Weaver - Stage 1

Weaver

approx. 8 x 10

Prismacolor on Bristol Vellum

This is a drawing of my friend's dog, Weaver. This isn't finished because it needs a few more layers of color, and the ground needs to be finished so that you can see his feet. This is not really what I would consider the first stage, but it's the first stage that I will post. The first stage would be a really light layer of color to establish the base color map (I call it) and fur direction.

I've read where and I've seen how black dulls color, but there are times when black is appropriate. Complementary or analagous colors are often used by artists to create shading and shadows.

Zoie II

Zoie II
3.5 x 5
Prismacolor & Derwent
Watercolor
on Bristol Vellum

I drew this version of my Silky Terrier, Zoie, specifically for my son. The actual drawing didn't show as much of the paper through the pencil strokes in the background as the scanned version. I edited it in a graphics program to blur the background a bit using a depth-of-field filter. This filter is usually used on photographs, but I wanted to see how well it worked on this while trying to smooth the scanned version a bit. I also added a bit to the overall texture of this version using a paper texture filter.

Illustration Friday: Flawed

"Somehow, Felix knew, before even trying, that his plan was terribly flawed."

This week's Illustration Friday illustration was done in a photo editing program using vector layers, raster layers (a lot of layers), and the end result was filtered to look like it was done on slightly textured paper.

It was fun to work on. It started out as a sketch on paper, was scanned in and modified. I love my computer!

I'm slowly learning to keep working past the "ugly" stage of images, whether I'm creating something digital or traditional. Ever onward!

I'm also trying to improve my observation skills...

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!