Wow - It's been a long time!

I've been away from the drawing board for a very long time now. Not that I haven't done any drawing at all, but I certainly haven't been on my computer as much and I haven't actually been working in any other medium - except the pen and scrap paper doodling during a telephone call or moment of silence before the next torrential series of busy-ness.

My father has been declining in health steadily over the past year but especially in the last few months. He suffered another stroke (I think it was the 3rd this year) 4 weeks ago and then seems to have had another mini-stroke about a week ago. Needless to say, this has been the focus of my attention for a while as my mother is needing help in his care and we're all trying to spend as much time with him as possible. I haven't exactly been able to participate in Illustration Friday or Everyday Matters Challenges which I really enjoy. :( Well, I'm bound and determine to start up again. I wanted this to be an illustrated journal and I haven't been very good about really commenting or thinking about things when I post my pics. Gotta change that. CYA round -

Illustration Friday - DIGITAL

Click for larger view.

Illustration Friday - DIGITAL
Using the less common but more original definition of DIGITAL (referring to the digits, e.g., fingers), here's a 10 minute Adobe Illustrator (incorporating the other meaning of digital) quickie because that's all I have time for this week!

Illustration Friday - ENVY

Click on thumbnail for full image. I painted this in Open Canvas, altered a photo with Photoshop and pasted it in as a layer, and added the text with Photoshop. Total time: 20 minutes.
I have another idea that I might have time to submit.

Illustration Friday - Aquatic

Click on thumbnail for full image. I absolutely ADORE Orcas... Orcinus orca. They are absolutely magnificent: an awesome combination of beauty, grace, ferocity, and familial loyalty. I had a lot of fun doing this. (And being a BC girl like Kerry, I too was inspired by the aquatic mammals that travel along our coast.)
This was done as a digital painting with Open Canvas. It took me about an hour.

Illustration Friday - NOURISHMENT

(Click for full view) My take on the word for this week... I think it's so important - life-essential, really - to nourish our children with Unconditional Love, Laughter, Respect, Encouragement, Affirmation, and Knowledge just to name a few things.

Illustration Friday - MISCHIEF 2

Or should I say, "Ms. Chief"?


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Open Canvas - 20 mins.

Illustration Friday - MISCHIEF

(Click on image for larger view) For some reason, when I uploaded this the color of the boys' skin changed - yellowy... and the sky changed too. :(
Oh well - this is a REALLY quick sketch in Illustrator, colored in Photoshop. Total time - 15 mins.

Illustration Friday - AMBITION 2

Click on thumbnail to see full image...


I couldn't resist doing this quick doodle in Open Canvas - 10 minutes.

Illustration Friday - AMBITION

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One of Miranda's ambitions is to fit into a size 8 again... Hey... black is slimming!

I drew it in Illustrator and colored in Photoshop - really really quick... this whole thing took me 15 minutes.

Open Canvas - not so speedy draw...

(Click for larger view) This one took longer because I was playing with the darker skin tones, trying to get shading without making the color look dirty. Plus hands are hard to do... in fact, these are still lookin' disproportionate.

Jube

This is my attempt at a portrait from a digicam shot my very talented and artistic niece sent me of herself. You should see her talent here!


Done in Open Canvas - click for larger view.

Open Canvas - speed draw

Click for larger view. Face 2 - 10 minutes... getting faster.

Open Canvas - speed draw

(Click on image for larger view) Face - 15 minutes

Illustration Friday - Daring 2

Pencil sketch colored with Open Canvas and Photoshop (text added w/ Photoshop). 45 minutes. (Click on image for larger)

Illustration Friday - DARING

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Quick illustration (20 minutes, Open Canvas) for Illustration Friday topic this week: Daring.

Cliff divers are definitely daring. Being kind of afraid of heights (that is, heights without barriers to protect me from falling), this would totally freak me out. I'm not sure I captured the feeling of height here but this is all I had time for this time. Might do something else later since I have a few ideas on this topic (although a few may be cliché).

Illustration Friday - Reinvent

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This is my interpretation - not happy with her face in the 90s with that punky hair - her face should be longer, but oh well... this is supposed to be a relatively quick thing since I've been super busy.

Anyway, I think Cher beats Madonna for the title of Mother of Reinvention seeing as she has successfully and often drastically altered her appearance, her voice (electronica) and her scope (singer in a duo, solo singer, actress - a REAL one who has received an Oscar, director, infomercial queen selling hair product, ultimate diva). And thankfully, I don't think she's "written" a children's book (yet).

cher,

This is the reference point...

cherreinvented,

We're Never Really Alone (Illustration Friday Submission 3)

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*I'm making up for having missed last week!* I didn't like the dark feeling of the first submission so I altered the concept... Why the teeter-totter? Well, because when we are alone or feel alone, things are "off balance" and if you haven't noticed, it's just not as much fun to see-saw when you're by yourself.

We're never really alone.
"The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8

Illustration Friday - ALONE (Submission 2)

(Click for larger image) Being alone can be a wonderful thing... especially if you're a harried working mother who's only escape is behind a locked bathroom door...
Pencil sketch, scanned and colored in layers with Open Canvas.

Illustration Friday - ALONE (Submission #1)

(Click for larger view). Poe was a very desperate and desolate person. Alas, sometimes that is the price of genius.

On the "Write" Path

(Click for larger image) This was going to be my entry for Illustration Friday's "TRAVEL" but I missed the cut-off date because of a nasty coughing bug I seem to have snagged that requires me to contort myself a la Cirque du Soleil in order to keep from having a brain aneurism, further straining my ab and rib musculature, and pee'ing myself when I have these severe coughing fits. Not totally happy with it, but it's just a draft anyway.

Bad self-portrait 

Playing...

(Click on image for larger view) Playing with the new version of Open Canvas - I still haven't figured out what all the tools are.

Happy Easter, everyone! God bless!

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Done in Open Canvas. Lettering and edges added with Photoshop.

ROLL OVER!

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Well, what could be more crowded than 10 in a bed? Remember that children's song? That's the first thing that came to mind when I saw this week's Illustration Friday topic.

There were 10 in the bed when the little one said, "Roll over! Roll over!"
So they all rolled over and one fell out.

There were 9 in the bed when the little one said, "Roll over! Roll over!"

So they all rolled over and one fell out.

There were 8 in the bed...

You get the idea!
I think it ends with:

There were 2 in the bed when the little one said, "Roll over! Roll over!"

So they all rolled over and one fell out.

There was 1 in the bed and the little one said, "Good Night!"

Mrs. Calabash...

This is a character for a children's book I've written (but probably won't illustrate since I hear they don't like it when first time authors want to also be first time illustrators - besides, I'm not sure it's illustration quality). She was sketched and colored in Open Canvas, and then I did the background and shadow in Photoshop. Comments welcome. She's near and dear to my heart - her story has been in my heart and mind for over 6 years now and I have finally decided to submit (and face rejection head on).

Illustration Friday - BLOOM

(Click on thumbnail for detailed image) I wanted to do a variation on flowers... just a quick doodle in Open Canvas.

YOUR HONEST INPUT VALUED! Please????

Please click on thumbnail to view full image. I did another baby in Open Canvas. I am hoping that you will take the time to give me an honest critique. While I know that I can draw "above average", I really want to improve my composition so I keep trying to add things. I would very much value and appreciate any honest critique, specifically in the following areas:

1. What elements can I add or remove to improve the overall composition of the piece? Should there be more detail and small things added? Better background? "Texture"?
2. How do I accomplish an overall consistency in my lighting and shading that would give the picture more depth? I have been experimenting and trying to learn from observing others.
3. Is this sort of illustration suitable for greeting cards? Children's books? Magazines? My hubby and parents are hinting that I should parlay this into something that will at least justify all the time I spend doodling and sketching and all the money I spend on paper and art supplies.
4. Should the lines be stronger? Brushstrokes? Are my illustrations too "blurry" or soft looking? I know in some cases, soft is good, but I often wonder if people want to clean their computer screens or glasses or rub their eyes because sometimes I think my stuff looks overly hazy. Maybe it's the translation into .jpg format or something.
5. Do you have any helpful hints re dpi and resolution? If I'm going to do digital illustrations what format should I save them in that translates the colors best? I know that when I save something from Open Canvas to .jpg format and open it again in Photoshop, the color/appearance seems to change.

Because I am unable to attend any art classes or art groups right now, I value the critiques that I may get through this blog and my participation in things like Illustration Friday. I have been so encouraged by many of the participants who have taken the time to comment on my submissions. I love the positives but I really am hoping that I can improve my illustrations from the comments of others (besides, I have to learn to take criticism in a constructive way since I'm also trying to become an author and those rejection letters will be plentiful I'm sure).

While this is not fine art and I've never done an acrylic or oil or even real watercolor painting, I see this as a practice ground and will also venture into learning traditional mediums, starting probably with watercolor. I sketch with pencil and markers or I draw on the pen tablet. I have a cartoony style for some things and a "modified" realistic style (I think). I'm sure those aren't real art terms but it's about as close as I can describe it. I want to find my own style even though I love so much of what I've seen.

My biggest fans - my kids - always say, "Mom, you should be a professional artist!" - but I suspect they are biased. ;)

So, in advance, I thank you - I thank you for your honesty, your generosity and your critiques. Really, I'm not fishing for compliments! (But you can leave those too if it warrants it! *grin*)

Baby and Bunny

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Inspired by the positive feedback for my Illustration Friday post for FRAGILE, I thought I'd try another image of a baby... Comments welcome - still working on the shading thing. Done in Open Canvas - the thing with OC is that it's "paint based" so strokes push aside the other strokes... like paint - which I have NO experience with. This is so much fun learning!

Sigh - enough playing; back to work now.

Illustration Friday - FRAGILE

I thought of the fragility of infants... (Click on image for larger view.) Done in Open Canvas.

Just a bit of "graphics" humor

(Click image to view larger) While thinking of ancient things, I had a funny thought... well, it was funny when I first thought of it.

Illustration Friday - Ancient 2

(Click on image for larger view... if you want to.)

This file was originally called "Ancient Man Photoshopped to Death" - I just sketched an old guy with wrinkles in Open Canvas and then did the coloring in the ubiquitous Photoshop for practice. Ugh. I do NOT know how to apply proper shading! HELP!

Illustration Friday - ANCIENT

Pencil sketch on white bond, background misty swirly thing is Photoshop.

(Click the pic for larger view of image.) I have to use this sketch I did some time early last year (or was it late 2003?!??) for the Illustration Friday theme this week: ANCIENT. Dragons are ancient... aren't they? I mean they represent a time of ancient mythology... and they're so awesome to draw. I did this while I was sitting in a Starbucks feeling really angry about something and equating my rage with a fire-breathing dragon. Thankfully, almond triple-shot lattés are a wonderful panacea for most of what ails me. I'm really easy to please.

I had lots of other sketches of things (most of which have been covered fabulously in some shape or form at Illustration Friday). I did a few sketches of really old people but my son said he thinks they say "decrepit" more than "ancient." Then I did some tortoise and sea turtles and redwood trees and a couple of bad attempts at the Coliseum and Parthenon. However, since time is at a premium this week more than usual, here's my sketch. I appreciate anyone's comments and you don't even have to say it's good... I welcome any constructive criticism. Really - I can handle it. <_<

Let sleeping hogs lie...

Border collie... *I miss my dog!*

Card idea for Easter... or whenever...

Done in Open Canvas and tweaked with Photoshop.

Playing...

This is my "Bulbous Bird" from a story idea... he's too fat to fly, that's why he looks so sad.

Just a Little Sidebar...

I was surfing around when I came across this awesome animation created by Michael Levy to a recording by John Coltrane. It's inspiring and fits in with the last Illustration Friday theme of JAZZ... Enjoy! It's worth the time!

Illustration Friday - JAZZ 2 - Flapper

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I couldn't resist doing a flapper... I had all these images in my head. I did this in Open Canvas and did the blur and glow effects with Photoshop. I wanted to capture a sense of movement - let me know if I succeeded. This is what it started off as (straight from Open Canvas).

I'm really trying hard to get better with technique and appreciate everyone's comments - constructive and complimentary. I don't have any tutorials... it's trial and error and making notes about what I'm doing that I like and what I shouldn't do because it looks like fudge. I do get inspired from looking at everyone else's fabulous work at Illustration Friday!

Digital Image - JAZZ 1 - Illustration Friday

(You know the drill - click on image for larger view.)
While I'm not totally happy with this, it was an exercise. Nothing ever appears on paper as it does in my mind. I wish I could just blink my eyes and make it appear like a Polaroid. But then, where would the artistry be in that? Anyway, I used Open Canvas and added the blue background, glow, and JAZZ (handwritten) with Paint Shop Pro. I more or less just scribbled and sketched with different colors like I would in a sketchbook. The pen tablet is pressure sensitive, but still not the same as a color pencil or pen.... :-/ This is a great topic (as observed by many at Illustration Friday already) and there can be so many takes on this. I thought about a jazz icon's portrait, but so many fabulous ones have already been done... like this one ... and this one ... and this one ... and this one ... well, you know.... There are tons of excellent entries and if I sat here and linked to them all, you'd never come back to my blog! I think I'll sketch a flapper - the Jazz Age was the 20's and 30's... Big Band was the 40's (I think). I like a lot of the big band stuff but PURE jazz... well, that was born of freedom - the first generation of African Americans out of slavery - I think that's the essence of Jazz... freedom. But I have to go now.

The Liquid Therapy Club

(Click image for larger view) ~ For MarMar, JuneBug & Snow, my buddies at the Liquid Therapy Club... Nory says: "And that's why you'll never see me naked!" o_O

This whole SORROW theme is affecting me! :(

My new Wacom tablet arrived. I thought I'd play with painting like strokes... I'm totally experimenting so please don't be too tough on me critique-wise. Of course, I welcome your helpful instruction! I just kept painting on layers of colors and using the airbrush and smudging areas. I hate the hair, but that's another lesson to be learned...
My apologies for the sadness of the topic... I'm on a bit of a downer right now and the Illustration Friday theme kind of intensified them. No... I'm not a battered woman, but it has come close to home.

Loss and Sorrow - 2nd submission

Click for larger image. Not as emotionally heavy as my first submission... I didn't mean to upset anyone with that image but I went with my first reaction to the theme. Anyway, I wanted to try another medium/technique - here we go with the basic digital program again, but after all, this is what IF is all about! Inspired by a memory of my son losing his first hamster to time...

"Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation." - Kahlil Gibran

A Mother's Sorrow - Pencil drawing for Illustration Friday

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Wow... what a switch from all those light images of "flight"... but I have been flooded with lots of images for this topic as well. (Time to cut down on those triple-shot lattés...)

The first and most acute image of sorrow for me is the loss of a child... a parent having to release their offspring, regardless of age, to death is agonizing. The tragedies in the Middle East - carbombings and wars, the tsunami in SE Asia - so many innocents drowned and battered, swept away from their families, the horrors of Africa's civil wars and genocide in Sudan and Rwanda, the predators in our own society who would snatch our children from their innocence and harm them in so many awful ways, diseases that we haven't found the cure for cutting short promise and joy... these all conjured up images of parents finding their children murdered or killed by the catastrophes that they are powerless to control. I have 3 children and the thought of losing any of them prematurely or violently makes me cry at the thought...

Bug Girls...

(Click on images for larger view) I was playing around with a simple graphics program - I think it's an old Microsoft program that came bundled with Frontpage 98 eons ago. Anyway, since I still don't have my pen tablet, I decided to keep playing with anchor points and shapes to create these images. There are no layers, so you kind of just create pieces like a puzzle and then order them on the "canvas". Anyway, I have to play some more with the butterfly... I wish I knew how to add highlights to her... I may tweak the image later when I figure out how to make her look more dimensional.

Flight 2 - Illustration Friday

I was watching my youngest son skateboard yesterday - he was flying! I didn't sketch the landing because honestly, it wasn't pretty.
I messed up the mouth on this big time but I don't have time to redo it - and the perspective was difficult... Just a ballpoint sketch for this.

For Illustration Friday - variations on the theme of FLIGHT

Okay - I just love this week's theme because I've been told I'm kinda flighty... nyuk nyuk. Obviously this was a chance to play with different ideas and techniques. I didn't scan in EVERYTHING I did - all those sketches from my doodle book. But who knows, maybe I'll get the urge to do it later - after all, who hasn't wished they could fly?

(click on the images for a larger view...)

Kiwi Bird takes flight...
This was the second image I did... again with just a simple graphics program - learning to use skew and distortion tools (to make the steps) and layering the feathers onto the kiwi. He looked a lot cuter when I drew him with a pen, but I wanted to try the computer effects. Poor little flightless kiwi bird - has to take a flight of stairs... keep scrolling down for more on FLIGHT.

This next variation on the theme started off as a quick sketch - inspired by the dreams of all those flightless birds.
Showoffs - initial quick sketch and then using computer program, layers, shapes and effects

And finally (for now anyway)... Click on this for larger image and for even larger, wait for a second and click on the lower right corner when the little symbol appears.
Transformed Flight

Haven't we all wished we could fly?
This was initially done on black construction paper with colored pencils. I added the glow and the gradient "land" using Photoshop. I created layers to accentuate the little girl and the final bird, getting the transformation steps to be more transparent.

Thanks for visiting! Please let me know what you think! I'm constantly learning and any constructive criticism or techniques you wish to impart on my beginner brain will be greatly appreciated. There are some awesome artists and illustrators at Illustration Friday.