You Wanna Piece of Me?

Do you like my artwork? Wish you could own some but don't know if you could afford it or even if you have room for it?
Well folks, wonder no more, your dilemma has been solved. I've recently opened a little "gallery" at zazzle.com where I have made some choice works of art available in a format that would be inexpensive and unobtrusive in any home.
What am I talking about? Magnets, of course. A while back, I purchased some 2" magnets featuring photos of my kids and I love them. So, why not use this same medium for artwork? They are very inexpensive, and you can have some "fine art" (if you can refer to a magnet that way) for your locker, filing cabinet, refrigerator, or any other metal surface you can dream of.
How often can you say you actually know the artist? Now you can! Be the envy of all your friends.
There is a link in my sidebar, or if you scroll to the very bottom of my blog you can see a display without having to leave my blog site. So far, I've only created a handful using some of my favorite pieces, including two versions of my blog header. But I'd be willing to create another out of any artwork you have seen featured on my blog (excluding portraits commissioned by other people of course.)
Also, I am happy to create any other custom item that zazzle offers using my artwork, including mugs, mousepads, or (heaven forbid) a t-shirt. Hey, if you have twelve pieces you like, we could even do a calendar!
I think the coolest available item by far is a pair of SHOES covered with artwork. How awesome is that? But that is definitely a bit more pricey for you frugal types out there.
This is not really about me making money (because really, I would get very little from each sale.) This is more about getting my artwork out there for people to see and enjoy.
From time to time I plan on doing more pieces in the style of my blog header, which I will feature in a blog post and then make available on the zazzle site.
Thanks for your time!

Portrait #10: cute boy, lame post

So this is probably my lamest post out of the portrait series. Not that the boy isn't cute. I just got lazy and only scanned the picture three times...four if you count the one where I adjusted the settings so it would actually look closer to the real drawing. Plus, I suppose I was still bummed about the last portrait, and worried about getting the same reaction again. And my scanner is too slow. And annoying.

Here is my first scan...yeah, I know the eyes and half the face are already started. Sorry. The color variations in the background are because, again, the page is slightly bigger than the scanner bed, and with the lid down it made it slightly ripply:


In the photos, the boy had small pupils because they'd taken it with a flash close up. I've been told (in art and psychology classes) you can make people look more attractive by giving them larger pupils. He did look pretty cute, but my only worry is that his eyes don't seem open as wide because of it. Hopefully his happiness will still come across.
He had the same white-blonde hair as several of the other grandkids in this series. Luckily, I've now found which pencils I should use to create that effect, so I don't recreate the lemon-yellow hair issues I had with the first girl who looked like this. Because of the lighting in the photo, it did look brownish on top. I hope they took this into consideration when they gave me the picture, because I'm not about to change too much:



He was wearing a light blue sweater to go with his eyes, so I went with a darker blue in the background. It was looking really flat , boring, and a tad too dark at first. I started to erase it just too see if it would look okay lighter (there's no way to completely erase these pencils) and I found that the eraser actually made a cool effect, kind of like a wash on a pair of jeans. So I did the eraser marks throughout the background, and finished up the face and other details:



I seem to be getting better at manipulating the manual settings on our scanner, because this is actually somewhat close to the actual drawing this time. (But you still can't see ALL the colors.) Also, this time I left the lid up and adjusted the paper so the one side would have the dark line; at least that was better than that weird ripple issue again.
He turned out pretty cute, now I just hope it looks like him to his family!

Elora explains

Oh, hello there! I'm Elora. You might remember me from such posts as The Saucy Diaries, Oh What do You Do In The Summer Time, and My Funny Little Helper.

My mommy asked if I wouldn't mind coming here to explain myself to you folks. Apparently, I sometimes say stuff that others might not completely understand, and I'd like to clear a few things up.

Like the other day, I was looking in the mirror and wouldn't you know, I discovered I had freckles on my tongue! I was so excited to tell my mom, but she said I was wrong. She told me they were called "taste buds". I thought she was pretty silly to say I had bugs on my tongue, so I was sure to let her know, I don't like BUGS! She obviously didn't know what she was talking about.

Then there is my favorite movie right now, The Little Mermaid. I was talking to my mommy after I watched it for the first time. She saw I was concerned, and asked me what was the matter.
I told her, "Mommy she got her man, but she'll never see her sisters and her daddy or her little fish again!" This was a big deal! But mommy didn't understand, and she laughed at what I said. You understand, don't you? I mean, a man isn't everything, after all. We all need our little fish friends!



My mommy and daddy say I sometimes make up stories about things that happened. Like, I asked daddy if I could have a cookie. Mommy says that he told me, "As soon as I am done with this project, I will get you a cookie." But I think daddy told me "NO!" In his loudest meanest voice, and I told her so. Mommy must not have been listening very good.



And I remember lots of stuff that happened yesterday. Yesterday, we went to Grandma's for Christmas, and we had cake for my birthday. Yesterday I was a baby and still wore diapers like Joshua. Yesterday, we lived in a different house.
I know about lots of stuff we're going to do tomorrow as well. We are going to see my cousin Isabelle for Christmas, tomorrow. We will drive the six hours to Grandma's house tomorrow, and we will go to a parade and get candy too. And we'll go to the zoo. Tomorrow, I will be big like mommy, and Joshie will be big like me.
My mommy told me some of those things from yesterday happened a long time ago, and all that stuff tomorrow won't be fora long time. Does "a long time" mean tomorrow? I think so.



See? Now we understand each other. I'm glad we were able to clear a few things up!

Love, Elora

Photo Albums, Scrapbooks, and Picture Frames

There are many different views about what you should do with photographs.
Now that the digital era is in full swing, many people prefer to simply make web albums and leave their photos on the computer or on disks, which they can view when they're in the mood, or on special occasions.
Some people create fancy scrapbooks with their most memorable photos, while others compile family albums.

A few people prefer to display their cherished memories on the walls of their home, though I've heard the opinion that this is less than desirable in a truly designer home. Or something.
As for me? I'll take all of the above.

Obviously I have all of my photos on the computer, or I couldn't put them on my blog! My screen saver is set to a photo slide show, so whenever I'm not at the computer its running a show of all the photos I have saved on it.

As for hard copies, well let me tell you. I have photo albums coming out my ears, but I'm not going to stop anytime soon. I used to save every picture I took, but I'm getting better at only printing the best version of each photo. My preferred album displays about five pictures per page, and will hold at least 300 pics. I usually fill one of these up in about a year.

When I was a kid, my siblings and I loved to get out our mom's photo albums and look at pictures of ourselves from years past. She had about 30 albums when I moved away, I'm sure that number has increased in the eight years since!

I also do a few scrapbooks, though they aren't elaborate in anyway. I get some nice paper and photo corners for my pages, but I'm not as concerned with fancy lettering, or scrapbooking extras that so many people like to utilize. So far, we have three scrapbooks: one for each of my kids, and one family album.



As for my walls? Hello. Yes, I like to display photos. This came from my childhood as well. My mom used to rotate our school pictures through a few different frames, but lately her walls are a little out of hand. With weddings, senior pictures, and grandkids, she just keeps adding more. On some walls, you can't even see the paint color! Not that anythingis wrong with this;I love walking around looking at the walls full of memories whenever I go home.

She probably got this from her mother too. Grandma has a hallway in her home that is completely plastered with a cornucopia of pics of her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids.

For now, I am trying to keep my walls under control. I do have quite a few frames up, but I have a rotation plan..hey, what else are those scrapbooks for! Thats where the 8x10s from the wall go when their time is up. Some people like to rearrange their furniture, I like to rotate a few pictures every few months.

We have the multi-colored wall (which I'm slowly converting to all black frames),


and the silver wall, which is compiled almost entirely of frames I received as wedding presents.


Plus the one gold frame I got for my wedding, that doesn't match anything else, so its relegated to the hallway.


My other walls are set aside for art displays of course.


I must admit, I can get obsessive about frames. When I go to craft stores, I almost always prefer to go look at the frames as opposed to the art supply section. In fact, I just bought a new one (not the one I wanted, which was sold out) but I'm replacing the long green frame already on the wall, rather than making a new space for it. I'm just waiting for my prints to put in it. Isn't it cute? (it only counts as one, right?)



I try to plan ahead too. After all, if we have more kids, they have to have their own 8x10 on the wall to go with the black frames, and a 5x7 to go with the silver frames, and their own scrapbook. Its only fair.

Okay, I'm doomed. When I'm fifty, my walls will probably look just like my moms. But by then, I probably won't mind.

Portrait #9

Note: This is the portrait to which I referred in a recent post, where the girl looked to old. After having some time to reflect on the drawing, I can see what my client was talking about, but I really was happy with this one before that assessment. Oh well.

I found out that I need to go a little faster on these portraits, because my friend needs them all by December 1st. So this time I didn't show quite as many stages in my scans because I was trying to work faster...and because every time I use this new scanner, I want to kill everyone. Which can't be good.

These all have a dark side on the right because the page is a fraction of a centimeter bigger than the scanner bed, and it has raised edges so the page won't lay flat like on the old one.



I was excited to finally have a portrait that wasn't blonde, so I got to the hair right away. I found some settings on my scanner that allowed me to adjust the scan, so on each of these I was messing with it to try and get a better representation of the colors. I changed the mouth a little before I started coloring it. At least the hair looks about right:



I am actually compositing two photographs for this portrait. They had one of her smiling like this but she was wearing a coat with the hood up. So I have another picture with a different expression where I can look at her hair and a cute purple dress she was wearing. It's working pretty good so far:



I made this next scan a little too dark, but I was trying to show the variety of colors in her skin, which weren't showing otherwise:


This is the final scan, the way the scanner thought it would look best. It looks a little dull in my opinion. Its like you're looking through dirty glasses or something:



And here is the final scan after I adjusted it. It might be a little more intense than life, but if you picture the drawing as somewhere between this and the last one, then you'll get the idea.

Random Thoughts This Week

• I can't believe they changed the release date for Harry Potter from November '08 to July '09. Must find more trailers to watch online.
  

• The girl's portrait I just finished and thought was so great, my client said she looked too old. Should I re-do it? I really thought it was good. I suck.
  

• Is it wrong that the first word I taught Elora to spell was "moon", just so she could sound like that guy from Steven King's, The Stand? "M- o-o-n, that spells moon!"

• Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas? I already have lists of things to get other people, as well as a list of things folks can get me. (The second list is available for anyone interested ;)

• Can we really drive to Denton, TX in just two days? In the middle of December? While going through Wyoming and Colorado? I think we're going to die.
  

• If we do go to Texas, I wonder if we could take a detour in OK, while I look for Pioneer Woman's ranch? I think I know which county she lives in.

• I should not stalk people.

• I don't know if I could live in Star Valley, WY. The biggest town has less than 2,00o people, and only one small movie theater. What is Joseph thinking?
  

• When they had that tie-dying activity last week for Married Student Housing, I wish I'd made something for myself, and not just for Elora's birthday.

• I should get Joshua out of the garbage.

• How many times can I do posts with pictures of my kids before people stop reading my blog?

• No one is commenting on the last post anymore, so I guess I should publish this.
  

Then and Now

It was just one month shy of a year ago that we took some two-year-old birthday pictures of Elora, along with some sibling pics of her and Joshua together. At the same location. Yes, we love the canyon scenery.
Its been interesting to see the differences (and the similarities) in the two of them now that a year has passed.

Then: Elora gave me a goofy fake grin half the times I asked her to smile:


Now: She had fairly natural expressions most of the time, but occasionally she did the goofy fish face:



Then: She was a nature lover, and was particularly interested in all the rocks she could find on the trail:



Now: Still a nature lover, but she was more entranced by the flowers....

(stupid sun glare)

... and she preferred to climb on the rocks.




Then: She kept running away while I was trying to take her picture:



Now: She actually asked me to take her picture, and was pretty good at staying put:


Oh, okay, you know she did run around a little bit:



And as for Joshua...well of course he's grown quite a bit since he was four months old!


Then: He was mostly a floppy prop around which Elora could pose:



Now: He can get around fine on his own, thank you very much!




Then: Joshua's main interest was his fist:


Now: Josh loved the grass, the flowers....


.....and everything else!




Its crazy how fast these two are growing! True, Josh kind of looks the same because of the bald head thing, but in personality he's changed in leaps and bounds! And Elora is no longer just cute, she's becoming beautiful in her own right. (But maybe thats just a mother's eye.)



While its somewhat bittersweet to see them grow so fast, I have to admit, I can't wait to see what the next year will hold!

Tell me, which do you like better?

We had fun taking more pictures up the canyon the other day, this time of our kids. I will probably show some more later (because I can't stand sitting on these and no one seeing them!) But for now, I have a few versions that I tried multiple effects on.

I know which versions I like the best...though I do like them all....but which do you prefer?


Here are two of Josh, with Elora running way in the background:




Here are two of Elora, she looks so old in these! :




And I tried four different versions of this running shot. I think there is definitely one best one here, but what do you think?:







Finally, my sweet girl smelling a flower:

Portrait #8: What a cutie

I like this kid's face. I don't know if its the deep dimples, the big eyes, or the quirky smile, but he's pretty cute. In the first drawing, I don't have the shape of his mouth quite right, but I figured I'd work around it until I could get it right.



His eyes seemed to be a darker blue than the last few kids', with a fun slant to them. I've adjusted the mouth here, but its still not quite the right angle.



I love how his skin tones are turning out so far. I started coloring the mouth but didn't put any really dark values down yet, because I'm afraid I might need to fix it a little bit more before it gets too finished.



After adjusting the shape of his mouth for the 100th time, I decided it was close enough to the photo and I finally filled in the color. Yet another red shirt, as you can see. At least it has stripes so the whole thing isn't red. Hey, my red pencil is really getting small here! I love the colors on his forehead, above his right eye. He has light skin like my kids where you can see some blue veins through it, and I was able to capture that subtly there...though you can't see it so well on this copy.



And then...our scanner died. We bought a new one which is supposed to be better. It does make nicer prints, but as for scanning artwork? I am not happy. A lot of photocopiers and scanners seem to have problems recording artwork as opposed to photos. I really think they need to design one for the public that is specifically for art. Anyway. The picture was somehow duller, like it didn't have as much light or all the colors weren't there. This one I raised the contrast in photoshop, which made it bright enough but it also blew out all the lighter colors on the face so you can't really see them:



I was looking at some of the earlier portraits in this series, and I liked the minimal background, so I did that again on this one instead of filling in the whole paper with color.
For the final scan, I didn't change anything after I scanned it, but I did cut a quarter of an inch off the top of the page so it could lay flat on the scanner bed. This at least eliminated the dark shadow on the bottom. Did I mention I am NOT happy with this scanner? I used a lot of lighter colors to give this photo a fresher feel than the last few, and while it looked great on the original, none of those subtle skin tones are showing up on this, my copy. The only one I have. GRRRRRR.



And here it is with the saturation bumped up, but its still not really accurate. Darn it.