kids

Wordless Wednesday: Harvest MAiZE

Posted on October 28, 2009 by Debora

DSCF3909

DSCF3916

DSCF3912

Categories: Family, kids, Life, Wordless Wednesday | 2 Comments

Apparently I Stopped Being An Artist For 12 Years So My Kids Could Survive Childhood.

Posted on September 21, 2009 by Debora

This reawakening of my artistic drive has been an incredible experience for me. As long as I limit myself to short 30-minute bursts of working on my Christmas card project during the mornings and early afternoons, and make sure to get plenty of fresh air and exercise in between sessions, the whole thing is one big joyous renaissance of creative bliss. Seriously, it’s like a drug.

But I have learned something about myself: I cannot be a good artist and a good parent at the same time. When it’s time to drive to the bus stop and pick up the kids after school, I have to shut down my computer before I go and leave it off until after they’re in bed. Because as a Solitary Artist I am joyful and inspired and full of happy, but as an Artist Who Keeps Getting Interrupted By The Needs Of Children I am cranky and impatient and snappish. Apparently art mode and mom mode are mutually incompatible frames of mind. Hunh.

So anyway, my Christmas card. I’m creating it entirely from scratch in Photoshop, which means it won’t be quite as polished as what I could make with the Corel Paint program, but it will still be quite lovely. Eventually I will get my Mac’s memory upgraded and then I can get all fancy with Corel Paint.

This is the beginning of something big. I can feel it.

Categories: Artwork, Family, kids, Life, Love | 5 Comments

My New Toy

Posted on September 14, 2009 by Debora

First of all, I LOVE the Corel Painter software that came with my Wacom tablet. It is the perfect program for creating high-quality digital artwork. This is exactly what I need.

Sadly, it won’t run properly on my computer. I think my Mac needs more internal memory to satisfy the software’s voracious appetite. (Funny, a whole gigabyte of RAM seemed like so MUCH two years ago when I bought it.) Anyway, I guess one of these days I need to get to a computer place and get my Mac’s memory upgraded, and then I can get serious with the learning.

Meanwhile, the tablet also came with some fun Photoshop software that runs fine on my current system. It’s not really the thing for creating digital masterpieces from scratch, but it has a nice “sketchbook” function that I’m using to get the hang of drawing with my tablet pen. And when I’m feeling whimsical I can use the program’s built-in special effects filters to goof around with photos. I can turn Elizabeth into a graphic novel character…

cartoonlace

…or shrink-wrap Luke to the wall when he gets too noisy!

shrinkraptluke

Fun!

I’m going to have to start limiting the amount of time I spend working (okay, playing) with this thing though; I tend to keep at it until my eyes are too strained to focus and/or my retinas are bleeding. Not healthy. I need to set aside a certain amount of time each day, like from noon to 2:30 when the light is good and my eyes don’t have to work so hard, and only work on it then. Which sounds great in theory, but I’m not sure I actually have that much self-discipline.

Guess I’ll find out!

Categories: Artwork, Comics, Family, Humor, kids, Life | Leave a comment