"Silent Night, Holy Night," watercolor, 5"x7", 2011

This is my second attempt at this piece. Many more layers to go. The falcon at the top is still just sketched in.

I’ve had several dreams of falcons and sightings of real ones during the past year.  And for some reason angels have been coming into my work and consciousness.

My kids were kind enough to pose for a photo shoot a few weeks back. Mostly I was after their hands but I had my son do this pose and this piece just kind of flowed naturally out of it.

The falcon, amongst other things, is significant as a symbol for life’s purpose. My dream falcon was very large and white – I’ll try to make this one look like him once I start filling him in.

One thing I really like about Photoshop is that if you just don’t like where you’re heading, you can save the file under another name, delete whatever layers aren’t working out, and keep going with the original drawing or whatever you had that was working – like going back in time and taking a different route.  (Physicists now tell us the concept of progressive time is an illusion, and being able to work this way makes that seem plausible!)

My first attempt was started before my daughter opened my eyes to some of the possibilities of the medium. I was liking it until I realized how I could have approached it – then did the time warp trick and came up with something I am liking even better!  I’ll post again when it’s done.

My first (primitive) attempt at the angel.

Haven’t shown it to my daughter yet. She’s something of a fairy fan.  She will probably tell me all the ways in which I deviated from true fairy anatomy.

That’s ok. Nobody else will know. That’s one of the nice things about the fairy realm.  If you get it wrong nobody knows.

Unless they happen to be twelve and a half.

Wolf howl - digital illustration

Photoshop is getting a little easier. It helped to sit my 12-year-old daughter Clara down in front of it.

“What does this tool do?”

“Uh, I don’t know.”

“Why not? Oh, that’s cool.  How about this tool? What does that do?”

“Um, never tried that either.”

“How come? Oh, awesome, check this out…”

It was kind of embarrassing. I had really intended to show her some cool stuff but she ended up instructing me!  Just through sheer curiosity, Clara managed to introduce me to the burn tool, sponge tool and several other cool Photoshop toys.

I had already nearly finished this digital wolf illustration based on a watercolor painting from a couple years ago, so the new tools only got a mini workout here, but I’m definitely looking forward to trying them out more thoroughly next time!

Learning to manipulate the digital pen and work in layers in Photoshop...

I’ve painted this wolf in watercolor (based on a pencil sketch from a couple of years ago), so thought I’d give it a try in Photoshop.

It came out kind of looking like a piece done in oil pastels.  I do really enjoy the fact that overworking an area doesn’t mean I’m stuck with it! In this piece I learned how to use layers to build up an image…  very different than layering with physical paint because here one has the luxury of adding to or removing any layer at any time!  And of course adding another layer won’t muss up the ones beneath it.

Didn't know what the heck I was doing, but it was a blast...

Don’t you love having the excuse to buy something you’ve been lusting after?

I’ve been wanting a graphics tablet and digital pen ever since I realized there was such a thing. (About 2 years I think.  Yes, I’m from Mars.)

As I mentioned in my last couple posts I’ve been working on an illustration project for an animated video.  And scanning just isn’t going to cut it.  So, oh well (hee, hee, hee!) I’ve been forced to spend the bucks for my most coveted wish-list item.  (Talk about manifesting one’s own reality!) 

I asked around and the consensus was pretty much that the only brand worth considering is a Wacom. I heard good things about their Bamboo model, but after reading a ton of reviews I decided that I probably wouldn’t be happy with anything less than a professional model.  A few more reviews  convinced me that a small Intuos3, while not the latest and greatest, would suit my needs to a T.

I actually ended up spending less than I thought I would have to.  I found a new one on Ebay for a reasonable price and after a few hours’ anxious hovering over the monitor, won the bid with no competition.  A few LONG days later my tablet arrived!

It didn’t take me long to realize that the software I had been using for graphic design, Adobe Illustrator, just didn’t seem to give me the results I wanted. Then my friend Lance suggested I try Photoshop.  Fortunately I already owned it since I have the Adobe Suite.  Of course there are plenty of challenges since I’d never really used Photoshop before.  But it wasn’t long before I realized that this tablet + Photoshop offered something beyond my wildest dreams…

…total fluidity of expression.  The possibilities are truly endless!  Right now I’m really enjoying the painterly qualities I can get with the smudge tool. But I expect this will be a visual love affair to last the rest of my life.  (Even my traditional paintings will, I’m sure, benefit from Photoshop as a compositional planning tool…)

The image here is one of my earliest attempts.  It’s no-one in particular, just a portrait that flowed out of my head through the pen onto the screen.  Perhaps she’s the muse of digital imagery?

Male hand drawing #1

More hand studies from the animation illustration project. The male hand is supposed to appear more forceful.  I drew these pencil studies from reference photos I took of my son Isaac’s hand.

However his hands are fairly small and delicate for a guy.  I think a more robust model would be more appropriate for this particular project so I will be redoing these studies very soon.  (I tease him that he’d make a good large animal vet, remembering James Herriot’s comments about small hands being an asset for delivering calves.  Isaac has an aversion to slime so he’s not amused.  But he does have beautiful hands and they were fun to draw.  Isaac – if you ever read this, thank you! )

Hands are always a challenge and a pleasure to draw and I certainly don’t consider it a waste of time to have done these.  Who knows – they may find their way into a painting some day…

Male hand drawing #2

Male hand study #3

Female hand sketch #1 - my left hand (from life)

Ask, and you shall receive!

I recently started asking the Universe to help me find a way to use my creative talents to support me financially. Not long after, Lance, a client for whose non-profit I had done a fair amount of editing in the past, asked me if I’d be interested in doing some illustration.

But of course!

These are some preliminary sketches for one component of an animated video.  It’s a pretty cool project – I can’t tell you much about it yet but I’ll reveal more as it reaches completion.

I did the drawings in graphite pencil on some old looseleaf stationary that we found in a building we own.  It is from the 50′s or 60′s and has this wonderful tooth and is a real pleasure to draw on.

Drawing of my daughter's hand from a photo

This one was done from a photo of my daughter's right hand

I read somewhere once that when a caterpillar enters its pupal state, it literally breaks down into a sort of organic goo.  From there it  completely restructures into a mature butterfly or moth before it breaks out and spreads its wings to fly.

This year has been like that for me.  A year ago I felt I had come to a standstill in nearly every aspect of my life.  No matter how much I tried nothing seemed to want to break loose.

Finally, I stopped trying.  Like the caterpillar, I stopped attempting to crawl forward, and cocooned up in a safe, limited environment.  Frankly I would have liked to have gone into the forest to hibernate, but as that was not possible I followed my gut.  I stopped seeking new clients and accepted full time paid employment.

It was not my ideal job.  In fact in many ways it sucked, but it allowed me to pay the bills while I detangled the various strands of my life.  I began to realize that it didn’t matter what I did, I was still me.  That regardless of what accomplishments I achieve (or whether I achieve them at all) I am still valuable for simply being the human being that I am.

(Of course this is just as true of you, and of every human being who walks the face of the earth.  We are each a beautiful child of God, no matter how lost or frightened or alone.)

About last January or February, I decided to take a class in Reiki.  Two weeks later I took Reiki 2 and began to practice it seriously, along with daily prayer and meditation.  I began to start each day with a blessing, and with gratitude.  Rather than try to control or conquer the problems in my life, I began to ask that my problems be resolved for the highest good of all involved, and left it to the Universe to work out the details.

And from the goo of my life, a new structure began to form!  Within 5 months my husband found a new job where he finally is getting the recognition he deserves.  I have taken over managing his business for the present year, which is able to pay me on a part time basis more than I had been making full time at the job I hated – and is allowing me the time and resources to build a career based on my true life’s purpose – to use my creative talents to their highest potential.

We truly do manifest our own reality.  Destiny is ours for the choosing.  I’ve tried crawling – now it’s time to fly!

Clara as Elf, pencil, 11x17"

Isaac as Elf, pencil portrait, 11x17"

For some reason I’ve been wanting to portray my kids as elves for some time now, and finally indulged!

I’m working on a watercolor now of my son in the same pose.  It’s nice that they’re old enough now to sit still for a little bit, but I’ve decided not to push it (so they’ll be willing to pose again in the future!)  The drawings were done from life, but I’m using these studies and reference photos to paint.