Get Kraken Octopus Zentangle With Paper Boat Greeting Card

I saw a wonderful old vintage image of the Kraken attacking a ship and thought it would be funny if it were a paper boat. I'm not certain where the Zentangle came from; some days my sketch book is an odd place to be.

Available on Etsy.

July Checklist Calendar Illustration in Illustrator Watermelon Flowers

Botanical crossbreeding. This is what happens when watermelon and sunflowers are planted in the same field.

Anime in Illustrator

My daughter received an anime style pencil sketch of herself from a friend. I redid the drawing for her in Illustrator. I used the pen tool for the line work and converted the lines to tapered brush strokes. The coloring was done using the Blob Brush. The blob brush turns the color into an editable mass instead of lots of brush strokes.

Four Minimalist Movie Posters

March will be full of creatures at my blog 365 Projects and I've been scheduling posts in advance so I'm not tied to the computer on weekends.

Yesterday I made the following 4 monster movie posters.

Teen Wolf. There's a bad moon on the rise.
Arachnophobia. Yeah, that's right... I'm bad.
Slither. Let the hunt begin
Mimic. Funny Shoes.

It's a blast to distill a movie into a simple image. 

Learning From Experience Poster

Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes of bad judgement. You may run into  problems but the journey is always interesting.

I did this design for a class where the goal was to utilize simple shapes to show movement while using the golden mean.



Available on Etsy

Rube Goldberg Salad Making Machine Poster Print

I heard a stick of butter fall off a shelf inside the frig and ricochet downward. I thought, wouldn't it be great if your food could prepare itself. The salad making machine is a bit more work than the traditional method but would be a lot more entertaining.

 Available on Etsy
 

Your Purpose In Life Poster Print

It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as warning to others. It's good to give people a heads up.

I particularly like the dynamics of the large circle teetering off the edge while the smaller circle strives to keep everything balanced.

 Available on Etsy

Statue of Liberty Silhouette Poster

I did this illustration as artwork for an  announcement for someone who just became a United States citizen. I left the text out for this posting.

Available on Etsy

Illustrated March Calendar To Do List

I love paper planes, they symbolize freedom and possibilities, which can be in short supply in one of our endless Minnesota winters.

Winter is great but by the end of March it seems like enough for one year. My friends on the west coast are putting in gardens while I'm trying to decide whether to chip dog poo out of the ice or salt the spot the mail carrier keeps getting stuck in by the mailbox.

Illustrated February Calendar To Do List

I have activities that I try to do every day and it's nice to track how successful I am achieving that goal.

As the job is done, I cross off the date.

I try to clean something beyond day to day cleaning, doing dishes doesn't count. It's my way of keeping up with household tasks without a major time commitment.

Most of the jobs are usually pretty quick but this helps keep me on track and perhaps someday I'll be able to play the guitar well or hold a conversation in Spanish without asking why Grandma has a parrot on her head.

Rasta Umbrella Bob Marley Quote Poster

Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.

The Rasta rain flows off the edge of the paper.

Jamaica was the first stamp in my passport and the country has a very special place in my heart. It's where I learned to sail and snorkeling was a lot more fun when the fish are colors other than beige.


Available on Etsy

 

Get A Life Mario Power Up Mushroom 8 Bit Gamer Poster

I went old school while watching 12-12-12: The Concert For Sandy Relief on Hulu.

It's been awhile since I played the old games so it was a good thing my kids let me know which color mushroom to use.

The 8 bit look can be done pretty easily in Illustrator.
* You make a frame using the rectangle tool.
* object->path->split into grid
* choose the number of rows and columns and make the gutter 0.
* click on a square with the selection tool (black arrow) and fill it with color. If you hold down the shift key as you select the squares, you can color multiple squares at one time.
* You are left with faint lines after you remove the lines by making them transparent so I go to window->pathfinder->unite and combine the shapes as I color them them.

Available on Etsy

Helvetica Snowflakes Poster

The snowflake crystals are made from individual letters using the font, Helvetica. The snowflakes are made, in order, from the letters a-g, h-m, n-r, t-v, x-z, s and w.
 
Available on Etsy

Time Flies Like An Arrow Fruit Flies Like a Banana Poster

Some people think that Groucho Marx said "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." but there is no proof that he was the source.

I simply enjoy the absurdity of the phrase.

 Available on Etsy

Merry Christmoose Christmas Card

The handsome moose is from a vintage engraving that I recolored and then illustrated the lights. He has jaunty Christmas lights draped across his antlers.


 Available on Etsy

Minneapolis Chain of Lakes Lake Harriet Poster

 I tweaked an older design and I like it a lot better.

The changes include size, font, border, and Chain of Lakes was added.

Available on Etsy

Barbie Flying like Peter Pan Poster

When we weren't jumping off the roof pretending to be Wonder Woman, we were playing with Barbies.

The Peter Pan quote is "The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it."

Available on Etsy

Coffee If You Are Not Shaking You Need Another Cup Poster Print

Wise words...

This poster is made to resemble a vintage lithograph; the colors were taken from a 1940's photo of the glamorous Dorthy Lamour. The background has a field of coffee cups ready to fill or be washed. 

 Available on Etsy 

Duck Camp Vintage Travel Style Poster Print

You can learn so much by watching wildlife in their natural setting.

I used to wonder where ducks lived, what they ate, and how they spend their days. Now I know.

Available on Etsy  

Vampire Drinking Coffee Blank Greeting Cards

What better beverage for creatures of the night, a venti latte.  I went a little crazy making bat wallpaper and now I'm torn about using it. I was watching Arrow and Supernatural on Hulu so I didn't notice what a time waster that little side project was.

Available on Etsy