Illustration Friday #5: FUEL

I didn't have time to do a new piece for Illustration Friday this week, so I'm putting up an older piece that illustrates a legend about the goddess Pele, from Hawaii. This is done traditionally, using watercolors.

The taunts from her sister only fueled Pele's anger.

Illustration Friday # 4: SCATTERED

The prompt word for Illustration Friday this week was "scattered." Leaves, ants, seeds, my brain... so much to choose from with this word. I chose birds.This is my hedge, re-imagined. I always wanted to have a gate it it.

Scattered, © Cheryl Kirk Noll

I figured out how to put a gate in perspective, and put the grass on a curve. The child and birds are painted, everything else is a photo manipulated in Photoshop. I felt that this one one of my more successful attempts at this style. 

Illustration Friday #3: CONTRAPTION

I thought this word would be perfect for the new art/photo combination, but it turned out to be more challenging, and I'm not entirely happy with it. I started by looking at Rube Goldberg cartoons for inspiration. They're wonderful, but didn't get my mind going. This just feels too stiff, but I'm glad I took a stab at it.

Contraption

Illustration Friday #2: HIBERNATE

For the second week of Illustration Friday, the prompt word was "hibernate." I looked up animals that hibernate, and chose the ever adorable Hedgehog. 

I did a page of sketches of hedgehogs first (they are sooo cute!), after doing Will Terry's tutorial on character design. (what makes a hedgehog a hedgehog?... pointy nose, oval body, and spines)

And how could I best incorporate the style of combining watercolor and photos, using Photoshop? And add a little twist of humor? 
The result:

Hedgehogs apparently hibernate in piles of leaves, making them vulnerable to disturbances of all sorts, so friendly folks in England sometimes provide lovely hedgehog homes for them.© Cheryl Kirk Noll

Illustration Friday #1: FEROCIOUS

Since I just started the blog, I'm trying to catch up a bit. 

I've began doing Illustration Friday. This website puts out a prompt word each week, and hundreds of artists (from kids to pros) illustrate it and upload their photos. 

My first week, the word was "ferocious." I tried it with the new style, combining watercolors and photos, and a less realistic approach to people.

Little girls can be ferocious. Ask any parent!

Learning curve

Falling Leaves

I'd been doing loose sketches of kids, and decided to incorporate a few of them into a fall raking scene. Trying for a playful look, I used photos of leaves and oversized them, a photo of a fence, and "spherized" it in Photoshop. I learned to mask and use a few filters. (I'm finally getting used to my new Wacom tablet.) The children and tree are painted in watercolors. I also painted the background, but decided on photos instead.

Learning

Dress-up girls

I'm playing with my art. Here's my first try. I want to move towards a style geared to younger kids; less realistic, more fun, playful in perspective and sizing. 

The original sketch had a dog, a baby, another kid and a bed, but this is what I ended up with. 

I'm doing the figures in watercolor, and dropping in and manipulating photographs in Photoshop for many of the objects and clothing.

I don't know where it will go, but feedback is welcome.