Monster – Illustration Friday

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I drew a few monsters before coming up with my final piece. I drew a few scary monsters, a couple of "Monsters Inc."-type monsters, and a cute little girl wearing a monster costume. I finally decided that I wanted to show the softer side of a legendary monster, "The Son of Frankenstein." This was my inspiration for this week's Illustration Friday.

I also am sharing my process for my final piece. As you can see below, I originally had the colors brighter. I opted to tone the colors down a bit, and give the illustration an "older" feel. I am happy with the outcome of both, but do prefer the muted a bit more. Which do you like better?

The Process

Original Sketch

Drawing begins in Adobe Illustrator using the Bezier (Pen) tool

Drawing complete in Adobe Illustrator

Close Up of Outlined Image in Illustrator

Color Completed in Adobe Illustrator

Colored Image Placed in Adobe Photoshop to Tone Down Color and Add Texture

Voila! The finished piece was completed!

Feet – Illustration Friday

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Each birthday, children around the world get out their measuring tapes, rulers or yard sticks to measure how much they have grown since their last birthday. Sometimes measured in inches, feet, age, or just by date...the notches on the wall are a great memory for both the children and the parents. This was my inspiration for this week's Illustration Friday, Feet.

The other day, one of my friends had asked me how I get my drawings onto the computer. It varies....but, I always start with a small sketch. Sometimes I just look at my sketch and draw directly in Illustrator using the Bezier, or I will start directly in Photoshop. The image above was sketched, scanned, placed into Illustrator and then drawn over with the Bezier tool. I then imported the Illustrator file into Photoshop for tweaking and special coloring...and, Voila!

This week, I wanted my image to look like it belongs in a very simple children's book. Therefore, I opted to leave everything white, except for the main image.

Here is the sketch I originally started with:

Tattoo – Illustration Friday

What a novel idea...actually getting my Illustration Friday done on Friday! Don't count on this happening much! Spring Break started today; so, I decided to take the day off from the "real world" and play! Next week I'm going to be busy working on my Summer lesson plans...so, I may not have time for "me."

With this said, back to my illustration. My daughter used to LOVE getting temporary tattoos out of those gumball machines at the grocery store. They usually were YingYang signs, Chinese Script sayings, and astrological signs. Once in awhile she would get one that I didn't quite understand how it made it into a machine geared toward children (hence the "bad girl" tattoo). This was my inspiration for this week's Illustration Friday.

Don't forget to check out my other creativity blog, just because³. Here you will find my creations for Inspire Me Thursday...once I get them done, of course.

Insect - Illustration Friday

As long as I can remember, I have been drawing lady bugs and bumble bees as shown above. I also enjoy designing children's coloring book pages filled with simple lines and LOTS of areas to color. This way, children will be able to put in their own textures and add a bit of creativity and originality to their creations. This was my inspiration for this week's Illustration Friday, "Insect."

Don't forget to check out my other creativity blog, just because³. Here you will find my creations for Inspire Me Thursday.