Illustration Friday: Match

I was having idea block when I went to read my now several days old Sunday Chicago Tribune, and there was a cover story about the twin Chinese girls who were adopted by different American families, and were reunited due to a chance meeting on the internet. Amazingly, their names are both Mia. They seemed to have an immediate connection when they met face to face, and their DNA was a match.

Illustration Friday: Clean

From the moment I saw this week's topic I knew I wanted to do a 'in the tub' scene even though I knew there would be a lot of similar entries. I wasn't sure who would be in my little tub until I remembered the time my mom and I attempted to bathe our extremely bratty, ornery cat Max. Mom said it couldn't be done, but I truly believed that since I was bigger, and even more stubborn than him that I would be triumphant. Well, as soon as I got him soaped up and slippery he did the 'crocodile death roll', I lost hold of him, and he jumped out of the basement sink, and ran upstairs. I paused, heard the 'I told you so' from mom, and calmly went up after him. I found him just sitting in the middle of the floor. I told him we would have to finish this thing, and his soapy little self realized I was right, and he let me carry him back down to the basement.

I've been meaning to get back to traditional painting for a long time now. I've become so dependent on the computer that the thought of picking up a real brush is extremely intimidating. I needed to break through this barrier. I want to get into working in acrylic, but for this first go around I went back to the medium I used to know best....watercolors.

Illustration Friday: Opposites

This week's topic developed into 2 separate illustrations in which I tried to include multiple opposites. So we have the big happy elephant enjoying being free to eat his little peanut in the city on a hot summer day, and then there is the tiny unhappy mouse trapped inside a country house while attempting to snack on big cheese on a cold winter day.

I definitely enjoyed drawing and coloring the elephant, but kinda lost interest in the mouse. While I was finishing this up I heard Stephen Colbert announce that tonight's word was 'Opposite Day'. How appropriate!

Hand drawn sketches colored in Painter IX.

Illustration Friday: Sacrifice

The pain of being abandoned is often too much for a once beloved stuffed animal to bear. Some of the forgotten ones turn to self-sacrifice, offering themselves up to the almighty shredder to become pillow stuffing in one last desperate attempt to be close to those who once promised to love them forever.
I always intended colour for this one, but this chalkboard sketch version came about during the process, so I thought I'd share it as well.

Illustration Friday: Skyline

I glanced out the window at work last week, and saw this strange suessian-type roadwork vehicle. It poured out some dust which whirled into a big cloud, and then rather precariously weaved from lane to lane backwards with cars zipping by. I'm not sure what the purpose was. My only thought was that it must have been part of some kind of pothole prevention plan.

I wanted to be more creative and looser with this, but got caught up with the details. I added an industrial skyline in an attempt to fit this week's topic. I'm not sure if I like the results with this one. I see it more as a stepping stone to some other design directions I want to explore.

Here's the photo I snapped before it sped off:

Illustration Friday: Jungle

Jungle animals playing on the jungle gym in the urban jungle.

Illustration Friday: Portrait

I was hoping to use this for one of the IF topics. I did this portrait last autumn for my mom's birthday. It is based on an old photograph of us from my childhood when we were goofing around with my dad's 'styling' fishing hat.

This was done almost entirely in Painter IX.
You can see a larger version which I posted at CGTalk. .

Illustration Friday: Cake

Mmmmm, what a wonderful topic this week. I've been a big fan of this confection for as long as I can remember. What could be better than deliciously wonderful cake? Well, I suppose if a friend surprised me with cake that could be even better. Although, I'd accept cake from just about anyone!! :)

Illustration Friday: Sorry

I'm sorry for not updating this blog much lately, and I'm sorry for missing a few weeks worth of Illustration Fridays. I've been busy as I explained in my previous post. I've missed participating. I already feel rusty. This took forever to finish. I attempted last week's topic, but it refused to become finished art. You can't force the design process, (bad things happen if you do), so I let it go. Hopefully, I can get back into the weekly IF habit.

needle felted pets

It feels like forever since I've posted anything. All the usual excuses apply. I've been stressed by work, doing a little freelance, and other projects like learning needle felting. I created these little versions of my parents cats for mother's day/father's day. I haven't done anything crafty in awhile, so this was a fun change of pace. It also helped act as a little art therapy to forget some of the work stress. I learned how to create these little guys from a coworker, Mary Brunner, who teaches classes on this, and many other wool creations at a local shop. I liked that there was no sewing, except for the eyes, and no gluing. I started with the wire armatures to give them structure, and it makes the finished ones bendable. Then I used some polyfill for the insides, and wrapped them with wool roving poked in with the felting needle. I broke a couple needles, and stabbed my fingers quite a few times, but it was a fun project.

Illustration Friday: Robot

Just a quick color sketch of father and son fishing at ol' Oil Slick Lake. I know I have some drawing problems in this, but I'm too busy and too tired to try and fix them now. I realized that I don't think I've ever drawn robots, so I did a little googling to try to get some ideas on the mechanics. National Geographic had a story about a real robot fish which probably helped inspire this image. While on their site I found a crazy article about a housefly with glasses, and another about a ginormous monster bunny which would have been a useful reference for me a few posts ago.

Illustration Friday: Spotted

Last week I heard on the news that a family of owls had returned to nest in a tree at a courthouse in a town near where I live, so on my way home I had to check it out. It was easy to find the right spot as there were people staring up into the trees. I didn't see anything in the nest, but then someone pointed out that the owl was on a branch farther up the tree. I asked if there were babies, and was told that was a baby. Wow, I didn't realize they were already so big. With help from others I spotted the other 2 babies in different trees. I tried to take some photos, but they were only a speck in my little camera.

I bought this photo from a toothless man who got the shot a day earlier when they left the nest, and one fell to the ground. Animal control came out and scooped it up, and put it on the roof of the courthouse. It was o.k..
They aren't the famous Spotted Owls, but rather Great Horned Owls.

I went home to my parents house for Easter weekend, and we went up to Fernwood Nature Preserve. It was the most beautifully perfect day! I took lots of photos of frogs and flowers, and we hiked through the woods. I felt so fortunate to take a day to really relax.


I wasn't sure if I'd get anything drawn this week as I've been ridiculously tired. To prepare for the nature filled weekend I got a sample of the allergy drug, Astelin. I breathed very clearly, but was sleepy and very drowsy. These last few days I started to feel like I was in a fog, and couldn't concentrate. I felt like my mind was slipping, and I was forgetting simple things. I was useless by evening, and didn't have the energy for anything, and depression was setting in. I googled, and found that others had many similar side effects, so I stopped taking it. I feel almost 100% better today. I was so much more awake this evening that I jumped for joy, and there was some skipping too. I guess I'll be going back to Flonase and homeopatheic remedies. I only wanted to mention this here to warn anyone who's considering trying Astelin that there are some possible serious downsides that they don't mention much in their cheery commercials.