Picture Story: bear ride

I needed an illustration for January for my calendar. We have the four seasons here in Michigan, so, January is usually a picture of something cold and snowy, because that's what it is. Somehow I decided on a girl and a bear trekking through the snow for the picture...

And so it was sketched:

Then sketch was scanned in photoshop, converted to a blue page. That was printed, 

inked, scanned into photoshop and cleaned up and converted into  a file...

That file was filled with color and then printed off to be colored by hand.

 Once the entire page was colored it was scanned into photoshop.

 Where I began to add other elements, like the snowy ground and the sky...

The sky needed a little more visual oomph, so, I added a layer of a 

scan of one of my paintings: sunkissed alchemy phantasmagoria

There was snow on the ground, so there should be snowflakes in the air. 

The issue was to leave them behind or on top of the girl & bear...

 I decided to leave the snowflakes on top, so, I selectively deleted some of them...

And there it is: bear ride

You can find "bear ride" at sarahkdesigns or sunshinesight

Picture Story: summer flight

Have I mentioned the calendar? Yeah, that thing. Well, because I'd rather be frantically cleaning the house the week before Christmas (not), I'm trying to stave off the possibility that I will also be trying to frantically finish the calendar graphics (which inevitably end up in sarahkdesigns or sunshinesight).

Anyway: 1 illustration complete as of this weekend! (just imagine that confetti and balloons fell from the ceiling)

I get out of the habit of drawing, I mean sort of. The sketchbook is ever present in my bag, as are the pencils and the pencil sharpener. But sometimes the sketches are for one of those projects that I'll get around to finishing someday... and then, of course, there are all the ideas for future projects and thumbnail sketches and half conceived ideas. 

So, since I'm one of those people who gifts art and makes my own greeting cards, certain holidays compel me to make things. I did these for Father's day (click here). Now, those 2 bluebirds were something I had actually drawn for some illustration that never quite materialized, but they ended up here in this picture. Anyway, I decided I could enlarge them and color in some details to make them 5X7 pictures — that I could give to my father for father's day... and when I was working on them — it occurred to me that it would be cool to use my bird drawings — enlarge them and reprint and recolor or over-render them and convert them into 5X7 bird prints... and then I got busy with cleaning and ninety degree weather (and probably watching tv and sleeping and going to work) — and well, someday I'll get around to that project, right?

But, working on these did rekindle my ongoing love of working with colored pencils. Don't get me wrong, I still love my digital photos and the magic of photoshop, but I can draw, very well, thank you.

So, one day while I was on break at work I sketched out a group of poppies and decided they needed snails — because I like snails... and then when I decided to use that sketch for the calendar — I decided it also needed some birds: bluebirds. Now, I had drawn these bluebirds way back in 2008:

 ...and I was never thrilled with how I illustrated them at the very last minute. So, "bluebirds & tulips" became one of those forgotten / not-so-good illustrations that exists on a file as a PSD, but otherwise is lost somewhere in the catalog of my work. It's a perfunctory illustration, but it isn't stellar... but I thought of it when I wanted to add birds to my poppies & snails picture.

 As usual, I scanned my sketch of the poppies, printed it as a blue page, inked the blue page, and scanned that into photoshop where after some editing it became this:

I printed the image (sans blue background) to color over with prismacolors.

 Now, while I was working on coloring that print-out, I was also working on fixing those bluebirds in flight that I illustrated back in 2008. In the mean time, it occurred to me that my Father's birthday was coming up — and I needed a gift. So, re-doing the bluebirds served 2 purposes: my new illustration & a gift. Because for the purposes of my calendar graphics — all I need is a scan of the picture I have made, someone else can have the original framed and hanging on a wall.

So, I copied the layer with the bluebirds from the original file, enlarged them, blurred over and edited out some details, and printed out an image that I could color over:

 And in the mean time I colored the poppies as well. I scanned both of those pictures into the computer, and after some editing — put them together in a file with some layers derived from my photos of the sky and portions of scans of my abstract acrylic paintings. So, it's finished:

"summer flight" by Sarah Knight

And now it's time to get to work on the next picture ; )

Picture Story: snow hootenanny

 "snow hootenanny" is another image that I created for the calendar. I actually began the original sketch in August whilst sitting at the Art Walk and biding my time. So, one would think that maybe it would have been finished as an illustration in a timely fashion... nah.

Like all the calendar graphics for this year - this one came right up to the deadline as well.

 

So, this is the original sketch.

 

And, as per the usual, I scanned the sketch, converted it to a blue page, printed that out, inked it, and scanned it back in to Photoshop and began editing it for fills...

 

 However, I was not enamored with my owl.  It was just too belabored and stiff and trying to be symmetrical... So, I printed out a light copy of my trees and sketched some new owls over top of that.  And then I scanned that sketch, edited it, and printed it out so that I could color it...

 

The thing that I remember most about coloring the owls is that I was watching "My Soul to Take." Yes, heh-heh, while I was coloring a family of owls for a whimsical owl illustration I was watching a horror movie.  It happens a lot, as that is my preferred genre of movies.

So, anyway, I colored my owls and scanned them, and cut the scan all during the span of that movie.

 

Now, I needed some trees. I suppose I could have just colored the bark by hand. But that isn't what I had in mind.  In the spring, summer, and fall, I go into town and wander around and take all manner of photos.  And as I've mentioned before, I photograph all sorts of things - not necessarily with the intent that those are glamorous photos that need to be printed out and hung on the wall - but because I can use the content to fill in some part of a future illustration.

So, the owls are sitting on sycamore branches via the magic of photoshop: layer rotation and the rubber stamp tool. Yes, this is what the file tends to look like when I'm creating a fill from a photo (or several photos).

 

overcast orchid rain

The picture needed a background. So, I selection one of my watercolor paintings, and added the digital scan as a layer.  This was one of the salt on watercolor / gouache paintings - so it has both the salt crystal effect and dabs of white gouache spattered across it. Overall, it looks kinda snowy, so it was perfect.

Anyway, I added it to the picture and then adjusted the color to something more bluish - because I wanted the picture to have a cool wintery tone.

The next step was to add snowflakes.  Now there are actually 2 separate layers of snowflakes in this picture.  The snowflakes at the top of the picture were derived from all the snowflakes I design for Christmas cards. In fact, the layer used in this picture came from the file that I make the snowstorm backgrounds.

Now, the snowflakes on the bottom of the picture — and yes, there is actually a layer of snowflakes super-imposed over the bottom half of the picture — came from a different source: Winterwood.

Yes, the picture I used as the graphic for February on the calendar 2 years ago, which, yes, is named after the Don McLean song — that I happen to be very fond of. Anyway - I made a layer of snowflakes for the bottom of that picture - and decided to use them in "snow hootenanny" too.

 

 

snow hootenanny

So, all those parts come together to make the whole: sketches, drawings, salt on watercolor painting, photo walks, scary movies, colored pencils, ink pens, and snowflakes...

Picture Story: winter winds

So, in the first week of December I had 2 out of 12 calendar graphics done... and sometimes that means that I flip through the old sketchbooks and look for things that I drew that I never quite got around to finishing. I needed a picture for January, stat.

I think I had some idea about a girl and a snowman sledding. But I was out of time to sketch new ideas...

The snowman with the kite was what I found. There's a note at the bottom that says "for January 2010." What that actually means is that I sketched this in 2009, and was thinking it could be one of the graphics for the 2010 calendar.

I scanned the sketch, converted it to a blue page and printed that. I inked the snowman and the kite, but nixed the birds (which were supposed to be bluejays).

Now, the snowman is wearing a scarf and a hat, so I needed something to fill those in with... this scarf appears in a lot of my winter pictures, like this one.

sapphire sunshine alchemy

For the sky - I wanted something more than just a photo of clouds. So, I decided to combine a scan of one of my paintings with a photo of the sky. I picked "sapphire sunshine alchemy." I played with the color settings and changed out the magenta and yellow - and made the layer more saturated with blue... and then used some layer styles to combine it with a photo of clouds.

"winter winds"
@sarahkdesigns

And this is what the finished picture looks like, of course after I filled in the snowman, the snow, and the kite. And that became the graphic for January 2012... so it only took me 2 years to get around to executing it, ha.

Technically, my illustrations may be digital, but visually, they are an accumulation of physical things: drawings, photos, paintings, a scarf... and then there are all those snowflakes in the background that I designed individually. There's a point at which making the picture seems mechanical: draw it, scan the drawing, convert that to a blue page, print it, ink it, scan that, block the scan, and then start filling it with bits and pieces of digital files - like photos or scans... but all that stuff comes from somewhere. I actually stood out in my backyard photographing the sky on some summer day. And I actually went out and took photos of tree bark - which were what was used on the arms of the snowman.

Anyway, it snowed here in Michigan for the first time in 2012 just yesterday. It's pretty, but I would rather not have to drive in it. I guess I like my snow better when it's on paper. At least then I don't have to scrape it off my car.
: )

Picture Story: fox trot forest

Every year for Christmas I make a calendar. It's the gift that I give to all my relatives. Last year (and by last year I mean 2010) — I was more organized about getting it done for whatever reason... this year? Not so much. It's funny, because I've made one every year for at least the last 6 years. So, you'd think in the first week of December I wouldn't be looking at my sketchbook and computer and thinking "oh, shit."

Yeah, I had one graphic done: fall fantasia
I finished it in September... and actually, every year I have the designated sketchbook that all the general ideas go into. And I drew my little chart somewhere in the back pages:

And things get sketched in, and things get erased, and new things get sketched in... and sometimes this thing isn't that accurate by the time the calendar has actually been produced. Because a lot of it was mocked up in August.

I actually drew the background of this picture a long time ago. And I think when I did I had a different idea of how it was going to look and how I was going to execute the illustration. I think the sky was supposed to be pink, and that I was going to fill in the trees with birch bark. There was probably supposed to be leaf litter on the ground - and I was going to print it out and do an impressionist style of painting of leaves - probably in red or red-orange tones... the entire picture would have a poppy & warm cast.

Instead, I sketched in a fox and a running figure in a cape. I'm sure I was thinking "little red riding hood." But as you may know, it was a wolf, not a fox... I was also thinking etsy cliches. So, yeah, it's a fox, not a wolf. And, yes, the hooded figure has conveniently run almost off the picture plane thus negating the need to draw hands or a face...
Anyway, I scanned the sketch, converted the graphic to a blue page, printed it, and inked it. People that use pens with nibs and ink wells may shriek in horror. Yup, mechanical pens. They make consistent lines. I've also never 'spilled' one all over anything, heh-heh.

In the course of a year, I take a lot of inane photos... at least when I die and someone finally looks through all these things, well, the excitement factor just isn't going to be there. Yes, uh, it's another picture of tree bark. Yes. There's a method to the madness though. I took those mundane, questionable, and inane photos with the intention of using them in bits and pieces somewhere in some illustration... not print them off, frame them, and hang them on a wall.
So, I filled in my trees with birch bark. And I hemmed and hawed and finally picked just the right photo of leaf litter and got it situated... and then hemmed and hawed some more until I had the sky picture that I wanted. And then there was some layering and some big blurry fills, and maybe a color adjustment or ten, and some layers were merged... And yes, my birch forest finally had a ground and a sky. And then I filled in the fox and the hooded figure with some color and printed that out...

Then I take my prismacolor pencils, sort through them until I have the colors I need or think that I need - and I color over the print out.
Of course, once that's done (5 December 2011) then I scan in my colored print out and make any necessary adjustments...

fox trot forest

Of course, at the time there were still 10 more illustrations to finish in 17-20 days depending on when my family was actually planning on doing Christmas. Ha ha ha...

It's amusing to reflect though, and watch everything come together when deadlines are fast approaching. Suddenly decisions are easier to make. Things don't get to just drag on or "I'll do it later." As it turns out - later is now.

I suppose this is why some people buy presents or give people money or gift cards at Christmas. But that's just not who I am. I'm not a religious person, and my family isn't particularly religious either. Christmas is a time when we get together and actually spend time with each other. And yes, it's about gifts and food...

I'm not religious, but I also don't spend X amount of dollars per person or budget for Christmas gifts or whatever. There's a fine line between being non-religious and profanely materialistic. I'm also the weird one in the family, so in addition to the calendar everyone gets an assortment of candy, and a lot of people got socks this year. Sometimes the dumbest gifts come in the handiest - like when it's been a while since the socks and underwear have been washed, and you just need one more pair. And really, who hates candy? Well, besides my overly picky sister? Everyone can blame her for all the chocolate and the mint. I was standing there in the store with a bag of truffles that were flavored like pumpkin (or something else really questionable) but I put them back... because even I couldn't pull the full on Grandma Duda and buy chocolates with pumpkin filling. She was an adventurous lady ; )

So, I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday - whatever you do with it... now I just have 10 more pictures to write about.

Picture Story: pumpkin harvest

"pumpkin harvest"
by Sarah Knight

I used to work in a particular location. It was 33 miles from home, and driving there meant passing through several farm fields. One of those farms was a pumpkin farm. So, every fall, there would be a field of pumpkins. I think one time when I was a teenager my mother tried to grow pumpkins which was probably when I first learned that they kind of form on a long vine, as opposed to say the way that strawberries or tomatoes grow off a stalk. I don't think we actually got a pumpkin out of the experience, but well, that's why there are farms. Sometimes just leave it to the professionals.

By the time the pumpkins have matured - the leaves are pretty much dead and crispy. Which one can see, even if they are driving by at 55mph. I say this in the event that anyone wonders whether or not this is what a pumpkin patch really looks like because that's why it looks that way in my picture.

I drew the picture as a graphic for my yearly family Christmas gift calendar. Obviously this was the Halloween picture. I saw some picture of a scarecrow somewhere and thought it'd be cool to draw a scarecrow... and typing that I kind of laugh. I've been on etsy too long where apparently everyone has lost their frigging mind and mistakes the notion of inspiration for the dreaded copying. You know, because if I was going to draw a Halloween picture, clearly whoever listed one on etsy did it first, not that Halloween has been celebrated since (apparently, thanks Wikipedia) the Romans.

Author's note: I've decided to purge myself of all notions that I should hold back on the sarcasm.
If you've been on etsy long enough and ever visited the forums, you may be familiar with the notion that every fifteen minutes someone discovers that someone is "copying me!!!!!!" As if no arts or crafts had ever existed before 2005 when etsy went live on the internet, and obviously, whoever listed whatever it is on there was doing it first, even if it was like shrinky dinks or something. You know, nevermind that if you've ever taken an art history class they start you off with those cave paintings in France from before people were officially noting time in terms of days and months... no, time began in 2005 when etsy launched. There there, drink your Kool-Aid.

Author's note: I actually like Kool-Aid, Soarin' Strawberry Lemonade is really good ; )

Anyway, so I think this illustration was done in 2009 for my 2010 calendar. Yes, the October graphic for Halloween. So, it's a scarecrow in a pumpkin patch - because pumpkins are easier to draw that corn fields. They just are.

Amusingly, from a technical standpoint, this was a difficult illustration to execute because it was one of my early experiments in coloring over print outs like for almost the whole graphic (as opposed to doing just like one bird that takes up like 2 square inches on a page). Let's just say that there was a lot of selecting and blocking and layer fills and styles that happened in photoshop which is technical stuff that isn't that interesting.

So, the ghost clouds - at least I think of them as ghost clouds - are something that have been in my Halloween pictures for several years. Sitting here right now at the computer I don't exactly remember when I got the idea... just that I used to draw a lot of pictures with weird clouds when I hit my big prismacolor illustration phase when I was about 16. I liked making magenta colored clouds with holes in them... all I know is that from 2006 on - most of the Halloween pictures have ghost clouds.

And, of course, the sky is violet. Violet is a Halloween theme color, and well, it's my favorite color. I was reading some interview blurb in People or Time or Us or one of those magazines where they ask like 20 questions of some celebrity and of course, they answer. The one I'm thinking of was Jewel and she was asked what her favorite color was, and she said she didn't have one... and I found that amusing. Violet is my favorite color, but I like all colors and quite frankly have never had a limited color palette in anything.

So, yes, the sky is violet, that was inherent somehow. I cannot actually imagine making it black or navy blue or gray or slate or any color other than violet. And I suppose, decisions like that aren't something I even consider until years after the fact.

Anyway, I was pleased with the way the image turned out.

I hope everyone has a Happy and Fun Halloween! And even if you don't officially celebrate it, just have some candy on the 31st :D

I've been enjoying some of the candy that I bought to hand out to the trick-or-treaters who visit the neighborhood. Don't worry, I bought a lot of candy. As per the usual I'll be dressing up to hand it out. And probably enjoying a fine horror movie as I do.

I finally had a moment to sit down and relax and watch some television yesterday and caught up on a couple episodes of "American Horror Story." I was intrigued when I saw the ad for the show... and kind of annoyed to see it was on Wednesday night - which is in competition with like "Revenge" or "CSI" or some other show... anyway, it's content is a little risque - I think it has one of those tv MA ratings, but I'm 32 and a life long fan of horror movies, Hunter S. Thompson, and Pink Floyd, so it isn't exactly shocking to me. Anyway, I seem to be hooked - it's a really interesting show.

I'm hoping to be able to fine "Grimm" either on onDemand or hulu... because, of course, it's on on Friday night at the same time as Supernatural and Fringe. *shakes fist at networks* Seriously, people, there is nothing airing on Tuesday or Saturday.

Oh, October, the time when it's acceptable to enjoy horror movies and scary tv shows. If only the month was longer...

Picture Story: nectar

I think that illustrations are often self evident. That's why they're illustrations. And that's what I do - I illustrate. So, I realize, when I talk about my work, instead of explaining what is in the picture or why it's there - I tend to talk about how I illustrated it.

So, on to the obvious: "nectar" is a picture of ruby-throated hummingbirds eating the nectar of fuchsia. Ruby-throated hummingbirds are native to the eastern United States, for most of us on this side of the country - they're the only species of hummingbird around. They show up here (in Michigan) in May or June and usually hang around until September, when they fly South for the winter. Ruby-throated hummingbirds have a head and body that are green and a white underbelly, only the males have a ruby-colored throat.

Contrary to the depiction in this picture - this species of hummingbird is very territorial. I have never seen 2 of them aware of each other at the same feeder or plant at the same time. However, you can find videos on youtube of multiple ruby-throats in the same feeding area at the same time coexisting peacefully... that just doesn't happen in my yard.
This clip has music - but this is what it sounds like on the back porch all day long: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twqrrlAEHf8 Just tiny little birds fighting and squawking over the sugar water (often referred to in this household as 'bird koolaid') in the plastic container.

"nectar"

"nectar" was one of my first experiments with coloring over a printed image. The fuchsia in the picture were actual flowers that I photographed. I then edited the backgrounds out of those photos, combined several photos together and adjusted the color on the image I had created. I printed that out and colored over it with prismacolor pencils, and then scanned that and edited it as the base of my illustration. The background is based off one of my photos of the sky. I adjusted the colors and then merged it with a color layer to get it the shade of aqua I wanted.

And the hummingbirds were also an experiment in coloring over a print out. They were originally drawn in pencil. And that was scanned and printed as a blue page — and then inked. And then I colorized the ink outline and printed that out and colored over that in prismacolors, and then scanned that back in and made another print out. I colored over that print out — adding details, and then scanned that back in and 'cut' the hummingbirds out of the background.

And then I added the hummingbirds into the illustration, in a layer that was above the sky but below the fuchsia.

I know, I know, the boring technical stuff is only remotely interesting to me.

Since it's August, I come home from work every morning to the sound of a 'bird fight' taking place on the back patio... and I imagine this squawking and fighting and chasing and otherwise all-out territory dispute goes on until dusk. They're lovely creatures and they're complex.

And when I go out on the back porch to do something I am often reminded that I am interrupting their visit. The hummingbird will just pause and hover and look directly at me, and then jut forward, and pause and look at me again, and then decide whether it's on to the feeder or to quickly buzz off to go sit on the edge of some nearby leaf and wait for me to leave... like as if I'm not the one who keeps making them more bird koolaid or something.

Yes, they're complex creatures.

Picture Story: spring sing

Technically, I was on vacation this week. Vacation, as it turns out was mostly about sleeping and not having to wake up at the sound of an alarm clock. Plus it was about getting some work done on some projects that I have been procrastinating on for a long long time. I am a hell of a procrastinator. But, I did finally take all the snowflakes down — my winter decor consists of my ginormous collection of plastic / resin glitter covered snowflakes (see this post for my hilarious prediction).

Anyway, now I have to hang the butterflies and the hummingbirds... which I just haven't quite gotten to yet.

In the mean time — a picture story: spring sing.
I finished this illustration in the spring of 2009 (see last graphic), but I probably technically started it around 2005. This first graphic is actually a painting. It was painted with acrylics with details done in prismacolor on illustration board. The original is actually 11X14 inches. But via the magic of a scan and a size format change in photoshop it became an 8X10.

What I actually did was I flipped the image horizontally, and then lightened the resized copy of the painting in photoshop and then printed that and drew an outline around everything. Then I scanned that outlined copy and adjusted the file until all I had was the outline on a white background.

When I have an inked copy, then I make a sample fill of every part as a separate layer. So I fill all the tulip flowers with one color, all the petals with one color, the grass, the tree trunks, the leaves, the sky, and the clouds. Because I am going to use scans or paintings or drawings, or digital photos to actually fill in the those parts.

This is a size reformatted portion of a scan of an 11X14 acrylic painting called "geranium sunrise." It's what would eventually become the background of "spring sing." Of course, I had to reformat it 8X10, and then I would go on to lighten the entire painting by creating a layer of white, playing with its opacity and then merging that to the layer of the scan of the painting.

The yellow warblers that appear in the painting were drawn separately. They were drawn with prismacolors. That drawing was scanned, and all the white space was removed. The clouds were created using the paintbrush in photoshop, and then using a layer fill style over the background. The sheet music that appears in the background was scanned, and then manipulated using the warp tool so that it is wavy instead of linear.

The leaves of the trees were created from a digital photo that was manipulated and resized. The original image is actually of maple leaves on the ground. The tree trunks were created from a layer I created by layering several different colors with several different brushes and then using filtering effects in photoshop.

The grass was also created from a photo. It's actually a picture of the grass in my neighbors yard (and this particular photo has been used in a number of my illustrations when I need grass, which I always think is kind of funny since my neighbor will mow his lawn on a diagonal and this shot is clearly of some grass that hasn't yet been cut) . The tulip flowers and leaves were both taken from the same scan that was used for the background.

And through the magic of layering styles all these things come together to create the illustration. You can see the finished piece here in my "sarahkdesigns" shop on Etsy.

If you're anywhere near Tecumseh, Michigan: Friday 29 April 2011 is the annual Tecumseh Art Walk. I'll be at Timeless Stitches, so if you're in town, then please stop by. The event is 6-9pm.

I hope everyone is enjoying their spring : )

Picture Story: hummingbird on bleeding heart

I draw, I illustrate, I make pictures, I take pictures... and perhaps that is why I am so stymied whenever I try to write about one of my illustrations: I'm better with pictures than with words. And because I want people to draw their own conclusions and have their own thoughts and emotions and reactions when they look at my pictures.

So, this piece is adroitly titled: "hummingbird on bleeding heart"

And it can be found at my sarahkdesigns shop on etsy.
Quite obviously, it's an illustration of a male ruby-throated hummingbird perched on a stem of bleeding heart in front of a cloudy blue sky. Now, the hummingbird was drawn with colored pencil. He was composed with a whole group of hummingbirds that I actually drew for a piece entitled "hummingbirds & hollyhocks." And his female doppelganger appears in "summer hummingbirds."

Anyway, the stem of bleeding heart is something I photographed. I plopped the photo into photoshop, played with the colors and levels and all that, printed it out, and then drew over it with colored pencil. The sky was quite literally made from a digital photo of the sky which was put through several color adjustments and maybe a filter or two before being treated with a layer of color to make it brighter & more saturated.

Amusingly, when I planned this illustration, this was not what I had envisioned as the end result. This was actually supposed to be a picture of a hummingbird sitting on a watering can in front of a stem (or possibly stems) of bleeding heart. However, I wasn't thrilled with the way my watering can was progressing, and there was some issue with proportions and whether or not the composition would be horizontal or vertical... so, yeah, goodbye watering can!

Maybe someday I'll work up that composition with the watering can... someday.
For the time being I'm happy with the way this turned out.
And I look forward to next month when the ruby-throated hummingbirds should start showing up in the backyard, squeaking and squawking at each other as they get territorial over the bird koolaid in the feeder. They're a delightfully cantankerous bunch.

Picture Story: happy together

I like happy pictures. As far back as I can remember, that's what I've drawn. I like things with bright colors, and a lot of different colors. I like landscapes, I like sky, and sun, and flowers. More specifically, I like drawing them.

I recently decided to make some artwork specifically for myself (the house). And in the process I ended up working out a number of compositions since I made a variety of elements. When I was drawing the calla lilies I also drew a bunch of tulips. And then I made "the house" — well, I also drew out the bird house. Technically, it's not actually a "bird house", it's a bird box, more specifically a nest box.

Anyhow, the reason that I would draw myself a nest box is because I have them in my backyard. They are for eastern bluebirds. And every year, there are a pair of bluebirds that have a brood in one of the boxes.

So, I decided to make myself a picture using the nest box with some bluebirds. The bluebirds usually show up in March, right around the time we have spring here in Michigan, to scope out the yard and claim their territory. They always arrive before the tree swallows.

close-up of the bluebirds

They spend a lot of time inspecting the box. Sitting on top of it, perching on the back, and doing the wing wave.

This will be available as a print at "sarahkdesigns" soon : )

Picture Story: the House

Yes, it's been some time since I wrote a blog entry. I admit, I opened one of those twitter accounts, and well, it's just really easy to log into twitter and tweet... Given that I'm not a spammer or a phishing scam, the lack of word verifications or "moderated comments" and the instant sort of interaction is just kind of welcome, and well, immediate.

So, since it's been a while, this is a piece I recently completed: "the house"

I made this for myself. This seems surprising even to me, but it's been a long time since I made an illustration and actually hung it up in my abode. I've made a lot of prints, and I've framed or matted a lot prints and given them away as gifts... but it's been ages since I did anything just for myself.

So, I decided I wanted something new to hang over the computer in my office that I do most of my work on. Now, my office is a painted a pastel peachy-pink color. I believe it was called "mermaid" on the paint chip. I picked it simply because I had bought really gaudy clearance priced fabric at JoAnn Fabrics which I had decided I was going to hang on the walls like they do on those makeover shows that used to be all over HGTV, at least, they were 7 years ago when I painted my office. Mind you, I didn't paint my office in response to a makeover show. I did it because otherwise the walls were white and pocked cement. Part of the appeal of fabric was to cover up some of the cement: it was less spackling that I had to do.

So, the fabric was pastel pinky-peach, and I bought paint to match... so, the artwork that I was going to create to replace the chalk pastel drawing of irises which has been hanging there for 7 years — well, it needed to match that color scheme.

I like calla lilies, so, I decided to draw them in a peach tone... and that was pretty much where this composition began: with peach calla lilies. Amusingly, the first set of callas I drew — I wasn't so hot on them after I had them scanned & cut. So, I drew a second set of callas, and those are the ones that ended up in the picture.

So, with the callas, I had half my composition set, but, of course, there needed to be something more. So, I grabbed the sun that I had used on summer hummingbirds, and added that to the composition... and of course, I wanted some birds, since apparently I'm kind of a bird person. I had also been thinking about drawing a birdhouse around the same time, so it seemed only natural to incorporate it into the piece.

I decided I wanted to use tree swallows. So, I opened up the file with my tree swallows that I drew for calla lilies & tree swallows and picked the birds that I wanted. I actually printed out my selection and colored over them... and then since I decided on the birdhouse, I actually sat down in front of my iphoto on a Saturday morning and sketched out the tree swallow looking into the nest box from one of my personal photos. So, I scanned those into photoshop and cut them.

Then, of course, I had to draw the house. From a drafting perspective, it was a piece of cake. But then, I had to fill it. Now, if I had drawn this in the fall, spring, or summer, this would have been less of a chore. In those months I could just go out and photograph some wood. But, no, I made this in the middle of winter, so I had to scour my reserve of photos for a serviceable shot of wood. Amusingly, the wood of the birdhouse is actually a photo of a telephone pole.

So, I made my birdhouse and transferred it into the illustration, and added my tree swallows, and sized them to the box, and played with the sun with layers to get the rays to flow over certain parts of the picture...

And in the mean time, I had to make the sky: which is a combination of various layers between a scan of an abstract acrylic painting and a photograph of a cloudy sky... both of which were manipulated with color layers to gradate the background from green to peachy-pink to a hint of lavender that runs into an aqua blue... because the fabric that hangs behind my computer is not only pinky-peach, but also has peach flowers with seafoam green stems... seafoam being the green equivalent of aqua.

And so, I have my new picture! After 7 long years my office is getting a mini-makeover.

Of course, now I have to frame it.

Warblers & Callas

Since the calendar is done, and I have 11 months to finish the next one, I now have time to just illustrate whatever happens to come to mind. So, no trying to match a graphic to a season or month, and everything doesn't have to be formatted horizontally! Ah, freedom.

It's cold outside here, so I suppose that might be the reason I've been working on so many suns lately. Well, that and the sun graphic is part of a project that I'll be unveiling some time in the future. Anyway, I've been drawing a lot of flowers lately. I finished some black eyed susans last week, and have those scanned and cut into a piece... and I've drawn a couple bunches of tulips, and some compositions with birds and tulips. What can I say? Tulips are fun to draw. Of course, now I have to color them.

Anyway, I drew some callas in the mean time, because I want to make a picture for me. Well, actually, a couple pictures for me. The same stuff has been hanging in my office for what seems like ages (we'll say more than 3 years now). It's not that I don't like my current artwork, just that it's time for something new.

So, I actually sketched the callas, scanned them and printed them out as a blue page, inked that, scanned it and printed it out clean, and then colored it with prismacolor pencils. And scanned that, and cut it, without any real idea what the rest of the picture was going to be. I like the process to be open.

So, I picked out one of the scan of my salt on watercolors for the background. Kind of to change things up — because I've been using a lot of acrylic paintings as backgrounds. So, the watercolor is something different.

I was thinking maybe it would be a night scene with stars. But then I added the sun, and the rest of the pieces just kind of fell into place. The yellow warblers that I originally drew for "spring sing" were the right color... throw in some sheet music on the background and some musical notes, and well, everything just kind of came together.

Of course, now I have to name it...
yellow warblers sunshine song available at sarahkdesigns

Picture Story: cardinal song

...and Christmas is over, so now my free time is free again, well, sort of.

So, it's time to get back to work. This is my latest creation (which will be available at sarahkdesigns within the next week): cardinal song

It's one of those pieces that just kind of happened. I do, occasionally, actually plan compositions most of the time. But this one just came about. Mostly out of my need to produce a Christmas present for my grandmother. The woman has a living room full of cardinals (embroidery, figurines, paintings...). Well, that and she asked me to draw her something. A cardinal seemed like the most obvious thing.

So, I had the cardinal drawn, and I scanned it before I gave it to grandma as a gift. So, there it was sitting on my desktop (with a gazillion other files). So, through the magic of photoshop I cut the scan of my pencil drawing from it's background, and combined it with one of my many photos of the sky. Played around with the color a bit and added some filter layers (not unlike the filters in "warbling"). Put on a layer of sheet music, and added the musical notes... and voilà: finished composition!

Yellow Warblers!

I've been doing a lot of work lately, a lot of sketching and drawing... because I want to be able to relax this Christmas. But every once in a while I like to just make something.
I did a series of "bird song" pictures a while back. And I decided to make some companion pieces.

This is one of the originals:






And these last two are the new ones. I hope you like them. They were a delight to create.