Earlier this spring Anna and I were chatting about possible illustrations and came up with the idea of doing tiki interpretations of figures in popular culture. While chatting about candidates for tiki-ification I drew up a quick sketch of Slimer that I later decided to add color to.
I used the Slimer design as an excuse to experiment with Illustrator, which I had never used before. And to think that I thought Photoshop was confusing! Poor Anna had to hear me screaming and cursing through the whole process. I do really like that vector images can be exported from Illustrator into Photoshop while retaining the layers though, which was absolutely necessary for this project.
I drew every shape in Illustrator, then exported them to Photoshop where I did the shading, overlaid a woodgrain texture, and threw in a drop shadow to add a bit more layering (and because drop shadows are
sooo in this year).
I followed the same process for a series of nostalgic latex monstrosities from the 70s, 80s and 90s.
Stripe from Gremlins
The Xenomorph from Alien and Predator from Predator
Edit (2014): I created papercraft versions of these designs which I hung a ribbon on (so they can be used as an ornament) and then laced that ribbon through a card (so it can also be used a greeting card). They are currently on sale at our Etsy store. Here's a sample of them -
