This doodle was inspired by an Epic, amazing, real life lost boys tree house that my friend and I found on a hike a few weekends ago. It was glorious. I took a few pictures, and then vowed to create something in honor of it.
I used Adobe Fresco again. It was really fun and relaxing to create this doodle. I used oil brushes, watercolor brushes, charcoal pencil brushes, and even some pen brushes as well. I’m learning more and more about my style and what I really enjoy when I’m making something. Color is one of those things and the mixing of those colors. I must have been an impressionist in a past life because the effect of mixing colors on the eye is fascinating to me. And the actual mixing of color is what I LOVE to do. I love big chunky swaths of strokes blending together. Just so fun.
I could totally see Peanuts characters running around and climbing all over this monument to childhood.
I call this one Ascension. It’s an image that came to me. I pictured a woman rising through dimensions of color, space and time to higher and higher levels of… existence, consciousness, vibrations, or – fill in your meaning here -.
This was done in Adobe Fresco. Again I really enjoy the many brushes and how they can interact with one another. Also the use of layers is wonderful.
Today I made something similar to a mandala – a tile pattern! I did this in Adobe Illustrator instead of Adobe Fresco this time so that I could manipulate the shapes and their alignment better. I could also revisit this file and keeping all the shapes in place, I could change the colors and strokes to whatever I want.
This tile and color pattern I call Trapper Keeper, in honor of its 90s vibe. There’s also something almost Southwestern about it. Must be the triangles and turquoise I think. I definitely had a folder with something like this on it.
Anyone want to install this flooring in their house? I wonder how I’d have this made into actual tile… ;P
Here is something I see a lot these days. I work in the performing arts industry, so the transition to virtual performances is all over the place. It’s all we can do these days.
This is a “Zoom” version of the classic theatre symbol of the Comedy and Tragedy masks. I am interested in exploring this concept in more styles and interpretations like more iconic and abstract. Something that could be used in a logo format for my company’s virtual events perhaps. This very sketched version is the one that has been floating around in my head these days.
I used Adobe Fresco again. I really do like the program and I’m becoming much more familiar with the tools and quicker at switching between brushes and what not.
For #WomanCrushWednesday I wanted to do a sketch of Madonna! I have loved Madonna since I was a kid. Her music got me through a lot of tough times as a teen, and I always looked up to her for her openness and confidence.
I used for reference an image I believe was part of the photo shoot of her first album “Madonna” released in 1983. A classic ’80s Madonna look. I so want to do this to my hair.
I used Fresco on this one again. Using various pen, pencil and brush settings, but wanting to stick with a simple black and white sketched tone.
I really wanted to do something abstract and simple today. Something that I could zone out to and not get caught up in details, styles, or perspectives. A mandala came to mind. Mandalas are an ancient concept that has many meanings to many cultures. I was aware that a mandala’s creation can be a form of meditation, and I definitely let my mind go as I created – which felt great.
While I was making this mandala in Adobe Fresco, I did happen to be listening to the Giants vs. Dodgers game on the radio, which inspired the color scheme. I’m sorry they lost, again, to the stinky Dodgers, but I still love them. Go Giants!
I still really am enjoying Adobe Fresco, but I may have come across a limitation. All of these shapes I created with the shape tool, but had to be conscious of the single layer I was working with. In Illustrator you can simply move vector shapes between layers individually, as almost anything you create in Illustrator is an independent object. In Adobe Fresco however, without creating a whole new layer for every additional shape, that layer is constantly flattened. In other words, that square you just created is now one with the whole, and it cannot be moved independently any longer. Oh and it also obliterated anything beneath it. Once I got used to this I just had to be careful about the scale of shapes I’d choose next.
Also, as those shapes are not independent, I could not find any tool for alignment. Which is like my best friend in Illustrator. Granted I understand that this is a simplified version of a combo of Photoshop and Illustrator, and in order to keep it simple, for the sake of the user, you have to lose some features. But I almost would object to losing the alignment tools and keeping vector shapes independent.
Of course these things, alignment and independence of objects, you get in Adobe XD, which is lovely. Maybe my next doodle will be with Adobe XD.
All that being said, I still really enjoyed creating this Giants mandala!
More fun with Adobe Fresco! I’m telling you guys, the mimicry of paint interacting with paint, of various types, is just so much fun. I started this tree with general vector shapes, then blended those shapes with mixer brushes, as well as added a layer of different washes. So fun! I am still exploring the feel and tools of this program, but I am having a lot of fun doing it.
I have always wanted a dragon tattoo. Maybe for my midlife crisis someday I will finally get it. I found an image that I wanted to be my tattoo somewhere back in the early 2000s, printed a copy of it, and have kept that piece of paper for years. For today’s doodle I have turned that decades old (very crappy) copy into a digital vector image. I do not know who the original artist is – again I found it back in the early ’00s and did not have the foresight to write down such things. So this is not my design, but a digital copy made with both Photoshop and Illustrator. I did enjoy using the new enhanced object selection tool in Photoshop to isolate the tattoo from the background. That is a GREAT addition to the program.
Today’s doodle was inspired by today’s NY Times The Daily podcast. Host Michael Barbaro talked briefly to Bob Behnken, Doug Hurley and Chris Cassidy, NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station. He asked them about what it feels like to look upon the Earth from space, especially at a tumultuous time like this one. I really appreciated the question and their response which was (paraphrased) that the perspective of the Earth floating in space is a life changing one. It makes one realize how we only have this one planet. We are one world, and we must do what we can do take care of it.
This doodle was also very fun because I used a totally new program to me – Adobe Fresco. It’s essentially a digital canvas, a little more simplified, but maybe more focused on creating art than Photoshop. It was really fun to explore. The brush/pencil/pen settings and types are pretty wide spread, and it’s very easy to figure out. I made use of the water color as well as the oil brushes, and even some vector shapes. I look forward to creating more doodles with it!
I decided to do another #fanart creation, this time for my favorite Marvel TV show: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. I am watching the final season now. I’m sad it’s ending, but I am so glad I stuck with it despite my lukewarm feelings towards the first season. Seasons 3, 4 and 5 were AMAZING! Season 7 so far is great, and I appreciate that they have brought along for the journey a character from Agent Carter – another Marvel TV show that I really enjoyed, and which was cancelled too soon.
I’m a huge Marvel nerd and love almost everything that Marvel Studios produces. I would love to create more fan art for my favorite franchise, so today’s doodle I had a T-Shirt design in mind. Fans of the show will understand the meaning. I created this purely in Illustrator.
designs-by-day.com 