Step By Step with Leslie Cober-Gentry

Step-By-Step

with Leslie Cober-Gentry

Leslie Cober-Gentry is one of those special people

who came into my life for a purpose that I didn't realize at the time of our meeting. I was one of her father's students, a great lover of his work. I had no idea Leslie was an illustrator until our mutual friend /mentor Murray Tinkelman introduced us when I came to speak at his University of Hartford Master Class some years ago. We lossely stayed in touch until the launch of the Illustrators Journal in 2011. By that time I realize Leslie had become a terrific illustrator in her own right and she was kind enough to allow me to interview her in one of our early editions.

Fast forward to 2017, the Journal has picked up steam and when I let Leslie know we were stepping up our efforts she offered to give us an exclusive look into one of her latest projects. A step-by-step journey into how she approaches and executes her work.

For those of you who don't know who Leslie is, (which is possible) here are some highlights;

Leslie is a well respected leader and spokesperson within the illustration community. She's an awardwinning artist known for her uplifting, elegant art and design, Leslie Cober-Gentry’s endeavors include a thriving and accomplished illustration career, she's a designer, curator, and educator. She Instructs and mentors undergraduates in Illustration as a Professor at The Fashion Institute of Technology NYC for the last 10 years. In addition she's an Instructor, mentor, director and thesis advisor to the Graduate MFA Illustration students as a Professor at Western Connecticut State University for 3+ years. Guiding and directing the MFA Illustration Students on a path to completing their visual and written thesis.

Leslie’s lifetime of expertise in all areas of the industry, including publishing, visual n and editorial illustration are visible as she ma

She's been a Curator and Chair of The Member’s show at The Museum of American Illustration Society of Illustrators NYC annually for 5 consecutive years, guest speaker to art and design students at various Universities throughout the country, and serves as a member of the NYC Landmark50 Alliance. A Chairperson of the Visiting Illustrator Lecture Series at WCSU (bringing in world famous, top notch artists), and if that's not enough she's been newly appointed to The Sanford B. Low Illustration Collection Committee at the New Britain Museum, looking over the Low Illustration Collection, advising, and creating ideas for future illustration exhibits.

When European Soaps, LLC enlisted Leslie to create art for their Astrological themed Soap line named "Savon Zodiaque, What's Your Sign?" and the tins they would be packaged in Leslie jumped at the chance. The Twelve shea butter enriched soaps deliciously fragranced to each unique Zodiac's personality were to be packaged in impulse-driven, fun, keepsake tins. The soaps are made from the finest of natural ingredients, lavender, wild flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables, and the fresh sea air. Extreme pride and care is the foundation for everything European Soaps create, upholding the quality, artistry and authenticity demanded of products "Made in France".

arrative, children’ s books, comics and graphic novels, advertising art, concept art, intains her own active professional practice.

Leslie's process to create something wonderful started with sketches. These sketch ideas were created by reading a manuscript the client provided and searching for zodiac reference.

Partially colored drawings were then printed on the studio printer on Strathmore 500 paper.

The next step was for the Illustrations to go back onto the drawing table, where mixed media, gouache, prismacolor pencil, colored india inks, dip pen, and series 7 brush were used to complete all areas and intricate details of the entire drawing.

The final drawings were scanned at a high resolution and sent to the client. Final originals are also sent to the client for a perfect color match.

Once she had the proper references the ideas started to flow until the final sketches for each sign of the Zodiac were created. Micron pen sketches were then submitted and approved by the client and were transferred to the final paper with a 2H pencil.

The final drawings were drawn out with black ink and a dip pen on Strathmore 500 series paper. Once completed , the final ink line drawings were sent to the client via email. The line drawings were converted into plates that would imprint onto the top of the soaps. All the soaps have drawings imprinted into them.

Final pen and ink drawings were scanned into computer and saved at a 600 dpi. In Photoshop, background larger areas were filled with color using paint bucket at 27%, to insure that the black ink line was still the strongest element of the zodiac drawing.

Leslie has won numerous awards, including The Society of Publication Designers, Print’s Regional Design Annual, Vision Awards Annual Report Competitions, and Graphic Design USA.

A list of words was then created for the client that best describes the illustrations created for each zodiac tin. This list would be used to choose the most accurate distinct scent that represents each Zodiaque soap created.

The tins were printed in China. Soap are handmade and imprinted in France. Zodiaque are packaged and hit hundreds of stores and websites throughout the world. The description of the product so beautifully designed by Leslie reads;

Savon Zodiaque | What's Your Sign? Twelve shea butter enriched soaps deliciously fragranced to each unique Zodiac's personality. Packaged in impulsedriven, fun, keepsake tins designed by illustrator Leslie Cober-Gentry.

Leslie serves on:

The Executive Board of the Society of Illustrators, NYC

The Board of Directors of SI as Event Chair.

The Board of Directors of the Fairfield Theatre Company, Fairfield, CT, passionately spreading art, design, culture, & live music throughout the community.The New Britain Museum of American Art Sanford B D Low Illustration Collection Committee

The NYCLandmark50Alliance, a committee chaired by the Chair of the NY State Council of the Arts, 85 representatives of NYC most important art and cultural communities. She represents SI on the committee.