Steven Noble Illustrations

The Woodcut style is defined by simulating the old fashioned woodblock carvings of the 18th century and often re-creating a retro modern version to fit today’s needs for advertising, packaging design, publishing and logo identity purposes. The technique requires the use of the scratchboard medium which works most effectively to accomplish this end result. Furthermore, the style is mostly associated with “bold”, less detailed, line strokes along with loose uncleaned cuts along the outer edge of the illustration. This is a clear distinction from the other scratchboard styles such engraving, and steel engraving styles.

Created by Sell! Sell!, the ad depicts an old-fashioned illustration created by Steven Noble of a Fentimans Santa wearing the colours of Curiosity Cola and workman’s boots standing victorious over a chubby Father Christmas lying prostrate and dressed in his customary red outfit much championed and featured by Coca Cola.

Vic Polkinghorne, creative director of Sell! Sell!, commented “Fentimans make great soft drinks but they’re in a market that’s dominated by big brands and heavy spenders. To make their budgets work as hard as possible they need something cheeky or provocative to help them cut through the blizzard of Christmassy nonsense that’s spewed forth at this time of year”.

“The Destination Beer Logo is Ready for Prime Time” by: Brandon DeLoach

Andrews Distributing turns to Marblehead for help retooling their classic Steven Noble illustration into a complete identity system for print, advertising, and online display. The result is a fully developed brand ready for its public debut.

The Woodcut style is defined by simulating the old fashioned woodblock carvings of the 18th century and often re-creating a retro modern version to fit today’s needs for advertising, packaging design, publishing and logo identity purposes. The technique requires the use of the scratchboard medium which works most effectively to accomplish this end result. Furthermore, the style is mostly associated with “bold”, less detailed, line strokes along with loose uncleaned cuts along the outer edge of the illustration. This is a clear distinction from the other scratchboard styles such engraving, and steel engraving styles.

See woodcut samples: http://www.stevennoble.com/v/Woodcuts/

The original woodcuts (Xylography) from the 18th century were carved out from wood blocks with printing parts remaining level with the surface while non-printing parts are removed. The areas to show ‘white’ are cut away with a knife or chisel, leaving the characters or image to show in ‘black’ at the original surface level. The block is cut along the grain of the wood (unlike wood engraving where the block is cut in the end-grain). The surface was then covered with ink by rolling over the surface with an ink-covered roller, leaving the ink upon the flat surface and not on the non-printing areas.

In the present world, the woodcut style is merely simulated since there are often edits to be made by the demanding clients of today’s world. The level of detail is also specific to the size/scale of the illustration. For example, the Coors “waterfall” logo was accomplished by developing three different versions for three different sizes. One illustration version was created for use on the 12 ounce beer bottle label (.5’ – 1”) which was the simplified version, a second for use on the twelve and twenty-four pack cartons (2” – 6”) which was the middle version, and the third made for the delivery truck (6’ – 8’) which was the detailed version.

See logo samples: http://www.stevennoble.com/v/Logos/

The first step is to lay down the “approved” completed preliminary sketch onto a clean blackened piece of scratchboard by laying out the broad, general outline onto the scratchboard first. From there, pencil marks can be transferred to leave behind mark/outlines of the general forms from the sketch/drawing. Once this is completed, then the carving blade is used to scrap away the excess amount of black scratchboard around the outer area surrounding the illustration. The general lines are then scraped away to create the forms beginning from top to bottom. Afterwards, the shadows and details begin to take their shape through a process of improvisational line strokes across each of the forms.

The finished/completed reflective black and white art is then scanned from a flat bed scanner into the Adobe Photohop program and then cleaned-up using the magic wand command at a tolerance of 85 -100 and saved as a high resolution bitmap tiff file. To add color, the artwork is then saved in RGB and a layer is created (multiply selected) to allow color to be added behind the black and white line work. This gives more flexibility to allow for any quick edits and other adjustments such as color saturation and brightness and contrast.

SF Gate article: dated 2/8/08 by: Leah Garchik

llustrator-designer Steve Noble of Petaluma, who did the drawings for the new Cheese Merchant logo at the Oxbow Public Market in Napa, has completed a design for new White House stationery. I was disappointed to realize that this did not mean the man had gone from cheese to the Bushes. The stationery won’t be used by the first family but the White House Historical Association, which continues through presidencies.

“This is for posterity, not politics,” is the way Noble puts it.

Since graduating from the University of California, Davis in 1990, Steven Noble has  mastered a wide range of detail and style within the scratchboard medium and has become internationally recognized for his work from clients as far way as Japan to Europe. 

Over the years, he has become equally adept in the woodcut, pen and ink, traditional engraving and steel engraving styles, as well as a variety of stylized scratchboard techniques. His highly disciplined and complex line work is based on over 15 years of experience using X-Acto precision knives carved into pre-inked clay boards which generate very fine line strokes which allow a versatility in the detail from bold woodcuts to very fine traditional 19 century steel engravings.

Over the course of his career, he has created many nationally recognized logos and ad campaigns for a large list of prestigious and high caliber clients such as Coors (corporate/packaging logo), Exxon-Mobil (stock certificate), JP Morgan (annual report) and Mercedes-Benz (ad campaigns).  A lot of his expertise encompasses a large volume of subject matter that include food, portraits, animals, maps, architecture, and corporate conceptual images. 

In 2001, he won the “Meade Show Award for Excellence” for creating the best corporate conceptual illustration for an annual report for the Wet Seal’s 2001 Annual Report. In addition, in 1996 his work was recognized in the Communication Art Magazine for the best advertising spot for “Beaulieu Vineyards.” 

MTC’s 1994 annual report was one of Noble’s first assignments. In the ensuing years, his major projects/clients have included packaging and labeling for (logo) Annheiser-Busch, label illustrations for Sutter Home, Napa Ridge, Fetzer, Cakebread and other wineries; illustrations for Mecedes Benz; a stock certificate for the newly merged Exxon Mobil; posters for Union Bank of California; labeling for Tri-Valley Growers; package illustrations for Ore-Ida, Franciso Bread and Seattle’s Best Coffee; and advertising spots for Sees Candy. He also has done editorial illustrations for the likes of the Chicago Tribune. You can find more samples of his work at: www.stevennoble.com.

Steven continues to strive for excellence in his work and is always up for the next challenge. One of his last projects was a series of illustrations for the acclaimed Children’s book “Zathura” which came out (Fall 2005) at the same time as the release of the movie “Zathura”.