a skull mask, that later reveals the true “face of death”.
The Face of Death (The Masks), 9in x 9in,
Flash on wood, sealed in resin
So I’ve received quite a few emails asking me about the site that Wes and I created for our wedding (thank-you btw, they’ve all been really sweet!). We’re still updating it as we go along, and I don’t want to bore you with all of the details, so I’ll just post a few elements from it.
We initially looked at a few of the hundreds of free sites out there (which are great and easy to use) but we really didn’t like any of the designs we found. So we decided to put together our own site that had a more hand made feel to it, and carried the theme of our save-the-date cards.
I started by sketching the two of us on our Vespa (Bruce in back), then painted the color separately, followed by overlaying the drawing on top of it. We wanted to animate the bike, so I then redrew a couple more frames and decided to change the pom-poms to tin cans, to give it more of a country feel. Stay tuned for more!
Vespa riders for the homepage (click for detail)
a little snippet from the animated version
I was thrilled to be invited to participate in the Twilight Zone Tribute Show that Gallery 1988 LA will be hosting May 18th. I can’t begin to tell you how fun re-watching these shows for “research” was. Seriously, best job in the world.
My first piece is based on the well-known episode, The Eye of the Beholder. A woman wrapped in bandages who said to be so ugly, that the surgery preformed on her face is her last hope. At the climax of the show, the doctors slowly unravel the bandages (which seems to go on for ages), to reveal a beautiful woman. Then the camera pans back to show that all of the doctors and nurses look ugly and deformed.
The Unveiling, 16in x 16in
Flash on wood, sealed in resin
More info on the opening coming soon.
August seems to be quickly approaching, which is kind of a good thing b/c planning a small out-of-state shindig has proved harder than we originally thought it would be. Wes & I decided on sending out simple 6in x 6in postcards that had a bit of folk art feel to them.
I sketched up an image that included both our home states and the tiny church we’ll be married in. I then painted the color separately and layered them together to give a slightly silk-screened effect. We then built our own site (more on that later) and will be letterpressing our own invites with our brand-new (but old) letterpress.
the sketch below:
So I may be doing some doodles of other people’s tweets for Twaggies. If you say something stupid or funny, I may just end up drawing it.
To receive Twaggie updates, follow me @K_Essenpreis or @Twaggies
Sequel. This is how I picture Skeletor spending his Sunday mornings.. The NY Times, French-press coffee, bagel & cream cheese, some Tang and a fleece throw. Private commission.
I just added 5 new shiny paintings to my SALE site.. and I mean that literally, these ladies are all under resin! Click HERE.
Still working on a few things, so until then.. a few (rough looking) Skeletor rejects.
I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time, but am just now getting around to it.. better late than never, right? I’m going to be putting together a bunch of original drawings and sketches to be sold on Etsy!
Almost everything will be $40 and below. Look for it in the next week or two..
Apologies for the lack of updates recently, I’ve been doing a little traveling and working on a million small projects at once.. which usually results in nothing being completed for a long time.
Among the things on my “to do” list is cleaning up my studio and making room for new work. So I’m holding another SALE on some of my paintings (with a few pieces to be added soon), with all work under $350. Yay! See it HERE.
If you have any questions/problems purchasing, please email me at kiersten@youfail.com
An old piece I did for a silent charity auction, where each artist was given a blank deck to work on. All proceeds went to benefit a skate park in Knoxville, TN
I’ve been ridiculously excited about this ever since I was invited to participate months ago.. Opening on January 8th, Gallery 1988 LA presents their 4th annual tribute show, this time honoring He-Man and the Masters of the Universe!!
Being a super-ultra-mega fan from 1983-85, followed by a brief few months in ‘86, where I thought I might actually be She-Ra, you can imagine the fun I had painting these.
This is how I envision He-Man and Skeletor spending their days off; trimming the bowl cut and getting a root canal.. a very evil one.
Trimming the Bowl Cut, Flashe on wood, sealed in resin
Skeletor Gets a Root Canal, Flash on wood, sealed in resin
*UPDATE* I ‘ve received a few emails regarding these pieces (thank you!).. Both pieces have SOLD, but prints are being made by Gallery 1988, hopefully to be out sometime in April. If you have any questions, please contact me at kiersten@youfail.com.
Please join me in welcoming my side project –in collaboration with Wes Cox– THERSIC
The word thersic has been in Wes’ family for generations, a made up term used most especially by his great grandmother. A thersic, best defined as a “treat”, was often given as a special reward to a well behaved grandchild, or as a small surprise gift to a dear friend.
We still have a ways to go before we finish our actual site, but we decided to launch our blog in the meantime. We’re hoping to cover everything from our design projects, to other artists/designers, to things we think are just interesting or pretty.
Welcome to the world, THERSIC!
I just returned home from an amazing weekend spent in Miami eating good food, hanging with great friends and checking out an endless sea of art and design. I literally took hundreds of photos, but here are some of my favorite pieces below..
More photos after the jump..
Rejected editorial sketches for a strange article on an ordinary performance of Swan Lake.
See more sketches after the jump.. read more »
For these people, places, and things for making this year a remarkable one! THANK YOU, I am truly grateful.
I’m a little sad not to be heading to the Midwest for Thanksgiving this year, but I do still intend on doing LOTS of cooking and spending the long weekend working (and eating leftovers) from the comfort of my studio.
Have a very HAPPY and SAFE Thanksgiving everyone!
Studio photo by Jason Rodgers for Sadie Magazine
Along with countless other projects, Wes and I have been slowly working on expanding our small side business, THERSIC, which is still in the earliest stages of development. We eventually hope to include all sorts of cool design, paper and home goodies, from artists around the world, along with one-of-a-kind refinished pieces.
Until we officially launch our site (which may be a while), I thought I’d occasionally post a few teaser pieces on my blog. This first piece comes from Dwelling–a line of rings we’re doing–and it’s the prototype for our over-sized, McMansion ring (complete with a microscopic-sized yard) done in sterling silver.
It’s big, it’s gaudy, it’s a mini-eyesore!
For more info on Thersic, or to be put on the mailing list, please email me at kiersten@youfail.com
Yesterday was my birthday, as well as my brother Justin’s (we’re not twins, I just like stealing attention away from him), and it was definitely a good one.. I got some work done, ate lots of Mexican food and was given the UGLY CAKE!
Birthday Cake Hall of Fame
The best part of the day though was that my bro announced that he and his long-time lady, Kelly, are gettin’ hitched! I’m officially declaring 2010: Essenpreis Weddingpooloza!
nerdy-love
It’s one of my favorite days of the year.. the annual, the anticipated, the notorious American Illustration/ American Photography book release party! Comparable to Christmas, it brings together some of my favorite creative people and everyone eats, drinks, and blabs without boundaries.. this party never disappoints!
I was so excited to have one of my best friends, Courtney Wotherspoon, in town from Toronto for the party.. Both books looked amazing this year, showcasing the most talented in the fields. I am honored to be included in the book for my 5th year, with these two pieces seen HERE.
party party
the talented Miss Wotherspoon and I acting respectable beforehand
For more info on the books or to enter, visit the AI-AP site HERE.
I spent the weekend in Georgia enjoying the weather and eating until I dropped!
I had the sketch for this posted yesterday, but then remembered that I never posted photos of the finished Coach bag..
