STEMS and Leaves Podcast

I’m very excited to have gotten the opportunity to collaborate on a unique project – creating artwork for a new podcast called STEMS and Leaves.

STEMS and Leaves, created by Emme Mattaridi, promotes intersectionality in science, technology, engineering and math through storytelling and conversation. The show focuses on individuals’ experiences and how their identities have shaped their journey working in STEM fields.

When I heard Emme was looking for artwork for her podcast, we connected and together developed the idea to capture both an element representing STEM and an organic component.

Just roughing out some ideas, I started by sketching out two concepts – a drafting protractor and lotus flower, and a leaf with a chemical beaker and triangle.

The lotus flower worked, but we wanted to see how it looked against a variety of other technology-related pieces so I made some quick sketches, cut them out, and moved ’em around.

Ultimately, the lotus and microscope worked the best. I sketched it out using #2 pencil, filled it in with Copic marker. The brass was done with yellow, cool grays, and a hint of skin tones. Line work was done with Micron #1, #3, and #5. Shiny bits, as usual, were done with Posca white.

STEMS and Leaves launches May 24, and you can check out the page here.