Mole on a Scooter

All he needs is a pair of glasses! I’ve been challenging myself to paint animals other than my usual list of jungle and woodland creatures. Mr. Mole popped up in one of my sketches, so he found his way onto a canvas via little red scooter.  And he doesn’t seem to mind that I dressed him in clashing patterns.

xo

nessa dee

Howdy Y'all!

xo

nessa dee

Reluctant Swimmer

It started with a sketch...

She's one of many swimmers I've sketched lately, but I just loved her 'attitude,' so to speak.

So, out came the paper, Mod Podge, and paint, and I set to work bringing this little sketch to life.

 I spend a lot of time picking the right papers to use in my art. The paper combinations might look random and haphazard, which in some cases it is, but in most cases, there's a lot of thought as to which patterns and colors I'll use. For example, in a travel themed piece of art, I might layer my canvas with maps and old travel adds, or I might add recipe pages for a food themed painting. In all of my paintings and illustrations I try to use general, but bold patterns that have stark, contrasting colors to base my canvases because I know that once the paint is layered on, only hints of these patterns will sneak through, so the bolder the pattern, the more likely it won't be completely obscured.  Once the background is finished, I sketch out my subject and get to painting.

Then comes the fun part... dressing the subject.

 I generally have an idea for a color, or a particular look I'm going for, and I pick out a bunch of papers that I think might work. If I'm painting a bird it would be the feathers, or a robot, his metal casing, but in this case, it was this girl's swimwear. I thought I wanted a navy blue swimsuit, so I picked several papers that fit the bill, along with a few other colors with classic patterns. I held each paper up to the painting and tried to imagine the finished piece. Once I narrowed the papers down to a shortlist, I cut out the suit in each color, laid them out, and photographed them. The cutting was through trial and error. I started big, and trimmed it down to fit. If I'm illustrating a piece that requires more intricate scissor work, I'll have a detailed sketch and trace the images on my paper before making the cut, but I thought I could eyeball this one.

I had to call in the jury to help me decide the winning suit...

Then it was glued down, sealed and given some extra details before the I called this reluctant swimmer finished.

xo

nessa dee

Self Portrait

This is what I look like at the moment. I have been flattened by a measly summer cold. Though I've been wearing my painting pants everyday this week in the hopes of getting some painting done, all I've been able to bring myself to do is sketch and stuff my face full of carbs. 

But, I'm on the mend, so maybe tomorrow when I put my painting pants on, I'll actually add new colors to them...maybe.

xo

nessa dee

Meet Nigel and Mr. Turtle

I met a couple of new characters yesterday. This is Nigel and Mr. Turtle. This wasn't our first meeting. Nigel popped up in my sketchbook last week, and Mr. Turtle joined him during church on Sunday. (I listen to the sermons better if my hand is busy...honest) They were so cute, I had to see what they would look like in color with their matching outfits. 

And now I'm introducing them to you. :)

xo

nessa dee

Materials used: Acrylic paint, scrapbook paper, glue, and embroidery thread.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is my latest digital illustration. I love this little robot. He is the main character of one of my books. This is the first time I've attempted to paint him digitally, and I'm pretty pleased with how he turned out. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

xo

nessa dee

The Angel Guardian

For those who follow my little blog, let's put your cerebral cortex to good use and think back to the year 2014. If you can recall back in the fall of last year, The Angel Guardian, a lovely book I had the wonderful opportunity to illustrate, was funded on Kickstarter. Since then, the authors, Chris and Michelle Miller have been hard at work getting the hardcover books printed. If you took part in the Kickstarter campaign, then you are already reading your very own copy of the book! For those who didn't get a chance to participate in the campaign, don't fret...hardcover copies of The Angel Guardian will be available this month, AND in April, the angel doll to accompany the book will also be available! To order your copies of the book and doll, visit www.theangelguardian.com for all of the details.

Thank you, again, to Chris and Michelle for letting me be a part of this project, and thanks to all of those who have supported The Angel Guardian!

xo

nessa dee

Narwhal

There's still time to get this guy before Christmas! He's for sale at Cherry Tree Creative in Taylor, TX, along with a whole collection of vintage and handmade items. They stay open late on the third Thursday of every month, which happens to be tomorrow!

Are you ready for Christmas?

I'm not...yet.

xo

nessa dee

Well, Hello Again!

Why hello little blog! It's been quite a while since we've chatted. A lot has been going on in our life the last couple of months, so much that it's hard to fit it all in a post. I didn't intend to wait so long between conversations, but the busyness of life left little time for us to talk. I've missed our little chats. I've missed being able to reminisce with you, and show you what we've been up to. We've got a lot of catching up to do, so I hope you're ready for an earful. For now, I'm going to give you a little peek at one of the projects I have been working so hard on...

I'll tell you more about this exciting project tomorrow. 

Nice talking to you again, little blog!

xo

nessa dee

Be Happy

Playing around with handmade text in photoshop.

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 

Alphabet Fishing

A companion piece to "It's Raining A's and B's" 

xo

nessa dee

On the easel

xo

nessa dee