May 2017: Working from Photographs

Costa Rican-based artist, Maria Jose Da Luz’s illustrates infants and toddlers based on photos. Here is a sample of her work.

It looked like so much fun I decided to try a few myself. 

I started off simply and got lured into more complex images as the month went on. (I actually NEEDED drawing practice on the computer.)

Some of my images got a little funky and others captured the spirit of the original photos. I think the secret here is to keep it simple and NOT try to make an exact copy of my model photos. (Hard for me since I know several of the models.)

I want to thank all these friends for allowing me to use their photos this month: Holly Strobeck, Jennifer English, Rhonda Vercellino, Jennifer Lewis, Lori Degman, Mindy Savant, Abby Ryan Mattes, Stephanie Wilson, Jamie Schmidt and unknown faces from the internet.

Find more of Maria’s inspirational work here: https://www.facebook.com/MjDaLuz.DG/

And here: https://www.behance.net/mjdaluz

And here: https://www.pinterest.com/mjdaluz/

And here: http://society6.com/MariaJoseDaLuz

And here: www.redbubble.com/mjdaluz

And here: www.etsy.com/shop/mjdaluz

My Illustrations: April 2017

Dancing Elephant

Patterned Pig

I started out the month on a "safe" note. The gelli prints were SO complex I was hesitant to use them. My first two pieces, "Dancing Elephant" and "Pattern Pig", reflect that hesitation.

































In the next series, I found my groove and figured out how to use the prints.  In the "Experiment", bubble wrap print became the background of a witch brewing a potion.

Experiment

Inspiration

Storm Clouds

Green Man

A doily print was used for the background in "Inspiration".


















Black and gray swirls became thunderclouds in "Storm Clouds".


"Green Man" emerged from a green layered gelli print and "The Painter"'s canvas (below) was a gelli print.

I think I'm going to have to stick to simpler patterns and textures to keep the prints from becoming the most important thing in the illustrations.

The Painter

The Pioneers

In "The Pioneers" I made an effort to use some of my patterned files. It was very time consuming and I'm not thrilled with the result.

Three Long Haired Sheep

Dancing

"Three Long Haired Sheep" was created with a gelli print as their fleece. "I used a gelli print for the background in "Dancing". I like the style of dancing.  In the final two images I'm focusing on digital painting an area that I know I need to work on.

RED

 

Drawing

I saw the work of an illustrator who interprets photos of children in an illustrated style. I think I'm going to try a few next month. This was actually based on the following photo. My intent was not to COPY but to reinterpret in my own style.