Polar Distress

Here's my painting for IF this week... poor old Earth wearing her melting polar icecap.

The text & map are from 19th century books, digitally copied & mounted on canvas, then painted over with acrylics. Then a bit more tweaking in Photoshop... 6x6"

See the Future (but it's actually the past...)

Ah well, as Fortune would have it, I've had no time to do a new illo for IF. So I'm posting an old one, which was originally part of a promotional piece I did a few years ago, to let clients know of my newly-acquired ability to work directly in Photoshop. There are so many things I would change if I were doing it now... I really was a newbie then. I'd been such a Luddite up to that point, I felt as if I were taking a wild leap from Medieval times into the future! And I suppose in a way I was-- I can't imagine doing my job without Photoshop now, even if I'm just using it to color-correct scanned art. But I still write almost everything--even grocery lists-- with a dip pen. Luddites die hard.

Terra Incognita

Or is it Terror Incognita?
For IF topic "Green"--

I'm trying to learn web design so that I can modify my main website, & it's a big, scary new world for me. I feel like a baby taking its first wobbly steps... or a bud just unfurling in iffy weather...

I did this piece digitally to remind myself that I felt equally terrified when I first started learning to "paint" in Photoshop. Now it's just another tool... maybe there's hope.

Hybrid (Snapdragon)

For this week's IF, an example of genetic engineering... I'm planting snapdragons in my garden this week so this was a natural.
Acrylic on a botanical text on canvas, with a bit of digital tweaking, about 4x6.5"

I'm stunned & honored to be Pick of the Week again. Thank you, Penelope, & thanks to all for your kind comments!

Curious Cat

I Spy...

It looks as though I won't have time to do a new piece for IF this week, so I'm posting an oldie-- a digitally altered stamp. I scanned in the real thing from an old postcard, then drew the kitty & the "Curious Art" lettering in Photoshop.

Amphibia

TOTAL immersion...
I decided to do a new piece for IF as well as the older one I posted.

I'm not much of a swimmer, but I admire & envy those who are so at home in the water, they seem amphibious.

Acrylic on collaged texts copied from old encyclopedias & natural history books.
6x6"

Anxiety: A Tax

For Total, Illustration Friday's topic this week, math came to mind... & at this time of year, as a self-employed person who doesn't employ an accountant, I have a lot of very tedious calculation looming before me.

I did this piece just about this time last year, when of course I should have been preparing my taxes. It's one of my "curiollages" constructed with polymer clay, acrylic & found objects on canvas. The original piece is 9x12" as I recall. The calligraphy at the bottom was added digitally when I used the image as a greeting card promo for 15 April.