Old Photos For Character Sketches

I've been searching through some old photos and I'm completely enchanted by everything about them. The tonal variations, the vintage clothing styles, the settings. So lovely.  They are a wonderful resource to illustrate from. Here are a few quick sketches from earlier today:

 I'll be investigating more photos and posting the results soon.

Smoothie for a Vampire

I've finally discovered kefir, a fermented drink packed with gut-loving bacteria. And kefir (pronounced ke-FEER), is great in smoothies!  While the pronunciations and spellings are different, I couldn't help but pull a silly interpretation of Kiefer Sutherland into the picture. He's looking rather vampire-ish here - remember The Lost Boys?

I'll write more on my adventures with kefir in a later post.  In the meantime, give this recipe a whirl and let me know what you think!

xo

Julie

Bitey Bug

My daughter and I were discussing kinds of bugs that bite. Inevitably our conversation turned comical and we came up with this little critter.  He's a vegetarian.

Vacation Sketches

I haven't been posting much lately - I'm on vacation in beautiful British Columbia. I have had a few moments to sit and sketch, even do a little writing, but have otherwise been keeping quite busy with all the wonders of visiting loved ones.

Back to the grind next week. For now, I'll take in what I can of the mountains before it's time to say goodbye..

xo
Julie

Lessons in Running with the Dog

My dog hates old people. And bikes. And skateboards. And other dogs.  Maybe hate isn't the right word. Maybe she's terrified. So terrified that she nearly rips my arm off with her leash as she lunges toward all of the above as they each pass us by. Okay, maybe not ALL of them, but too many. Some days she's her great, gentle, fun-loving self, some days she's a total jack-ass. Why? This I ask myself.

So, I've been paying attention to the details - yesterday morning she nearly gave an older woman a heart attack. I had said a pleasant "good morning" to the woman, she smiled and nodded my way. I let my guard down (this is before I started, you know, paying attention to the dog-related details for the day). I forgot about my freaker-dog for a little while (because she was being so calm and lovely) when, suddenly, she lunged, barking, toward the woman, who jumped back, eyes widened. She scurried away from us looking over her shoulder, clearly shaken.  "Désolé! Désolé!"  I called after her.  Sigh.

Does my dog think she's protecting me from the elderly?  Not cool doggie, not cool. She seems to have issues with anyone with grey/white hair.  You know, the highly dangerous demographic.

Old person, check. Let's see, a bike was coming. Usually she panics around bikes, skateboards, rollerblades - all wheeled recreational equipment, it seems. I have to leave her at home when I go to the skate park with my kids or she goes ballistic   So, the bike came. I kept my voice low and kept telling her how well she was doing. "Keep on walking Heidi. Good doggie, oh, such good walking. You can do it." You know, in that sucky, condescending-sounding babying voice we all make fun of when people us it to talk to their animals. It worked!  She stayed the course. Great!  Moving along.

Heidi and I ran for 4.5 km, during much of which I was verbally petting her.  I needed a lozenge.
She did well in all manner of combinations. We ran along the bike path that follows along the river.  There were other old people, one on a bike even, and one on a motorscooter. She cruised right by them like the impersonal, mind your own business kind of pet I'd always hoped she grow to become.  Lots of people were running, some with dogs, and one young woman riding a bike whilst walking her dog.  Bravo, Heidi, bravo. Rockin' the combos. She did great.

We were almost home.  We walked past a middle-age dude, smelling like UGLY, as all smokers do (sorry smokers, it's true), creepily eye-balling me.  He opened his mouth, but before he even got close to a second syllable, Heidi reverted back to freaker-dog.  Freaker Dog!  It's her alter ego, I guess. He did a quick two-step away from us, cigarette dangling from his lips. "Désolé! Désolé!"  He gasped as he walked away.  Really, it was a decent time for Heidi to fall off the impersonal, well mannered wagon.  No to the elderly, yes to creepy lurkers. Good dog.

Overall, she's a pretty great creature.  She's gentle and snuggly and loves us so much it's incredible. In fact, it can only be described as pathetic. Pathetic! We could never love her as much, though we try. Even if that means having to baby talk her down the bike path.

And, because this in an illustration/design blog, I've gone ahead and done an illustrated recap for you below.

Rework

You know when you look at a piece you did a long time ago and it just gets under your skin? It's one that seems to get a lot of views on this blog, but the more I look at it, the more I, um, well, hate it. So, last night, I decided to rework it.

This is the work I had originally posted:

Click image to open a gallery of both images.

What I like about it:

I like digital collage element (I did in photoshop), the extra cupcake bleeding off the page, the size of her head - Harrr, BIG HEAD! I made it larger, than what I had initially drawn, in photoshop. 

What I do not like about it: 

The washed out, overexposed effect, the fact that the fabric collage pieces are not at all prominent. These two things are grating on me. Those, and the line quality. 

After I reworked:

Click image to open a gallery of both images.

I reworked the line with a thin sharpie, photographed it, paying close attention to how the light hit the skirt fabric, then brought it back into photoshop for some texture and colour adjustments.  I decided to opt out of making her head larger this time. I tilted the whole scene a bit to lend more to a chaotic energy. 

After looking at the two, before and after, together, I think I do prefer the wider open expression of the girl in first one.  I may go back in and fidget with it a bit.  Right now, I need some space from it. 

Do you find that some pieces just want to fight you all of the way?? When do you just walk away and let it go?  Maybe I have control issues. Or maybe it boils down to compulsions.  Whatever it is, it's fun, until it drives me mad.  Then it's AMAZING!  Then I'm exhausted.  The end. 

Dying Into the Blue

Yes, today I dyed a perfectly beautiful white dress blue. Okay, it's only partially blue. Why am I posting this here? Ummm, well, I used a paintbrush at one point. ;p

Find the whole story on my other, rather recently neglected, blog: Jules Mae Clothing.

It's all I can do to not go into now with acrylic paint - bright pops of yellow are dancing through my brain. Less is more, Julie, less is more.  I'll keep telling myself that. We'll see what happens ....

The Climb

I just dropped off my first ever batch of post card mail-outs at the post office.  I'm really doing this. Committing to the moment. Committing to the long haul.  Is it funny that I feel like this should be a momentous occasion but it doesn't actually feel momentous at all? Why was I so nervous about it? Heck! I'll be doing it again in a few months. Sometimes the steepest mountain hike is the one called "get over yourself".

Loosen Up

I find it's easy to get stuck in a rut with photoshop, or maybe just with style in general - photoshop shouldn't be blamed. I need to loosen up!  Here's this morning's digital painting. I started by just blocking in darks and lights over a mish-mashed photograph (as suggested here) and tried to not use the undo button much. You can't really see the photograph at all, but it does contribute to some of the fiery oranges in there.  I think it certainly helped me find a direction with this painting, and I'll use the technique again in the future.

Insomnia Sketching

Thanks to my Samsung Galaxy Note and Autodesk's Sketchbook Mobile (no, I am not being paid to say this - but THAT would be nice) when I can't sleep, I can sketch.  This was last night's adventure:

I hope to be sleeping tonight rather than sketching, but should it recur, I shall post again.  It's actually snowing in Montreal right now - mid April!! I'm thinking it's a good night to just hibernate and dream of green grasses and flying piggies.