July 20, 2023
Eight years ago, I set out to open an illustrated greeting card line called Lizzie M. Press. Lizzie is a nickname and variation of Elizabeth (Liz). M is the first initial of my last name, and Press refers to the printing press process (prepress, press, and post press). All of which I was initially responsible for. The logo was originally to be an empress (Lizzi Empress), a reference to the Empress Tarot Card, a symbol of creation, romance, and art. She has seen a few rounds of character concepts, including a kitty-cat empress.
The greeting card idea morphed into an Etsy shop, which transformed into an enamel pin collection and continues to evolve. One common thread of each iteration is wearable/functional art that one can use daily. The second theme is that I adore ghost stories, tales of the fae and that unique, spooky feeling you get on a crisp autumn night dappled in moonlight.
Yesterday morning I set out to bring one of my first pieces (a storybook style witch designed as a pendant) into 2023 as a graphic tee. This lovely witch was originally one of the first sketches of Lizzi Empress. I took cues from Mother Goose books, the wicked witch from Wizard of Oz, and vintage princess illustrations. Her 2015 palette was green, black, and red-orange.
The first step was to update the design and simplify her into a clean silhouette. Next, I added detail to her flowing hair stands and pointed hat by cutting out sections for the original cameo. Now that she is streamlined and vector-based, she can be reproduced at nearly any size. Her new palette is pastel pink, hot pink, black, and white.
The Witchy Babe Cameo is production-ready and living online today! I look forward to seeing how she is received and where she may go. In the meantime, the sketching continues.