Illustration Friday - Similar

Similar: Laurel of Studio Lolo fame suggested this week's topic for Illustration Friday.
It's a hit, as of this post, there are 311 entries on the IF site. I loved the topic but had the hardest time deciding what to create. I have a boutique coming up this Wednesday so I wanted to kill two birds... as they say. I think I can use this piece in something since it's kinda wintery.

I named it Marguerite's Mittens because I used a handwritten file card that has instructions for little girl's mittens from Jan 1929. I imagine that whenever you knit mittens you might want them to be similar in size and proportion. Maybe that's why I have only knitted caps and a scarf or two. I knew I could never produce mittens that were anywhere near the same or even similar.

Check out the compilation below for a peek at the images I used -- including the old card with the mitten instructions (used in the background).

Thanks for visiting my digital blog!
rebecca ~ justgiddy

Illustration Friday - Balloon

Balloon fun time! Now this was a great theme and topic for Illustration Friday this week. I have used balloons in several pieces in the past, but decided to create something entirely from scratch using images available on the web from free image sources.

These are from Karen's Whimsy, an awesome source for public domain images, and also from the flickr groups Playing With Brushes and Collage Images -- check them out!

The images I used are presented in this next compilation. It's a pretty basic piece with just a few images, but I played around for quite awhile to get them to blend well.

just for fun, here are two from the past with a balloon, they are very different in style.

Thanks for visiting my blog, any comments are appreciated...
Rebecca ~ justgiddy

Illustration Friday - Opinion

Well here goes folks, since the Illustration Friday topic is Opinion and I have none, save it be the wrong opinion at the wrong time, or too many opinions to keep to myself, I give you this nearly, oft times self portrait of myself. Well, maybe it's not me. I would never hold a bird that way...I have very strong opinions about how I would personally hold a bird.

The "Silenced" piece is a digital collage I made after my first semester of Photoshop with one of my favorite instructors at Butte College. Dennis Wickes is a teacher who doesn't just offer facts and priciples, but terrific wonder, insight and inspiration that expands the thinking and understanding. He knows his stuff!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Illustration Friday - Pretend

She is trying to pretend that he's not tugging on her heartstrings.


Oh my goodness, this was so much fun - what a great Illustration Friday topic this week!
This next image is a compilation of the images I used for this piece. I experimented with layer blending modes in Photoshop to get just the right feel for the piece and a sense of mystery with depth and shading.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog. Have a great week!

Illustration Friday-Wise

Wednesday is a perfectly good day to post my Illustration Friday submission, isn't it?

A Wise Child of Nature - groomed to care for her own little world.

Here are the images used in this digital collage.

Thanks for visiting - have a great week!

Illustration Friday - Vacant

Well here it is -- another submission for Illustration Friday and a return to the blog. It's good to be back, playing with Photoshop again and posting something on my VACANT blog.

The weekly topic is Vacant, so I had in mind this wild eyed character I found at my local antique store this summer. I passed him up the first time I saw him, but he was calling out to me on the next visit. Of course I envisioned him with a witch's hat or something but when I saw that Vacant was the topic I just knew he was in for a little make-over. The vacant building over his eyes is part of an old schoolhouse I photographed when I was in Idaho this summer and the glitter star is an old ephemera piece that I found at another local antique store.

These are the images I used in this piece... (oops, forgot to add the little bird illustration)

Thanks for visiting. Have a really wonderful day!

Illustration Friday-Hoard

She Had a Habit of Hoarding Hats

The Illustration Friday Topic this week is Hoard. I don't hoard hats or any other items of clothing for that matter. But if I were a clothing hoarder it would probably be hats.

Now if we were to talk about art supplies, antiques or ephemera, well, that would be another thing... that's all I'm going to say about that, for this could be a very personal and soul searching topic.

Say, what nice weather we are having...
perfect for hats!

If you would like to join me for a fun, fun, fun online party with Vanessa, from A Fanciful Twist, check out my Mixed Media blog here -> Just Giddy Typepad Blog

Illustration Friday-Forgotten

Past Lives Forgotten

In my dreams I see myself in a dark and magical forest, looking directly at a very handsome frog – a frog I had kissed before.

I had already determined he wasn’t my prince…so I bid him good-day and moved on, again.

A dream forgotten…until it happened again, oh, and again...

Illustration Friday-Baby

In my heart of hearts I love this Illustration Friday topic -- I could create Baby art all day long! Since one baby is wonderful, then would two be even better? That's why I opted for Two in a Pea Pod. But I have been trying to get their attention all afternoon...they just have so much going on around them, and they can't tune in! Maybe when they need a diaper change...

Today as I was in the garden picking some peas to scan I noticed the sweet peas needed cut too, (they smell wonderful by the way) so I had to used them in this piece. The wheels are little buttons I scanned.

Here are the elements & images I used in Two in a Pea Pod ---

• 
  Textured and Solid Background Layers Blue and Green
  Textured Clouds
  Yellow Spherical Shape for Sun
  Scroll Ironwork Image
  Caterpillar Image
  Butterfly Image
  Scanned Sweet Peas
  Scanned Buttons for wheels
  Scanned Pea Pod
  Baby Photo from my Collection - color added
  Image of Grass I made with the brush tool
  Scroll Brushes for the border
  Brown shading layer for depth
  

Altogether with the mask layers, filters and layer effects, etc., I counted up 51 layers for this piece. What did we ever do before layers?

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great June!

Illustration Friday-Worry

No WORRY for this fine lady... She Keeps Her Eye on the Ball

The topic for Illustration Friday was perfect this week as I finished this Digital Collage on Thursday. Oh, by the way, we ate this fish that my husband caught, it was so delicious. Another "by the way"...my husband just shook his head when he saw this illustration, I'm sure he does not get it, but it makes perfect sense to me!

The ball is a selection of the fish eye - I was amazed at the great variation in it when it was enlarged and I applied a blending mode, plus bevel and emboss. The border is a photo of rust on a solid background with a blending mode applied, I love the texture.


I created 3 variations of this, if you would be so kind as to leave me a comment with your favorite of the three I would really appreciate it. You can also see the images used to create this piece below.

• Here are the images used to create this piece:
  
  Cinnamon colored solid layer
  Tan colored solid layer
  Scan from old store ledger
  Photo of rusty metal, cropped for frame
  Sky with clouds image
  Calligraphy Image
  Image of Domenico Ghirlandaio 1488 painting
  Fish my husband caught (yum), with selected fish eye

Thanks for stopping by!