Tattoo Snowboy

Every mother's dream. How can you not love a kid who gets a tattoo like this? This piece started as part of an illustration challenge that I did with some illustrator pals. We tried to do a holiday sketch every day during the month of December last year. Here's the sketch I did back then:

                                                                                                                                                                                                           

                                                                     

     I had to switch to a vertical format. At first, I didn't like the idea, but in the end, I wound up liking it better. So, I guess it's always good to keep an open mind. Tattoos, nose rings, vertical formats? I can't speak for anyone else, but sometimes I surprise myself with what I wind up liking!                

Captain Cracker and Digital Babysteps

I once had a painting teacher who said, if you're going to be out of style you might as well be way out of style. So, I'm applying his idea to the season. Might as well be way out of season. This piece is a finish from a sketch that I did last December. I'm either really early for Christmas or really late, but here it is. The caption for this one would be "Captain Cracker commands you to have a Happy Holiday!" And maybe "Go nuts!" It came about when I took a close look at one of our nutcrackers and discovered that he was looking pretty serious! (A polite way of saying PO'd.) If this ever becomes a card, maybe it would appeal to those Christmas shoppers who are feeling a bit like he does. Well......... Maybe.

                                                                           

My latest digital baby step was a big one, for me! I learned that if you hover your mouse over each of the tools in the toolbar, you'll see a letter for that tool. Simple keyboard commands for tools! Wow! What a difference! I draw on a Wacom Tablet, so while I'm drawing with my right hand, I can just press the letter of the tool that I want with my left hand! No need to press 'command' or 'option' or anything else! Just the letter. So when I want to use the eyedropper, I press 'i.' The brush tool is 'b.' And so on. This is a huge time saver. I've only shown a small portion of the toolbar above. I imagine that you will each have your favorites. Some of mine are the brush (b) the eraser (e) the eyedropper (i) the zoom (z) and the blur tool (r). I should also say, I'm still in CS3 - so far it's doing everything I want. I know you can also customize the letters for the tools. That doesn't seem necessary to me now. But, who knows... good to keep an open mind and keep learning! Go nuts!

HoHoDooda - Dec 27

I need a trail of elves chasing across a spread. So, I added another to the elf in my last post. Guess what I might be drawing tomorrow? There should be about 4 or five total in this piece.

I've missed a few days of posting drawings. And I mean missed! I was sorry to have to give it up for a few days. But, we had a wonderful Christmas, so if I had to miss, missing for something that nice was worth it! I'm a lucky person.

Be sure to look and see what Laura and Linda have been up to now! I'm still catching up myself!