anatomy of an illustration

Good morning! Welcome to a brand new week. Do you feel the thrill of possibility this morning?

I was working on this illustration yesterday, and I thought it would be fun to scan it at a couple of stages and show a bit of the process, because I get asked about it often. So the top image is the pencil drawing that I began with in my sketchbook.

Then (above) I outlined that with a black pen and changed/added a few things-- the flag at the top is gone. I decided it was lame. I added the outlined flowers and bumps on the ground. I added the ribbons at the top. I got rid of the eyebrows. Oh, all these changes and additions were done in Photoshop- I should mention that.

And here is the finished piece! It's called "Summer Breeze," and you can see it here on my website as well. All the coloring was done in Photoshop with the paint bucket tool and brushes. The lace on the dress is a Photoshop brush, and the cloud and grass textures are pattern fills that I created and saved within Photoshop.

I hope you like it! It's fun to give a little insight into my work sometimes.

In other news, I finally added a big cartel shop to my website, so you can now purchase prints and things straight from there! Just click the 'shop' link at the top of my website. I'm also going to be adding some original paintings soon, so keep your eye out for that!

steps and stages

you all seem to really like when i post how my paintings come to be, so i thought i'd post another one, and perhaps turn it into an occasional feature called 'steps and stages' here on the blog. i tried to really document this one, but it's so funny-- sometimes i'll get so involved that i forget to take photos! i'll have to set an alarm for myself or something. :)

something i'd like to do at some point is interviews with other artists about their processes in creating pieces-- i know i always learn something from seeing how other creative people work, and i'm wondering if you would like it, too. what do you think? would that be a good addition to the blog? it could also fall under the heading of 'steps and stages.'

this piece feels a bit different to me than previous work, but i'm really liking it. i'm pretty obsessed with indian yellow oil pain these days. the color is so transparent and gorgeous! (sorry for the fuzzy photos...)

and here is a detail of the water, just for fun:

and the final product: