Posts Tagged ‘digital’

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paisley whales make ripples

Friday, June 25th, 2010

The prompt for Illustration Friday this week was paisley. I’ve never really been a paisley person, but when I read the word for the week, I thought of a whale illustration I’d done a couple of years ago (probably because I’d just finished some paintings for the ripple project):

Happy Whale

Happy Whale

I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to do so I just started working. I made paisley-like swirls and filled the centers with fishies, sea turtles and jellyfish. Then a couple of happy accidents happened and I decided to create 2 paisley whales:

Paisley Whale #1

Paisley Whale #1 (Unhappy)

Paisley Whale #2 (Singing)

Paisley Whale #2 (Singing)

I’ve decided to donate digital prints of these three images to the ripple project. Click here for more info or to purchase these images. Each print is 3″ x 4″ and sells for $10. ALL PROCEEDS go to one of these two non-profit charities: The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies and The International Bird Rescue Research Center. The buyer donates directly to one of the charities, ensuring that all the money goes to the relief effort. They then send the email confirmation and the art is shipped out to them. The copyright notice is for the web only and won’t be on the prints, but they will be signed.

Note: There are still two paintings from my original series available for purchase here (the seagulls and the pelicans). Both paintings are 2.5″ x 3.5″ and are the actual paintings, not prints.

seagulls and pelicans

seagulls and pelicans

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Posted in art, fun stuff | 13 Comments »

living with no regrets, as long as you’re not in a horror movie

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

We’d all like to live our lives with no regrets. Unfortunately, we’re not always in charge of our destiny. It’s hard to avoid food poisoning (cookies laced with salmonella, anyone?), and you really don’t want to be that person in the horror movie that’s obviously marked for death. For instance, this poor guy just heard a noise in his basement in the middle of the night.What should he do? Should he go down to the basement?

What's that noise?

"What's that noise?"

Go ahead, try screaming, “Don’t go into the basement!” He won’t listen; they never do. In horror movies, people ALWAYS go down to the basement and end up getting their heads chopped off. This is the kind of thing that we can control. Weighing the option of calling the cops vs. getting killed by an axe murderer BEFORE going down to the basement could save many lives (that is, if you’re in a horror movie, if not, go ahead, go see what the noise in the basement is – I’ll just stay upstairs where it’s safe).

By the way, the guy in the picture above has a happy ending. There are no scary monsters or axe murderers in his basement, it’s just his cat, and she’s friendly.

A long time ago (seriously, it was back in the dark ages when most people weren’t on the internet yet), my mantra was, “No Regrets.” At the time, it was a way to make sure that I didn’t make any really stupid decisions (after having made a couple of big ones, due to not thinking before I leaped into things). It worked. I started making better decisions about what I wanted to do with my life, moved on, and forgot about my mantra because I didn’t need it anymore.

Recently, I decided to dust off my old saying and re-claim it for a different purpose – to help me reach my goals. Thinking, “No Regrets,” can help me watch how I spend my time and keep me from wasting too much of it (crossing my fingers this will work). It can also help me steadily work towards goals (a.k.a. things I would regret if I didn’t try to do).

Or at least that’s my plan. My biggest enemy is all the shiny objects* floating around me, well that and the pull of those noises in the basement.

Do you have a mantra? What is it? If you don’t, how do you stay focused on your goals and avoid the shiny objects that glimmer all around you?

*Shiny objects are things that pull you away from what you are currently doing to chase after something new, or fun, or interesting, or mind numbing, or … oooh, shiny!

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Posted in art, fun stuff, writing | 6 Comments »

rainy day equipment and chickens (for IF)

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

It’s amazing what you can get done on a rainy day with sporadic internet service (like yesterday). One of the things I did was this pencil sketch. Then I colored it in digitally. I thought I’d post it for Illustration Friday this week. The prompt is, “equipment.”

Rainy Day Chicken Concert Under An Umbrella

Rainy Day Chicken Concert, Under An Umbrella

When you’re out in the rain, you need the proper equipment, which in this case is an umbrella and some ear plugs. A couple of the chickens look like they might have forgotten their ear plugs. Either that, or the singer has just hit a particularly high and squawkish note.

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Posted in art, children's books, fun stuff | 16 Comments »

Cocoon for IF and a few butterflies

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

Last year I did a couple of butterfly paintings that were inspired by my trip to a butterfly exhibit at the Museum of Natural History, and my new friend (a Paper Kite butterfly), as seen here:

Paper Kite Butterfly

Paper Kite Butterfly

This is what I wrote about my new butterfly friend last year (on my old blog):

“I’ve seen butterflies and I’ve even been to a butterfly exhibit before, but this time was different. I made a friend! They released new butterflies into the exhibit while we were there, and this little one flew right to my hand, crawled on top of my camera (which made it hard to take pictures – Paul took the one above). She stayed with me until we were ready to leave, when they coaxed her onto a leaf.”

Here’s the first painting I did, obviously inspired by the Paper Kite Butterfly:

Heart Butterfly

Heart Butterfly

We saw so many cool butterflies, but none of them were exactly like the next group I painted (which were inspired by the butterflies at the exhibit, and a tattoo I saw on a girl sitting across from me on the subway):

Butterfly Swirls

Butterfly Swirls

When I saw that the prompt for Illustration Friday this week is “cocoon,” I started to wonder what the cocoons of my painted butterflies would look like. Here’s what I came up with:

Cocoons for my painted butterflies.

Cocoons for my painted butterflies.

Sometimes it’s fun to give new life to old ideas!

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Posted in art, fun stuff | 12 Comments »

writing is easier than crab fishing

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

I wasn’t planning on this being TV week on the blog, but it’s turning out that way. Tuesday was about Boston Legal (or how Denny Crane is like Sheila the Zombie Cheerleader), yesterday was about The West Wing (and what TV can teach us about writing story and characters), and today is about The Deadliest Catch (which is harder than any job I’ve ever had). Tune in tomorrow, for multitasking and achieving your dreams, while watching TV (or at least that’s what I think it will be about).

The Deadliest Catch

I love watching The Deadliest Catch (even though I’m not a huge reality TV show person). If you’ve never seen the show, it’s about a bunch of guys that go crab fishing in the Bering Sea. Doesn’t sound too bad, does it? Except that the Bering Sea, in the middle of winter is the last place that most people would want to be. Most of the time it’s freezing cold, add to that ice, snow and storms. Working on a crab boat in those conditions is not easy, or at least it doesn’t look easy. I’ve never tried it. Sometimes the guys work for 50 hours (or more) straight, without sleep. Oh yeah, and people yell at each other a lot (you would too, if you were stuck on a small boat in the middle of the sea for months at a time).

There’s a reason they call this show The Deadliest Catch. It’s a dangerous job and people die doing it. Boats sink in clam waters and rough seas. During storms, waves wash over the deck drenching the guys that are out there pulling pots (metal traps used to catch crab). A huge wave could knock them off their feet, dragging them off the boat. It’s so cold in the water that they can only last a few moments, and that’s if they are wearing survival suits. Without them, people don’t usually survive a dip in the Bering Sea.

Why would anyone want to be a crab fisherman on the Bering Sea? Some of the guys that go crab fishing say they love it. Others say that if someone says they love it, they’re lying. It’s all about the money. The crab fishermen make decent money for a few months of work, and they should. Every time they go out to fish, they’re risking their lives.

Every time I watch this show, I’m happy that I’m an author and artist and not a crab fisherman. Every time. In this illustration, the fish is writing and illustrating children’s and YA books, the crab is, me, if I had to go crab fishing.

Which one are you, carpe diem or crabe diem?

Which one are you, carpe diem or crabe diem?

Do you watch the show? Whether you do, or not, would you want to be a crab fisherman on the Bering Sea?

I think it might be fun to try it … not the real thing, but the video game, which can be played in the middle of winter, from the safety of your nice, warm house.

Update: Sig Hansen (captain of the Northwestern) was on Leno tonight! And he wants to be on Dancing with the Stars!! OMG! Ha! Go here to help (FaceBook page to show fan support).

p.s. Sig and Edgar Hansen are my favorites on The Deadliest Catch.

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Posted in Tween, YA, art, children's books, fun stuff, writing | 3 Comments »

Green Chickens!

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

The prompt for the CBIG blog this month is green, and the prompt for Illustration Friday this week is detective. I thought that any literary detective worth his salt would wonder where green eggs came from, and if he used his sleuthing skills, he’d come up with the answer.

Green eggs come from green chickens. It’s the only thing that makes sense.

The chicken that lays green eggs.

The chicken that lays green eggs.

The next question the detective should answer, is which came first, the green chicken, or the green eggs? (I think the green chicken came first. What do you think?)

p.s. The prompt for WaWe this week was The Little Red Hen. Hmm, I’m thinking that history got it wrong. It was really The Little GREEN Hen!

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Posted in art, fun stuff | 2 Comments »

bubblegum cows and bubblegum girl

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

I’ve been painting tiny pictures lately (see the elephant here and the bunnies here), in order to fit painting for fun into my schedule. My third tiny painting was a girl blowing a bubble with her bubblegum. I broke out my watercolors and colored pencils and painted a picture so horrible that I had to rip it up. Seriously. All it takes to ruin a small watercolor painting is a couple of misplaced brush strokes. However, I still liked the sketch, so I made the bubblegum girl into a digital illustration. The image is 2″ x 2″ like the paintings.

Bubblegum Girl

Bubblegum Girl

I like how she turned out, but I still wanted to paint something. A picture of a cow blowing a bubblegum bubble seemed like a fun take on the original, and worked out well, because it fits several art prompts all at once (see list below the picture). I used watercolor and colored pencil to make the image. I’m happy with the way both pictures turned out, but I have to say, the more I look at them, the weirder they look. Of course, if you looked at a photograph showing a side view of someone blowing a bubblegum bubble, that would probably look weird after a while, too.

Bubblegum Cow

Bubblegum Cow

The CBIG prompt this month is fantasy – a cow blowing bubblegum bubbles is definitely fantasy! Bubblegum Girl also works for fantasy. She wants to blow the biggest bubble ever and win the national bubblegum bubble blowing contest (which they actually have – I saw it on TV a couple of years ago).

The Watercolor Wednesdays prompt for last week was to create a greeting card image for a child – the bubblegum sort of looks like a speech balloon, where the cow could say, “Happy Birthday!” Bubblegum Girl also works for this week’s prompt, to illustrate a favorite toy or game … not  that gum qualifies as a toy, but trying to blow the biggest bubble could be a game, so I think that counts (or at least it works for me – I went to art school; I can justify anything).

The Illustration Friday prompt this week is brave – that cow is really brave to be blowing bubblegum bubbles. What if it pops and goes all over her face? Bubblegum Girl also works for brave. She knows what will happen if the bubble as big as her head pops!

Are tiny paintings the next big thing? Maybe not, but I’m having fun with them :)

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Posted in art, fun stuff | 3 Comments »

Elephant Olympics?

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Update: I’m working on a new digital paint style, trying different things to see what looks best. The top image is new, slightly altered from the first one (which is below it). Basically I’ve made it a bit more painterly and gotten rid of the black line. The third image is them together, side by side. Which one do you like better? (I’ve done this style before and showed it on my blog here.)

Sometimes when I watch the Olympics, I wonder about things, like do elephants have their own Olympic games? And if they do, would they have the same events as our Olympics? Here’s the first event that I imagined from their winter games – Elephant Figure Skating:

Olympic Elephant Skater (take 2)

Olympic Elephant Skater (take 2)

Figure Skating at the Elephant Olympics

Figure Skating at the Elephant Olympics

2 Elephant Skaters Side By Side

2 Elephant Skaters Side By Side

What do you think about when you watch the Olympics?

I’m thinking of drawing the Elephant Olympians  in the curling  event next. It cracks me up every time I imagine it. Plus, I need to work more on this new style; I haven’t mastered it yet.

p.s. Don’t worry, I’m not getting rid of my more graphic style, just trying something new.

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Posted in art, children's books, fun stuff | 3 Comments »

promotional chickens

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

I’m designing my postcards for the SCBWI winter conference next weekend. I had it all planned out when I realized that I wanted a different image on one side. I’ve already done several finishes for the chicken PB, but they were all similar emotion-wise. So I did a new finish from a different page in the dummy. On one side of the postcard will be the new image:

sruble postcard image 1

sruble postcard image 1

On the other side is one of the chickens I finished last week:

sruble postcard image 2

sruble postcard image 2

I also have new business cards with this image on one side (and a crop of the new image on the other side):

sruble's new business card

sruble's new business card

It’s always takes longer to design postcards and business cards than I think it will (not to mention that printing and cutting usually takes twice as long as I think it will). That’s why I started early this time, but it’s worth it if they turn out.

Update: all 105 postcards and business cards are printed and cut, and ready for the conference! This is the earliest I’ve ever been done with promo materials before a conference. Now all I have to do is finish all the art and stuff for my portfolio! Whew!

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Posted in art, children's books, promotion | 9 Comments »

new blog chickens, IF chickens & portfolio chickens!

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

It’s chicken week here at sruble.com, which means new chicken art!  They’re all pictures of Daria (the chicken in my picture book), except for the IF sketch, which features lots of chickens. 

Did you notice the first picture of Daria the chicken? It’s on my shiny new blog header above. It’s based on an image from the PB dummy and is in my portfolio too.

There are also two new pictures of Daria. You might have already seen them on my CBIG portfolio, but they look a little bit different now. I changed a few of things to make them better. What do you think of the new images? 

Daria the snowboarding chicken

Daria the snowboarding chicken

Daria the skydiving chicken

Daria the skydiving chicken

And finally, the prompt this week for Illustration Friday is, “wilderness.” The first thing that popped into my head was this sentence: It’s a little known fact that the wilderness is full of chickens. I started sketching right away! (Yes, I do know I’m a strange; people tell me that all the time.) Since I don’t have time to paint this week, the sketch will have to do for now, :( but I am going to paint it later because the idea totally cracks me up. :P Doesn’t the idea of chickens in the wilderness make you laugh too?

chickens in the wilderness

chickens in the wilderness

It’s been a chicken sort-of week around here. What kind of week are you having?

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Posted in art, children's books, writing | 7 Comments »

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