Steven Noble: Celebrating 31 Years of Illustration

The Directory of Illustration is honored to feature recent work from Steven Noble and celebrate his 31 years of illustrating over 4,000 illustrations.

From scratchboard, line art, woodcut and engraving, Steven’s artwork is internationally recognized. He is prominently amongst Lürzer’s 200 Best Illustrators Worldwide (18/19). His highly disciplined and complex line work is based on over 30 years of experience using X-Acto precision knives to carve into pre-inked clay boards. This allows the versatility in detail of bold woodcuts to the precision of very fine traditional 19 century steel engravings.

Clients include: Coors, Exxon-Mobil, JP Morgan, Mercedes-Benz, Wet Seal, Beaulieu Vineyards, Cracker Barrel, Old Spice, and many more.

Awards: the Meade Show Award for Excellence, Addy Awards, and a feature in Communication Arts for the best advertising image.

Specialties: Steven’s excellence spans logo design, annual reports, illustrations, engravings, and much more.

Check out our gallery-style samplings of his most recent work below, and explore his Directory of Illustration portfolio for more illustrations!

Grazing Sun Wine Label

Laithwaites commissioned Steven Noble to render an illustration of a Llama that lives way up in Chile’s Elqui Valley amongst a tribe of laid-back llamas that needs to be seen to be believed. Though acclimatised to the cool, thin air, these wide-eyed wanderers haven’t quite got used to the unforgiving sunshine. So the locals started fashioning sunglasses for them. It’s true! That same off-the-charts sun makes the valley a paradise for winemakers. This illustration created in a woodcut style represents theses particular characteristics unique to these llamas.

Nike’s The Anatomy of Air

In creating the air max 95, designer Sergio Lozano took inspiration from human anatomy: The spine informed the shoe’s sole, ribs inspired the lace straps, skin translated to mesh, muscle fibers became the iconic gradated upper. The result was a striking design that pushed boundaries and forged a new path for running footwear.

Nike commissioned Steven Noble to take these concepts into a fully rendered scratchboard etched illustration similar to to the renderings found in Grey’s Anatomy. These illustrations combine the classical with the modern conceptual style.

Booker’s Bourbon Labels

Jim Beam commissioned Steven Noble to create a series of illustrations for their labels called Booker’s Bourbon that includes an assortment of batches. In 1992, Booker introduced the world to small batch bourbon and therefore coined the term “small batch.” With it came his own signature bourbon, Booker’s® True Barrel Bourbon. Inspired by a 200-year-old tradition, Booker’s is bottled uncut and unfiltered*. These illustrations were all custom hand-drawn on scratchboard and individually crafted to fit each batch label.

Legal Sea Foods Gin Label

Legal Sea Foods partnered with St. George Spirits to produce their own gin, highlighting lemon, dill and tarragon. Not surprisingly, these botanicals pair particularly well with their seafood. From this, a customized label illustration by Steven Noble was commissioned to include Poseidon, an ancient Greek god of the sea holding a trident riding on a wave inside a clam shell with two sea horses pulling him along. The illustration was hand-crafted in a scratchboard woodcut/engraving style.

Easton Grange Brandmarks

Steven Noble was commissioned by  to create some illustrations for Easton Grange who have a big wedding venue in Suffolk, UK. The goal was to create a family of iconic brands that includes fun and quirky characters for brand marks such as Alterra Farms, The Farmstead, Snooty Goose, Easton White Horse, and Easton Grange. These illustrations were custom hand-crafted in the woodcut style and supplied as digital files.

Hop Kiln Estate Label

Wonderful commissioned Steven Noble to render an architectural historic building called the Hop Kiln for Hop Kiln Estates owned by Landmark Vineyards. This building was built in 1095 and a registered California Historical Landmark and recognized as “the most significant surviving example of a stone hop kiln in the North Coast region.” The illustration was hand drawn in a scratchboard etching style.

Old Grand-Dad Branding 

Coho Creative tasked Steven Noble to help rebrand the Old Grand-Dad bourbon whiskey label that includes the portrait of Meredith Basil Hayden Sr. The Hayden family’s first commercial distillery was created back in 1840, and the whiskey has been in production ever since. These woodcut illustrations symbolize this rich heritage in the branding that includes both the founder and Kentucky landscape.

Moosehead Radler Labels

Moosehead commissioned Steven Noble to create some unique custom label illustrations for their new radlers. These refreshing blend of beer infused with a hit of natural fruit flavors these Radlers use fruits for truly unique radler flavors. These flavors include dragonfruit, grapefruit, strawberry lemonade, and watermelon. These illustrations were created in a scratchboard hand-crafted style and color added digitally.

Vatan Wine Label

Steven Noble was charged with creating this custom illustration for this prestigious wine label called Bodegas Vatan for Jorge Ordenez. This illustration includes two angels holding up a symbolic crest that represents the Bodegas Vatan coat of arms going back to the Middle Ages and was hand etched into a scratchboard woodcut surface. Vatan is the pure representation of the oldest clone of Tempranillo in Spain, from some of the oldest ungrafted vines in the country, located in the only Spanish D.O. that completely resisted the phylloxera plague.

Images and text courtesy of Steven Noble
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