For this project, I illustrated a set of four postal stamps based on Pagan holidays. The project was a way to challenge my creativity and my ability to present a project in a digital format. Each stamp is 0.87 inches by 0.979 inches (or about 2 centimeters by 2.5 centimeters) and illustrated at that size, with any typography being hand-rendered.

I began by picking a theme. Because of my beliefs, one of my first ideas was to do Wiccan-themed Holiday stamps. After some research, I found that the traditional Wiccan holidays haven't been illustrated or put into circulation as postal stamps.

My next step was to of course sketch and ideate, create designs that I felt were strong and looked good, keeping in mind the small canvas. i narrowed my sketches to the four that I felt were strongest and best suited for the project.

I had picked a few muted palettes for the designs, meant to emulate a retro style, similar to how stamps would look after years of aging and losing their tone. Originally I left a limit of four colors per design, but that would change as I went on.

After some working, I discovered the smudging tool in Adobe Fresco, and had started playing with it. I would go back and try to incorporate the smudging in as many places as I could without it feeling overbearing.

It was at this time that we had our work in progress critique. My goal for the critique was to have a set that was visually related, and to get feedback on color choices. 

Some of the feedback received was not expected, but helpful. such as the text being too close to the edge of the canvas.

I applied the feedback and went back to add more detail where needed. It was here where I abandoned the four color limit, but it only made a real difference on two of the designs. These changes made the designs more cohesive and look better overall.

This project was a nice reprieve from the long and stressful project before it. It was relaxing, and fun to come up with ideas and draw them out. I had never actually worked with this small of a canvas before. It was a fun challenge. I already knew that others could achieve a lot on a small canvas, but this project gave me the understanding to create my work on a smaller scale