Monday, April 22, 2013

Greetings from The Zone

Just a bit of fun today, playing with sketches created while studying sweet peppers last week...  
These scanned pages from my sketchbook are a little fuzzy but, as you'll see, they were just the jumping off point for today's play on my laptop.


First I chopped the composition up digitally and rearranged the peppers as I thought they might look more interesting stacked.


I traced over the drawings with the artistic media tool, trying to keep the organic feel of the pencil sketch.  


Time for a little color...yellow, red and purple, just like the peppers I'm growing (or at least attempting to grow) in my garden!


The finishing touches: a few shadows and a little tone for the background.


Each pepper was created in layers so I can easily change its color, remove the shadows, etc.  With the base images complete it was time to have some fun!






And one more just for Creative Tuesdays.  The theme is (you guessed it!) striped...



Art is such a good friend to me.  I had a lot on my mind today but decided to take creativity by the hand and lose myself in form, color, and possibility.  We had a nice conversation, my art and I, as we spent time "in the zone". 

I wonder if in a few years when my nest is empty I'll just get completely lost in it all.  I think I could really get into the role of eccentric artist-recluse, maybe even wear a monk's habit as Gustav Klimt did...any idea where I could find one?  I think it would be fab.  The huz could just throw me a morsel once in a while and turn the light out when I doze off.  I'm sure he'd just love that.

People will wonder what I'm up to out here in my little house in the woods. When I do emerge everyone will be shocked at my other-worldliness.  Birds will light on my shoulders and deer will eat from my hands.  Maybe I'll be a little wild-eyed...that will surely add a bit of mystery! 

This day, though, I'll be lost in laundry and errands and the super-great jewelry project I'm going to share with you soon.  No monk's habit for me, but maybe I'll cast a few wild-eyed glances now and again, just to keep things interesting ;-)

Linking up today with:


25 comments:

  1. This is really awesome! All of it!

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  2. Visiting from Creative Tuesdays - I think this is Absolutley Fabulous!! :0)

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  3. Hello!

    Lovely blog and illustrations!
    xx

    Johanna, Sweden
    ART FASHION

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  4. This is great! I love all the variations on a theme :)

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  5. Such Gorgeous colorful peppers..vibrant and expressive..fantastic art..wonderful to see your creative process as well..beautifully done!I smiled at your words..I have been pushing myself "out of hermit mode" for a long while now.. blogging was one doorway out! being in a creative cocoon is totally blissful and nourishing..but at times staying hidden away for too long has been a challenge for me and ahd to push myself out into the world..so maybe we could trade places ! sounds good ha ha! Loved your post..wonderful to read!
    Victoria

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  6. Love the peppers ~ well penned and colored ~ very creative ~ ^_^

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  7. wonderful striped peppers Janice! One of a kind!

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  8. i love your peppers and i'm a new follower now too!

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  9. they looked like melons with the stripes. nice take on creative tuesday.

    have a sweet day.

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  10. Also visiting from Creative Tuesdays. Love how you layered your illustration and introduced the stripes into the pepper designs! Really inspiring.

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  11. Very fun and creative ideas especially from one subject.

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  12. Wow! You had a blast playing with those bell peppers, and all the digital versions are fabulous. I especially like the stripped version. I don't know about the Klimt habit, but I do have fantasy's of being an eccentric/manic artist. Blessings!

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  13. Such wonderful interpretations on the pepper. I do love the striped ones though and they fit the theme exactly for Creative Tuesdays.

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  14. I loved all of your peppers and it was fun learning what you did to create them. Thank you so much for sharing them.

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  15. Your artist as recluse in the painting studio sounds marvelous....Getting lost in it is what it's all about isn't it? Is for me anyway. Got up at 3 this morning and painted for 6 hours.....now I get to work in the office(and nap later). Chunky, colorful, striperific peppers....I can see these all as signs at the farmer's markets, they would love your work. xox

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  16. Janice, Your peppers ooze happiness. So fun! I happen to have a hobbit I can lend you :-)

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  17. I love your peppers! The variations you came up with using photoshop are fabulous. Great work! I love that future self visual of birds landing on you and deer coming right to you...

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  18. Janice, love what you have done with your peppers. So creative. I have no idea about digital work. Love your dream about getting lost in your studio in the woods.in the future. Wish I too can join you once my nest gets empty:)

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  19. Welcome Janice! Love your striped peppers! Thank you. you have a great illustrative style.

    Please do follow the guidelines of our co-op so we can have consistency with the brand, etc. Thank you!

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  20. Thanks for sharing your process, I love seeing how other people work!
    Love the striped ones, by the way. They really pop!

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  21. Hello Janice, just catching up on all you've been doing, these peppers are all so great!

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  22. Janice, I love the paintings of the bell peppers. I just learned that some have 3 and some have 4 lobes. One is female and sweeter and one is male. Don't remember which is which.

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  23. Wonderful peppers, absolutely delicious, creative, fresh and crisp! <3

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  24. I never knew there were purple peppers!

    And if you get that innie recluse house in the woods, I want to come visit. :)

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