Tall

When I think tall, I think giraffe, so I really wanted to use one for this design

I found a picture of a giraffe online as a reference for my design.

I used the brush tool with a pixel size of 3 and the opacity at around 58%. I outlined the basic shape of the giraffe.





I then added a simple paper textured background. I really like a water color effect, so I used a water color brush to fill in the spots and his body. I created a new layer and painted entire giraffe, I then went in with the eraser tool and removed the brown from around the spots.



I then sampled the color of the skin from the main image, created a new later and painted that behind the spots. I then went in with the eraser and removed the extra color from around the giraffe.

Next I drew a balloon on a new later, with a brush size of 2 pixels.

I created a new later and added a blue color with an opacity of 51%. I went in with the eraser tool and removed the extra color from around the shape.

I then added text, justified to the right, clouds in the sky with an opacity of 52% and grass on the ground, because it looked like he was floating.



here is the final. Hope you enjoyed it!

Whisper

The idea behind my concept is Inner Beauty.
A lot of girls have problems finding themselves beautiful.
This image is a mirror image of a girl telling herself that she is beautiful.

First I drew a profile image of a woman's face using the brush tool at 3pt.

I then brought in a paper background. I used the brush tool with a water color brush to fill in the face and lips, and out an opacity of 60%

Next I changed the size of the canvas because I found there was too much empty space on the top.
I took the image of the face and copied the layer and flipped it horizontally so it mirrored the image on the left.

I wanted to add a subtle background, so I found line drawings of my favorite flower, the hibiscus, and placed them in the background. I then applied the layer blending Multiply to get rid of the white background and applied an opacity of 80%.
I then added a wispy smoke effect to symbolize a whisper effect. I then added the words "you're beautiful" into the smoke.

And here is the final product

Talented Kitty Cat

The word that I chose for this entry is 'Talent'. When I first heard the word talent, first thing I thought of was circus cats or a balancing cat. Not too sure why, but it just made sense. First I found this photo online of a cat, which I like a lot because he was in a very unusual pose, and exactly what I was looking for.

My first step was to take the photo into Photoshop and trace the basic shape using the brush tool on a separate layer.



At this point I am testing out colours and different brushes to use to paint the fur.

I applied the colours to his face, and I used the smudge tool to blend the colours together.

Hes all done! I repeated the same step above using the smudge tool to create the fur

Next I drew the ball of yarn. I used the brush tool with a point size of 3 and opacity of 75 to create it. I used a circle on another layer as a reference to get the correct shape. I then created another layer behind the ball of red, with an opacity of 43%.

I felt that it was too empty, so I added a splash of colour in the background using a water color brush at 50% and size of 2500pts.

Here is the finished product. I love the line drawing and watercolour effect that I got on the yarn.
I am very pleased with the outcome.

Illustration Friday "Ocean"

So this is the first stages of my Inspiration word OCEAN. The first thing that came to mind when I saw that the word was ocean was rap artist, Frank Ocean. From there I started to think about how I can incorporate him into an aquatic type scene. So I'm going to paint a portrait of Frank Ocean in monochromatic blues. 
Here are my thumbnails for my portrait layouts.


Original Image
 




So this is my progress so far. I decided to take the digital route, and do a photoshop painting.
Im using the eye dropper tool to sample colours off the photo, and I use the brush tool to paint in the colours. Then I use the smudge tool to blend them all together and if it a painterly effect.

Getting close to the oh so difficult part...the eyes!



So I figured I'd show my blending technique. I use the eye dropper tool and I sample colours.

I then use the smudge tool to blend all the colours together.

So this is the final product. I wanted the focus to be just on his face, so I didn't include the blue and red shirt I am really content with the final results. I also added his name in an outlined text, so it wouldn't take away from the design itself.

Final

So this is the final product.
I wanted the focus to be just on his face, so I didn't include the blue and red shirt
I am really content with the final results.
I also added his name in an outlined text, so it wouldn't take away from the design itself.

Progress, still need some work on the eyes

More progress