Memories of Stockholm

When my daughter was 8 months old, my husband and I took her on a trip to Stockholm, armed with nothing but the phrase jag älskar köttbullar.

It was partially a work trip for my husband, and partially just for fun. Every day I would stick my daughter in a carrier on my back, hop on the subway and explore the streets of Stockholm. My husband usually worked during the morning and joined us in the afternoon. My favorite area was Gamla Stan, the impossibly charming "old town," where the cobblestone streets were narrow and winding and lined with colorful little shops. The first time we went there, I felt like I had stepped into a fairy tale.

Even though traveling with a teething baby (~*~*a teething baby*~*~) and also trying to work from my laptop was a challenge, our time in Sweden will always be a special memory to me. Exploring the city with a baby on my back, eating cinnamon rolls every day, overhearing Japanese tourists talk about my daughter's white-blonde hair.

Last year I had the idea of creating a drawing of our trip for my daughter's nursery. It took several months until I had some free time to get started. The was my initial thumbnail.

I wanted to experiment with a new, simpler style than my usual work. I was inspired by some picture books illustrated by Jez Tuya that he had been kind enough to send me for Christmas. (And which my daughter requested that I read over, and over, and over again.) I also looked to the art of Maike Plenzke and Takako Fisher for inspiration.

The buildings in Sweden are often these warm gold, orange and salmon colors.

(image source)

So I knew that I wanted my color scheme to be based around warm golds and pinks as well, with touches of green and black. I cleaned up the sketch a bit, then starting blocking in color.

I added little details for my daughter to notice.

Pf course I had to include a bakery! During the course of our trip I was probably a one-woman boost to the Swedish cinnamon roll economy.

I'm really happy with how it turned out!

I had the image printed at a 16x20" size at INPRNT, and it turned out very nicely. I ordered a custom frame and mat from pictureframes.com. The frame and mat look fine but the acrylic covering is scratched up and looks pretty bad; I've contacted them about it to get a replacement.

Looking at it in the space, I regret not printing it at a larger size. It would have had more presence on the wall. Oh well. 16x20" just sounded so big in my head!

As I finished hanging up the frame on the wall, I stepped back and my daughter cooed, "Woooooow! Vey peh-ee!"

Possibly the best feedback I've ever gotten from a client!