Stephanie Smith's portfolio

Work samples

The Crow and the Pitcher

Based on Aesop's Fable, the clever Crow figures out how to get a drink out of a narrow pitcher by using pebbles to raise the water level. Drawn with technical pens and colored digitally.
Fish Story

Illustration for a juried exhibition "Tall Tales" at the ICON Illustration conference, I chose to turn the usual "fish story" on its tail. Drawn with brush and ink and colored digitally.
The Monkey and the Dolphin

In this lesser-known fable from Aesop, a Monkey from a wrecked ship tries to trick a Dolphin into thinking he's human, so it will rescue him. When the Dolphin figures out the truth, it drowns the Monkey in disgust. Drawn with technical pens and colored digitally.
Tummyrubs

A black-and-white inkbrush drawing of my cat Simon, who absolutely loves getting his tummy rubbed.

About Stephanie

I came to Maryland from upstate New York to attend Goucher College, and have been here ever since. I've been working as a graphic designer and illustrator for many years, and received my MFA in Illustration from Towson University. Through my ink drawings I try to capture the beauty and interest of the world around us and add story and character. I work both in ink and digitally, adapting my methodology to best suit the needs of a particular project. I believe in visual art as communication… more

View Stephanie's Resume

Endangered Species

These watercolor and ink series, each representing a different part of the animal kingdom, are all considered highly endangered species. I deliberately chose less well-known species to encourage awareness of how many animals are at risk of disappearing forever.

The series was drawn with ink and watercolor, on watercolor paper, in 2018.

Endangered: Franklin's Bumblebee

Franklin's Bumblebee is native to the west coast of North America. It hasn't been spotted in long enough that some believe it may actually be extinct. Watercolor and Ink, original artwork 8x10, 2018
Endangered: Northern Bald Ibis

There may be less than 100 breeding pairs of Northern Bald Ibis in the wild, most of them in Morocco. Their colorful plumage and red faces are very distinctive. Watercolor and ink, original artwork 8x10 inches, 2018
Endangered: Giant Gray-Faced Sengi

Otherwise known as Giant Elephant Shrews, there are many species throughout parts of Africa, and nearly all of them are considered highly endangered. Watercolor and ink, 2018, 8x10 inches.
Endangered: Angel Shark

These ray-like sharks can be found in coastal areas, where they get caught up in commercial fishing nets. Watercolor and ink, 2018, 8x10 inches.
Endangered: Kaiser's Spotted Newt

This tiny amphibian lives in only a few streams in Iran. Watercolor and ink, 2018, 8x10 inches.

The Movie Monster Alphabet

Originally created as an Inktober challenge, this illustrated alphabet was drawn one letter at a time over the course of a month. Each letter represents a different classic movie monster whose name begins with that letter. The letters were each drawn with ink pen and brush and colored digitally.

The Movie Monster Alphabet

This entire alphabet was hand-drawn over the course of a month as part of an Inktober challenge. The linework was made with ink brush and pen, and then colored digitally.
The Movie Monster Alphabet: Letters F, B, and A

In this illustrated alphabet: F is for Frankenstein's Monster B is for the Blob A is for the Giant Ants from the movie "Them" All artwork drawn with ink brush and pen and colored digitally
The Movie Monster Alphabet: Letters Z, S, and M

In this illustrated alphabet: Z stands for Zombie (from oh-so-many movies) S is for the Skeletons from "Clash of the Titans" M is for the Mummy All artwork drawn with ink brush and pen and colored digitally.

Aesop's Fables

This series was originally created as part of my MFA project, but is intended for an illustrated book based on the fables of Aesop. The artwork was drawn in a relatively large scale (up to 20x30 inches) with technical pens and then colored digitally. The artwork has been printed archivally as limited editions in a variety of sizes.

The Fox and the Grapes

This fable is most well-known as the source of the saying "Sour grapes" - as the hungry fox decides that the grapes just outside of its reach must not have been any good anyway. Prints available on request
The Country Mouse and the City Mouse

In this fable, the City Mouse convinces his country cousin that city living was so much better that he went for a visit. In the end, the Country Mouse is so traumatized by the dangers of living in a city house that he runs back to his nice, peaceful countryside. Prints available on request
Detail from The Country Mouse and the City Mouse
The Rooster and the Gem

In this fable from Aesop, a rooster finds a sparkling gem but realizes that he doesn't want or need it as much as he wants some tasty bugs to eat. Prints available on request.
Detail from the Rooster and the Gem
The Tortoise and the Eagle

In this fable, a Tortoise wants to fly so badly, he begs and begs an Eagle to teach him. Finally, the annoyed Eagle lifts the Tortoise high into the sky. Unfortunately, the Tortoise couldn't figure out how flying worked in time. Prints available upon request
The Ox and the Toad

In this fable, a vain toad is convinced she can puff herself up bigger than anyone. When she meets an Ox, she tries so hard to inflate herself that she blows herself up. Aesop's Fables are brutal! Prints available on request.

Beyond the Visible

I created this animation while employed at Space Telescope Science Institute, the NASA contractor responsible for the Hubble Space Telescope.

The video can be seen here: https://youtu.be/C0unmfkTlG8

They needed something to simply explain the purpose of infrared astronomy to provide context for upcoming James Webb Space Telescope. With a team of astronomers, educators, a writer, and a sound editor, I created all of the artwork and most of the animation, along with the storyboards and the video editing, for this 7-minute long animation.

In addition to the animation, the artwork and script were reworked into a comic book for distribution at events and in classrooms. In addition to the layout, I created some additional artwork in the style of classic comic books to fill out the page count with more facts about Webb and other space telescopes.

Infrared: Beyond the Visible Title Screen

A montage of imagery from the video provides a title screen used for thumbnails and other promos.
Storyboards

Part of developing the animation included making several versions of a storyboard - scene-by-scene descriptions of the event - to aid in writing the script and to help the science review team visualize the project in-progress.
Miscellaneous Artwork

Artwork developed for this project was deliberately simple and vector-based to make animation easier.
Scenes from Infrared: Beyond the Visible

Scenes in the animation range from those that illustrate important science concepts like the wavelengths of light, to fanciful imagery to capture the imagination.
Infrared Illustration

Scenes like this campsite illustrate how everyday objects can look very different when viewed in infrared light - you are essentially seeing objects based on their heat, which can be visible right through thin objects like fabric and leaves.
Infrared: Beyond the Visible Comic Book Promo

The comic book version of the animation was printed by NASA for distribution at events. While laying out the story in this format, I created new artwork with additional facts about Webb and other space telescopes
Comic Book Spread

The comic book included this spread, not part of the animation, with facts and figures about the telescope itself.