Jason Dove Illustration

Boy With Dog

2012-01-23T19:38:00.007-05:00

This piece was created as a promotional piece for my rep.

Like I mentioned bellow in the Hermie piece. I do not like using photo textures in my illustrations unless I have too. I only used one on the wood floor in this piece, everything else was created using my custom Photoshop brushes.

“Hermie the Crab Needs a Home”

2012-01-23T18:15:00.007-05:00

These illustrations are from my first children’s book “Hermie the Crab Needs a Home.” I was asked to illustrate 16 pages including the cover. It was given to me by a company called Wireless Generation, Inc.
A somewhat newer company that specializes in educational material.

I had a lot of fun working on this book. It had a lot of new challenges, artistically and physically. That being said, I love new challenges.

With this book, I did not use any photography in texturing the characters or in the background. I find that it is too much of a disconnect visually. That meant that I had to figure out how to create different techniques of creating textures.
I made most if not all of them by creating custom Photoshop brushes. I am really happy with how all of the illustrations turned out. I hope you all do too.

Cover:

Interiors:

You + Me

2011-12-22T15:52:00.018-05:00

I was asked to create a 6 frame Lenticular Christmas card with two raccoons kissing under the mistletoe for Target. The technique was to be a modern retro look but with limited color. I love doing these types of jobs were I get a chance to put a little movement and emotion in my characters.

Merry Christmas!

Wallmart Halloween Promo #2

2011-09-15T11:57:00.003-04:00

This promo was so much fun to work on. It brought back memories of some old Halloween decorations that my Mother always put up around the house. They too had rivets in them.

As for the style of this series, I wanted them to look retro but still keep a modern look to the technique. If you look closely at the characters, you can see the Color Halftone effect on the characters highlights and shadows.
I also chose a very warm Black (almost dark brown) for the line work. For those that care, the CMYK break down for the linework was C=0 M=100 Y=100 K=100. I usually tend to use a blueish/purple black instead (C=100 M=100 Y=0 K=100.) Here at American greetings, we have a total ink limit of 300. As you can see from the line work colors, I went right up to the 300 limit.

I hope everyone enjoys the promo, and please go check them out. I saw all but the skeleton card at my local Walmart store so, please let me know if anyone see's it.

Walmart Halloween Promo 2011

2011-09-14T18:31:00.002-04:00

These two designs were part of a promo that I shared with other artist here at American Greetings. Each design is folded up and die cut through on page one so you can see the image on the inside through it.

In the trick or treat illustration, you would see the kid on the porch through the doors windows. And for the cemetery design, you would see the living dead through the gate. There is also art on the far right that can be punched out and you can stand it up. I cropped off the back of that piece because the art was flipped and didn't think it was need to be seen for my blog.

Target Halloween Stickers 2011

2011-09-14T18:22:00.002-04:00

This sticker sheet is also out at all Target stores for this years Halloween. Check them out next time you're in Target...or better yet pick them up for yourself or your kids.

Animal Pirate Card

2011-09-14T18:19:00.002-04:00

I created this card as a freelance job for American Greetings Invention Lab. I was given a lot of artist freedom with this card. I am really happy with how everything turned out. I hope everyone else thinks so too.

Animals Playing Stickers

2011-09-14T18:16:00.002-04:00

This sticker sheet is currently out at all Target Stores. I had a lot of fun working out the characters poses.

Robots

2011-05-27T16:47:00.004-04:00

Detail of Characters:

Close Up of Red Robot:

Close Up of Blue Robot:

This card is currently out in all Target Stores. I have included an image of the Red and Blue Robots at a bigger size to show more detail.
The characters were created completely in Photoshop using Shape Layer Paths and Custom Brushes that I created. I did not include photos or use any 3d applications. Each Robot took me an average of 40 hours each. I did a lot of research on metal and how it would age and rust. The original size of each character was 14 inches tall at a resolution of 300 dpi. Because I like to have every detail on it's own layer the file with both characters in it was about 5 gigs.
It's a shame the characters ended up at about 2 inches tall on the card but, if they ever want to use the characters for card product or party goods, then they would have that option.

Fishing With Grandpa Birthday Card

2011-04-25T12:20:00.003-04:00

Cover:

Inside:

This card is currently in all Walmart stores that carry American Greetings. The technique was inspired by the old golden books. I created all of the textures using brushes I made in Photoshop. As for the fish on the inside of the card, it is a slider. When you open the card, the fish slides horizontally to the right.

Easter Bunny

2011-02-28T13:03:00.002-05:00

I created this design this Easter. You can find it in all American Greeting Stores right now.

Valentine's Day Promotional

2011-02-14T16:59:00.002-05:00

I created this illustration as a promotional piece. I want to try and spend more time this year working on my own concepts. I hope everyone enjoys the illustration and has a great Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day Dinosaur Card

2011-01-20T17:30:00.004-05:00

This card is currently out in all of the Wallmart Stores that cary the American Greetings brand. There is also a sticker sheet that is glued to the inside right of the card. Hope you like it.

Extreme Sports Valentine's Card

2011-01-20T17:13:00.006-05:00

I created these 4 photo card designs as a freelance job for a company called "Photoworks." They are owned by American Greetings. They produce many products such as photo books, photo cards, photo calendars and a lot of other cool stuff using photos that you can upload. The kid in the picture is my nephew Justin. I turned in the art with his photo to show the Art Directors how the final product would look.

Here is a link to their site.

Bosses Day Card

2010-10-19T17:21:00.003-04:00

This card is currently out at Target for Bosses Day. The lettering is to go above the clipboard. Enjoy!

Halloween Hamster Stickers

2010-09-30T17:04:00.005-04:00

Detail Images:

The Hamster is back and he is ready for Halloween. You can find him in the Halloween section at all Target stores.

Halloween Bat Flipbook Greeting Card

2010-09-29T01:16:00.003-04:00

Cover:

Flipbook Animation Test:

This card is currently out at all Target stores. I created two of these 10 framed flipbook cards which was very challenging concidering I had to complete both of them in a very short time span. I hope everyone who see's this post has a chance to see them in the stores. The concept is great! I am not sure who came up with the card format but, it is genius. The animation frames are on the inside of the card and are triggered or flipped when you pull on the tab. I know the animation is very robotic but, that is how committee told me to set it up. They felt that it made the animation smoother as a flipbook.

Halloween Cat Flipbook Greeting Card

2010-09-29T00:52:00.007-04:00

Cover:

Flipbook Animation Test:

Here is the secound Halloween Flipbook Greeting card. I hope you all like it.

Ghost In Pumpkin Stitched

2010-09-21T22:41:00.002-04:00

This card was created in Photoshop. I scanned in all the textures and altered the colors using the Channel Mixer. I created the patterns in the fabric using Pattern Overlay in the Layer Style, and made a variety of brushes that I used for the stitches. I know it seems funny to hear a guy say this but, I enjoy creating this digital stitching technique. I hope everyone else likes it too.

Pumpkin Car

2010-09-18T23:31:00.002-04:00

Front:

Inside:

This cards front has the pumpkin cars eye's cut out to see the cat and mouse on the inside. I liked the technique so I thought I would share it with everyone.

Halloween Princess Bear #2

2010-09-18T23:19:00.009-04:00

This was the second time I was asked to create a girl bear dressed up as a princess for Halloween. The style is very different from the first time. If you would like to check out the original click here

Strawberry Shortcake Glimmerberry Ball Retouching

2010-09-13T21:19:00.013-04:00

Retouched:

Not Retouched:

This is the second Strawberry Shortcake 3D DVD cover that I retouched. I didn't have to clean this image up as much as the first one. The first image with the purple is what I retouched for American Greetings. The second image is what I was given. I also cleaned up the back and disc label art as well.

Random Characters

2010-08-13T00:44:00.008-04:00

It feels like forever since I have been able to create and experiment on my own! With this piece I wanted to play with character design. I hope everyone enjoys them as much as I had creating them.

Cute Pets Sticker Sheets

2010-08-09T22:50:00.004-04:00

Front:

Back:

When I was first given this assignment, I didn't realize how challenging it would be. I was asked to create 24 cute pet stickers (12 pets in 2 poses.) No problem I thought, until I read no puppies or kittens. The two most popular pets were out. It took me forever to come up with those 12 but, I finally did. They were:

01. bunny
02. hamster
03. snake
04. mouse
05. ferret
06. parakeet
07. gold fish
08. duckling
09. turtle
10. frog
11. hermit crab
12 tropical fish

The next challenge was how to make pets like a hermit crab and ferret cute. Boy, was I happy when I was finally finished. So far I have had a lot of really positive comments from people at my work on the characters and the one Mouse character has been used on two up and coming greeting cards.

School Bus

2010-08-01T22:57:00.004-04:00

This design was created as a 1st day of school card. The side windows are cut out on the front so you can read the lettering printed on the inside. Enjoy!

Military Cards & Photo Holder

2010-07-14T23:19:00.005-04:00

For Dad:

For Mom:

I was recently given the task of creating cards that children can send to their Mom or Dad serving in the military. They can also include a photo of themself on the inside where their is a photo frame that they can color. The lettering for this design was changed later so it will look a little different in the stores.

God bless each and every member of our military and their families. My prayers are with all of them.

Dad & Daughter In Car

2010-06-03T23:12:00.003-04:00

Cover:

Inside:

Well, here it is! The missing card from the series I created for Fathers Day Innovation. I guess I must have just over looked it the first time I went to Target. I hope everyone likes the series it is one of my favorites so far.

With this design, I wanted to change the color of the ocean compared to the other card in this series posted below. I felt that it would be too close to the sky color. As for the daughter in this card, I am often accused of making my characters look like my oldest daughter Natalie. This is completely unintended. It is still funny to me. Just thought I'd share!

Dad & Son In Boat

2010-05-15T21:43:00.007-04:00

Cover:

Inside:

This card was part of a series I turned in for Fathers Day innovation. The other design hasn't been picked up yet but, I will be sure to post it when it does.

I know a lot of people have no idea how much time and thought goes into creating a greetig card so, I thought I would try to explain this design a little better to show everyone exaclt what I mean.

With this card I wanted it to have an unusual layout. Or at least something different than our usually kids greeting card layout. I have found that most of the time the best art for a greeting card is on the front with little or no art on the inside. In this case the inside has the best art along with the energy and interaction from the characters. Leaving the person buying the card with a better and lasting impression.

I hope this explains my thought process a little better and that everyone enjoys
this design as much as I had creating it.

Hamster Stickers

2010-05-15T21:21:00.006-04:00

Detail Images:

With this design I was asked to create hamster stickers in my highly rendered style. I was also told the hamster characters would be printed on small foamy-like pieces placed inside bubble stickers that looked like hamster balls and hamster wheels. They wanted them like this so the foamy pieces could roll around in the bubble stickers. I know it sounds confusing but, I hope all of you understand.

As for the second image, I wanted have a bigger version of the characters. That way you could see the detail that went into each of them.

You can find these stickers at all Target stores right now.

Pirate Bunnies

2010-05-11T12:27:00.002-04:00

This card really hits home with me. I have three little girls and they all make me laugh. I had so much fun creating this card. It was well received at American Greetings and I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I had creating it.

Sea Creatures Stickers

2010-05-10T22:35:00.005-04:00

This sticker sheet is currently out at Target. I was asked to create cute sea creatures with 6 big rolly eyes and 6 small ones, intermixing them. I digitally painted in the rolly eyes to show everyone how the final piece looks in stores. If by chance the rolly eyes fall off, I have designed eye's under them. I had a lot of fun creating this design and I am happy with how it came out. I will be posting more designs soon that are also currently out at Target, so stay tuned.

Mom & Child Bear Sewn Technique

2010-04-15T23:23:00.004-04:00

Cover:

Inside:

This card is currently out at Target for Mother's Day. It is one of my wife's favorites. This design was completely created digitally except for the textures. My goal was to create a believable yet fake sewing technique. I scanned in real fabric textures and cut them out in the computer using Photoshop. As for the stitches, they were created using one of my sewing brushes in Photoshop. Overall, I am happy with how the design turned out and have since pushed newer designs to look even closer.

Junior Camp Flyer

2010-03-22T00:44:00.009-04:00

A few weeks ago I was asked by my church to design a junior camp flyer. The slogan for this year was "Under The Sea." I was told this flyer was to be used by many churches in and around the area and to leave blank spots for each church to include their information and their own pricing. The first image is obviously the final. The secound image has the origianal character designs.

Strawberry Shortcake Berryfest DVD Cover Art & Disc Label

2010-03-15T22:36:00.006-04:00

Last Summer I was asked to work on cleaning up and altering the cover art and disc label for the new Strawberry Shortcakes 3d Movie "The Berryfest Princess." I love replicating 3D art so, I excepted the job. Kelly G. the art director for this project gave me great feedback along the way. She also did all the retouching on the Berrykins. This project was fun because it had many new challenges I hadn't faced before. The part that was most challenging was creating 3D looking hair. I have many custom brushes that make real or natural looking hair but 3D hair is different. Overall, I am happy with the results. My daughters love the fact that I had a hand in a character they love. Be sure to check it out in stores now.

Walmart Easter Promo

2010-03-04T23:24:00.007-05:00

This Promo is currently out at Walmart. The original designs had googly eye attachments. They decided to take them off later to cut cost.

Target Easter Stickers

2010-03-04T23:11:00.005-05:00

Happy Easter! Here is some stickers I created for Target. They were well recieved at American Greetings.

Robot On Space Board

2010-01-21T23:47:00.004-05:00

For this design I was asked to put the robot kid on a futuristic skateboard/surfboard. I found the most challenging thing about this design was remembering which brushes I used to create the textures. I constantly make my own brushes and because we are expected to be versitile in many art techniques, I sometimes forget how I created a design.
Another challenge was matching the color with the original design. Because AG decided to use a different paper stock it made the ink react differently to the paper. A constant battle we have...trying to create the cleanest colors possible.

Robot W/Dog

2010-01-21T23:32:00.002-05:00

This card was very fun to do. It gave me a chance to design a dog character for the robot kid to interact with. The only thing missing in this design is a metal heart in the robot kids hand. It is not shown here only because it is a finishing (a term AG uses to describe a special process.) In this case I believe it was Silver Foil Hot Stamp. I also included a separate page of the robot dog to show more of the detail and the colors I used to digitally paint the character.

Robot

2009-11-19T08:17:00.005-05:00

Cover:

Inside:

This is one of my favorite pieces posted so far. I have been waiting for it to come out to stores so, I could post it.
I have always loved highly rendered illustration because, it challenges me to come up with new ways to approaching something. My goal for this piece was to create a 3 dimensional looking character 2 dimensionally. I also like to create my own textures and brushes in photoshop...and I am constantly experimenting with creating and altering them.

Roadtrip Birthday Card

2009-10-26T22:38:00.008-04:00

Cover:

Inside:

This card was created a while back for Target. It has always been one of my favorites. It was influenced by an artist who's name escapes me at the moment. I have been trying to locate the Lettering artist for this card so I could post it with the copy. The Lettering artist did such a great job. If I can find out who did it, I will post the last page with the game on the inside. It opens one more time into poster size where the two kids are part of a roadtrip game. The road sign on the cover is blank so, the AG logo and the barcode could be added. I spent a lot of time on this trying to make it look traditional. I hope you all like it.

Target Baby Animals Promo

2009-10-10T22:07:00.006-04:00

Sorry, I haven't updated in a while. Things here have been extremely busy with work, freelance and my 3 children.

This promo was out a while ago at Target. It originated from an innovation I was asked to complete. The designs are displayed here as if they are not folded. Imagine if the design were foled in half with the front being on the right and the back on the left.

Dancing Girls

2009-09-17T21:08:00.003-04:00

This was one of many music cards I did for AG. I created it about a year ago. The little girl in the yellow shirt looks alot like my oldest daughter. Purely by accident of course.

Bear Fishing

2009-09-02T23:07:00.003-04:00

This illustration was inspired by the old Golden Books with a slightly modern approach. I experimented with photoshop brushes to create the different textures in the piece.

Underwater Birthday

2009-09-02T22:08:00.008-04:00

This is a Birthday card I created a couple of years ago. They recently used the artwork on a gift bag that can be found in all American Greeting stores.

Birthday Scene

2009-08-07T22:52:00.007-04:00

Being a Juvenile/Humor Designer I rarely get to work on conventional illustrations. One way to ensure that I have this opportunity, is to submit artwork as an innovation. About a year ago, this card was developed as a concept for a birthday/everyday project. The textures and brush strokes are not computer generated, they are real. I scanned them into the computer and created brushes out of them. Since then, I have used this technique often and on many humor, juvenile & conventional illustrations.

Cute Little Monkey

2009-08-07T22:20:00.007-04:00

I based the styling of this card a lot on the "Monkey Love" design bellow but, with a different technique.

Birthday Bug Stencils

2009-07-21T00:14:00.005-04:00

This card is currently at Target. It is one of my favorites. Over the past year I have tried to improve my color selection in my work. A hard task sometimes when you are limited to a particular color palette to begin with.

Scaredy Cat

2009-07-02T23:19:00.004-04:00

Like any kid, I grew up watching cartoons created by comic geniuses like Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett & Robert McKimson, just to name a few. Their direction and skill had a great impact on me and the humor that they displayed. With this concept, I wanted to continue to develop the digital fur technique but, use it with a more animated character.

Cat Character Design

2009-06-22T22:41:00.036-04:00

It has been a long time since I have been able to do something just for me. Between my three children and my freelance I rarely have time to work on my own interest. With this piece I wanted to experiment with digital fur. After watching Disney/Pixar's "Bolt" I felt inspired to create a character like Mittens. I have since came up with a more realistic approach on digital fur but felt that I should still post it. I hope to include more of my own art in the future.

Squirrel

2009-05-22T16:36:00.009-04:00

This card is currently out at Target for Fathers Day.

Mother's Day Innovation

2009-05-11T22:16:00.002-04:00

This card started out as an innovation for Mother's Day. Innovation gives me a chance to try something different. This is one of my wife's favorites.

Walmart Mothers Day Theme

2009-05-11T22:09:00.004-04:00

This promo was just out at Walmart stores. The card however had heart shaped button nose attachments.

Werewolf

2009-05-11T22:03:00.004-04:00

Here is an older Halloween Illustration I just came across.

Easter Mail

2009-04-14T07:35:00.005-04:00

This card came out this year in all American Greeting Stores. Happy Easter!

Target Valentine Promo

2009-04-13T22:58:00.004-04:00

These two designs were part of a Valentine's Promo for Target. This is the original monkey design. It was later used for a birthday promo featured bellow.

360 Fur DC Promo

2009-04-13T22:41:00.006-04:00

This 6 card promo is one of my favorites. The monkey card was first created for Valentines day without the hat of course, and on a red background instead of the purple featured here.

Peep Chalk Board

2009-04-04T02:33:00.003-04:00

This card had a chalkboard on the front of the egg. It also came with a piece of chalk for kids to decorate it. I thought the concept was pretty good.

Bunny Girl W/Basket

2009-04-04T02:29:00.002-04:00

This card is currently out at Target. I created an alternate version of this card featured bellow with a yellow rabbit.

Easter Train

2009-04-04T02:24:00.003-04:00

This card evolved out of the coloring book pages bellow.

Baby Boy With Blocks

2009-02-16T17:10:00.007-05:00

My goal for this design was to make a convincing watercolor look on the computer. I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

Halloween Princess Bear

2009-02-16T17:01:00.005-05:00

Nothing say's Halloween like a bear in a princess dress.

Coloring Book Pages

2009-02-16T16:51:00.005-05:00

These Illustrations were part of an Walmart Easter promo. They came from two different greeting cards. They were a combination of a greeting card and a coloring book.

Valentine Puppy & Kitty

2009-01-09T08:29:00.004-05:00

These illustrations were created for a Target Promo. I have included two sketches to show from concept to final.

Princess Castle

2009-01-09T08:19:00.014-05:00

This card was part of a promo for Target. I worked with two other artist and friends of mine; Jim Osborne and Dan Fry.

Easter Bunny

2009-01-02T23:36:00.004-05:00

This is one of my favorites. I love the expression on the character. I also used the back of the card to make more of a scene. Something I like to do a lot.

Fly's

2009-01-02T23:29:00.005-05:00

These characters were created for a juvenile Halloween card. You had to find your way through the spider web maze to get to the end. I really pushed the expressions on these characters.

Monkey Love

2009-01-02T23:22:00.009-05:00

Cover:
Inside:This card is one of my favorites. It is heavily influenced by Oriental design. Something you can see in a lot of my Target Designs.

Pirates (Cover & Inside)

2009-01-02T23:17:00.005-05:00

Cover:

Inside:I had so much fun creating this card. This is one of my oldest daughters favorites.

Parade

2009-01-02T23:09:00.004-05:00

I love this design. I wanted this card to have a retro feel with modern character designs.

School Bugs Sticker Sheet

2009-01-02T23:03:00.006-05:00

Card:

Sticker Sheet:
This Card and Sticker sheet was created for Target. My Wife and I gave our oldest daughter the card with one of the stickers on her first day of preschool this year. She loved it.

Kitten W/Balloons

2009-01-02T22:58:00.004-05:00

Once again my rendered technique. This card was created for Fathers day. I also made a bigger version of this card for Birthday by adding a cupcake in the grass beside the kitten.

Mouse W/Bouquet

2009-01-02T22:53:00.003-05:00

This design was created for Mothers Day. The hair on the mouse was experimental. I think it works for this character but have had mixed results with other trials.

Hugging Lambs

2009-01-02T22:43:00.008-05:00

Nothing says Easter like 2 lambs hugging.

Walmart Halloween Promo 2007

2008-10-07T17:59:00.007-04:00

I originally created this Halloween promo for Wal-Mart last year in 2007. I was told it sold well so, they brought it out again this year.

Target Halloween Promo

2008-10-07T17:28:00.005-04:00

My Target Halloween Promo. The Witch character has changed slightly from this version but, the design is relatively the same.

Walmart Halloween Music Card Promo

2008-10-07T17:02:00.005-04:00

This is a promo that I created for Wal-Mart. This 6 card promo uses Halloween songs from the Kidz Bop collection. The Werewolf card for some reason never came out. I thought I would still include it to show the whole theme.

Pirate Puppy

2008-10-06T17:34:00.010-04:00

A Halloween Card that came out this year in American Greeting and Carlton Card stores.