Showing posts with label painter x. Show all posts
Showing posts with label painter x. Show all posts

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Come One, Come All...

 
Welcome to the newest, revised version of Under the Circus Tent (or was it Beneath the Circus Tent? I can't remember, I should look, but I am too tired) Silly, I know. I am in a silly, happy mood! My daughter was invited to attend Oxford University for her graduate program in the fall!!! I didn't even know they did that. Because, she is in the top ten percent at the University she is attending, they asked if she would consider continuing her education there! See, I know she is amazing, but it's really cool when other people realize that she is amazing too. I've been doing a little happy dance for hours now. So, I'm full of silly exhaustion. I just can't help but brag, I seem to be doing that a lot lately.  I wanted to call everyone I know, but I didn't; I restrained myself and I only called half the people I know. So, now I'm blabbing about it to all of you!
Anyway, silliness and bragging aside, what do you think, is it better? too dark? too much? (Andrew, does the slight vignette shadowing work to replicate the curve of the flags in reverse?) I could add a row of lower lights, but this would cause a change in the lighting and shading. 
On another note, my blog was a year old in September and it has been a great year. I didn't even realize it had already been over a year until I was reading Andrew's and Amalia's blogs and realized we started blogging at about the same time. I won't name all of my lovely friends, you know who you are. I have enjoyed meeting all of you and getting to know you. It has been a year full of kindness and support. You have all helped me to grow as an artist. So, thanks for putting up with my bragging about my children. I appreciate all of your comments and input. You all are the best!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Finishing Up Just for Fun

I was doing this one for Illustration Friday several weeks back for the prompt Paisley, but life got in the way, so I finished it up today, mostly anyway. Just trying to make myself go back and at least take things to a level of finished that I can be happy with. It's great practice and a promise I made to myself to try and not leave things half done. I may keep playing with her tonight, I had initially intended on using her in a retro school or library setting.

...and again Jack has saved me from a lack of creativity and time, so thanks Jack, again!  I am using this for Illustration Friday's prompt Artificial, looking at the world through rose colored glasses doesn't seem to have improved her disposition, but it works for the prompt I think, no time for something new and I was totally stumped on something different for this one...

Thursday, July 22, 2010

IF_Breakfast

Just a quick one for Illustration Friday's prompt breakfast. I was already doing this one and lost all the work except for the beginning of the doughnut and had to mostly start over, so it's messy and even quicker than I had intended, oh well. Another ant, I must have ants on the brain or something. Anyway, here he is the giant, he-man, doughnut steeling ant.  Hope every one is having a great summer. Thanks for stopping by!  and thanks for taking the time to comment! and Andrew, I am working on pickle ant, I really am! ; )

Friday, July 9, 2010

WIP finished

Ok, I think I am finally done. Too late for Illustration Friday since today is Friday and a new word. The ants were little buggers and took longer to do than I had imagined they would, but I am pretty happy with the outcome, even though I think I could keep working on it if I wanted to. I am making myself stop for now. The ants remind me a little of the dancing, singing Raisins form some old commercial, but they are pretty cute. Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment if you have time, because I love to read them!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

WIP_Picnic

This is what I am working on this week.  Just a fun piece that will work for more than one theme.  I hope to use it for several prompts and for my portfolio. I'd like to do more, but just in case I run out of time I tried to make it work for more than one. I haven't had time to participate as much as I like to. I am also working on some older pieces, finishing those up and reworking a couple of others.  Maybe I can finish this one up tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by. You all are wonderful and I really appreciate your comments!

*updated 7/7

Thursday, July 1, 2010

IF_ Satellite

Here is the finished version of Satellite for Illustration Friday. I'm headed to bed for some much needed sleep now. Thanks for visiting! Comments are appreciated.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

IF Satellite WIP

This is what I am working on, today anyway. It is for Illustration Friday's prompt Satellite. I am still working on Paisley from last week also along with some sketches for another project. I thought that by now I would have more time to get the things I wanted to do done, but that hasn't happened yet. Maybe July will be better : ) no promises though, I just seem to be consistently inconsistent right now. But seriously I will try to start posting more often again.
I'm actually doing an under painting for this one which I tend to do when working traditionally but rarely do when working digitally. I think this one will benefit from the added step though. I am also in the process of redoing the Strange Pets piece with changes from the suggestions I received for it.  I hope to get it done pretty soon. It's time to finish up stray pieces and post the results. That's my goal for the next few weeks anyway. Thanks for visiting and leaving so many wonderful and kind comments. I really appreciate the support.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Ripple

I seem to be getting everything done late, lately. This is what I was working on for Illustration Friday last week. It's also my submission for Kelly Light's Ripple blog. But I got it done, so better late than never. I'm practicing working in a less realistic style. I'm not comfortable with it and it shows. I have to fight myself to not try to paint everything the way I think it is supposed to be. I feel like my imagination is stifled and everything comes with difficulty. That's why I am making myself do it more and possibly/most likely, why everything is taking me so much longer. Maybe I will even find time to do Illustration Friday this week! There are so many possibilities with the word Paisley. Thanks for stopping by and for taking the time to leave a comment. I appreciate your comments so much. You all are so supportive that you give the courage to try and work out of my comfort zone and actually post it for all to see!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Strange Pets



Watercolor Wednesdays theme this week is strange pets. I think this one qualifies. I'm still crazy busy, but finding a little more time to take a break and play. Thanks for visiting and taking the time to comment! You are all so supportive and awesome!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

IF_Trail

This is my entry for this weeks prompt Trail for Illustration Friday.  I'm not loving it and I'm not sure what it is I don't like about it, but I haven't gotten to participate in several weeks now, so I'm posting it anyway. I had every intention of doing a completely new illustration tonight after I put my grandson to bed. Instead, I had surprise company and had to make an impromptu dinner for the unexpected guests. Now it is getting late, so I guess I am stuck with this one. I keep waiting for things to slow down and  looking forward to having time to do multiple illustrations, get caught up, touch base with friends and try some new things, but I'm still not there yet. Maybe next week!
Thanks for visiting! Comments are welcome and appreciated!

Monday, May 31, 2010

Something New

I'm finally posting something new. This was going to be my post for Illustration Friday last week, but I didn't get it finished. Pretty ironic considering the theme was "Early".  I haven't been able to get much done for the past several weeks, but now that school is out for the summer I hope that I will be able to make up for lost time in the next few months. Time to get serious again. I have joined a critique group and have several new pieces I'm working on for my portfolio. I am also still working on my recipe piece. Things are taking me much longer to get done right now. Just too much going on I guess. Maybe I'll even get my IF entry done this week. Wish me luck!  Thanks for visiting and thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it! Reading what you have to say makes me smile.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Recipe layout WIP pt 2

Ok, so I'm still not done. I have made a little more progress.  I think I may have fixed the bottle issue, but it may still stand out too much.  Keep in mind that this is an in progress piece. There are several other elements that I still want to add and I may end up moving things around. I also will add shadows  and maybe some textures and lighting. I'm kind of figuring it out as I go, it's not how I usually work, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it when I started. I don't know,  I may get it done and hate it. I know I am spending way too much time on it, but I don't seem to be able to stop working on it, so it will be sad if I end up not liking it.  Whether I end up liking it or not though it's good to do something your not used to sometimes.  
School will be out soon and I'll have more time to get some things done, maybe. We've had testing, testing and more testing.  I'm also taking Myles to CVI for classes once a week now, which is why I am up way too late tonight working on this.   Thanks for visiting and for taking the time to let me know what you think. I am going to take a break on this one tomorrow and work on Illustration Friday's prompt for this week, it's almost Wednesday and I haven't even started yet...

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Recipe layout WIP

So, this is what I have been working on for the "They Draw and Cook" project.  It is however, taking me forever to complete. I am creating each element separately so that I can play around with the placement and use them for other projects.  I am also working on other pieces, but it is taking much longer than I had hoped it would.  Yes,  I know I am going overboard; I just can't seem to help it. I wanted to do some cute  simple sketchy thing and ended up with ridiculousness! But it's kinda fun making all the food and the point of wanting to use the food for other things makes it worthwhile I guess. I would love to get done with it though.  I'd love to then do some simple sketchy thing for another recipe, but if I never get this one finished that isn't likely to happen. : ) Meanwhile, I have many other projects going at once.  I like to make myself start and finish one project at a time and usually, well for the past year and a half anyway, this is what I have done, but this month has been so chaotic and it is being reflected in my work habits. I do plan to make myself finish them all. I really do! Maybe if I say it enough it will actually happen... Maybe
Thanks for stopping by and to those of you who leave comments, thank you for supporting me.  I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know what you think.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

IF-Fearless

This weeks prompt for Illustration Friday is Fearless. I haven't been able to get anything completed recently. Actually I have hardly had time to draw at all. Cyan(my 14 year old) had testing all week long the week before last and then last week I had appointments all week long and though I have several pieces started I just couldn't seem to get one of them done. I was so tired this weekend I didn't even pick up a pencil. So, today I started a new one.  I'll have to make myself go back and finish the others though. But for this one I decided that my grandson is the most fearless person I know and  my daughter has wanted me to do a new illustration of him for months now. I haven't done one since he was a baby and it was actually my first digital illustration. I decided to post them both to see how much I have progressed in a year and a half. I did the bottom one the day I first tried a trial version of painter and fell in love with the program. Actually, I think I used painter essentials for that one or whatever version came with my Wacom. 
So, I decided to do a new illustration of my fearless grandson.  My grandson is blind, he sees a little light and shape in extreme contrast. But, you would never know it to see him. Like any other 2 1/2 year old he runs, climbs, jumps, and meddles in and on everything. Most children who are visually impaired tend to be cautious and fearful of the unknown. But Myles has no fear, he investigates everything around him with gusto and most of the time with only the slightest encouragement he is willing to try anything new. He absolutely amazes me on a daily basis. Any way this is my fearless boy, Myles the Magnificent! Sorry I am behind on posting new work, hopefully I will get caught up soon.  Thank you for visiting and for all the supportive and kind comments that you leave! You all rock; I love it and appreciate it!

Monday, May 3, 2010

IF_Cocoon

This weeks prompt for Illustration Friday is Cocoon.  I've got another crazy week so just a quick one this time.  This is the first illustration that I have done on my new computer. I also used CS5 for the first time and painter 11. The illustration isn't my favorite but I'm in love with the computer and new programs. The learning curve isn't going to be bad at all. The Mac is so easy I haven't had any problems with it yet and the new version of photoshop is wonderful. Of course I am going from CS2 to CS5 so there was a pretty good gap.
Before I forget again I need to list the lie from my Award post a while back. Several of the answers were partial truths. #3 was mostly true but I did try to paint and draw a few times during that 10 years I just didn't have the time or the patience with 2 small children to make enough of an effort and felt like I had lost my ability to draw. #4 was half true, no championships yet ; ). #7 I wish...
...the part about an author/illustrator was true though.  I can't remember his name, but he left a lasting impression on me.  That leaves # 5, which is so crazy it has to be true. I not only heard this from my grandparents, but also from the daughter of the man who was left tied up over night. The rest of the story is that my grandmother gave me that ring and I wore it every single day. When she gave it to me I thought it was too large, not my color  and so not me, but it was from her and because of that I adored it. Well, when I was sick and having radiation my fingers kept shrinking and swelling, but I stubbornly kept wearing my jewelry even though there were days when it would fall off.  So, of course, one day when I was feeling productive, I was cleaning and tossing things out and my ring fell off into the garbage bag(or so we think) and needless to say that is the day my hubby was especially helpful and efficient and took the bag to the dump immediately. We searched for days and never found it. I still get upset just thinking about it. I think that is the most I have ever cried over a possession. Now all I have is the story : (

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

IF_Ahead

                                                                                                                          
This week my son has CRCT testing and because we homeschool we have to drive about 30 minutes away to a testing site at one of the colleges. It's the closest site we've ever been assigned to, but it still takes up most of the day, everyday. So for IF's theme this week I am posting a work in progress to represent Ahead. I am creating elements for a recipe/illo for They Draw and Cook. You could say I am planning ahead or that you need these ingredients to plan ahead if you are going to make this recipe, though it is only about half of theme so far... anyway Jack Foster(thanks Jack) mentioned that my illo of the Little Red Hen would be good for this week, it is a little further down the page(below the tutorial posts), I didn't want to post it again but she certainly had to plan ahead in the story. Thanks for visiting and as always thanks so much for taking the time to comment and feed my blog! : )

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Tutorial for linked part 2



















Here is the second half of my tutorial. This begins with painter and then goes into photoshop. I used a pc so there may be a couple of minor differences for mac which I am not familiar with yet.If you have any questions let me know. You can post them or send me an email.

 Hints: Save constantly! Play with the settings until you find what you like, every image is a little different. I am self taught and this is just how I work, so there may be better ways of doing many of these things. 

Friday, April 23, 2010

Tutorial for Linked part 1

Ok, here is part one of my tutorial as promised. Sorry it is taking me so long to finish it. I have never done one before and it is different from teaching one on one( taking screen shots and trying to write it all down and making sure I don't forget anything). So if you have questions or suggestions let me know. I'm still working on the photoshop portion. The first half is in painter, however it could all be done in photoshop using similar methods, I just prefer starting in painter.

Monday, April 19, 2010

IF_Detective

This is my entry for this weeks Illustration Friday prompt Detective. I'm still working on my tutorial for the previous illustration, trying to find time to setup my new computer, and to learn to use a Mac. I've always used a PC. For some reason my husband has always had a thing against anything Apple. I don't really get it, but he actually bought me one this weekend. Yay!!!!!! He's very supportive, except for the occasional "it's not my favorite" comment and it was incredibly sweet of him because his computer is sooooooooooooo old and outdated.  New toys are so much fun. Thanks for visiting and for taking the time to leave a comment!

Friday, April 16, 2010

IF_Linked

Well, I didn't get this finished in time. : (
It's the first time I haven't gotten the prompt done since I started doing Illustration Friday. It was just one of those weeks. A good week, but a very busy one. But here it is anyway. I took snapshots along the way and may go back and post it as a work in progress/tutorial type thing. Let me know if you would like to see this. Thank you for visiting; I'm so glad you stopped by!
And, thanks for taking the time to leave comments, they make me smile : )