Well, I tried a new style today and I'm not sure it was successful. I would like to be able to try something new and be absolutely awesome the first time out. Completely unrealistic, of course, but it sure would be cool. I am getting better with the tiny work and brushes, so that's a plus.
As I've said before, I love elephants. This one is a nod to Miss Betts at the Riddle Elephant Sanctuary in Arkansas. I met her when she was just a baby and had the pleasure of feeding her a marshmallow. I was there for an Elephant Experience Weekend, which was a very generous and much-loved gift from my family. Did you know elephants love marshmallows? Before that weekend, I didn't either. Here's another surprise for you: They also love Twizzlers! I personally witnessed two magnificent, full-grown elephants run across a field at the mere crinkle of a Twizzlers wrapper. That weekend was full of surprises, new experiences, and fun. If you ever get the chance to visit, either during one of the weekends they are open to the public or for a more in-depth experience, I highly recommend it!
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I cannot believe that I am 90 days in! It seems like I've been at this a while, but three months?? Not really.
This is another image for my picture book dummy. Once I am able to use colored pencils and markers, I will think about refining the shading and the lettering. My brush skills have not progressed to the point where my lettering is as tidy as I would like, but I am miles better than at the beginning. It's interesting to me that nearly every night when I post these paintings, I notice something I would like to change or something that I missed. I promised in the beginning I'd post my progress, not perfection. An artist I follow says, "Finished, not perfect." I have to agree with the sentiment, though I sometimes struggle with putting it into action. :) Today was a test of my patience, my computer skills, my generally positive outlook. The day job brought a giant stinking pile of stress and dumped it right on my doorstep.
Just when I was about to resign myself to starting over and staying up all night to meet a deadline, I took a breath and took a cue from Regis -- I phoned a friend. She not only went out of her way to help me, she did it without hesitation. She could have begged off and told me she was busy or just didn't know how to fix the mess I'd made. But she didn't. She took that sticky mess from out of my hands, cleaned it off, and handed it back all shiny and new. She reminded me that there really are selfless people in the world willing to help even when they do not stand to gain. I realize that this was not a catastrophic event in the grand scheme of things, but to me, today, it was a major complication. During this time of disquiet, I reached out and a friend reached back. Thank you, friend! This painting will make very little sense to anyone but me -- and the kind and wonderful people from my critique groups. It is another image from my picture book dummy, which is humming right along, by the way. The manuscript has to be postmarked by the 15th (nothing like waiting until the last minute), so this challenge couldn't have come at a better time.
As for my critique groups, I have three. One is primarily area writers and we've been meeting in one incarnation or another for about a year. It is a diverse group and I am very thankful to have found them. The second mixes writers and illustrators. I am new to this group, so I'm still seeing how I fit in there. The third group is quite small and far flung. I met these women in my past life halfway across the country. They are part of the rainbow unicorn of critique groups that used to meet at my house one Saturday a month. I don't know how we worked so well, but we did. Thank heaven for the interwebs (yes, I know that is incorrect)! It has enabled us to keep at least part of our group intact, even though we have scattered to various parts of the country. I don't know where I would be without all of these people in my life. They keep me on track, show me different perspectives, cause me to examine each word, and polish my work until it shines. They are awesome and I appreciate them so very much! Poor, little Rosalie! Her day is not starting off at all well. Not to worry, I have a feeling things may just work out in her favor. This is another illustration for my picture book dummy.
This challenge has really helped me to become more confident with watercolor -- and I think I have improved along the way. I look forward to the next couple of weeks to see where I am at the end. I can't wait to start incorporating other tools along with the watercolor, such as colored pencils for details and shading. Using only paint has forced me to test myself to see what I can accomplish and what the paint can and cannot do. It's all been pretty interesting so far. The opening illustration for my latest picture book dummy -- now to complete the rest! I have just over a month to get it done. Wish me luck!
This has been a creative-centric day for me. I volunteered to bake for a fundraiser and while I baked, I watched (aka mostly listened) to an online class. I love my online classes! So many different perspectives and things to learn. This one was on painting color and light. One of the principles was to repeat color within the painting, which resulted in a fairy with purple hair and a unicorn with purple eyes.
It makes a lot of sense. It creates a more cohesive color palette and although I want you to notice the elf, I don't want his hair to be all you see. With the color in more than one place, it minimizes that possibility. I will have to go back and actually watch the class so that I get the full benefit of it. Fine with me -- I pick up another helpful nugget each and every time. Another challenge within a challenge! I wanted to test myself to see if I could manage a brush well on a tiny character. Check out that fairy -- he's seven-eighths of an inch tall! I think he turned out pretty well.
My comfort level has always been higher with a pencil or pen of some kind. Put simply, I have more control (I think I'm beginning to see a pattern emerging here...). After all these weeks, I am feeling more capable with a brush, with detail, and shading. I still stumble with the backgrounds, mostly because I prefer a clean, uncluttered, white background and in real life, that rarely happens. I might do well to attempt Will Terry's "Draw 50 Things" challenge. To complete that would necessitate having many, many things in the background. That is most definitely on my list, though I believe I will take a break before beginning that little task! Today was an unusually difficult and draining day at the day job, so I decided to do something simple that reminded me of two of my favorite people. Something happy and fresh to wash away the soot of this day.
“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.” Sherlock Holmes. In every iteration, a classic.
If you read yesterday's post, you may have guessed that this was actually my aim before I got frustrated and changed my plan. Sometimes it takes a bit of distance to see things clearly, such was the case for me. The initial inspiration for this was someone I encountered at my day job. His facial hair was perfect to include in an illustration. I desperately wanted to sketch it at the time, but someone was sitting behind me who would have definitely been able to see what I was up to. Normally, that wouldn't bother me, but the setting was such that it would have garnered unwanted attention. I think I captured it, though I will do my best to sketch for reference if he crosses my path in the future. |
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July 2022
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