Featured Artist: Nicole Jarecz, Fashion Illustrator and Author

Artist Program: Nicole Jarecz

Nicole Jarecz is a fashion illustrator based in Detroit, MI. For as long as she can remember she was always attracted to drawing and creating but found that fashion illustration was her passion. 

She creates feminine pieces that are made with graphite, watercolor, ink, charcoal and colored pencil.  It’s all about a feeling and an attention to detail that makes her work different than other fashion illustrations.

Walk Us Through Your Creative Process

A lot of my research is fashion-based. I pull ideas from magazines, recent runway collections, and emerging trends. I’m always observing what’s current and how style is evolving.

I love working on newsprint, so I usually begin there to sketch out my initial ideas and get a sense of the composition. Once I feel confident in the direction, I transfer the sketch onto my final paper, typically Stonehenge paper.

Much of my process is intuitive. I usually start with a feeling and just go for it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t,  but that’s part of being a mixed media artist.

I work with a variety of materials: ink, colored pencil, watercolor, gouache, layering different mediums to create texture, depth, and movement, especially when illustrating fabrics. I’m inspired by street style, nature, and everyday moments. The sketch phase is always loose and gestural, typically done on newsprint before moving to a premium surface for the finished piece.

Where Do You Get Your Inspiration?

Much of my inspiration comes from travel. I lived in Paris for six years (2010–2016), and that experience deeply shaped my artistic voice. I still travel back frequently, and being exposed to different cultures, people, and places continues to influence my work.

I try to stay open-minded about where my art can go and what it can become. I’m inspired by the people I meet, the environments I experience, and the energy of the places I visit.

What Matters Most to You When Selecting Paper?

Color, weight, and texture are all equally important to me.

With Legion, I’ve found the best balance of all three. The color tones are incredibly rich,  I love working on toned backgrounds for my illustrations, and the Stonehenge Colors pad has beautiful neutral shades that I use often.

Weight is especially important for commissioned pieces. When a client invests in artwork, I want it to feel substantial and premium. Texture also plays a major role, papers like Stonehenge White are thick and versatile, and they handle mixed media beautifully.

Stonehenge White and the Stonehenge Colors pad all perform exceptionally well with ink, watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil. Legion papers are versatile, which is essential for me since I work across multiple mediums.

As a student at CCS College for Creative Studies in Detroit, I used premium papers occasionally, but mostly newsprint for cost reasons. Now that I’m working full-time as an artist, investing in premium paper makes a noticeable difference. My illustrations look elevated and more refined.

At sketching events, I may use more affordable paper for quick five-minute drawings, but for commissioned work, I always explain to clients that premium paper enhances the longevity and overall quality of the piece. It truly changes the final result.

How Did You Discover Legion?

I first discovered Legion through Instagram, then started purchasing the paper at Blick Art Supply. After using it, I fell in love with it. That was about eight years ago.

I began tagging Legion in my posts and building that connection organically. From there, the relationship grew naturally.

What Do You Hope People Take Away from Your Work?

I hope people fall in love with fashion illustration.

I discovered fashion illustration while studying at CCS in a history of illustration course. Once I saw it, I was immediately captivated. I even took private lessons with my professor to dive deeper into the discipline.

There’s something incredibly special about fashion illustration, the movement, the gesture, the feeling of fabric in motion. It offers something different from photography. There’s emotion and interpretation in every line.

When I host sketching events and people say they’ve never seen anything like it before, that excites me. I love introducing others to this art form and encouraging them to explore it further.

If viewers walk away wanting to learn more about fashion illustration,  then I’ve done my job.

Artist of the Month for August: Jenny Kiker

We’re so excited to feature the first artist of our new program, Legion’s Artist of the Month Program. We’ve been honored to work with incredible artists across nearly every medium we can think of. Part of the excitement has always been introducing artists to new surfaces, planting that seed and watching it grow. Learn more or apply to our program here.

Introducing botanical artist and owner of Living Pattern, Jenny. After exploring several surfaces for Jenny’s block prints, we were able to work together to find her perfect match, Stonehenge. We will be featuring Jenny’s art on Stonehenge White 250gsm and Stonehenge Black 250gsm throughout the month of August. Learn more about Jenny below and follow our social media for featured posts!

Tell us about yourself and your work.

Hi, my name is Jenny. I go by @livingpattern on social media where I've been sharing my work since 2013. I took my art career full-time that year, it was the best jump I've ever made. Currently, I am exploring watercolor and printmaking. Both mediums are translated similarly, inspired by graphic and minimal block printing with simple shapes that focus on patterns in nature. I am endlessly searching for the eye-catchers of the natural world.

What’s your process like from start to finish?

My watercolor and printmaking process both involve a new fascination. Both processes start with a sketch. With watercolor, I simply transfer my design to paper then lay the color in. I flatten all of my watercolors then sign them. With printmaking, my design is transferred onto a linoleum block. I carve the block, then ink the carving. Then test proofing begins to check my carving details. If all looks good, I begin printing the run.

You tested a few different papers to find a favorite. What did you find throughout the testing?

I tested several papers, what I liked about Stonehenge was how smooth and accepting of ink it was. The 250 gsm is also a nice weight, I had trouble with the 115-175 gsm papers arriving with creases or bends that were hard to get out. 

The white of the paper was also a big factor for me because I wanted a paper that wasn't too stark white but not beige or cream either. I was looking for a contemporary white that went well with white mats or white frames found in modern/ minimalist homes.

Do you use the same paper for your block prints and watercolor prints?

For printmaking, I use Stonehenge White and Black 250gsm paper. For watercolor, I use Arches Cold Pressed 140 lb Bright White paper.

What other materials do you use (aside from the paper)?

For printmaking, I use Battleship Grey linoleum, Flexcut tools, and Cranfield relief inks. For watercolor, I use Mision watercolors and Silverwhite brushes.

Tell us about one of your favorite projects!

Easy! I worked with an amazing firm, Studio Tack, to design large scale original watercolors for a newly designed hotel. Studio Tack is an extremely talented team and I am honored they chose my work for the hotel. I created 8 large scale pieces for the lobby/ dining areas and each room has Living Pattern prints in it! Click here for the link.

What do you hope to achieve with your work?

My work aims to bring appreciation to the stunning details found in nature.

Any advice to artists first starting out?

You never arrive, your art is ever-evolving just like you! Do not question your art, do not listen to other people's opinions of your art and share it without hesitation straight from your soul. 

Tilden Hotel

Barbara Rogers wins Legion Paper award!

CPSA's Annual International Exhibition

"Reflections" - drawn on Stonehenge, 19" x 23" and done using an Icarus board with mostly Luminance pencils.

In conjunction with the annual International Exhibition each year, Colored Pencil Society of America presents a fun-filled convention providing colored pencil artists the opportunity to network and become acquainted with other artists, attend workshops led by experienced and accomplished artists, win door prizes at the Art Gala, and enjoy a banquet to see in person the announcement and presentation of exhibition awards.

The CPSA International Exhibition is an annual juried gallery exhibition exclusively for works done in 100% colored pencil. It is held in a different city each year to provide more people the opportunity to enjoy colored pencil as a fine art medium. This year's exhibition was held at the Mansion at Strathmore in North Bethesda, Maryland from June 10-August 6, 2017. The recognition levels included: diamond, platinum, gold, silver, and bronze. One of this year's winners was Barbara Rogers, winning the Legion Paper award for Exceptional Merit.

"Reflections of San Francisco" hanging on display. 

Barbara Rogers has always had a lifelong passion for art and has been painting for sixteen years. Her work consists of oils, colored pencils and pastels. She's been exhibited locally and won numerous awards. She is a member of the Colored Pencil Society of America (CPSA), as well as Oil Painters of America (OPA). We congratulate Barbara on her award!

A new experimental piece recently finished by Barbara on Rising. 

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A Revolutionary Design. A New Look for Legion's New Artist Pads.

Art is about connections. Between structure and the whole, ideas and the viewer, the medium and the maker. No matter what the piece of art, all of its elements must work together. Everything must be connected.

At Legion, our art is paper. And now we are proud to announce our new redesign, a bold disruptive look that takes three of our papers, new and old, and connects them so you know that you are getting the quality, consistency and substance you demand for your art.

It was time to break tradition. To create something the market had never touched upon. The design-savvy covers strip away the clutter of conventional pad covers, using a varnish text against a solid background color to capture the attention of the artist without being intrusive. Designed for the artist’s eye, the clean, bold type tells you the paper, a beautiful gloss overlay paints an ephemeral verbal picture of exactly what that paper can do.

Orange on purple? That’s Stonehenge Light. Red on orange? That’s Yupo Medium. And so on and so forth. The papers haven’t changed, we’ve just made it easier for you to find them on the shelf and given them a look you'd be proud to leave out in your studio or on your coffee table.

Together, all these covers will connect all of our brands under an umbrella that any novice can recognize and any artist can appreciate. And connections are what it’s all about.

We are Legion. We are paper.

Masthay Studios Hand Carved Letterpress Gig Posters

Legion's honored Masthay Studios has chosen to print their incredible hand carved letterpress posters on some of our papers. The unique process tells a great story. Read about it in an interview with printmaker, AJ Masthay.

Could you start by introducing yourself and Masthay Studios?

Of course, my name is Aaron “AJ” Masthay and my history as a printmaker goes back well over 20 years. In 2001 I founded the boutique letterpress shop Masthay Studios where I specialized in creating our unique brand of hand carved letterpress gig posters. My shop is currently based out of Hartford, CT where we service clients in the music and special event industries from across the country and internationally. 

How did you get involved in concert and event printing? How do you make an old concept into modern day art?

Excellent questions as the answers to both are inherently tied together. I attended the Hartford Art School back in the mid 90’s where I learned all the classic printmaking techniques - etching, lithography, relief printing, etc. The only medium I was not exposed to is the same medium that is the industry standard in gig posters - silkscreening. My primary focus in school was lithography, using both stones and plates. If you had told me back then that I would make a name for myself doing relief printing I would have laughed. 

There’s only one thing that rivals my love of the visual arts, and thats my love of live music, specifically the jamband scene (Grateful Dead, Phish, etc). Being a poor college student at the time, I noticed that people often created and sold artwork at these concerts in the parking lots prior to the event. I figured “I can do that” and began seeking out a printing press of my own. Due to my ignorance of silkscreening, I leaned towards relief printing as a fairly quick and inexpensive way to set up a functioning print shop. With the help of one of my printmaking professors I tracked down and purchased my first press, a Vandercook Universal I. I spent the next few years honing my craft and striving to push the boundaries of the medium, that and following bands around the country. Over those years I was lucky enough to develop an audience for my work, people began collecting my prints and actually seeking me out at the concerts to purchase them in person. I eventually began being contacted by bands and merchandise companies asking to create editions for their concerts, exposing my work to an even broader audience, and gaining more clients. As they say, the rest is history.

Where can people find and purchase your prints?

My work can primarily be purchased online, either through my own website Masthaystudios.com or through my gallery representation at BottleneckGallery.com. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are all great ways to keep informed of new works being released from the studio and to see works in progress. We also send an email newsletter if someone is so inclined to subscribe you can do so at http://masthaystudios.bigcartel.com/email-signup.

What processes do you use? Could you tell us about ‘suicide printing’?

I specialize in reduction linoleum block prints. It’s a process where I not only hand carve my plate from a sheet of linoleum, but I go back and carve away at the same plate between each color. This is where the nickname “suicide printing” comes from, by recarving the plate it makes it impossible to go back and increase the edition size or reprint an edition. Once you make those cuts there’s no turning back… 

This process is what sets my work apart in the industry. By layering 7-10 passes of ink on a print it gives my work a physical depth, the inks literally stand off of the paper tempting the viewer to reach out and touch them. I also use oil based inks which give my work a high gloss finish, incredibly vibrant colors and an aroma that my hard core collectors cherish almost as much as the visual art. 

I’ve created numerous videos explaining the process behind my work, they can be viewed through my Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/ajmasthay. Each edition is handcrafted from start to finish, truly a labor of love.

We love to hear you are using Stonehenge for most of your prints. What parts of the process work particularly well with Stonehenge? Are there any challenges?

Stonehenge is my “go to” paper stock for the majority of my main editions. It has the perfect blend of strength and absorbency to handle the multiple, thick layers of ink that I apply. It also has the structure to withstand the rigors of being run through my press on numerous passes. I tend to treat my gigposters more like fine art prints so the fact that it is made with 100% cotton rag is important to me and the deckle edge has become a signature of my work, again not something normally seen in the poster world. 

Do you use  different shades of Stonehenge? If so, how do you match the colors with the design of the print? Which shade is your favorite?

I primarily use the warm white shade of Stonehenge as it really compliments the bright colors I tend to use in my work. I did just recently use the creme color stonehenge on a collaboration print with another well known Grateful Dead artist, Richard Biffle. We wanted to keep this print simpler in design and color scheme so it was important that the paper act as an additional tone in the piece, making the creme a perfect choice.

How does the Stonehenge paper affect the design/your personal style?

I actually don’t just print on Stonehenge, I also do my initial sketches and drawings on it. My entire printmaking process starts with a full scale drawing of the image in pastel and charcoal. It’s an important step as this chalk drawing is then literally run through my printing press onto a blank sheet of linoleum, leaving a reversed image on the plate and essentially creating a roadmap showing me where to carve each color. By using Stonehenge from initial concept to final product I know what the results will be, there are no surprises… usually - this is printmaking after all. 

What processes are you using on Mirri Paper? How do you revolve your design and print methods around Mirri Paper?

The Mirri papers are some of the most exciting paper stocks Ive seen in some time. In my industry there are a few different print categories within an edition. There’s the Show Edition - the prints sent to the band to be sold at the venue during the event, the Artist Edition - a small run of the edition designated for the artist to sell, and variants. Variants are extremely small runs, sometimes single prints, within the edition. They typically are on different, more funky, papers which make the Mirri product line a perfect choice. Since many of my inks are transparent and allow the paper to show through, these variants require additional white base layers of ink to be laid down in order to get true colors. But for some stocks such as the Mirri sparkle or the holographic foils, areas of the base layers are carved away to allow the paper to clearly show through in the finished image. These create some amazing effects and when paired with the small print runs, producing some of my most sought after and collectable prints of each edition.

Anything else you think is important to include that the art community might want to know?

I’d just like to say what a pleasure it’s been working with Legion. I am being exposed to new products that pair perfectly with my work and help me to continue to push the boundaries of my medium. It’s certainly a partnership and collaboration I look forward to continuing.