Illustration Friday: Under The Sea

"Under The Sea" is the topic for Illustration Friday this week. I did something different this week I tried a collage with some photoshop manipulation. My inspiration for this piece is the an excerpt from the book, "The Life of Pi". The main character is alone on a lifeboat aimlessly drifting out at sea and he describes sealife that swim close to the surface and that he never realized how much life one would see in the middle of the ocean. In my collage I used colored tissue paper for the water with old National Geographic magazines for the lifeboat. The fish are shiny bangles used as decoration on garments that I have cut into shapes of fish. I had hoped the shiny quality of the fish would show through the tissue paper. It didn't turn out in a way that I was happy with so I manipulated that part in Photoshop. I kind of like how it turned out.

Photo Friday: Famous

What most people looking for "fame" hope for.

Thursday Challenge: Spring

There's nothing NOT to like about a spring crawfish boil! Beer—good. Corn—good. Potatoes—good. Sausage—Good. Crawfish—good.
You get the idea.

Digital Drool Challenge: Treasure

Found this vintage Kodak Jiffy Six-16 at the thrift store today for $3. It's in very good condition and from the 1930s-40s. Even if I can't ever use it, I love it anyway. If anyone knows of places that sell 616 film, I would love to know.

Lens Day Challenge: Mysterious

It looked like a bug meeting had been in progress...we'll never know...because all that was found was their SHELLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
{creepy twilight zone music in background}

Edit: I'm lucky number 13 over at the Lens Day Challenge. Coincidence? I think not.

Studio Friday: Sparkle, Shine or Shimmer

Had a hard time with this one and it was right under my nose all along. I made this shiny glazed piece at a "paint-your-own-pottery" place with friends. I hold brushes in it. The other container is raku pottery, it's more shiny than it looks in this picture. You also get a glimpse of my shiny baker's rack that I recently got to hold all my "stuff". So there's my "sparkle, shine & shimmer". :-)

Inspire Me Thursday

The challenge for "Inspire Me Thursday" is "Finding The Art in the Everyday". This is my first IMT Challenge that I've participated in, but I've been admiring it from afar for awhile. I found everyday objects in my studio that are not all that interesting sitting alone, but put in a grouping, they are far more engaging. I grouped these items on my scanner in an effort to make it feel like a collection of sorts. I used paper clips, a sticker, a leaf, scraps of paper, beads, seeds, nail file, plastic fork, stamp, rubberband, playdough, toothpick, old school photo, etc. After I scanned it, I played with it in Photoshop. I ended up with using the one with the cutout filter to give it an abstract, graphic poster type feel. I look forward to the next challenge. :-)

Moody Monday: Mushy

Inspiration Challenge: Chairs

Illustration Friday: Robot

If you've never seen MTV's new show "Tiara Girls" and you want to have a little mindless entertainment, then this is it. It's a reality show that follows pageant girls. It's as superficial as their other show, "Sweet Sixteen". Anyway, good subject matter for the topic, "Robot". :-)

Inspiration Challenge: Brilliant Grass

Photo Friday: Golden

Thursday Challenge: Valuable

Lens Day Challenge: Kinetic

Photo Challenge: Glow

Digital Drool Challenge

Vintage Fabric—Chicks & Flowers

If you haven't noticed, I like vintage "stuff". I won't say "junk", I'll just say "stuff". Some people might think otherwise. I used to go to flea markets almost weekly and now I don't have the time. One visit I found two big bags of fabric for a/r $5.00. This was one of the pieces. I love the colors and the design. Very retro.

Moody Monday: Open

More Cool Vintage Patterns...

Here's more of the vintage dress patterns I bought the other day at the thrift store (2 posts down). I finally got my scanner fixed with new software (wouldn't run in OSX with old) so it will be so much more convenient than taking a picture and uploading. And I had to try out my new scanner so "Voila!" more classic fashion! I love the illustrations on these. The first set of patterns remind me of Mary Tyler Moore outfits, the second is more Barbie.

Using Bleach for Paper Design

Saw this on Inspire Me Thursday and wanted to keep a bookmark of it for future use. Looks interesting.
Have a go see. Inspire Me Thursday: Design Your Own Paper

Pxite Challenge: Mountain

Pxite Photo Challenge

Cool Vintage Patterns

The other day when I went to the thrift store looking for silk ties for the egg project (Silk-Tie Dyed Easter Eggs) and I came across these—old Simplicity and Butterick patterns. The funny thing is that I do not sew and would not know how to use these to make some wonderous creations, nor am I into fashion design, but at $.30/piece I had to have them. I thought I could use them for something, I just don't know what. The more I look at them I don't think I could bare to cut them up. It may be the start of a new collection. The "Bow-chicka-bow-now" guys shirts really crack me up. :-) If you have an idea of what I could do with these, please let me know.

Studio Friday: My Working Hands

I'm a photographer for Istockphoto and this is a stock photo of my hand holding the hand of a child. This agency provides royalty-free, economical stock photography and illustrations that are useful for all designers. If you are into scrapbooking, they also have tons of photos you could use for backgrounds or textures, also a lot of frames. If you click on the link you can view my portfolio. :-)

Illustration Friday: Spotted

Quick sketch of me spotting Bigfoot who spotted the Loch Ness Monster. What are the odds of that?

Photo Friday: Full

A cotton field ready to be harvested.

Silk-Tie Dyed Easter Eggs: Part 2

These are the results from dying eggs with the technique I saw on Martha Stewart's show. I'm very pleased with them. I found that darker colors work best and also use a square of fabric large enough to cover the whole egg. The picture includes the fabric used on each egg. Remember to use 100% silk and try your own. :-) Silk-Tie Dyed Easter Eggs

Thursday Challenge: Round

Merry go round ride at the fair. The horses on these rides are always painted so beautiful, it's always hard for me to choose one. By the time I do, I get stuck with the one that doesn't go up and down.

Silk-Tie Dyed Easter Eggs: Part 1

On Martha Stewart's show today they showed how to die Easter Eggs with silk ties. When the segment came on I thought, "This is going to be way too hard and complicated"—no, it's looks rather easy and with beautiful results. So I went to the thrift store and bought silk ties for $1 a piece (one tie will do about 5 or 6 eggs). Your best best would be to get silk scarves or ties with lots of different colors in the patterns and depending on the way you wrap your egg, they will all be different. I'm trying this tonight, will post results tomorrow. Check here for the direct link on Martha's site: Silk-Tie Dyed Easter Eggs

Lens Day Challenge: Egg

Photo Challenge: Easter

The Basics of Coloring Easter Eggs

Pxite Challenge: Game

Pxite Photo Challenge

Moody Monday: Thoughtless

I know it's more than "thoughtlessness" that allows historic buildings to become neglected and rundown but I still thought it was a good fit for the theme. There's something about historic buildings, no matter how dishevelled they are that attracts me to them.

Illustration Friday: Speed

For Illustration Friday's "Speed" challenge I thought of a lot of things, races, cars, sports, etc. I also thought of it from a different view as "speed" as a drug. Then I thought what is the fastest thing I could think of? It would have to be email. The distance that email can travel in a few seconds still amazes me. I included my sketch also to show what I edited out in the final Illustrator rendering.

Dogwood Blossoms Mark Spring

One of the definite signs of spring is the dogwood tree in my yard. It begs to have its picture taken each year. The blossoms up against a bright blue sky are so dramatic.

Sour Patch Kids Commercials

So I'm watching some mindless reality tv on MTV and I see these two "Sour Patch Kids Candy" commercials. They are too funny. Very inventive. If you haven't seen them yet, go here.Sour Patch Kids I haven't tried the candy, but these commercials are great, I want more. Sometimes they're sour. Sometimes they're sweet. :-)

Photo Friday: Organized

The theme at Photo Friday is "organized", this is a different take on the concept.

Studio Friday: Room With a View

Here's my view out the door of my studio. Not too inspiring, I know, but it's nice to have some natural light when I want it. My main "view" consists of the view into my computer screen since that's where I do most of my work. It's nice to know that if I need a break, fresh air is just a couple of steps out the door.

Thursday Challenge: Pattern

Lens Day Challenge: Furry

Lonely camel at a petting zoo at the fair.

Lens Day Challenge: Identity

Lens Day Challenge is "Identity". Your handprint, like a fingerprint, is a unique identifier of you.

Photo Challenge: Classic

Photo Challenge at Digital Drool is "Classic". Here's my version of "classic"—old toys like green plastic army men.

Jim Krause Design Books

Just received my two new Jim Krause design books from Amazon today: "Creative Sparks" and "Photo Idea Index". I had to get "Idea Index" and the "Layout Index" for a design classes in school and have loved every book since. They are great little books with vinyl covers that you can flip through for great inspiration and ideas. They are great to use when doing thumbnail sketches or for a brainstorming session. If you are a designer in need of inspiration, you need to check them out. Read an interview with Jim Krause here at spunwithtears.com: Jim Krause

Moody Monday: Fantasy

This photo crop is a subtle reference to "fantasy" on many different levels. How many uses can you think of for a pink boa with gold sparkles?

Illustration Friday: Spring

Spring Fever—"Germs Gone Wild"