May 31 - Cover finished, off to Kentucky!

After all the work and thought, I'm about 99 percent finished with this one. Even signed it! I really like the added glow around the bird to show his magical power and the vertical drop as he comes in to rescue the two boys. Although I recognize that paintings for book covers might be passe, what with places like Amazon showing these teeny little images...that's why the titles on books now are so HUGE--so you can see them when they are only an inch tall. Yet with all of the digital and 3D art out here today, I still just love the look of a painted cover.

To show you all how it will look in a mock-up of the title, and spine, I've added this image with some digital type from Photoshop as well. All of the artwork was planned to allow for that title and info. This is not the final look, but it sure helps to see it with some wording!



Now on to finish packing for my flight tomorrow to Lexington, KY. I have the boarding pass!
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February 12 - Commission Work for the Designer Market

In doing commission work, I end up with some unusual requests every once in a while. And since I learned long ago that saying "no" to a challenge does nothing but close doors you might never know are there, some of these commissions have been very eye-opening!  Today's daily painting is a design rough for a designer who is asking for a specific installation piece for a specific market. It presented some unique challenges in that it is SO far away from my usual color and design. However, I said yes to this because in doing things like this, I open my mind to new ways of seeing and thinking about the art I create.  Is it "me"? Of course not!  But who knows whether or not down the road a ways, I may use something I learned here in my "usual" work. 

And reworking this rough allows me to think outside the box as I am focusing so intensely with the design, negative space, contrast and all those other things you learned in Design 101. This one is only the first step.  So don't be afraid to say yes to offers from folks who don't think like you do. It may send your art off in some really interesting directions!

On another note, I do have a painting waiting to get out (as soon as I finish up one more commission's tweaking), of a whippet dog.  My folks had them, and this painting just aches to be born.