YSYS: "Theee end"

(but not the END by far)

This is how the last page turned out:

First there was the drawing which I scanned in:

Then there was the color composition:

Happy Birthday to Me!

For my birthday, I will be:

1.  Finishing the book

2.  Finishing the book

3.  Finishing the book

4.  Road tripping with a ton of good birthday friends to celebrate lots of March birthdays!

Finally, I get to play.

Finished the above last night around 1:30 am.  I slept over at Lee and Ty's house so I could paint forever then get up and start painting the very last one!

Here's my color comp:

2 More Paintings: Hat and Walk

"I like your walk but that's for you.

I have a walk that's my own too."

Finished this one (above) around 1:00 am last night.  

I forgot to watermark it with my name so... no stealing please.  :)

I'm pretty fond of this one, I won't lie.

"Good bye old hat that mother made,

I guess I found a better trade."

I forgot to post this one when I finished it a while back actually... sorry!

I have a few important changes to make on this one still.  Mountains need to be lighter.  Etc

YSYS: I like my spot! I like my hat!

Three paintings left now..........

No time to chat!!!!!

Due Friday night!!!

Go go go paint paint paint!!!

I accept cookies and late night donut deliveries.  Even from Malaysia.....   ;)

P.S.  I haven't had time to reply to your wonderful comments, all of which I appreciate, but please know I read them and take everything into account, and it does help me feel inspired and supported and encouraged.  Thank you so much for all the help and support.

YSYS: Break Dance!

Background???

I'm going to show you what I just went through trying to figure out how to put this break dancing hippo page together....

I have different examples of him dancing, so I didn't worry about a detailed background (with leaves n trees n such n such)

So at first I did this:

But felt the background was too distracting.... especially next to the page it's next to in the book.  

(I'll show you that in a sec)

So then I switched to this:

YSYS: A Sweet CHOMP

Painting painting painting painting painting painting painting painting

P.S.  It's REALLY nice outside.  Six more days and I'll be out playing frisbee n such!!

YSYS: Sing Hippo! Sing!!

"I prefer my la la la!

Not oo oo, ee ee, ah ah ah."

Someone peel my off the floor please.  This was the most complicated painting yet.  Do you realize there are FOURTEEN living creatures in this painting???  AND a background?  Which by the way I learned the key to painting the "golden hour" (about 5:00 pm).  The trick is long high contrasted shadows and orangey/yellowey colors :).  Did it work?  I remember the days I was painting 2 characters and no background except some nice colorful spotty things.  I was like, "Dude I'm gonna finish this book so fast if this is how easy it is!"  Hahaha.... so naive I was a few months ago.

This still isn't finished finished.  Trust me there's plenty more to do here.  But good enough for now!

Six paintings left!  Six days!  Here we go!!!

YSYS: "STOP!!" Digital vs Acrylic

So.  Back when I was trying to do this book in acrylic paint and hating life, this is what happened:

Acrylic Painting
(back when Hippo was gonna be blue)

Not too bad.  But definitely needs work.  Definitely not finished.  Aaand, this is what I painted today:  :)

Digital Painting

Hmmm.... I have to say, seeing them next to each other helps me see things I want to change on the digital one.  I think I can lighten up the chin area and either make the inside of the mouth a little lighter or the back of the throat darker.  Or both.  Oh and I can definitely things up inside his ears!

Edits come after all paintings are done.  So... on to the next painting!!!

“When you take the time to actually listen, with humility, to what people have to say, it's amazing what you can learn. Especially if the people who are doing the talking also happen to be children.”

~Greg Mortenson

YSYS: Break Dancing Hippo

"Spinning does not help my feet.

My feet dance to a different beat...."

Haha!  Surprise!  Didn't know Hippo could break dance, didja?!?

I originally planned to make him a tap dancer.  (here's my earlier post of dancing hippo)  But I was talking to Lee while I was here drawing his dance moves and she was like, "That would be cool if you could make him break dance.  But it probably wouldn't work with his little arms and huge body."  I was like, "Oh my goodnes... I'm gonna try it."  I googled lots of break dancer images and came up with these!

I'll arrange them in photoshop on a page and figure out how to put them together nicely before I paint them, but these are the drawings!

I just realized... now that he's not a tap dancer, "My feet dance to a different beat" doesn't work so much.  Gonna have to rewrite that line I think...

Happy Sabbath

Wow, I can testify of that.

On that note....

Today is Sunday!  :)  I can't tell you how much peace the Sabbath day has brought me.  Ahhhh, how nice to take a weekly break from work and painting, guilt FREE.  A day to focus on my Father in Heaven, the worth of my soul and those around me, and important matters of the heart, is something I need.  Had a heart felt phone conversation with a dear eternal friend in California today who shared with me some great trials and sacred moments.  I need you to all know that many miracles and tender mercies are what make all my work possible with my art and this book.  And everything else too.  I'm far too weak and afraid and selfish to have made it this far on my own.

Here's to a Happy Sabbath to each of you!

More art to post tomorrow.  :)

YSYS: KER-SPLAT! and OO AH EE!

Two more paintings!

KER-SPLAT!!!

...I was afraid of that.

OO!  AH!  EE!

YSYS: Last of the Drawings.... Phew

This little guy is going to belong on the page where croc trashes hippos hat (rude!) and puts that frilly green thing on his head.  I'll photoshop him in.

One of my favs of all the drawings (above)... probably IS my fav.

Keeping Continuity

I met with Don today and laid out all my latest drawings in a row for him to look at.  He approved of the art, then took anther walk through saying, "Okay, now to look at continuity."  He pointed out several things I totally forgot about/missed!  Which is funny because just last night I realized several things I'd forgotten til near midnight, I realized I only drew croc with his bandana maybe twice and forgot the bandana on all the rest, and a few other things.  I thought I had everything til this morning when Don says, "Uh... how come the monkeys on this page aren't wearing ties?  Where is the lizard in this page?  You forgot flamingo's bow-tie here..."  Ha.  Oops.  Looks like I still have more drawing/editing to do before I can scan.  So, I thought I'd take a second to talk about the importance of continuity.

We must pay close attention to keep our characters, backgrounds, and details consistent.

 Important items to keep in mind when maintaining continuity:

YSYS: Lots More Drawings!

I found a short-cut to this drawing madness!!!

I remembered the school has a projector!  So AFTER I made these drawings on 11x14 paper....

What Type of Relationship Are You In?

Hey there peeps.

A few months ago I got a burst of courage to add some more depth to my blog, by making it more than a place where people can learn about art and illustrating a book, but ALSO a place to talk about the purpose of my story You Should, You Should, which included codependency and other mental health awareness, since that's what inspired me to write this story (see links under "therapy posts" in the margin to the right).  I was learning things that blew my mind and helped me SO much.  I wondered who else in the world like me could benefit if I were to share a bit here and there.  I was pretty excited about it, and felt good about the response I was getting from the first few posts, but then I got one response in particular from someone close to me that scared me away from the topic for a while.

I KNOW YOU CAN BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!

I'm so feeling inspired by this kid.