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SNAP! This is what I did for Illustration Friday. That croc is about to snap – will that monkey get out of the way in time? I drew this at 8 o’clock this morning. I think it took 8 hours to color in PhotoShop (I also laid insulation in the attic today so I lost track of time). I don’t think I’ll be working this hard for Illustration Friday again for a while – this takes a lot of time! But I’m very happy with it. I decided for this illo that I’d go without an outline – which is actually more difficult. I created every element in this illustration from the leaves to the water. It was fun figuring everything out. And now… I can sleep! Whew!
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Hey! It’s Kali! [click on her to see a larger image] I’m not Hindu but I do respect the religion and the subject matter of this illustration. That said, I’ve been drooling over illustrations by Mary Blair and playing with her style. Mary’s pictures are always so cute and colorful. I wondered what it would look like if Mary had painted the destroyer of men, the devourer of time, Kali. Why, it would look like this! And I must say, I am very pleased with myself. This took 40 minutes to draw and ink (inked so I could see the lines after I scanned it), and 6 hours to paint in PhotoShop. I did everything with a mouse and the paintbrush and mask tools. I used the Pantone solid matte palette. Kali appears here traditionally with sword, scythe, skull garland, a skirt made of the severed arms of her enemies, one hand holding a severed head, the other in blessing. I think I did both Kali and Mary Blair justice here. I hope you enjoy it too.
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Illustration Friday’s theme this week is “I-Spy”. A much easier theme than last week’s “total”. I think. I had a lot of ideas but decided on the adult Bond-like one. This guy is tough, suave, alert. And a dog is taking a wee on his leg. I just finished this, a half an hour drawing, 4 hours in PhotoShop. I like it. The lighting needs a little work, but… well… it’s funny.
At Illustration Friday I submitted it as “children’s art”. I just didn’t know how to classify it. Hope you enjoy it. [update] I accidently posted the wrong illo at illustration friday and then posted the right one directly after. Sorry. And, also as well, if anyone wonders, I made that brick wall all by myself from scratch so there!
here’s 2 little girls and a whole bunch of little girl heads. i don’t know why.
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The very fine artist, Dean Trippe, drew a Supergirl. It was so beautiful that another artist wanted to draw one too. Then another and another and another… Dean Trippe challenged all to come up with their favorite (or new) design for Supergirl and her costume. It took me a while (forever in Internet terms) to discover the meme but once I did I wanted to play too.
Here’s my humble entry (although it’s not really a contest). Click it to see large image! I wanted a Supergirl in plain clothes, just an ordinary pretty girl with an “s” on her shirt. I used Supergirl colors but have her with her hair in a ponytail, wearing a T-shirt and shorts, and barefoot. She’s got the bad guy and is looking over her shoulder for trouble, appearing a little annoyed. I did the drawing in about 5 minutes, inked it in about 10, and colored it in PhotoShop in about 4 hours.
oh, fairy princess putt-putt! what wishes do you grant? what makes you float so effortlessly? what is that horrible smell?
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Here’s something I did just for myself. I like to sketch scenes – just make up different scenarios and the characters that go in them – and this one just amused me. I like the dichotomy of their blank and vacant stares and yet they seem to have had their attention grabbed, probably by someone who has just walked into the bar. I decided to hone my PhotoShop skills on it and I must say I am very pleased. I like the atmosphere of the bar, the detail and the color, but it doesn’t take away from the focus on the girls. This took me about 5 hours from start to finish.
 "Total - All The Marbles")
This was a lot of work. As always, the sketch came easy. Then I spent some more time with re-sketching it in pencil and then inked it in. I scanned it and then used PhotoShop to paint it. I am still learning PhotoShop so it took me a total of 6 hours to finish! A lot of work but totally satisfying.
The theme – total – comes out with her getting all the marbles! She totalled those poor boys and took the total prize. And now I’m totally exhausted.
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Another idea I had was more literal – actually trying to find the total. This kid could have been me at his age – probably drawing on his desk instead of paying attention. I like the idea but decided to go for a more figurative idea.
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I was going to do a kid with a big smile showing off some heavy metal braces but someone beat me to it. I guess I still could, but I got another idea of a little robot that was plugged in and wanted to be free. It’s just a sketch but I liked how it looked so I colored it and, well, here it is. You can see the originals here.
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Here’s my attempt at an illustration for the “hide” theme for this week’s illustration friday. I was trying to think of an exciting reason to hide and recalled my youth when I was such a fan of Robert Louis Stevenson. Anyway, I did this as a pencil drawing, scanned it, drew the outline on a layer in photoshop, and then painted the background. I didn’t time it but it took quite a while. Still learning photoshop.
Thanks for any comments.
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