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 

Trash Chair

I don’t know about you, but I love a good deal. If I can buy something for next to nothing, I’m super pumped. If I can get it for nothing, well then I’m just giddy. Based on that information, you’ve probably deduced that I like garage sales, I shop at thrift stores, I welcome hand-me-downs, and yes, I’ve been known to rescue things out of trash piles. I’m not afraid of the bad and ugly. I actually like taking an old piece of junk from shabby to chic. Here are a few of my finds…

*An antique chair I found on Craigslist. It’ll probably get painted black and recovered of course.

*Some doors from an old house in Dallas. Someone was selling them at a garage sale in my neighborhood.

They’re going to have a future life as red track doors in the bathroom between my kids’ rooms. Hopefully they’ll look something like this…

Above: A San Francisco entry by Feldman Architecture.

[photo courtesy Southern Living]

The best part is my heavy, solid wood doors cost me about $22 a piece!

*A vanity that my grandparents retrieved from one of their rental properties. It’s in the process of getting a new shade of watermelon pink and will find a new home in my daughter’s bedroom to join it’s matching chest of drawers.

[Here’s the mirror being painted by moi. Just look how happy I am probably because I got this set for free. Or maybe I’m just high on paint fumes.]

Eventually we’ll get the matching double bed in with the set, but right now it’s serving as our guest bed.

* This light fixture I found at a garage sale for $3. I don’t know where I’m going to put it yet, but how could I pass it up for $3? Plus I saw the same fixture, just slightly larger on Craigslist for $250. Maybe I should just sell it and make a profit. Shh, don’t tell anyone what I paid for it.

*And finally, this post’s namesake…the trash chair. I found this little number out on the curb with the trash. I was actually on my way to go to some antique stores with my moms when the chair caught my eye. It was the only thing I brought home that day. Cost = free.

It will soon look something like this and join all of the other brightly painted pieces in Audrie’s room:

photo by bhg.com

So now you know more about me and my obsession with junk, I mean, bargains. I’ll update you soon with finished pieces.

Until then, I’ll leave you with one of my re-dos. This was a hand-me-down from my Aunt and Uncle. It used to be a shade of cranberry and my husband was not too happy about my bringing it home.

I ignored his complaints, and like most of my furniture finds I painted it black and distressed the edges. It’s now one of my favorite pieces, and I’d say it looks fairly similar to this piece from Pottery Barn that retails for $1,499:

Did I tell you how much I love good deals?

xo

nessa dee