Lena Gonzales is an illustrator based in Portland Oregon, with a BFA from the Pacific Northwest College of Art. Her work focuses on comedic, character-driven moments and fun, cartoonish designs.
Previous Client Work
No Reply Press - Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Hansel and Gretel
During her summer 2024 internship, Lena chose and illustrated three Brothers Grimm stories to be sold as limited-edition letterpress books. Due to the nature of letterpress printing, Lena worked with a limited color palette. Like with the coloring, Lena had the creative freedom to pick what scenes to depict and explore multiple illustrative styles. Cinderella was published in October 2024. Rapunzel and Hansel and Gretel was published in April 2025
Silly Billy Sticker Sheets
For her thesis project at PNCA, Lena illustrated and designed five themed sticker sheets starring her original characters, the Silly Billys. This acts as a proof of concept for the Silly Billy brand.
Ideation
Initially, Lena wanted to design each sticker sheet with a unique theme with the Silly Billys and their visual humor tying the collection together. After deciding on the themes, she started sketching, one idea after another, just to see what would stick. This collection is a fraction of what she drew.
Coloring and Revisions
After deciding which stickers to render, Lena played around with different coloring styles. She initially wanted the stickers to have bright, flat coloring. Then, she switched to including a reverse halftone as well as shading and highlights. Each sticker was individually drawn and then placed together on a canvas. Throughout the illustration process, Lena revised and tweaked the designs until it fit the Silly Billy vision.
Final Product
The following images are the final sticker designs and general sticker sheet layout. Each sheet has 12 stickers, including the title art. Alongside the stickers are minor details/symbols that complement Silly Billys fun visual humor, such as stars, flowers, buildings, and fish.
