From Start to Finish: Dragon and Mouse! #fromstarttofinish

Hi There!

Today I am going to share with you a super secret project I've been working on for a bit... and I hadn't been able to talk about it until now! That's because this painting was a commission, and a surprise gift, for my cousin's girlfriend!

My cousin asked me to draw a picture of him (Dragon) and his (Mouse) girlfriend, to give to her for her birthday. I didn't quite make the timing cut (it was originally going to be a Christmas gift... then a Valentine's gift... what can I say, I've been busy!!!), but the piece turned out great so that is all that matters!

Here are my original sketches. They are kind of "ehhh" and weren't really jumping out at me. I was trying too hard to include all the little details about the couple and not enough emphasis on the actual couple...

I tried fixing the dragon...

And then I realized I didn't think he looked like a dragon to me. That was my problem, right there! So I jumped onto my new favorite place in the digital cloud, Pinterest, and put together a Dragon and Mouse Pinboard to collect some nice dragonish-looking dragons. Just staring at dragons for a few hours was all I needed, and I started sketching again...

I felt MUCH better about this dragon, though it looked a tad girly. But I fixed it up...

When I was happy with my sketch, I photocopied it, rubbed the back of the page with carbon, then traced my drawing onto a watercolor paper block. I like the blocks a lot, because I don't have to bother with taping anything down or finding a drawing surface...

Then I inked in the lines with my quill pen and the special dark brown ink mix that I make...

and I used Winsor Newton's Nut Brown ink to paint in the values...

added a nice blue wash to get the mood and tone of the piece...

painted in the base colors and pushed my colors and values...

...and removed the liquid mask I used to protect the highlights. Then I added a touch more blue to the piece. You might have noticed that I chose not to draw all of the dragon's scales. I was afraid they were going to take over the whole picture. So I went back with my Nut Brown ink and pen and added some scales here and there, and also some foliage and water details.

And here it is, all scanned and pretty!

Thanks for reading! :)

~Melanie

Other Ways I Spend My Time: Pin Collection Display Case!

Hi!

I did another craft! I've been into the messy gluey stuff lately. What I made is more of a functional item than anything. But I had this problem, you see. I collect Disney pins (yep, I'm one of those, sorry to say) and I was having a hard time figuring out how to display them. Thanks to Pinterest, I got some neat ideas, and this is what I did!

First, I found just the right shadow box at Michael's craft store. I inspected the shadow box to determine my measurements. I took out the back panel to see how much the spacer frame takes up. This spacer is what keeps the back of the box from touching the front glass, and is what gives a shadow box its depth.

The inner most frame is the removable spacer.

Then, I gathered together my materials...

Cork board, black felt, and fabric.

I cut a piece of cork board into a size that would fit when placed on top of the back panel, and that would still accommodate the spacer frame.

Using craft glue, I glued down a layer of felt onto the cork board, and then wrapped it with fabric. I chose a nice dark pattern that would make the pins and black frame pop out (more than a solid black would). I sandwiched it between cardboard and weighed it down with books, and let it dry overnight. Then I used my hot glue gun around the perimeter of the back of the cork board, and glued it down to the shadow box's original back panel.

Notice how I left room for the spacer frame?

Then I popped all the pin backs off my pins, arranged them the way I liked, and stuck them right into the cork board! Now all my pins are secure and in a dust free zone, and on display in our Disney themed spare bedroom/library!

And to Pay it Forward for the snazzy crafters on Pinterest, I put this together:

Disney pin collection and display!

Now it's your turn! Don't forget to share your masterpieces, either in the comments below or in Pinterest! (This is my pin pinboard: http://pinterest.com/mlcillustration/disney-pins-wish-list/)

Have fun!
~Melanie

Other Ways I Spend My Time: #Disney Doodle Thank You Cards!

Hey again!

You might have noticed, I (re)caught the Disney bug. I go through withdrawals and then I make up for lost time. I can't help myself- Disney has always been a HUGE inspiration for me as a child, a teen, and even now as an adult, I would consider myself lucky to be among the Disney artists and animators or even Imagineers.

Anyway, for my most recent trip to the World, I made little business card sized Thank You cards! I was inspired to do this because I had been reading this thread on DISboards, A Simple Thing A Cast Member Did, about all the awesome and kind things people do for one another, just to make some one's day. Many of the things these Disney workers (Cast Members) do for the guests are not necessarily part of their job, though allowed and encouraged by their employer, but are usually something they choose to do for another human being.

It might sound silly, I know. But for many, little things in life make a difference. So to further encourage the Cast Members who often work under lots of pressure, and with difficult customers (I'm a server, too, and I know the feeling...) I decided to create these little cards to let them know that their hard work and smiles on the job are truly appreciated. I know it would make me feel nice, knowing someone noticed me as a person, and not just as a servant.

Anyway, I sketched out a few faces...

Me and the Hubs.

...then used my Sharpie and scanner, Vector Magic and Photoshop... and here they are!

We used them to thank our Backstage Tour guide, our waitresses and waiters, Guest Relations workers who helped us out, and, of course, our Mousekeeper at our hotel! It felt nice to be able to express my gratitude to those who make my Happy Place truly a happy one, and I will continue to use these in the future.

And as a plus, Hubs and I both now have new profile pictures to use on our various social media accounts! Hehe!

I'm going to end this post with a nice quote from Albert Einstein, which I read recently and found very inspiring:

"One should guard against preaching to young people success in the customary form as the main aim in life. The most important motive for work in school and in life is pleasure in work, pleasure in its result, and the knowledge of the value of the result to the community."
From "On Education" by Albert Einstein

Don't aim for success. Do what makes you happy, and what makes you meaningful to others.

I like that idea, don't you? :)
~Melanie

Other Ways I Spend My Time: Holiday Crafting #Disney #ornaments

*NOTE* I started writing this post a gazillion ages ago, and didn't finish it until now. So half of it is a bit out-dated. But I still like what I wrote, so I just left it the way it was!

Hello! Happy Holidays to you! :)

It's been a wicked (as we say in Rhode Island) busy holiday season for me this year, and even more so than usual! I've been working on my PiBoIdMo journal, one commission (as you saw in my last post), selling calendars and prints of my work, catching up on my blogging for Little Raindrop's blog (who also has been a busy little drop!), created art for the Providence Athenaeum's owl button project, reading and answering the latest batch of fan mail from Mr. H's 3rd graders, Christmas-ing and on top of alll that...

MAKING ORNAMENTS! (Yay!!!)

It's a holiday tradition, that sometimes occurs yearly in our family, if we are lucky. But I really love making new ornaments for family and friends, and for myself, of course! Every year, our tree has a new theme.

We've decorated by color, and even ornament collections...

Frosty Blues and Winter Friends
(A tiny First Tree from way back!)

 

Lime and Teal

 

Teddy Bears and Toys

But this year, I went to my hero for some inspiration... Mickey Mouse! And since my tree was Mickey themed, I thought why have a Disney themed ornament making session? So that's what we did!

First, make your stencils.



Mickey parts made from glittery craft foam!

Minnie wreath!

Mickey's sorcerer hat! Craft foam and glitter, galore.

Candy cane holder!

Colorful fun! Mini Styrofoam balls and a few coats of glitter.

A foamy Jack Skellington.

I put my new ornaments on the tree, with some colorful themed ribbons and other appropriate Mickey and Disney ornaments, and voila!

Our almost-too-large tabletop tree.

This was by far my favorite tree, ever! We don't always put one up, because it takes so long for me to put everything back. (It is February now, and although the tree is gone, all the decorations are still in a pile on the table! Tisk tisk.) But it was well worth it, because I couldn't stop looking at it.

While I'm at it, here's another ornament I made a few years ago...

"So you made some knockoff Mickey things, who cares?" some would say. My point of sharing this, is that it's okay to do stuff for the fun of it! Sometimes when art becomes work, it starts to feel like work, too. Crafting and playing keeps my brain happy and full of fresh ideas. Go find something you are passionately happy about, whatever it is, and go create something to honor it. Creativity is much like a can of paint; it needs to be shaken and stirred regularly!

So go shake and stir up some fun! :)
~Melanie
p.s. you can see more Disney ornament making ideas on my Pinterest board! https://pinterest.com/mlcillustration/a-very-disney-christmas/