Friday, June 14, 2019

From the sketchbook of Keepsake Artist, Tracy Larsen.

Tracy Larsen’s Series Ideas List

One of Tracy Larsen’s favorite things to do as a Keepsake artist is come up with new ideas for a series of ornaments. “When it’s time to provide concepts for a new series, I generally grab a few 3X5 cards and just start writing down various ideas,” he said. “I’ll look at what has been done, what has been successful, and what I would like to see done as a series.” (see series ideas list image)

After his initial ideation, Tracy gets out his favorite vellum pad and starts to sketch, which is where his ideas really start to come to life. “I take what I feel are the best ideas and start to do rough sketches of what a few years of that series could look like,” he said. (see North Pole Tree Trimmers #1 concept sketches and Holiday Lighthouse–Santa and the polar bear interaction ideas–sketches). Sometimes, inspiration strikes him in the middle of a meeting and he ends up sketching on scraps of paper, or even his assignment sheet with a schedule of his upcoming work. (see assignment sheet sketches)

Then, when he feels like an idea has legs, he starts to flesh that idea out a bit more to make sure it’s not just a one off ornament and can hold together as a series for years to come. “When an idea is enough to sustain a series, I’ll start to refine sketches for one or two years’ worth of ornaments,” he said. (see North Pole Tree Trimmers #7 concept sketch) “Once I’m satisfied that the sketches portray my idea well, I’ll turn it in and wait to see if it gets the green light or not.”

So what happens to those ideas that aren’t chosen? Well, Tracy has been a Keepsake Artist long enough to know that sometimes, the timing just isn’t right for a certain idea. “If a series concept doesn’t get chosen one year, I’ll put it in a folder full of unused series ideas and I’ll often submit it again at a later time,” he said. (see unused series concept sketches: Santas in regional costumes riding different corresponding animals, Reindeer Games, and Santa du Soleil) Tracy’s perseverance has paid off for a few of his ideas that ended up taking a while to get officially approved. “North Pole Tree Trimmers is a good example,” he said. “It was first turned in as a series concept around 1999 or 2000, but didn’t officially become a series until 2013.”

When his idea is chosen to become the next great Keepsake series, Tracy decides which rough sketch would be best to become the first-in-series ornament. “Every year after that, I turn in a refined sketch based on my initial ideas,” he said. “Of course, those sketches often evolve a bit from the original, but that’s how a series is born!” (see 2019 Holiday Lighthouse, Tea Time! original ideas and 2019 Tea Time! #4 Snowman concept sketches)