John Deininger's Illustration Blogfolio

Step-by-Step: Star Gazer

2011-11-08T11:32:00.001-08:00

Here's a rockin' step-by-step of one of my various working methods. It is fast and fun and just messy enough to feel like a kid.

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1) lots of drawing and re-drawing using tracing paper

2) Transfer to watercolor paper (Arches 300lb hot, unstretched). I use blue ball point pen on top of the sketch, and carbon paper under the sketch.

3) Add a warm tint the paper with a wash of Burnt Sienna watercolor (Daniel Smith). This gives the next layers of color a unified 'warm' tint. Air dry, or hair dryer.

4) Mask highlights. Darken the linework - I used a Derwent water-soluble pencil for this one, to create a softer linework (though I abondoned the 'soft' look later - see below).

5) 'Pool' in colors of Ultramarine and Hansa Yellow. This allows me to set the warm and cool areas of the painting.

6) Add more color, and add colors with granulating properties.

7) Define darkest areas. Pencil in darkest areas, such as occlusion shadows (the area where two forms meet).

8) Scan into Photoshop, and begin digital process: adding color, define forms further, add shooting stars, add bold line work, lights, and highlights.

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Hey - that's it! A fun process since it combines the best of analog painting and digital.

H is for Hhhh...Hippo!

2011-09-28T00:36:00.000-07:00

Lots of hippopotamus fun this week while completing a spread for the letter 'H', for the 9 Degrees North Project - The ABC's of Northern Ghana, a charity picture book project by the Tools for Schools Africa. My assignment had the accompanying text, "Have you ever seen a hippopotamus yawn? Its mouth and teeth are enormous! Their large bodies overheat easily, so they spend most of the day cooling in the water."

I started with lots of sketches of hippos, since I'd never really drawn them before. The goal was to understand their true form, and find the details that make them exclusively 'hippos'. Lots of reference was used.

Also researched were the variety of hippos that are specific to Ghana; a 40 km stretch of the Black Volta near Wechiau in the Upper West Region is a protected hippo sanctuary. So the color of the river, the fish, the birds, etc. were all good details to have in mind when planning the composition,

Hopefully it engages the young reader enough to feel like they are right there in the thick of it and looking around, using their imaginations to continue the little stories happening in various parts of the illustration.

Robot Study

2011-09-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

A bit of a froggy-bot look.

Adventure: Chikamin Ridge, Spectacle Lake

2011-08-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

It took two years to sync up schedules for a 3-day backpack with childhood friends, Jeremy and Mark - and it was worth the wait! A difficult climb up a long, brushy valley to an open ridge, full of eye-popping explorations to mountains, lakes, rock, and ice. We felt very small among the true giants of earth.

The area we explored is around the Pacific Crest Trail: Glacier Lake, Chikamin Ridge, Spectacle Lake.

Sketchbook: Frogs

2011-08-11T16:08:00.000-07:00

Doodled during the mind-blowing 2011 SCBWI conference in LA!

Class Photo: Bigswell Elementary, Grades 2&3

2011-08-03T15:06:00.000-07:00

Sketchbook: Typewriter Posse

2011-08-02T22:57:00.000-07:00

Fuzzy Bat Family

2011-08-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

Nightime is Flytime

2011-08-01T22:20:00.000-07:00

Robot Walk

2011-07-31T20:28:00.000-07:00

close-ups:

sketch and color study:

Chasin' the Cake!

2011-07-29T22:18:00.001-07:00

Takin' the Cake!

2011-07-29T10:30:00.001-07:00

sketches...

Team Pig

2011-07-27T23:28:00.000-07:00

The race is shaping up, and it's neck and neck...

A Walk in Paris Continues...

2011-07-27T16:49:00.000-07:00

Team Giraffe

2011-07-26T17:00:00.001-07:00

And here's how the race is developing, Giraffe is in the lead!!!...

Team Goldfish

2011-07-25T23:06:00.000-07:00

A Walk in Paris

2011-07-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

Team Rhino

2011-07-24T15:45:00.000-07:00

Sleep Potion

2011-07-23T13:31:00.001-07:00

Team Bear

2011-07-22T18:37:00.001-07:00

Nerd Dragon

2011-07-19T20:33:00.000-07:00

Into the Book

2011-07-18T09:58:00.000-07:00

Details and drawings:

Firedogs

2011-07-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

Linework, color, and reference:

Forget About the Past 30 Years

2011-07-06T13:04:00.000-07:00

One process used by several successful children’s book illustrators - revealed during thier recent lectures - is to think of creating stories and images not just for kids, but for the kid we truly know and understand: ourselves. And this is not for the adult kid, rather the kid we were. It is our duty to help that former kid out.

So lately - in opposition to my usual here-and-now flow of things - I’ve tried to remember all the wants and emotions of that very unique former kid, the one who was different than all the other kids, and who really did exist 30 years ago. How could that former kid be defined into a character for a story. And what kind of stories, now with 30+ years of practiced skill, could I create to help or inspire him?

It's been a fun process, and seems to be leading towards creating stories and imagery that I truly connect with and want to illustrate.

Nine Kittens Sleeping

2011-06-27T12:47:00.001-07:00

How does someone feel when they look at my art? Which parts do they like the best? What is confusing?

Being a book artist, these questions are very important because books are for the reader, as much as they are for the creator. Such a simple question to always be thoughtful about: how does the reader experience my creations?

The opportunity to be mentored this past year has been a wonderful opportunity to discover and experience my creations through the eyes of readers, professional artists, editors, and art directors. And so adjustments have been made, with deeper attention to the reader and to better ways of working and creating; it has been a year of practicing what works.

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Well, anyhow, I've been building new stories and portfolio pieces with multiple characters and groupings, and allowing an emotive linework to take center stage. This is the first of four finished images with kittens - awwwww... Also fine-tuning a new, speedy way of working back and forth between watercolor and digital creation.

Big-Eared Juggler

2011-06-27T09:07:00.000-07:00

Yetti Epiphany

2011-06-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

Butterfly Dancer

2011-03-30T21:03:00.001-07:00

Sketchy Dragons

2011-03-29T23:23:00.000-07:00

Created during sketch night at Bauhaus Coffee.

Gossip Bot

2011-03-26T00:16:00.000-07:00

Chicken Rasberry

2011-03-25T10:58:00.000-07:00

Fact check: yes, chickens have tongues.

Mystery Verse of Garden

2011-03-19T15:52:00.000-07:00

More practice on a new style, and a more efficient way of creating images. A combo of colored pencil, watercolor, and Photoshop.

Ratfink Monster

2011-03-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

Landscape Reference

2011-03-13T18:23:00.001-07:00

Work is finally beginning on a series of 24" X 24" landscape paintings. If all goes well, the process will be duplicated on large 6' x 6' paintings. The landscapes are based on photos taken over the years while hiking and backpacking.

The step-by-step will be posted as the work progresses.

Space Car Concepts

2011-03-06T17:50:00.001-08:00

Lots of incredible artists at 2011's Emerald City Comicon. Everyone was busy at their tables, sketching up a storm of story and character!!!

Concept artist MC Barrett's sketchbook was a favorite of Didzis and I, filled with hundreds and hundreds of futuristic ships, creatures, homes, and more.

Later that week, Didzis and I converged on our favorite Seattle hangout, Bauhaus Coffee, to do some concept sketches of our own (we meet most Tuesday or Wednesday nights, 9:30 - midnight). Our subject was transportation. Here are some of my space car sketches:

Bigfoot Sketches

2011-03-01T13:26:00.000-08:00

Met him two years ago while backpacking through the Enchantments. A great guy. Super fun. Full of stories. Loves the outdoors.

Messing Around

2011-02-27T18:22:00.000-08:00

More fun experimenting...

Jump Start

2011-02-26T13:26:00.000-08:00

A big thanks to Didzis for showing me some brush tricks in Photoshop. Lots more fun experimenting on the schedule for the next few months!

Dance Sketches

2011-02-08T10:48:00.000-08:00

Lots of fun fun fun work lately on a story about a dancer, including a zillion sketches:

Bee & Bot

2011-02-03T15:37:00.000-08:00

The Idea Book

2011-01-30T20:14:00.000-08:00

Ideas get scribbled onto all kinds of surfaces: napkins, receipts, junk mail, etc. And then they go into a big drawer. And then finally organized into a large scrapbook full of patterns, inspiration, drawings, writings, and 99.9% of the ideas that'll never-ever be published.

The Writing Station

2011-01-17T11:05:00.001-08:00

For the past two months, the majority of work has been focused on creating a series of book dummies. Lots of writing, lots of thumbnails, lots of drawing - all at the same time! Below is the setup of the writing desk. On the left is a Wacom Cintiq, for advanced sketching. The right screen is devoted to writing. And below are pages and pages of scribbly, non-sequential thumbnail sketches.

(BTW: there's usually a cat supervising the process.)

Do you have a preferred setup?

Inspiration: Nika the Cat

2011-01-14T17:37:00.001-08:00

Nika has been in our clan for over two years now, and continues to inspire. She is one of those cats that never seems to sleep, always busy busy busy doing something - usually naughty! As a muse, she's the perfect cat model; always in motion.

Inspiration: The Joy of Drawing

2011-01-14T01:37:00.000-08:00

OK, book review time! I picked this up at Goodwill last week, and loved its simple, reflective approach to the skills of drawing and observation. It is a great introduction to the fundamentals of zen drawing. Despite the small hints of cynicism towards modern creativity; the core of the overall lesson - or at least how I perceived it - is quite profound.

Gerhard's approach, really, comes close to how we approach things as children - with eyes wide open and unassuming, and tuned into the truest emotional reaction. We then create upon those reactions, communicating something brave and personal. We should be less concerned with style and outside perception, and more concerned with being true to nature and ourselves.

Craftmanship and creativity are each needed to draw, and it can be a fine line – so to speak – between drawings that communicate an exactness of form, verus drawings that communicate an experience. But it is a very important distinction!

Different than most of the technical drawing books of today; The Joy of Drawing (published in 1961) is a short book that attempts to put into words and lessons the very human experience of drawing creatively. It explores art philosophy, the beginnings of imagination, and thoughts on human visual perception of nature. Gerhard aims for a way to create drawings from the inside out, both through observations of nature and through observations of our emotions; to truly record in line the feelings we have as we observe and invent.

It is a great book to browse - a few pages at a time - then ponder and draw for awhile.

On page one, Gerhard calls for a return to our creative roots; put down the camera, turn off the TV and radio (and video games, smartphone, computer, etc…). Return to a time of our (great) grandparents, before modern technology, manufacturing, and capitalism; when art and creativity – singing, playing, dancing, weaving, and drawing - was a natural part our everyday fiber; when a sketchbook took the place of a camera and we learned to draw so that we could capture what we see and feel.

Gerhard presents many great questions throughout the book (and does his best to answer them),

“Why should you study nature in such an old-fashioned way in the age of photography?”

“Why delve into the details in an age of abstraction and impressionism?”

“How do I use the language of drawn forms to say what I have felt and observed?”

“How does a tree speak?”

And wisdom,

“…the urge to be individually creative for the sake of feeling human - “

“The more surprises you experience, the more you discover out of doors and in yourself, and the more questions that come up, the more you will realize that you do not know what things really look like.”

“To be a creative artists means to hear the language of forms, to understand it, and to express yourself in it.”

“It is always drawing-lesson time, even if you are not drawing.”

“Don’t say it is too hard (to draw). It is only hard to draw what has not passed through your heart.”

“you need a picture in your heart before you are able to bring a picture from inside yourself onto paper.”

“…when a certain view fascinates you more than all the rest, stop and observe it for a long time.”

“Your drawing is right when it has helped you to see more.”

There's a progress of lessons with each new chapter, mixing lessons in observation and creative drawing. The ultimate lesson, of course, is to be yourself while still being true to nature. To try for perfection is to deceive yourself of nature’s unlimited, changing forms - inside and out.

Oh, Rain...

2010-12-27T10:39:00.000-08:00

At the End of an Ocean's Rainbow

2010-12-16T22:26:00.000-08:00

Snow Goblin

2010-12-14T16:23:00.000-08:00

Not much bigger than a big snowflake; just floating around, waiting...

Ghost of Robot Past

2010-12-10T18:32:00.001-08:00

This little guy got rejected as the protagonist for a new robot story. He was a bit too anthropomorphic. Though I'll bet that one day he'll return for a different story...

Heidi sketches

2010-12-09T16:24:00.000-08:00

Some beginning sketches for the 2010 SCBWI Tomie dePaola Award competition. The challenge is to produce an illustration to accompany the first two paragraphs of the original story of Heidi, by Johanna Spyri. With other projects keeping my attention, I probably won't finish in time for the December 15th deadline. Though I like the sketches enough to follow through at some point, gathering more reference and taking some reference shots of Heidi and her Aunt charging up the mountainside.

Cat Walk

2010-11-29T20:13:00.001-08:00

Chicken Scratches

2010-11-01T21:28:00.000-07:00

Cat Trap

2010-10-30T12:41:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Sketches, Part 3

2010-10-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Sketches, Part 2

2010-10-28T12:10:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Sketches, Part 1

2010-10-28T12:09:00.000-07:00

Base Camp for Creativity

2010-10-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a peek at the ol' workspace, and what has been on the table the past month. It is all jammed into the kitchen dining area of our small Seattle apartment. It is very efficient for cooking and painting at the same time, and always being close to loved ones.

Someday the studio will have high ceilings and hardwoods and a loft and big windows looking into an undersea world. We will have an assistant and a nice-looking dog and wonderful things all around to inspire. Up the stairs will be a door that opens to green pastures and endless fields of flowers and bunnies, and it is always sunny and 75.

And yes, I am a cat. No, this is not a crazy post - just trying to make up for a month of no posts!

A Long Road of Styles, and What For?

2010-10-27T17:56:00.000-07:00

The images below are all different looks I've studied and practiced, and then applied to the robot story. The desire to try all these different looks can't be explained - Oh, how I've tried to understand why! Certainly, in the short term it has resulted in a confusing portfolio. But will it help in the long term?

Flower Girl

2010-09-07T17:21:00.000-07:00

Bashful

2010-09-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

Gargoyle + Owl = Gargowl

2010-09-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

More Robot Gestures...

2010-09-06T11:31:00.000-07:00

Wolfbat Boy

2010-08-31T15:09:00.000-07:00

Fearless

2010-08-30T22:19:00.000-07:00

Cat Stand

2010-08-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

A-comin' down the mountain!

2010-08-29T12:31:00.000-07:00

Robot Story Underpainting, pages 16-17

2010-08-17T23:56:00.000-07:00

This is a wordless 'emotional hit' that happens mid-way through the story. Researching the bats was my favorite part; couldn't help but take a peek at Janelle Cannon's groundbreaking Stella Luna for inspiration.

Inspiration: Daniel Dociu Master Class

2010-08-16T17:18:00.000-07:00

In the world of concept art, Daniel Dociu is king, having won Spectrum's gold medal in Concept Art every year since the category's inception four years ago. Seattle is lucky to be Daniel's home, where he works as art director for NCsoft and Arena Net's award-winning Guild Wars series. He also teaches concept and digital art classes at Futurepoly, a digital arts training studio located near Microsoft, Nintendo, and a hundered other game developers.

So, being my year of education, it was a no-brainer to sign up and see how a gold-medal is won! And, besides geeking out to his live art demos, there's a lot of theory and visual development in concept art for games that can easily be applied to children's picture books, just a matter of shifting to the viewpoint of a 6 year old.

Daniel spent the majority of class working over the top of students' pieces, giving art direction on the successes and how the piece can improve and then showing his process live, using Photoshop projected onto a large screen. The speed and confidence of his painting, reference gathering, and decision-making was a sight to behold! While he worked, Daniel spoke quite a bit about the heiarchy of concept (ideation), and the importance of ambition and voice. It was inspiring to hear him talk about emotion, mood, and the 'beat' of content-creation. He also went into detail about what 'truths' are necessary to make the imaginary look real, explaining visual tricks to color hue, horizon line, cylinders, variety of planes, saturation, texture, etc. It was tough to type notes and watch at the same time!

Coolest of all was watching Daniel work over one of my dummy sketches for the robot story. I told him to not hold back, to make it frekin' badass, since the class was for gaming. Below is what he did in an hours-worth, over the top of the greyscale value sketch.

Responding to my plea for a co-submission of the piece to Spectrum, he said, "Good Luck!"

Robot Story Underpainting, pages 20-21

2010-08-15T23:21:00.000-07:00

So here we go! Applying the new style to the ol' Robot Story; this'll be printed out and painted over with watercolors and oils, I can't wait! Shown below is the progression of thumbnail through underpainting...

Volunteer Park Water Tower

2010-08-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

Designed by the Olmsted brothers (their father designed Central Park) and completed in 1912, Seattle's Volunteer Park is home to a glass conservatory, an art museum, a large reservior, lily ponds, open fields, lots of tall trees, and a water tower.

Tuggin' Round the Mountain...

2010-08-12T22:53:00.000-07:00

Inspiration arrived from a tug boat parked in the middle of a hiking trail in the North Cascade Mountains. More fine-tuning and clarification is needed, but that'll be saved for the crit group.

Inspiration: North Cascade Highway Loop

2010-08-11T17:44:00.000-07:00

Completed in 1972, The North Cascade Highway winds and climbs over two passes through some of Washington State's prettiest and most jagged mountain terrain, often called the Alps of North America. Along the way are the branching, jade and emerald-colored Diablo and Ross lakes, and access to some of the best summer hiking in the state. East of the passes is the Methow valley, filled with farms, rolling hills, red rocks, calm rivers and time slowing way down…

(Photos from a recent visit):

Discovery Park Plein Air

2010-08-06T10:47:00.000-07:00

Discovery Park is Seattle's largest park with 1,100 acres split between two uses: an active U.S. Army Reserve - the 70th Regional Readiness Command, complete with colonial-inspred military housing - and 11 miles of public trails with Puget Sound beaches, a lighthouse, marshes, meadows, grasslands, forests, and even a few small sand dunes; a lifetime of subject for any artist!

Pipedream

2010-07-28T15:22:00.000-07:00

Inspired by a recent trip to Gasworks Park. The concept is some sort of cloud giant that sends out giant paper airplane notes to all the folks below!

Pirate Blind

2010-07-28T12:56:00.001-07:00

Re-work of a favorite...

Reading In Bed

2010-07-28T10:04:00.001-07:00

The challenge of this one was keeping the lighting believable and in unison with bold color choices.

Barn Detail

2010-07-27T22:11:00.000-07:00

Re-working the gesture of the father and son as they enter the barn...

Sea Lions

2010-07-27T19:10:00.001-07:00

Dogs and Owls

2010-07-26T22:38:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here's the final lap, with the bicycle and barn illustrations worked out in oils, then scanned and finished digitally. It's a brave new process for sure, but enjoyable as it combines kicks of reference building, drawing, watercolor, oils, and Photoshop. And somehow through all that process there still seems to be a sense of reckless brush and line movement!

Using Photos for Painting & Drawing

2010-07-24T14:27:00.000-07:00

A great conversation has erupted in the comment boards of David Apatoff's blog, Illustration Art, from his post about the close use of photos as reference for illustration; lots of debate drawing a line between a finished work being viewed as art, or illustration:

http://illustrationart.blogspot.com/2010/07/from-photograph-to-drawing.html

(comparison photos below, reference: blogs of David Apatoff, and James Gurney)

Water Over Inkjet

2010-07-23T17:35:00.000-07:00

Watercolor layer over a printout of the digital underpainting. This is about as far as the watercolor layer will be taken, enough to get the loose effects and general layout of the primary colors (hansa yellow, sienna brown, indathrone blue). This will be sealed with Crystal Clear spray, then coated with acrylic medium. Then oil paints!

Digital Concept Studies

2010-07-22T22:28:00.000-07:00

Two recent Photoshop painting classes provided lots of helpful tips for using reference, painting textures and environments, and planning out the design of a character or environment - plus all the Photoshop tricks of the trade. The class was specific for gaming and concept art, though most of the lessons translated well to the creation of children's book art; below are a few sketches using a technique of building up a character, beginning with a silhouette.

Dogs On a Plane

2010-07-21T10:51:00.000-07:00

The instructors at the Illustration Master Class pointed out one potential way for illustrators to quickly make a name for themselves in any industry: complex scenes with lots figures and actions. I really like this sketch of all these dogs - maybe washed-up sled dogs - as performers in an arial show.

Inspiration: Water Colors

2010-07-18T22:31:00.000-07:00

Barn Owls, Adjusting the Underpainting

2010-07-17T13:10:00.001-07:00

The underpainting for the owl scene had the wrong vibe to it, sort-of sinister. So out went the kids on the wagon-trailer and in goes father and son.

More Digital Underpaintings & Reference

2010-07-16T13:36:00.001-07:00

Inspiration: Gasworks Park, Seattle

2010-07-15T14:23:00.000-07:00

Cat Taxi, Underpainting

2010-07-14T23:41:00.000-07:00

Digital Underpainting

2010-07-13T23:59:00.000-07:00

One of the most popular time-savers used - both instructors and students - at the Illustration Master Class was a digital underpainting, built over an analog sketch and tons of reference.

Below are two new paintings being built using digital underpaintings (each composition includes 15+ pieces of reference that has been skewed and manipulated in Photoshop, including sketches, travel photos, and pictures from magazines, books, and web; the boat the lion is driving is from a photoshoot of my collection of die-cast cars). They'll be printed onto strathmore bristol (15x30) using a wide inkjet printer with non-bleed inks. Watercolor will be applied and then oils on top.

Inspiration: Snoqualmie Pass South

2010-07-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

Just an hour from downtown Seattle; fast becoming a favorite destination for fresh air!

Rooftops Exploding!

2010-07-04T22:45:00.000-07:00

Robot Maquette

2010-06-30T23:56:00.001-07:00

Gathering reference is the big theme going forward; this little guy should help capture reference for good shadows, secondary and reflected lights, point-of-view, form, and color.

Illustration Master Class: The Best Struggle Ever!

2010-06-24T15:22:00.000-07:00

Pushing out of comfort zones; working and reworking ideas; wiping out entire sections of a painting; making reference as important as the air we breathe; thinking and rethinking everything I'd come to accept as my vision; the Illustration Master Class 2010 was a wonderful and emotional struggle that reinforced my commitment to visual story-telling, and brought clarity to a professional working process that will hopefully guide my art in the decades to come.

Below are photos of the class, and my work in progress, which was never finished. But the lessons learned were most important. I can't wait to apply these new processes to a visual style that appeals to the children's picture book crowd.

Can't wait for next year!

Inspiration: Lake Pharaoh, Adirondacks

2010-06-23T10:22:00.000-07:00

The Adirondacks of upper New York State was an easy choice for a weekend of outdoor exploration, following the conclusion of 2010's IMC class in Amherst, MA. Lake Pharaoh was the destination this year, maybe the High Peaks next year? The area is filled with the haunting calls of the loon and various owls, add to the mix a chorus of frogs, beavers, geese, hummingbirds, mosquitos, and many others unidentified. Matching the sound was the visual beauty of glass-like water, rocky islands, hazy mountains, birch trees, lilys, ponds, granite, fish, newts, lightning bugs, and a three-hour performance of lightning and thunder!

Inspiration: Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard

2010-06-23T09:58:00.000-07:00

The winding, oak-lined streets of Oak Bluffs - a small harbor town on the island of Martha’s Vineyard - are lined with colorful, decorative victorian-inspired houses from the 1800's. Most interesting are the hundreds of “gingerbread cottages” of The Martha's Vineyard Camp Meeting Association, a religious revival camp still active since the 1850s.

Goonies Fest 2010, Astoria

2010-06-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

We just had to be there for the official 25th Anniversary of Goonies, held in Astoria, Oregon, June 4-7th, 2010. Activities included an on/off school bus ride around Astoria, checking out all the sites that made Goonies possible; a tour of the Goonies house (the home owner unbelievably opened her house for thousands of tourists!); late night dancing like it was 1985, and a packed show at the local movie theatre that featured a newly released documentary about the making of Goonies, and then of course we watched Goonies itself. Best of all, the stars were out: Corey Feldman, Chunk, and one of the Fratelli brothers were mixing it up with the fans!

Visual Checklist

2010-06-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

Built and refined over the past year is a small checklist of basic visual guidelines that keep me conscious to my visual point-of-view; maleable and applicable to any context or storyline:

* Value & Shadow
* Movement
* Emotion
* Color
* Volume
* Composition: gutter, text, simple, off-center, light-source/shadow, eye-direction
* Shape Variety: graphic/flat, organic, thick & thin, large and small, curling and angular
* Edge Variety: crisp, soft, broken, furry
* Add-Ons: pattern, birds, furniture, wood grain, texture, etc...
* Reference

Dragon & Cupcake

2010-05-27T13:33:00.001-07:00

Robot Lips & Squid Face

2010-05-19T23:21:00.000-07:00

finally an idea for something silly!

Skagit Wildlife Area

2010-05-03T13:01:00.000-07:00

Wiley Slough in the Skagit Wildlife Area provides a great birding alternative during construction at the Nisqually Reserve. Several dike trails curl through wooded tideflats and out towards Puget Sound. Thousands of Tree Swallows everywhere, some Roufus Hummingbirds, Greater Yellowlegs, Herons, Ducks, Sparrows, Red-Winged Blackbirds, and lots more to identify; we'll be back.

Inspiration: Snoqualmie River's Middle Fork Trail

2010-04-30T19:02:00.000-07:00