Popeye!

Popeye says... "I yam what I yam!"

Betty Boop

I'm on a vintage cartoon kick, this is the first in the series.  Think Betty Boop meets Quentin Tarentino.

A Song to Sew To

Today I was jamming out to this album during my sewing time!  Enjoy the video of Rusted Root's amazing tune "Ecstasy"!

Create a Quirky Animal Illustration

This weekend I picked up a fresh pad of mixed media paper.  Seeing all that gorgeous paper made me want to create something quirky and fun!  Here's how I made this wacky "Night Owl" illustration.  When I was making it I kept laughing and snickering, it felt devious to make something so light hearted.

1.  Look up an image of an animal on google.  Then draw the outline of the animal on your paper.  I tried to fill the paper most of the way with the outline.  My pen of choice these days is the simple, traditional Bic pen.  Use whatever you have and get the outline down.

2.  Add text either above or beside the outline.  Try to think of a concept for your work.  I chose to go with the Night Owl theme.  You could write something introspective, spiritual or funny like I did.

3.  Draw in the features on the animal with your pen or marker.  Make them over exaggerated by making the eyes bigger or accentuate certain features.  Next fill in details with marker to get some color down.

4.  After that step I went in with acrylic ink and painted the owl.  You could use acrylics, watercolors or inks...whatever you have on hand.  

5.  Bring out more details with opaque craft paints using colors with a lot of contrast.  I used black and white.  Also add more marker detail on the animal, I added chevrons on the ears and refined the lettering.  

6.  Add some collage elements.  I chose to add a quirky hat and bowtie.  I glued everything down with a glue stick.

7.  Add any finishing touches to the work.  I went in and drew the black lines around the lettering to give the work a retro feel.  

Go wild with your next illustration and make it fun!  Go forth and make something fabulous!