A bit of a tweak

So I knew something was still needed on this piece .. and for a while I left it alone. Then I read Astrid's and Dee's comments and you helped me realize (thank you) that the sand/dust needed some more emphasis. Not so much the wind swirls but the dust itself. I'm a bit nervous about going over the top with it, so I added this gradually and I am much happier with it. The idea of the wind and sand image was to connect with the thirst-part of the story. Being in the desert and not having a drink for three days? Just makes me parched thinking about it (or maybe that's the bag of crisps I just polished off) ... Did you like the subtle imagery of the girl 'spilling' the water ...???!!!



Anyway thanks so much for your helpful and lovely comments. Cheers.This is a pretty small image so I don't know if it looks that different, but it does at 21 inches!

Digital oil paint technique

This is not directly related to a children book illustration, but I thought the technique may be interesting to you nonetheless. I experimented with Corel Painter X, with Oils (single apple) and Digital Oils (composition of 2 apples and plate).

I'm not sure if I want to end up using the technique, but it's quite fascinating what can be done digitally! I'm wondering if I should use it for a children book illustration, and see what happens? Right now, I feel oil paint looks too classical for my taste. But who knows, maybe I'll get inspired to use the technique anyways?

Step 1:
Laying the foundation (I heard later I should have started with dark, and added light layers on top. This worked for me at the time, but apparently my approach takes more effort and more "paint" (even though digital))


Step 2:
Working on it, adding more details...


Step 3:
Adding more details, more dark and light, blending the paint.
Apart from the fact that it looks like a bell-pepper, I'm starting to like my apple :-)


Step 4:
Finishing, adding more structure to the background, and emphasizing the highlights.


Composition sample
This is an example done with Artist Oil Paints in the program Corel Painter X. These brushes took me a moment to figure out! I almost stopped working with them, because they seemed so hard to handle. Eventually, the best brushes to use seem to be: Artists Oil Wet Brush, Dry Brush, and Grainy Blender. That's it?!!

I painted everything in Painter, but used Photoshop to balance the colors, to change the color of the plate, and to add the pattern to the plate.

FolkLore and Catching Up ....

Here's one of my two illos for this month's assignment. I posted it for iFri as well, (thanks for the tip Dee) so thought I'd put it up here, too. It's a DPS spanning a horizontal 10" x 8" book. Please click image to enlarge.



This folktale is "The five mares of Mohammed"
Out in the desert, Mohammed tests his horses by denying them water for three days, which upsets his daughter. On the third day he unleashes the horses to go drink but at the same time, blows his horn of war. All the horses, too distracted by their devastating thirst, continue to head for the watering hole. Except five mares who loyally return to the Prophet's side without a drink. To this day, they are known as Al Khamsa or literally translated as "The Five" It is believed these are the horses who began the bloodline of today's Al Khamsa Arabian horses, some of the finest — and most beautiful — equine in the world.




AND, as an attempt to try and get up to speed with all my outstanding assignments (and yep, still working on that Hansel & Gretel), here's Pippi. I know Dee has started the ball rolling with the current assignment, but I kinda hoped you wouldn't mind me throwing this up as well. This is for a 6" x 9" jacket. Please click image to enlarge. (Oh, apologies to Astrid, I misspelled your surname, when I get a chance I'll change it, I promise!) And I did go back and add my feedback to Dee's and Rebecca's Pippi pieces.

African Folktale: Clever Hare

I thought it would be a bonus this week to post this as an I-Fri entry as well as for the assignment we post every month here at the Soup. I used a completely different technique this time around. I used acrylics of course, but started with a dark under-painting and layered the colors. This have me a sketchy, loose border. It was fun, and definitely something I'll be playing with more in the future. (I placed the text underneath the corresponding pictures.)

"Hare looked out over his field. If he was going to have food to eat, he would have to plant a crop. But if he was going to plant a crop, he'd have to clear the field first. That was a lot of work — more work than Hare wanted to do.

Hare was a clever animal, so he soon had an idea. He dragged a length of rope behind him and lay in wait in the bushes outside his field. A big African elephant came lumbering along. Hare bet the elephant he could beat him in a tug-of-war. The large elephant laughed at the idea, coming as it did from such a small animal. He scooped up the rope with his trunk. Hare picked up the other end and scampered through the bushes and across his field. There he hid behind another row of bushes."

(The rest of the tale: "Soon enough a muddy hippopotamus waddled by. Hare dared the hippo to beat him in a tug-of-war. The proud hippo picked up the rope with his teeth. Hare hopped into the bushes and gave the rope a tug. When the elephant and the hippo felt the rope move, they each pulled hard. The powerful animals dragged the rope, back and forth, back and forth, until night fell. Each time the rope moved, it plowed another row in clever Hare's field.")

**I've taken Leeza's suggestion and expanded this story into a dummy book. Click here for a look at it.**

Secret Progress..

I thought that I would post a few pictures of an unfinished Secret Circus scene. As I go along, I would love to document the whole thing, from blank canvas to finished page...it's not a hard thing to do, I just have to remember to do it!

My favorite parts of the whole book process, would have to be the brainstorming, and the painting. I love thinking of the story and the images, and I love it when I can get down to the painty part as well.

The sketching and the making of the dummy, are so hard for me. I toil and toil and toil. I think I've complained before about my lack-of-sketching gusto, but I'm learning that in the book process, there really isn't any way around it.

That's ok though. All of the parts seem to balance themselves out, and for every hair pulling sketching moment, there seems to be a thrilling and beautiful painty moment...

WIP and Favorite part of the game.

Hello Everybody. Long time no post. Things have been uber scrambled around these parts but everything now seems to be settling down in a nice comfortable pattern. I am ready to concentrate on my illustration once again. So, I thought I'd catch up her at the Soup.

Above is my current wip. It is an illustration based on a Scandinavian Folktale. (our assignment suggested by the lovely Rebecca) I was very tempered to do Babba Yagga as one reader suggested. In fact I will probably tackle it next. But I was looking for a change of pace and a chance to draw some animals, so here you go. It will be revealed in its finished state by mid-Feb. (i hope)

The previous question of the week was about your favorite part of the process. I wish (often daydream actually) that I could be as organized as Dee, but my brain is pretty firmly centered in the chaotic left portion. I do like to sketch, but find I am truly satisfied when I am applying sketch to the watercolor block. Just something about working on the lines against the paper, composition and actual character personality makes me very happy.

However, it is not the only time. I also enjoy the painting process. Not the beginning where I am unsure and a little cautious or the end where I usually hate everything. The middle where the paint flows and mixes into the pools of color and textures is where I like to be.
So, I guess the areas I truly love are the middle portions, where my brain in lost in the zone of creating. The messy portions where I erase and blot and see nothing else going on but the action on my paper.

W.I.P-Jan. '08

I'm not trying to be a goody-two-shoes or anything, but I figured I'd go ahead and get this week's topic out of the way since I happened to be working on something right now. (I've got this week all mapped out and with this out of the way, it gives me more leeway for another project.)

I think you guys are familiar with the ducks by now. I know: "Again with these ducks?" (I wish we knew where they were, though.) Anyhoo, I've mentioned that thanks to my involvement with these birds, I was looking into the graphic novel format. Last December I officially made the leap (more like a tentative toe-dip) into that great art.

I have a portfolio review in April and I thought having a dummy in there would be a good idea. You know show that whole "Look I can draw and maintain a consistent narrative!" thing. I'm going to go ahead and put these guys into a graphic novel dummy. It should be relatively easy to do since I have a head start with them and all I have to do is clean up the storyline.

Click on the picture for a better look

Here is a peek at the beginning of my storyboard. Sorry for the yucky image. I didn't think about the fact that these are very quick pencil sketches. I really enjoy this part...laying out the storyline and looking at how the images flow from one to another and the overall look of the page. I hope to get the bulk of the duck's dummy finished before the end of the month. That way I can stick it in my portfolio and not worry about it.

Favorite Part of the Creative Process

I love being challenged. This sounds cheesy, but it's not. Right now, I'm not being challenged, so I'm lazy. Lazy is not good :-)

There are so many parts in the creative process that I like... First off, I love getting enquiries – how cool is it to wake up, check your email, and find a request from the other side of the world? It's so exciting! I also love brainstorming, developing concepts, and it's a really good feeling when the illustration process flows well and suddenly I catch myself thinking "cool, this is my new favorite illustration!".

This year, I've started illustrating and designing for weddings. I ask the couple as many questions as possible, to get a feeling for who they are. Then I start researching inspiration on the internet, and begin in InDesign to write concept ideas. I then switch back and forth between sketching in Painter and/or Illustrator, and writing the concepts in InDesign. This may seem a somewhat awkward way of doing it, but I get inspired that way: when I start writing down my thoughts for the graphic design concepts, images in my head start to form. When I illustrate, I suddenly get inspirations as to how the card could be designed. I'm very thorough, I love giving the best I can, and don't mind going the extra mile – I love looking at an elaborate concept for a client, when I can see that the time I put in it was worth it!

Here is a small glimpse of a 3 page pdf with concept suggestions for a wedding invitation card.

Whichever the way the wind blows ...

Actually not quite, but I have come to realize (just recently, after oh-I-won't-tell-you-how-many-years) that I am most productive when I am completely and utterly overloaded with paying work and deadlines!

It's true. When I am under the gun freelancing with a gatrillion-manillion design jobs, I look for ways to avoid sitting down and actually working on the projects, so I doodle. I start by trying to put something together for a client and I grab my sketchbook. I make a few squiggles with a pencil here and there and all of a sudden, I'm sketching an idea that's NOT related to absolutely anything I am working on — professional or personal.

Here's an example (see above):
This came out of me trying to work on a client's business card which I was also illustrating. It happened at about midnight last night. Tonight, at 10:30 pm, I finished it in color, but I'm not sharing that with you, it's a surprise for something coming up very soon. Hee Hee.

I guess I am like Frizz. I usually start by drawing an arc on a page and the rest happens naturally. If I stop to think about it or try to force the image, I fail and have to start over. (Which makes planned picture book dummies to match a manuscript extremely difficult — I have yet to find a successful process that clings to the organic process I so enjoy).

People always ask me how do I find the time, but my solution is being busy, otherwise I am just not productive. I think best when I have so many projects looming overhead and because I don't have time to stop and think about what I'm doing really, the results seem to always surprise me in a good way. I have newspapers to thank for this process. If you give me all the time in the world, I'd probably still leave it 'til the eleventh hour. All I need to do now is shake off the stress that comes attached to it and I'll be fine.

The Sketch Zone

My favorite part of my process is when I grab my pen, open my sketch book, plug into my ipod and doodle away. I may be rusty and take a bit to get started but then something shifts and I'm in the zone. My pen moves and I never know what will come out. It feels like I'm taken away. It's totally pure and totally me. I feel it's my connection to the well.
After that I have no clue what I'm doing. Color, style, perspective, layout, paint...it's all a frustrating guess at the moment. That will change with more work.

I keep my sketchbooks in my purse. I have 3 (two for sketches and one for writing) and a pretty big purse. I think if they happened to be in the house and it was on fire, I'd go in after them. They are years of ideas.
Here's what came of my sketches and it's companion piece is here...

The Creative Process

Don't get me wrong, I consider myself as right-brained as the next artist, but I definitely have a side of me that is completely left-brained and really enjoys planning. The dry erase calendar that hangs in my studio is just one example. I know you can't really read it, (maybe that's a good thing?) but surely the sticky notes and all those scribblings must be a clue into how much I like having a timeline. That big list in the middle is my month-to-month goal-line; what I hope to accomplish each month in order to do something momentous (at least for me) in May.
But what I've realized over the last couple of days as I've worked on various projects is that I very much relish the process of creating something. The entire frenzied buzz that can build up in my head is almost addictive. My favorite part of the process is when I have an idea, but still need to figure out what shape it's going to take, and how to build it; the sketching step.

I so enjoy this part of the process, I now have three separate sketchbooks devoted to different types of creations. In the pic above you can see I've made use of as much space as possible in sketching out the details of a mobile I hope to make for my son in what I consider my crafting book. The left page has the general shape and construction and theme, the right page has mini drawings as well as a count of my materials.

I'm not sure what it is exactly that causes me to enjoy so much this step of creating something. Goodness knows how fleeting getting an idea can be, as well as how difficult it can be trying to come up with one. Most people probably find real satisfaction out of an idea coming to fruition, but there have been so many times when the final product is a let down compared to what is in my head. (I think part of this is I have yet to find a style that "fits" where I think I need to be.)

I think, as I've stated over at my blog, it's because I so enjoy the possibilities. What could be, what will be, how will it change? Will it be as fantastic as I imagine or will it fall short? Will I manage to blow myself away or be disappointed once again? In other words, it gives me something to strive for, and after all isn't that what this whole artist schtick is about?

Hmmm ...

Well, I'm not one for resolutions. Tried that many years in a row with the typical weight-loss-fitness-take-better-care-of-myself routine and I never got past the first few days of January, so I vowed never to go down that path again. I guess the idea of a resolution is to resolve what didn't work out last year — HAH! Don't get me started there ... she laughs hysterically trying not to sound cynical.

Goals? Hmmm, tricky one, that. As I sit here and ponder what goals I have for 2008 — and believe me the list is as long as me arm — I can't help thinking I'm already setting myself up for far too mush stress and pressure than I really want to have to contemplate or anticipate as the year unfolds.

Sooo, that said, I think it'd be fantastic if some of the things that just happened to appear on my wish-list turned into reality. And, why, I'd be positively ecstatic if ALL the items were crossed off. I shall not set my expectations higher than the faith, hope and belief of what I can conjur up in my life as one day passes to the next.

As mentioned in my oh-so-long "Balance" posting, my only aim is to quit dwelling on my unfinished to-do list from yesterday, stop focusing on my superwoman to-do list of tomorrow and solely concentrate on making the most out of each of my todays.

Leezy's illustration/children's book WISH-LIST does include and in no particular order:
• To complete current dummies and revise outstanding manuscripts!
• To sign multiple children's book contracts with at least five publishers!
• To win the portfolio exhibit in NYC in February!
• To meet oodles of new and exciting people in the field!
• To redesign my Web site!
• To order new postcards/biz cards!
• To create an amazing new body of work that will blow everyone's minds straight out of the water!
• To get together with ALL members of GroupSoup and hug each and everyone of you!

What I can say is how grateful I am to be a part of this group and the opportunities and each other's life experiences that have accompanied the time we have been together so far. I am thankful for all that I am and all that I have and I look forward to a year filled with the most enriching, encouraging and empowering "todays" of my life.

CHEERS!

2008!

Happy New Year!

Well, 2007 was a great year for me in a lot of ways, and I'm really grateful for all of the wonderful things that stacked up in my favor. This group was one of those awesome things! I love being a part of this. I feel supported and understood in a really wonderful way.

As far as next year goes...I'm hoping to get prints of made of my paintings, and hopefully cut down on the original paintings that I've been making, so that I have more time to work on the books.

I'm also hoping to finish the young adult story that I've had stashed away for months and months....

But mainly, I want to focus less on goals and more on the process of living..the process of illustration..friendships, family, staying healthy...these things more and more seem to lend themselves to my overall happiness and success in a really relaxed way.

I just wrote a long post about 2007 and 2008 on my blog, but I wrapped it up saying that I kind of want to pick a theme this year, rather than set goals. I think the two words that I want to use to describe this theme are, FREEDOM and CURIOSITY.

We'll see where they take me this year..I'm very curious. Ha!