Illustration Friday # 18: SHADES (of spring)

Shades of Spring © Cheryl Kirk Noll

I did a new piece this week, loosely using my niece's husband and son as models. The prompt word is shades, so I'm calling it "Shades of Spring." I did it with my "new style," hand-painted figures done in watercolor,  and photographs manipulated in Photoshop.

It's been a glorious week here in New England... maybe even a bit too hot yesterday. Daffodils are up, and the ones in the illustration are from my garden (but not this year.)

Hope everyone is enjoying the early spring. We can cross our fingers and hope we don't get frost next week.

Illustration Friday #12: GROUNDED

After all the family time during the holidays, I'm back to trying my hand at new work for Illustration Friday. This week's prompt word was "grounded." Watching my grand-niece, Zoe on the cusp of walking, I was inspired to illustrate this amazing process.

Gus is Grounded! Illustration ©Cheryl Kirk Noll

I am taking inspiration from a baby's tenacity with this task, and sticking to my task of working with watercolor and Photoshop. 

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.