T-Shirt Report

My "Sometimes" shirt (or as my husband and I call it, "Angry Guy") t-shirt arrived from Society6!!  I can now personally report on the shirt quality.  I love it!!  I think the design looks great on it and the shirt is made of very nice, soft fabric and not too thin.  The art is printed right into the fabric instead of being a rubbery layer on top.  I didn't describe that right, but I hope you all know what I mean!

One thing I discovered the hard way is that the ladies' fitted shirts at Society6 seem to run a little on the small side.  I'd suggest any ladies who order t-shirts from there order a size up unless you like a tighter fit.

You can find the shirt at my Society6 shop here.

A Portrait of Shoes

My Mizunos

Shoes have so much life in them after we've worn them around for a while, don't they?  These are my old Mizuno running shoes.  They are old but not worn out, and very bored from lack of use lately.  I needed to do some trials and work on style anyway, so I made this shoe portrait in hopes that I might get inspired to lace them up and get out of my house!

I used ink and watercolor on Strathmore 400 series watercolor paper.

Green Shoe

One of my new ACEOs, or as I like to call them, my "tinies".  The shoe is from my imagination.  I wish it were real!  Ink and watercolor.

Illustration Friday: "Explore"

There's no need to rough it in order to explore!

I love Valentino's haute couture.  Click here to see the dress I chose to draw.  I used Pentel brush pen and watercolor on Arches watercolor paper.

Another 1920s girl sketch

Actually it could be argued that the title of this post is wrong since there are two girls in the sketch.  But the one on the right was the first attempt and didn't look right so....she doesn't count in the title.  I could have Photoshopped her out but I think she's kind of interesting lurking there! 

1920s Girl, WIP

Lately I've been sketching lots of girls from the 1920s.  I think maybe
it's because of the dramatic eyes and lips, and the cute, wavy hairstyles!
This is from my sketchbook.

Illustration Friday: "Identical"

I'm calling this week "vector week" and making myself do any personal work in Adobe Illustrator.  I think vector skills will be good for me in the long run and, hey, I might fall in love with it!  This illustration is 100% vector art, created in Illustrator.  It took what felt like a long time to do but I think speed in the program will definitely come with time.  But I had fun!

ADDED 9/5/2012:

I got a request in a comment to post a more detailed view of one of the faces.  It's great idea!  I'm posting all three.  There's nothing too fancy here;  just simple shapes on several layers!

Illustration Friday: "Tall"

"Sweet on Red"

The height of platform pumps has gotten ridiculous, to the point where they almost look like a joke.  But when I see pictures of women wearing them, they actually look pretty good!  This shoe is made up for this illustration, which is a pen and ink drawing colored with Prismacolor colored pencils.

Illustration Friday: "Highlight"

I was working on this today and realized there are highlights on the shoes so I could use it for Illustration Friday!  The pencil lines and markings are due to work-in-progress.  The original art is 2.5x3.5 inches but was designed to crop at closer to 2x3".

I found a picture of these shoes in the September 2011 issue of "Vogue".  This is a bit of an interpretation because the shoes were very small in the photo, but they really caught my eye!  They were designed by Tabitha Simmons for Creatures of the Wind. 

Little shoes

I've discovered that I love drawing in ink on watercolor paper.  I'd figure the ink would bleed or the pen would catch on the texture of the paper, but those things don't happen and the lines can get such nice variation! These were done small, 2x3", as gifts.  I think I'll do more, perhaps a series.

Illustration Friday: "Stripes"

Admiring the view on the beach, 1900

Boots 'n' Dots

Just playing today and thought I'd share the result!  It's inked with crow quill and finished in Photoshop.

Today's favorite sketch

This gal is wearing some large-sized shoes, eh?  I always did have trouble with feet. And today I wasn't looking at any reference to help me!  Still, I like the feel of this sketch and drawing a fashion-style figure felt really good, like going back to my roots. This was drawn in ballpoint pen in my sketchbook, scanned and laid on a pink background in Photoshop.

First digital painting!

It's about time I tried painting (not just coloring) in Photoshop, so today I did and I love it!  I didn't take the time to develop a good drawing because I just wanted to play, but what the heck?  Now there will be something to look back on if and when I improve!

My favorite things about it, at least today, are the lack of mess, the ease of changing things, and the almost instant gratification.  Nothing had to dry.  And there is no fear of messing up.  Very freeing.

Illustration Friday: "Remedy"

"Now, let's see how I can help you...."

I missed IF!

Well, I tried but it was no use.  I missed submitting anything (again) for Illustration Friday!  The topic was "safari" and I had started sketching ideas so I'm posting the sketches even though the deadline has passed.  As you can see, I was getting a little bit hooked on giraffes.

These were all done in ballpoint pen.  

Illustration Friday: "Early"

Illustration Friday: "Linked"