Death Valley

This week we have another fantastic guest blogger, Jen Mussari! Alyssa Nassner took on her sketch to create the final piece below. For more information on Jen, and the original sketch see below as well!




Jen Mussari is an illustrator originally from Newton Square, PA now living and working in San Francisco, CA. She specializes in amazing custom lettering, and boasts great clients such as Adobe, and EMI Music, among others. To view more of Jen's work you can visit her website here, and follow her blog here.

Ride 'em Cowboy

Although you might not have been able to find a mechanical bull in the real old west, Isaac's interpretation of this week's sketch theme is fun, and fantastic! Rachel Dougherty took on his sketch to create the awesome final piece below!

Cowboys and Indians

Paul Windle's old west sketch as re conceptualized by Jen Mussari! See original below.

Wild (Wild Flowers) West

This week guest artist Paul Windle took on my (Alyssa Nassner's) sketch of a cowboy boot, and came up with this final piece of beauty. Man, I'd totally rock his version of those boots! See the original drawing below, and find out more about Paul below the sketch!




Paul Windle is an awesome illustrator from Fort Worth, TX. He also runs Winners! Press with his friends, Winners! Press publishes limited run books/zines, and hosts open participation art making events. To see more of Paul's work visit him online here.

Bucking Bronco

Erica did finals for Rachel's illustration of a bucking bronco! See the original sketch below.

Chris Sandlin and also Western Type!

Check out the digital stylin's of Atlanta illustrator Chris Sandlin. I love all the texture he puts into these images. And also all the mustaches.

For more old west fun, check out this gallery of movie title stills from old westerns! I particularly love Cat Ballou. Mostly because Jane Fonda is a babe.

William A. Smith

With my soft spot for both westerns and mid-century illustration, I've seen a lot of fantastic 1950s and 60s paintings of cowboys from men's adventure magazines and pulp covers. Among my favorites is the work of William A. Smith. This piece is from the Saturday Evening Post, 1957. Smith's sense of drama and painterly style often had him compared to his contemporary, Robert Fawcett. Fawcett's a giant, there's no doubt about that. But just take a gander at Smith's composition here. Pretty smooth for a spot, I'll say. When it comes to composition, I'll take Smith over Fawcett. He's a sharp shooter.

Ten Paces and Draw

This week's theme is, you guessed it - Old West. In honor of this week's theme, and our project's namesake we have a slew of fantastic illustrators working on swaps! Our inspiration above comes from the talented illustrator Kellan Stover. Kellan is a Georgia based artist with a passion for story-telling, and character design. So hold on to your horses because this week's theme is going to be one wild ride! Stay tuned for finals being posted on Friday! Yee-Haw

Unlucky Rabbit

This week new-comer Nick Sirotich (you guessed it, brother of Erica Sirotich) stepped up to the plate for our Easter/Spring/Passover theme, and below is Alyssa Nassner's take on his illustration of a very unlucky Easter bunny. See the original sketch below.

Spring Garden

This week Rachel Dougherty took on the sketch of Alyssa Nassner to create this Springtime masterpiece, a lovely bunny tending her flower garden. See the original sketch below.

Let My People Go

I'm pleased to introduce to our illustration line-up the work of Nick Sirotich! This week he helped to maximize the Passover spirit by completing a final piece based on the sketch of Rachel E. Dougherty. See the sketch, and more information about Nick below.




Nick Sirotich is an illustrator and apparel designer from Sarasota, Florida. He has been illustrating professionally for over seven years with clients such as University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee, Wufoo.com, Shelter Box USA, MindClay.com, Tzolkin Media Group, Circles & Triangles Clothing, ScreenKillers Clothing and more. He is also the author and Illustrator of the book "Southern Draw", and we're very happy to add him as part of the team!

Anke Weckmann

When I think of Spring blooming tulips and daffodils are the first things that come to mind, that's why today I decided to share the work of one of my all-time favorite illustrators Anke Weckmann. The whimsical floral motif, and the pastel color palette make this piece the perfect inspiration for Spring artwork...now if it would only stop raining outside!

Bunnies by Linda Silvestri

This is only semi-related to Easter, I know. But I'm gonna play the Jewish card and say I don't know any better. (This is a lie, but whatever. So sue me.) Mostly I just like the way Linda Silvestri draws her bunnies. So even though I couldn't find an Easter Illustration, per se, I wanted you guys to check out these rabbits.

Spring is in the Air

This week's theme is, you guessed it - Spring! Although it's been raining for what seems like the entire month of April, those May flowers will be here before you know it! Easter is right around the corner / Passover is in full swing and what better way to celebrate the spirit of Spring than doing a sketch swap! Stay tuned for a colorful tribute to the the season!

For this week's inspiration I chose the work of Jackie Besteman. Jackie is an illustrator based in Canada and represented by my favorite agency, Lila Rogers. For more on Jackie's work visit her website here.

Life of Pi

As you may already know, this week's theme was 'Literary Characters' which offers a wide range of options to draw from. Below is the first of 5 swaps, this illustration features artwork from the fantasy adventure novel, Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Not only do I want to introduce the theme, but the work of this week's guest artist Niv Bavarsky. For more on Niv read up below the sketch. On this piece concept and sketches were done by Erica Sirotich, and the final piece was completed by Niv.




Niv Bavarsky is an illustrator from Los Angeles, CA. He studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD. In his spare time he works in his sketchbook obsessively, makes electronic music, and goofs around with friends. Niv has worked with clients such as The New York Times Book Review, and has been recognized in Communication Arts Illustration Annual 51. He's a great illustrator, and a good friend!

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

A final piece by Erica Sirotich drawn from sketches by Isaac Orloff. The character is Huck Finn from the classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain.

Moby Dick

Guest illustrator Niv Bavarsky did sketches for this weeks theme from Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Below is Rachel Dougherty's interpretation of Ahab as drawn by Niv. Sketches below, enjoy!

To Kill a Mockingbird

This week Rachel Dougherty illustrated Scout Finch from Harper Lee's classic To Kill a Mockingbird. The final piece was colored by yours truly, see the original sketches below.

Ramona Quimby

For this week's 'Literary Characters' themed sketch swap I chose a prominent character from my childhood, Ramona Quimby. She's the star of her own line of books written by Beverly Cleary such as Beezus and Ramona, Ramona the Pest,and Ramona Forever. For this swap sketches were done by Alyssa Nassner, and the final was colored by Isaac Orloff.

Eren B. Unten

I found this gem while cruising through the Terrible Yellow Eyes blog (a blog completely dedicated to Where the Wild Things Are inspired artwork). Eren B. Unten is a children's book illustrator that specializes in adorable vignettes, and has even done some character design for Hasbro (Elephun anyone?). You can check out Eren's work online here, it's bright, and fun, and definitely worth a visit!

John Martz

A participating member of the Picture Book Report, John Martz's work is bright and playful, with a bit of a throwback style. I especially love this piece centered around the famous book / movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. To check out more of John's work visit his website, and his blog.

Literary Characters: Peter De Seve

If you don't already know Peter De Seve's work, now is a good time as any! He's famous for his New Yorker covers and character designs for Disney/Pixar Films (i.e. Ice Age!). All of his characters are fantastic, and in honor of this week's theme, Literary Characters, let's all tip our hats.

Right on, De Seve. Right on.

Rock Lobster

Congrats everyone on our first successful swap! Ocean dwelling creatures have never looked so good! Let's cut to the chase and check out some artwork! First to share we have an illustration as completed by Miss Erica Sirotich, originally sketched by me. It's a cheery lobster playing accordion, obviously that's what they do in their spare time. Below the final illustration is the original sketch Erica was given to work with.

Creature Compass

Here is an adorable illustration painted by Rachel Dougherty, as envisioned by Erica Sirotich with the original sketch below. I can't get over how absolutely adorable this is.

Stoked on Swimming

For my illustration I was given the pleasure of working with the sketch by the talented Isaac Orloff. He presented me with the sketch of an angry fish wearing googles, and this is what happened. See the original sketch below.

Hammerhead Fiesta

Last but not least, Rachel did a festive sketch of a hammerhead shark shaking his maracas, and Isaac brought that sketch to life below. See Rachel's original sketch below the final piece.




Thanks to all of the artists who participated! If this is something you'd like to be considered as a participant for give me an email via our contact info on the side bar! Stay tuned next week for literary characters. Have a good weekend!

Gilbert Ford

A whimsical and retro style ocean scene from one of my favorite illustrators Gilbert Ford. A great inspiration for this weeks 'Under the Sea' theme for our sketch swap.

Dan Santat Underwater

This is from Dan Santat's Always Lots of Heinies at the Zoo. I love his work, he's so one of my illustration crushes. Really atmospheric, with a fantastic sense of humor. Checkit!

Under Da Sea

This weeks theme is: Under the Sea



For inspiration head on over to this treasure trove of antique prints featuring not only aquatic life, but birds, botanicals, animals, and more!

A Warm Welcome!

Hello and welcome to our brand new blog Ten Paces and Draw! Ten Paces is a blog about collaboration and illustration, run by Alyssa Nassner and Rachel Dougherty out of Philadelphia, PA. 

As artists we thought it would be fun to start an ongoing illustration project to which we can all actively contribute, and also share some of our inspirations, references, and general art interests. The idea of Ten Paces is to allow illustrators to create sketches based on a common theme, and then swap with another artist to create a finished piece.

A theme will be chosen and announced for each week, and the contributing artists will have a week to create a drawing based on the theme, and swap with another participating illustrator. The final drawings will all be posted each Friday for all to see!

I'd like to take a quick moment to introduce the four illustrators kick-starting this experiment. In order to showcase our individual illustration styles, and give you a glimpse into our workspaces we each did a 'portrait' of our desks to accompany our artist bios. Take a look, and we can't wait to share this project with you! Links to each artist's individual website can be found in the right sidebar of the blog!



Rachel Dougherty

Born and raised in the limbo of suburban Philadelphia, Rachel flung herself into slightly southward city-living in pursuit of art school. She attended Maryland Institute College of Art from 2006-2010, knuckling through their Illustration department painting by painting. Now recently transplanted back to Philly, Rachel enjoys cutthroat games of boggle, watching old westerns, and eating anything with hot sauce. Her greatest goal in every work she paints is to make her audience point and laugh.




Alyssa Nassner

Alyssa Nassner is a Baltimore illustrator recently transplanted to sunny Philadelphia, PA. She has her BFA in illustration from Maryland Institute College of Art and has been working full time as a freelance illustrator since graduation. She is interested in surface design and the decorative arts, as well as dabbles in cartooning, screen printing, and product design. When she's not working on illustration projects she's playing with her puppy, digging through thrift shops, or traveling throughout the East Coast.




Erica Sirotich

Erica is a New York transplant who grew up in Florida. She now lives in Tampa with her dog Russell. She briefly attended Ringling College of Art & Design to study illustration, but left to pursue other things at a neat little liberal arts school called New College of Florida. Since that time, she has sampled various career paths but kept returning to illustration. Now she is lucky enough to be able to make images almost full-time on a freelance basis.




Isaac Orloff

Isaac is an illustrator originally from the New York area. He works primarily as a visual development artist in the animation industry doing character, background, and prop design, as well as story boarding. He works in a variety of different mediums, and enjoys working on a wide range of projects.