Day 59: Girl of the Flowers

I'm not going to say a whole lot today. I said so much yesterday. My drawing today is of a flower girl. I think this would make a nice children's book. Maybe I'll do more flower girls and see what happens!

Day 58.5: A New Mermaid

I did this mermaid to make up for that old terrible one I did. This is what I meant to do before, but it just didn't work out. Now I have my good mermaid so I'm happy.

I've mentioned before that I'm not that experienced with watercolour. Maybe it's more that I'm experienced with it, just that I've not come anywhere near mastering it. I have, however, learned a lot about masking fluid.

There are a few things that all artists should know about masking fluid. 

1 If you don't let your coloured masking fluid dry, then it will lightly stain your watercolour if you try to wipe it away. This can be very annoying if you are working with a lot of light colours. I prefer the coloured  fluid, because you can see where you put it.

2. Liquid frisquet can and will dry too quickly. it can sometimes gum up while you are drawing with it. Be sure to clean your pen often when using it. (If you mess up, no worries, just wait until it dries to erase!

* Never ever apply masking fluid with a brush. It never ends well. I mean even the cheap brushes... it's not worth the pain you will go through. Frisket with a nib is better, but you are paying for the nib. It's best to buy pens you'd use for pen and ink. Avoid getting pen nibs that look like this: 

From my experience the little flap can get caught on paper easily and can be broken off to easily. 

It's much better to get pens nibs that look like these:  

You can't see it from the picture, but these guys have a hairline split that runs from the tip to the little hole. That hole, when filled with ink will hold your ink a lot better than the the the kind with the flap. These nibs are a lot easier for beginners to use for either ink or liquid frisquet.

You can generally use water to clean your pens after using liquid frisquet. It's important that you keep the pens nibs dry. I think many have a coating for protection of rust, but better to be safe than sorry. If by chance you are using ink as well buy yourself some denatured alcohol to clean off the ink - it works wonders on brushes or pens. If you can't find these nibs at your local art store you can find people who sell vintage and new nibs online. I used pebeo drawing gum for both of these paintings. It was about the only choice at the time at my art store, and I really love it.  

I'm not sure if I will have time to post much tomorrow. Have to go to the in-laws to see the Canadians play for the gold. Middle of the day plans always throw me off! 

The Good Fairy

Today just felt like a sad day. I'm not really sure why, actually. It was partly because of my recent failure with the other two sketches, but mostly I just felt blah.

I think this fairy is a bright end to a rather dismal day. I'm dedicating this fairy to a dear sweet friend of mine. Her name I wont say for privacy reasons. I hope that this little fairy will brighten your day as well.

Day 57: Back to the Drawing Board

So I looked at the drawings I was working on and I'm not at all happy with either of them. I started them just to try some experiments with mixed media. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. They are just overworked now. Blah. I think I would to better if I started over on them. I just need more time which I never seem to have. So need a break from drawing right now. I'm getting too frustrated over not having a decent computer and it's showing too much in my work.

Day 56.5: An Update

So today was a tough day for me. I left work a lot later than I usually do which pretty much threw everything off for today. I have a fairy and a mermaid that I will post in the morning. Right now they are drying, and I don't want to risk making the scanner tacky. So I'll post early tomorrow with my drawings, and with any luck I'll have a third drawing done before the end of the day tomorrow. Sweet dreams to the dreamers, and good morning to the morning glories out there.

Day 55: In Which Evil Computer Smites Me

From now on this old computer of mine will be known as "Evil Computer". On Evil Computer I can create a colourful drawing with several layers and save it quite well. When I go to open a saved colourful drawing with several layers, Evil Computer smites me. He slows down, crashes Photoshop, and refuses to let me open my colourful drawing with several layers!

I will be getting Good Computer shortly. I'm sure Evil Computer will try to thwart my efforts, but Good Computer will prevail.

I'm sorry, Evil Computer ate my fairy, so I only have a seahorse to show. I will show my fairy later. Seahorse was supposed to be in colour, but that is not something Evil Computer would allow. I hope you enjoy my seahorse, and not think me completely mad (though I may well be).

Elizabeth O. Dulemba's Blog

Elizabeth O. Dulemba has this neat new widget for download on her page. You can download a different coloring page every week. She even has a link to older coloring pages. Send her the colored page and she'll post it to her blog.

Go to Elizabeth O. Dulemba's Blog if you want to check it out.

For every 100 followers on her page she's giving out a free signed copy of her book, so check it out! Also, while you're there you can suggest new ideas for pages. Enjoy!

Day 53: The Barn Owl

I've always loved barn owls. Like any owl they seem to have a certain wisdom about them. I love the heart-shaped frames around their faces. They almost look like dolls.

I'm not sure how many more farm animals I'm going to do, because I'm running out of different looking animals. Most of them are birds, and animals that look like horses or cows. Maybe I should try some farm equipment next?

A Question Answered About My Materials

I wanted to answer a question that was left in my comments in a post so everyone could see. I hope I don't embarrass you by putting you on the spot, Amy, but I thought everyone should know the answer.

Amy Asked: "What materials do you use for your work?"

Right now, all my illustrations are done digitally in Photoshop. Often I'll draw things in pencil and scan them into my computer. For many of the recent animal drawings I looked at many references, but did them using the pen tool in Photoshop. If you don't use the pen tool in Photoshop, you don't know what you're missing!

It's becoming rarer now, but some people are still of the mindset that Digital means "easy", or completely computer generated. I was shocked when I heard that there are a few that think it doesn't take artistic talent to create computer generated images. The computer is a tool just like any other, and you do need talent to create good digital art.

Thank you for your question Amy! I would be happy to answer any other questions people have about my art, picture books, and everything in between and around these things. Feel free to email me at daniduckart[@]gmail.com. Remember to remove the brackets! So what's your question?


Edit: One thing that I forgot to mention is my all important Wacom pad. I have a Wacom Intuos 3. I got it just before the Intuos 4 came out. I love it, and I'm not sure how I ever did art on the computer without it.

Final Illustrations, Finally!

I've got my first three illustrations done! I'm happy. Of course finals are only finals after they are published, so if you have any ideas how I can improve these do let me know! I was going to wait until tomorrow to finish them, or to post, but I hate waiting. I also hate making other people wait. For all of you people who slept tonight instead of staying up late for me to post, shaaaammmme shammmeee! I think I'm going to go get some sleep now. Enjoy the illustrations!

Day 52: Sheeeeep

I'm getting closer to finishing my farm illustrations. I can't help but to keep it up. It's too fun making these cute animals! Today I drew a sheep. He looks like the best pillow ever! Gigi commented that these drawings would make a good children's book. I didn't really think about that when I was making them. I know that's what this blog is for, but still! Anyway, it doesn't hurt to have lots of extra animal drawings.

Here is the final farm background. Some things may change in this drawing, but it's basically what I came up with. Most of the things are the same from the sketch I did, but I added the window. I was sad looking at the drawing where there would be all these animals that didn't have a window to look out of it. Yes, I'm a big sap sometimes.

Hopefully the animals will love their new barn. At one point I had hoped to have a little spider in or around the barn. It didn't really make much sense, because none of my animals have feet. I don't think I could make a successful spider without feet. Even if I could, I'd be sad that he didn't have feet. Yes, there is something wrong with that last statement, but I stand by it!

I don't know if this format works better for my blog or not. I thought I'd try something new, and if it doesn't work I'll go back to the old way. I'm not sure if I'll finish my farm today, but I'll give it a go. 

Day 51: 2nd Farm Background and a Plane

Terrible, terrible day today... Photoshop crashed again for the Nth time. Really annoying because I was just moving to save. I think my computer knows when I'm about to save something, because that's always when I have the most trouble. Oh well, I did get the second farm background done:

I had planned to have a bird in the sky in one of the first two farm scenes, but I figured I had way too many birds already. I decided a plane would be more fun. It's a little brighter than most planes, but more fun than another yellow bird... though it is very yellow.

Day 50: A Rooster Almost on the Farm

Today I did a rooster. I figured if I didn't include him he'd come to my house and wake me up at the crack of dawn.

I also did the line work and colours for one of my farm pictures. Now to populate it with animals.

Hopefully I'll be able to finish all three of these farm pictures this weekend.

Day 49: A Horse is a Horse and a Post is a Post

Today I braved the crowds and did a little exploring of down town Vancouver with my husband. We didn't have tickets to any of the Olympic events, but we still had a lot of fun. It was really nice to see the Olympic Flame in person (first time ever seeing it in person!). It was beautiful, but seemed much smaller than it looked on TV. There were lots of street performers, and people selling anything from decorative pins to fine art. There was a small outdoor area for ice skating and people six stories off the ground zipping across cables on  Robson Street. We weren't there very long, but it was nice to get caught up in the high spirits and fun of the Olympics. Hrm, there was something else... oh yeah I did a drawing today!

Today's drawing is of a horse. Everyone knows you can't have a farm without a horse!

Here are all my sketches from week 7:

Day 48: A Puppy!

I knew there would have to be a puppy. Everyone knows you can't have a good farm scene without a puppy. I tried to make sure this puppy had a few, very important, features:

1. He had his head up in the air. Every puppy I've known had a habit of throwing his head in the air when he was playing a game.

2. He had to have a long tail. Dogs are cute no matter what, but I love the long tails.

3. He had to have his tongue sticking out. What dog doesn't have his tongue sticking out?

Without further ado:

So, how did I do? I think I struggled with this one the most, because I really wanted this to look good.

I'd love to have a dog myself. Unfortunately, I don't have a big yard or the time to take care of one. Hopefully in the future I'll get one. My husband thinks he prefers cats, but that's just silly.

I've also updated my personal information. I've also signed up on Technorati. Apparently my blog is 27846th. Yay me!

Edit: Oh, I forgot! My husband got his bonus recently so I will soon be getting a new computer! I want to run out right away and buy one. I'll be a good girl and do my research. Weeeeeee doggies!

Day 47: A Family Member and Some Farm Scenes

Ever had a day where you couldn't find anything you need? I have a few days during the month that aren't like that. Today I couldn't find any markers, but I found the pastels I was looking for when I was doing the Humpty Dumpty images (don't worry, no more Dumpty for now... that egg has cracked). I used watercolours instead to colour my Farm images. The final images may be different (No, I didn't get a kid to draw them. These drawings are all me, baby!).

And then there's the family member, Mr. Ducky! There were several people who laughed hysterically when they heard what my married name was going to be. I don't see what's so funny. Duck is a perfectly dignified and classy last name. Quack! ...excuse that.

As you can see I finally have a nice new template. I'm sticking with this layout until I design one of my own. No takebacks! I like the fact that it's raw and a bit messy. Reminds me maybe too much of myself.

If this is your first time visiting my blog, welcome to you. You may not want to read some of my old posts, because I've just now gotten warmed up (after only 40 odd days). If you have been here before, then keep checking back because there will be lots more stuff soon! Please stick with me, because things are just going to get better from here. 

A Sleeping Cat

So I did get my kitty done today. I've been meaning to draw a kitty for a while now, so I'm glad I got him all done.

Day 46: Issues With Formatting

So I tried to upload a new template for my blog, but it didn't take. I tried to revert to the old settings, but that isn't working either. I'll have to look into things later so I can at least put things back the way they were.

A Little Bit of Love

Here is a Valentine for any of you who need a little bit of love. No words, just art.

Day 45: A Cow

Today's drawing is a cow. He was supposed to be a kitten, but there you go. Sometimes things don't end up like they're planned.

Maybe more stuff later tonight. We'll see how my plans end up.

Day 44.5: The Pig and a Flower

So I did a pig and a flower. I'm going to be using all these images in the illustrations that I will be working on in the near future. I've decided to do three drawings with a farm theme. I've got solid ideas for the first two, but I haven't decided what I'm doing for the third, so I'll be posting that tomorrow once I get it figured out.

I think this style is really well for me right now, because my computer can't handle a lot of information right now. I don't like the idea of skimping on things or making a file too small just to work on it on my computer. My husband should be getting a bonus next month, hopefully it's lots and lots so I can get a new computer.

Day 43.5: Olympics, Hard Drive Failure, Mouth Aches... Oh My!

So I'm really late posting tonight because because because. Anyway I was at the in-laws watching the Olympic opening ceremonies. Not really my thing, but hey it's family time, so it was fun.

Earlier today my computer crashed hard. My poor little computer couldn't open Photoshop and any image (this includes the 26k files...oiy!). I rebooted and got a hard drive error message... so reboot again and kept getting error messages from Goback. Turns out that when my computer has a hard drive failure it removes my primary drive and replaces it with nothingness. In any case I got it up and running just before I left to go to the in-laws. In any case I'm behind once again, but I realized it before it got too obnoxious. Here is a collection
of images from weeks five and six:

So right now I'm behind one daily image (not so bad) and behind 3 illustrations (a little worse). I plan on doing  two illustrations tomorrow. I blame my teeth for the single late image. It's not an excuse, it's a terrible tragedy!  Oh fine, whatever. I've failed staying on schedule for everything else, so I might as well keep my failures well rounded so everything stays even. 

In any case I think I'll have time to make a base sketch for my third illustration tomorrow. I'm also going to try to get an idea what other images I need to create to finish my portfolio. Wish me luck!

Day 42: A Mousey

And today brings a mousey! Hrm maybe he needs a tail?

Day 41: A Couple of Cute Chicks

I decided to do more drawings along the same line as the bunny I did. Here's the result:

I'd say more, but I have to go have some supper.

Day 39: The Final Dumpty (and a Bunny)

I decided to go back and try to colour Mr. Dumpty one last time. I like this the best out of the other ones I worked on. I do like working in traditional mediums, but I kept trying to hit the undo button when I did something wrong. The real life undo button needs some work. Here is what I came up with:

Here is all the images put together so you can compare them:

And last but not least is a bunny that I worked on today. 

He's a lot different than what I usually work on. I might try some more drawings like this in the future.

Day 37: Dumpty Dumpty Dumpty

Well I had a little trouble with one of these. Yesterday I decided to do an acrylic painting. Usually acrylics are my thing, but not this time!  I took a break last night. I was really tired and sore. Of course I was more tired and sore when I got up (stupid wisdom teeth removal). All it took was a slight bump from my husband (he really barely touched me) and it was in pieces. All the kings horses, no?

This second one was a bit better. I used watercolour paper so it made the coloured pencils a bit more difficult. I think I've just about filled my weekly quota of Dumpties, but who knows for sure (he's not comming out my ears yet).

Day 36: Every Little Bit Helps

I don't have much money myself, but for these things every little bit helps. I'm very squeamish about putting links on my blog that ask people for money. None of the money gathered here goes into my pocket, and if you just want to post a link on your blog that's good too!  

I'll have artwork later, but I wanted to post this before I forgot about it.

Quick Edit-- Here is a blog that has tons of ways you help out Haiti:

http://shrimpsaladcircus.blogspot.com/2010/02/lets-talk-about-haiti.html

Day 35.5: Digital Pastel Dumpty

As an experiment I wanted to see how Dumpty would look as a digital pastel. I wish I could have started this earlier today, but I had my wisdom teeth pulled and slept most of the day. I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow, but it may be the same drawing painted in a different medium.

Day 34.5: The Humpty Dumpty Doll

So here is my little Humpty Dumpty doll. I wanted to do something in watercolour/coloured pencils. It's nice to take a break from a broken computer every now and again. Watercolour isn't really my thing yet, but I'm liking it the more I use it.

Day 32: I Did Not Wait Until the Last Minute

I did not wait until the last minute to work on this sketch, but it wasn't until a few minutes ago that I remembered I hadn't posted it! These are just some ideas I had for creating a book about Humpty Dumpty. These are only sketches to give me an idea of where I want to go. Usually I'm not set on one thing, but the original idea I had in my head and the idea I put on paper are pretty similar. The one in the lower left is the direction I plan on going with this drawing.