Illustration Friday - DANGER

Danger, like everything else, is relative.

I finally did what I've wanted to do for a long time - re-purpose an old book.  I bought one on flower arranging for 50 cents from the library book sale. I tore out about a fourth of the pages, gessoed some of them up, and I'm now playing in it.  I'm working in acrylics and because the page already starts a bit messy looking, its easier to stay loose and have more fun.  I'm thinking it will be a good place to work on ideas for larger or more refined pieces, and also to experiment with techniques.  Here's what the book looks like: 

Note the message to self that I'm still in the process of coloring - "It's okay to play." Something I don't do enough of. Something I will try to do more often.

Little Lost Dog series

     

 

Here's a small series I completed recently. This is the type of thing I need to work on quite a bit more for my portfolio. The trouble with this was that I didn't work on them all at the same time.  That gives me a little more trouble with being consistent.  For the next series I do (and I do have one in mind) I'm going to sketch out and paint them together. Then if I want to change one, I can more easily adjust the other ones accordingly.

Illustration Friday - MONSTER

This is what I become around cookies.

This is the pencil drawing I began with.  

I dropped it into the computer and made it a little creepier.

Underwater Birds

     This is another redo.  I did the original a couple of years ago and have always wanted to go back and revise it a little. My digital skills have grown considerably since then, so I thought I would just take the original (done in acrylic) and drop it into Corel Paint and have some fun with it. The inspiration for the image came from "Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin. A character named Patchface (in the books) sang, "under the sea, the birds have scales for feathers." I just loved those words.

Here's the original acrylic painting

Illustration Friday - MELT

     My contribution this week to Illustration Friday.  I'd like to set up an actual still life and take some photographs and turn this into an oil painting - but what a waste of delicious sweetness that would be. I'll just have to be ready with my camera the next time I come across a beautiful ice cream sundae that someone left in the sun.

     When I was a kid, probably around 7 or 8 years old, they began advertising The Fiesta Sundae at Dairy Queen. IT WAS GORGEOUS! A party in a bowl! A glimpse of heaven with whipped cream swirls, sprinkles, and of course those perfect curlicues of vanilla soft serve poking out from the top. I wanted one so badly I could barely live with myself.  Well, my parents took me to the Dairy Queen. I was so excited! Unfortunately, I was waited on by a teen-ager who couldn't have cared less.  The fantasy bowl I had longed for was thrown quickly together, came out lopsided and the curlicues didn't even curl on the top.  I was devastated. Don't think I've actually gotten over it.

     I'm a vegan now, so this particular sundae is made with coconut ice cream.

Illustration Friday - PET redo

     I redid this one. I just wasn't happy with it the first time and I like this one better. It's fresher looking and the mermaid is sweeter and more cartoonish to match her pet.  Since I'm in the process now of working on my portfolio, there was no reason to set this aside and come back to it later.  I'm happy with it now so it will remain as is.