Trapped

xo

nessa dee

Experimenting

I'm a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to illustration.  I like to get my hands dirty. I like physically creating textures, layering paint, and making messes. I like the imperfections and happy accidents that I discover in the process. When digital illustration became more mainstream, I shied away from the idea partly because I didn't like the flat look of digital art, but mostly because I was technologically ignorant. This day and age, though, it's hard to tell digital art from traditional, and over the years I've become aware of the benefits of painting digitally as digital processes have slowly been seeping into my artwork. I mostly use Photoshop to touch up my illustrations and tweak colors, and just knowing I can "fix" something in Photoshop has eased my mind just a bit.

As my Photoshop skills are improving, I decided to experiment with an upcoming project. I am doing the whole project digitally. It's a big stretch for me because I'm still a dummy when it comes to computers, but I have my trusty friends Google and YouTube to guide me along the way. Here's a sneak peek:

I have to admit, I'm love, love, loving digital! I know I still have so, so much to learn, but I'm excited about the progress I've made in such a short amount of time, and am looking forward to learning more.

 I won't be giving up my traditional methods anytime soon, though. As much as I'm loving exploring this new [to me] medium, I miss getting my hands dirty.

xo 

nessa dee 

It's Raining A's and B's

This is my latest portfolio piece. Lucy, as my son dubbed the spunky redhead, has inspired a new picture book idea, which I started writing last weekend. I'm not quite sure how her story is going to end, yet, but I've got to set it aside to finish another story first. It's a little hard to focus on current projects when this wild, bright red hair keeps interrupting my thoughts. All in good time, Lucy, all in good time.

xo 

nessa dee

hope

xo

nessa dee  

Nesting Dolls

I think I just might have to paint a nesting doll family portrait of us. I like these guys.

Happy Monday!

xo

nessa dee

From my sketchbook...

xo

nessa dee

IF: Robot

These are from a project I'm working on...

xo

nessa dee

IF: Travel

From my sketchbook...

xo

nessa dee

Train

A strange little circus train at night.

Also, here's a sneak peek of a project I'm working on...

Happy Friday!

xo

nessa dee

Egg

Here's an oldie for illustration Friday. As a child I feared, or maybe hoped, that I might find a little chick in my breakfast.

xo

nessa dee

Eyeglasses

I think animals in eyeglasses are simply splendid.

xo

nessa dee

from my sketchbook...

A bunch of random from my little black book...

This last one I colored in photoshop just for fun. 

xo

nessa dee

Dummy

My dummy book is almost finished! All of the illustrations are finished, text is added, and printing has begun. I just need to assemble the pages and I'll have a mini copy of my book. Then, the hard work begins...trying to find a publisher for this little project, which could take weeks...years...might never happen. But I will have the satisfaction of knowing I tried instead of the lingering echoes of "what ifs." Here's a few pages:

xo

nessa dee

Postcards

I was supposed to post these postcards yesterday, but when I say "tomorrow" on this blog, I usually mean "the day after tomorrow" or "never". At least in this case, it's the former and not the latter. So here they are:

As with the business cards, they are double sided, have a glossy finish, and are keeping with the theme of the blog/website by showcasing the little girl with her umbrella and dog. On the other side, I chose to include an illustration that had a similar color scheme and style to keep the overall look uniform. The big blank spots are the places my phone number resides.[ Forgive me, but I don't want to give my number out to the world...just a bunch of strangers I meet at a conference.]

So there are my promo cards. I am working like a mad woman to get my dummy book completed and my website up and running. Perhaps I'll have something to show for it "tomorrow."

xo

nessa dee

Hello, business cards!

I spent the weekend working in preparation for the Austin Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators conference. The conference is in two weeks, and I still have a lot to do to get ready including finishing a dummy book and refining my portfolio. But I can cross two big things off my list: business cards and promotional post cards. I can now breathe a huge sigh of relief knowing those are ordered and I don't have to pay $300 in shipping charges to get them here before the conference.

For today, I'll show you my business cards:

I decided to go with my blog [and soon to be website] header design to keep things uniform. This isn't necessary, but it does help to let people know they've made it to the right place when they get to your site. Plus, I'm kind of fond of this little girl and her dog. I think there's a story brewing with these two, but that'll have to wait. One step at a time, Ness, one step at a time. My business cards are double sided and are going to have a glossy finish, and once printed the little dog should be sitting on the bottom of the card. 

I can't wait to see the final results!

I'll show you my post card designs tomorrow.  

xo

nessa dee

polar bears

I've been working on a new piece for my portfolio that goes with the children's book I've written. My goal is to finish a dummy book along with at least one more final illustration. I'm also working hard to get my website up before the conference, so a lot's going on around here much of it being done with a baby in my lap. Have you ever tried painting while holding a 5 month old? It's no easy task.

xo 

nessa dee

Work in progress

I had a little help yesterday, so I was able to work on a few projects including this little scene:

Thanks for coming over, holding the baby, and cooking us dinner, Mom! 

xo

nessa dee

The Seed

Last summer I had the opportunity to illustrate a beautiful poem written by Jason Whitney. The story tells of a seed's journey to reach maturity and its true purpose in life. It was a wonderful experience, and I'm so excited to have the finished product in my hand... just in time for Christmas!  

Here are a few pictures from the book:

Though I worked with a publisher, the book was self-published by the author, so at this time the book is only available through him or me. 

Contact me if you would like to know more about it or would like a copy.

xo,

nessa dee

IF: Tree

xo

nessa dee

IF: Shy

Can a house be shy? This little red roofed house looks shy to me.

xo

nessa dee