Cowboy Snowman

I was so upset with the lack of snow this season that when a small amount of snow fell, I jumped on it to make a snowman...all of 6" high.  So proud of what I'd accomplished...being that it took all the snow on the patio to achieve it, I raided the art supplies and made a scene out of my snowman.  With a lack of tiny top hats, I had to settle for a cowboy hat instead.  I found other things for a scene and some pieces of fence.  Put them all together, lay down on a freezing cold ground, and add a Canon Rebel XTi, and you have a falsely tall snowman!  It's all about perspective.  Color touch up is in Photoshop, as is the framing and text.

Symmetry

This is a moment of boredom in Illustrator that turned out well!  It's a lot of duplication and symmetry.  It's completely done in Illustrator with the pen tool and on an older version, the swatches.  There's also a little subtle shadow, too.

Cute Phoenix

No, it's not a Pokemon.  I was just playing in Illustrator, drawing with the pen tool.  I then took it into Photoshop and colored it.  It's a simple creature, most like a Phoenix.  I may play more with it later, but for now, it's just a cute little doodle.

Sparks

When my friend said he was going to cut a car's spring (Or is it a shock? I don't know, I'm not a car person) I just had to be there to see it, camera in hand.  When the sparks started to fly, literally, I was thrilled.  It turned out so well.  The art of it was all practical.  Framing is done without cropping, completely original, and the focus was manual in order to focus on the sparks and blur out the closer objects. 

Thunderbirds

The Thunderbirds are like the Blue Angels for the Air Force (Blue Angels being Navy).  When they were flying, I had to take pictures, and I did take plenty, but this one in particular was framed so well, I didn't have to do much on Photoshop after I got home, other than a bit of saturation work.  The symmetry of their aerial movements are so perfect for photography, it is easy to see why so many people love to go watch them show off their skills.

Pearl Harbor

At an airshow, they reenacted the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  I loved the photos I took so much, I took them into Photoshop to age them a bit.  I loved the color of the lower plane, though, so much that I faded it instead of desaturating it to create a neat appearance to the photo overall.  The technique is simple, but creates a look that makes it look like a photograph taken decades ago.

Tribal Design

This is a design I began to show someone how to manipulate the rotate tool in Illustrator to make symmetrical images.  By using the duplicate action after a repeating rotate copy, I created a design that I then moved into Photoshop to manipulate the colors as well.

Lilies At Night

Photography is something that has been passed down from my grandfather to my mother, and from my mother to me.  Every trip we take somewhere, we both have our Canon Rebel XT's and she shows me techniques I never knew.  On this particular trip, the daylight was gone, but I didn't like how the normal flash was turning out.  She suggested a setting I hadn't used before (I don't recall the setting offhand), and it came out beautifully!  It had this lighting that was neat...like I had Photoshopped it.  The lilies were in a garden, and the only thing I had to do in Photoshop was the frame with text.  The text was matched to the color in the lilies. 

Snowman Soup Tag

With Christmas around the corner, I drew back to a tradition in my family for a little gift.  Snowman Soup.  In a bag, you put three marshmallows, one candy cane, and one serving of hot chocolate.  You tie the bag and hang a tag with a poem on it.  To be different this year, I wanted to make my own tags.  From scratch, I made a snowman in Illustrator and then took it to Photoshop to make it look more painted.  Behind the text is a semi-opaque snowflake I made in Illustrator as well.  These would be printed on a pearl white scrapbook paper, cut out and placed on a black glitter tag with a white glitter and red V shaped design on the bottom that overlap to create a santa suit type of look.  An alternative is to have it printed on a white pearl scrapbook paper, cut out with crazy pattern scissors, place on a blue glitter paper, cut out in the same crazy pattern, but approximately 1/2" wider, then placed on a black glitter gift tag, reflecting the colors in the design.  I did a similar project with a letter to Santa 2 years ago, pictured below, to give a better idea of what the layering may look like.

Princess: Baseball Fan

So, it's no secret that in my family, the Detroit Tigers rule. Baseball season is the time of the year when we rearrange our schedules to make it to the games. Be that as it may, it's no surprise I'd make a Detroit Tigers pic with my favorite photography subject. Princess. Anyway, I was just playing around in Adobe programs.

Dragon Fairy: Progress Board

This was intended to be posted with the final picture, but here's the pieces that led to the final product, with the final product at the end. I guess the progress board's filmstrip is a design as well, but it should give you the general idea of how the design worked. The image was significantly larger before, however. Enjoy.

Dragon Fairy

So here it is, my first piece of artwork in the Crooked Halo Designs Blog. I've been pretty fixated on Illustrator lately, so I decided to take it to other programs instead in order to broaden my horizons! It's been a while since I really used Photoshop artistically and not just for photography. I forgot how great it can be!
Anyway, a Dragon Fairy. As for what that means, use your imagination!