Illustration Friday: Climb

This is what I was working on for last week's Illustration Friday (and it's still not finished). I didn't get it posted last week because we had a major ice/snow storm that knocked out the electricity for four days.

Two small pine trees fell on my daughter's new car, and the top of a medium-sized pine sheared off under the weight of the ice and fell on the cab of my husband's truck.

My daughter's car came through it okay. The branches of both trees held the trunks up and her car was coated with a layer of ice and snow before the trees fell, which kept the branches from doing too much damage, if any.

My husband's truck has a dent in the cab, but it's still driveable.

Thank You

Just a quick note to thank everyone that has shown interest in my blog and those who are following it. I am amazed and incredulous, while at the same time glad that I actually have something of interest to share! Again, thanks for stopping by, it's appreciated!

Illustration Friday: Pale

This is my first post featuring an illustration for Illustration Friday. Just a quick digital illustration to practice my vector skills.

I had done a few sketches in graphite for this topic, and this is a digital version of one of them. I'm not an illustrator (as you can probably tell), but any experience can't hurt when it comes to creativity.

I'm pretty satisfied with the way it turned out. I may add this to my long list of resolutions—participating in Illustration Fridays.

Catchin' Creek Critters

Lazy Summer Days
Colored Pencil on Strathmore 400-Series
Drawing Paper
approx. 16"x20"

Maybe if I post this here, it will give me the push I need to get back to work on it. (Excuse the poor quality of the photo.) I started it in August 2008, got this far, started to feel overwhelmed, and gave it a rest. In the interim, I've done some sketching from life, a couple of CP kits by Nicole Caulfield that I purchased from Ann Kullberg's site www.annkullberg.com, and some smaller pieces that I have posted: namely "Zoie" and "Early Morn."

I don't know how other artists feel but, for me, if a piece is going to take a while and I know it, I get tired of looking at it fairly quickly and have to make myself stop so I don't totally screw it up or overwork it. I then go on to simpler, less time-consuming, smaller formats, or sketches until I feel that "okay, I'm ready to attempt to be a perfectionist again" feeling. Notice, in that last sentence, I said "attempt."

Nobody's perfect, but when I'm working on a piece that I really care about, I want to do my best—preferably doing it right the first time, so I won't feel compelled to scrap it and start all over. If I get tired of looking at the original not too far into the process, how far would the process get if I had to redo the entire piece! I guess that might be part of the challenge of creating for some. Perseverance. And I guess, for those whom derive pleasure from the process instead of the end result, this feeling is not a problem.

I think I see the process as a means to an end. I am after the end result and the pleasure I derive from the process depends on my mood, mindset, how well I feel the piece is progressing, and how much time I will have to invest in the piece. Will all the time and angst spent be worth it in the end?