Under the Sea – Illustration Friday

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When I saw what this week's topic was, I had a deja vu moment! "Hmmm," I thought..."didn't we already do 'Under the Sea' before?" So, I looked back at my previous entries, and realized that we did have the topic, "Sea," not too long ago.

After realizing I wasn't losing my mind, I tried to come up with a unique illustration. After a couple of days of contemplating and sketching, I realized my creativity gene must be on vacation this week. Perhaps it is because I'm developing my students' finals; perhaps it is because I'm bogged down with LOTS of grading; perhaps it is because I was finishing up my online professional development class...who knows, but I just couldn't get creative with this topic.

After feeling like a creativity failure this week, I finally decided to just draw something that I have always been intrigued with, seahorses. This was my inspiration for this week's llustration Friday topic, "Under the Sea."

Don't forget to check out my new Weekly Photoshop Challenge. This week's topic is "Silhouette." So far several participants have created some wonderful creations! Visit, and see what you can come up with as well!

Robot – Illustration Friday

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I really wanted to try and come up with something different for this week's topic, and after sketching little robots in the likeness of those from the movie, Robots...R2D2 from Star Wars... and the robot from Lost in Space...I switched gears. How about a robot that looked more human? So, I thought about the movie, Stepford Wives...and, how the wives were all changed into human robots. This was my inspiration for this week's Illustration Friday.

Please check out my new weekly Photoshop Challenge. You can read more about it at my blog, Weekly Photoshop Challenge. I feel it would be great to have a nice, clean weekly challenge for anybody interested. I hope many of those of you that use Photoshop will play along!

Spotted – Illustration Friday

There seems to be a trend with Illustration Friday topics the last few weeks...a little alliteration, if you will. First we had SPRING, followed by SPEED, and this week we have SPOTTED. I wonder if next week we will have SPOILED or SPECTACLE? Hmmm...how about a SPOILED child making a SPECTACLE of himself?

Back to this week's topic. My favorite flowers are wild sunflowers. The area in which I live in is bombarded once a year with these SPECTACULAR SPECIMENS. The vivid yellows and oranges radiate in the open fields. This, along with the lovely lady bug with its fantastic spots, was my inspiration for this week's Illustration Friday topic, SPOTTED.

Please check out my new weekly Photoshop Challenge. You can read more about it at my blog, Weekly Photoshop Challenge. I feel it would be great to have a nice, clean weekly challenge for anybody interested. I hope many of those of you that use Photoshop will play along!

Speed – Illustration Friday

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Coming up with an image this week was a bit tough for me. Not so much that I couldn't figure out what to draw...but, rather which idea I came up with would be the best for this week's theme, and the most unique. Finally, I remembered an incident between the little boy I babysat years ago and a small bumble bee. The bee wasn't really near this young tike and wasn't even bothering us...but, this little boy dropped what he was playing with and ran like the wind all the way down to the end of the street. This was my inspiration for this week's Illustration Friday.

I did have a dilemma, however. I couldn't figure out which of my illustrations to post. Above I have it in color, but below is a duotone I did with the same image. I really like them both...but they both lend a different feel. For the fun of it...I am sharing both.

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Please note! I am starting a new venture in cyberland! I have decided to try a weekly Photoshop Challenge. You can read more about it at my new blog, Weekly Photoshop Challenge. This summer I am teaching Digital Imaging at the college I teach...and, was planning on doing this challenge just with my students. However, I feel it would be great to have a nice, clean weekly challenge for anybody interested. I hope many of those of you that use Photoshop will play along!

Spring – Illustration Friday

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I had a hard time trying to decide what to draw this week. I drew several sketches...a little girl wearing a rain bonnet catching raindrops on her tongue, a cute little seed packet surrounded by butterflies and other cute insects, and a set of gardening tools and planters all ready for planting. But, I decided I really wanted to use pastel colors...even though I'm not a pastel kind of girl. So, the first thing that came to mind was Easter and bunnies...but, frankly...I wasn't in the bunny mood. So, I chose to do a simple little garden. I am quite fond of gardens, even though I have a black thumb...so, creating this garden was quite enjoyable because I know I won't have the opportunity to kill it. This was my inspiration for this week's Illustration Friday.