Here & There: Paris

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Ah, Paris! This was actually the first map from the series that I completed and one of the two cities I have yet to travel to. I loved the excuse to really research this amazing city and I found all sorts of cool stuff (like this National Geographic article about cataphiles). Now to just sell enough prints to buy me a plane ticket there. There's the master plan. (Or convince Lilly to hide me in her suitcase in May)

Have you been to Paris? I'd love to hear about your experience there!

Here & There: Venice

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For those who haven't seen it on my etsy or creeped my website lately, here is the second of five posters in my thesis series. I was lucky enough to visit Venice in high school for one day on a Spring Break trip to Italy. I didn't venture very far from Piazza San Marco but still found myself completely overwhelmed by the beauty and the history of this amazing city.

Next up, Paris!

Giveaway!

Oh snap, it's Friday already! Was it just me or did that week just fly by?

Well, I thought I'd start the weekend off with a giveaway. I was planning to do one when I hit 100 followers but that has already come and gone! So this giveaway is to celebrate many things. It is to celebrate me finishing up my thesis and having a great show opening, it is to celebrate the relaunching of my etsy shop (now stocked with prints from my thesis), and to celebrate surpassing 100 followers! It's just an all around good day today and I wanted to share the love.

Here's what's up for grabs:

Basilica San Marco print, 14" x 11"

Sacre Coeur print, 12" x 12"

Eiffel Tower print, 8" x 10"

How to enter: Just leave a comment saying something about your favourite travel moment or somewhere you would like to travel to one day. Be sure to include your email in the comment so that I can contact you if you win!

Deadline: Midnight on Sunday CST.

I will draw three winners on Monday!

Bonus for Good Good readers! Use the coupon code "goodgood" in my etsy to receive 10% off of your entire order. Good until April 30.

Here & There: Vancouver

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Here's your first look at my final completed thesis! Now that it's all over I'm kind of experiencing postpartum depression! I've never worked on a body of work for such a long period of time and it's almost like I don't know what to do with myself now that it's all over! (Almost...... I still have schoolwork to finish ha).

This is the first of five maps I have to share with you. I had such fun delving into all of the little details in these cities. I made sure to choose cities I was familiar with as well as those that I have yet to travel to so that I could also do some research/daydreaming about these places.

Stay tuned for Venice!

Last Thesis Sneak Peek: Venezia

Here's a final sneak peek at my thesis illustrations before the show goes up in less than two weeks! I made sure to save Venice to work on last so I could indulge in drawing the beautiful buildings but if I'm going to be honest, I'll be a happy girl if I don't have to draw another palazzo for awhile. I was lucky enough to visit Venice in high school and it is still one of my favourite places I have ever traveled even though I only spent a day there.

I really want to thank you all for your support throughout the last few months! It has made working on my thesis immensely more enjoyable and I have really enjoyed sharing these sneak peeks with you. I will be sure to share the finished results after the show opens. If you are in the Milwaukee area be sure to stop by MIAD for Spring Gallery Night on Friday April 15. The seniors will be there to rock your socks on the opening night of our thesis exhibition.

Here & There

The postcards and new business cards are all ordered! A new website design is also in the works. Things are moving along and I'm starting to think I might survive this whole thesis ordeal after all.

Mark your calendars if you live in the Milwaukee area! Friday April 15 the seniors of MIAD will be ready to wow you on Gallery Night.

Now I just have to, y'know, finish my thesis....

Thesis Sneak Peak: Vancouver

It's been a busy week and I am slowly getting closer to completing my thesis! Yesterday was spent listening to copious episodes of The Unbelievable Truth (did you know that Sir Isaac Newton invented the cat flap?) and finishing up my Vancouver map. Here's a little peak of the Olympic Cauldron, Mario's Gelati, and the aquabus.

A little optimism.

My mantra for thesis.

Thesis Sneak Peek: Scenes from San Francisco

I have a couple more illustrations for my thesis to share with you today. My San Francisco map is nearly complete! Oh how I want to go to there.

Thesis Sneak Peek: Leon's

I've been working away at thesis all day and wanted to share this little bit with you. I've started to work on my map for Milwaukee and when I was researching what I should include on my map, my roommate (a native Milwaukeean) was adamant that I include Leon's on it. It is a local drive-in known for its frozen custard.

You may think that frozen custard is similar to ice cream, but it is my duty as an adopted Wisconsinite to inform you that it is not the same. Milwaukee has more frozen custard stores per capita than anywhere else in the world! Despite living in Milwaukee for almost four years now, I still have yet to visit Leon's but it is officially on my Milwaukee bucket list.

Paris je t'aime toujours

 Just wanted to pop in and share a couple more bits from my thesis. A huge thank you to everyone who has taken the time to leave me comments or email me suggestions. You've been such an immense help!

Tout va bien

Here are a few more things for thesis that I finished up over the weekend. I have such a craving to watch Moulin Rouge now....

Can you help me with my thesis?

Have you lived in or traveled to Vancouver, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Paris, or Venice? If yes then I need your help! Today I am starting my last semester as an undergraduate, which means I am also officially starting my illustration thesis (I did a bit of research and some studies over the winter break which you can see here if you like).

For my thesis, I am illustrating one poster for each city that will be a very loose map featuring landmarks, people, vehicles, stuff that locals like, basically anything that will really show the character of the city.

So what do I need from you?
I'm looking for anything you can tell me about these cities! But more specifically:

• landmarks (Golden Gate Bridge, Arc de Triomphe, etc)
• stuff that locals know about
• things around town that are unique to that city (interesting signposts, lamposts, fire hydrants, etc)
• modes of transportation unique to these cities (gondola, aquabus, cable car, etc)
• interesting people (or animals) who populate these cities (pink man, the guy who walks all the Afghans across Granville Island, Brown twins, etc)
• anecdotes about your travels or life in these cities

You can leave me a comment here or email suggestions to marisamidori22 [at] gmail [dot] com

And if you have any friends that have lived in or traveled to these cities please feel free to pass this along to them.

Thank you!

Notre Dame

A bit more experimentation for my thesis. 

I'm having so much fun working on this!

Paris je t'aime

Just wanted to pop in and share what I've been working on today. It's a couple of studies I worked up in preparation for my illustration thesis. A few experiments with style and colour.