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.

Smoothie Postcards - Printed

I just received my first batch of printed smoothie postcards in the mail.  They are gorgeous! The size is 4x6, printed on sturdy card, complete with rounded corners and spot uv (some of the areas are glossy - like the cups, and the actual recipe area - while other areas are matte).

These are intended for promotional mailouts (to drum up work - a girl's got to eat), but I wonder if there would be a market for them if I sold them as such for personal collections.  What do you think?  I could do 1 for $2.50 and 2 for $4 plus $1-2 for shipping depending on destination.  Of course, you have my permission to go to my previous recipe posts and just print them out for yourself (for your own personal use), but this could be an opportunity to own a really nice high quality print collection (and put a big smile on my face in the process.  Just sayin'). 

Should I print my other smoothie recipes as well?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.  Comment below, or on my Facebook or G+ page. 

Can you see the spot uv gloss on the cups? 

Character Design

Since checking out this post at Once Upon A Sketch, I thought it was good motivation to get back to some character design of my own.  I love, love, love the simplicity of just starting with very simple shapes.  Check out the video on their blog, if you get a chance. My kids watched some with me. They went directly off to design their own characters as soon as they had a chance.  So much fun!

Once the shapes were in place, I let that dictate for me what the character would be like. Now, this was just an experiment for me.  I suppose that if I had already had a description of the character in front of me - their personality, their station in life - I might have approached the challenge from the opposite side. I would have to consider all of the information and decide what shape might suit it.  As it was, it was great fun to go at it with no prior information and see what came of it. This is more akin to what my writing process is like - just start writing with a vague idea of shape and see what comes of it.  So, this was really fun for me.  Probably not practical, but who needs practical.  ;P

Here are the shapes I began with:

Green n' Fruity

My kids asked me with some enthusiasm if I could make this one again - always a good sign.

The fish in the illustration, and the fact that a blender is needed for such recipes, makes me automatically think of  Dan Aykroyd's Bass-O-matic 3000.   But don't worry, there are no bass involved in any of my smoothie recipes ... yet. :P

Enjoy!

~julie

Mint Spinach Shake

This smoothie much more like a dessert. It was my answer for my family to McD's St. Paddy's Day Shamrock Shake.
A handy tip:  freeze your ripe bananas still in their peels. When you are ready to use them, soak them for a minute in warm water, break open the top, and squish! They'll pop right out.

Enjoy!

~Julie