We’re so excited that our new classes, Illustrator 102 and Photoshop Elements 101 are now available through Nicole’s Classes! These classes are a lot of work to put together, so it’s always such an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment once they’re up and running! Hooray!!
In Illustrator 102, students build upon the fundamental principles taught in 101 and take things a step further. Students will learn my special tips and tricks of doing things better and faster!
In Photoshop Elements 101, students learn to improve their photos digitally. Mike and I know how it is not to get the perfect shot every time (or any time! We’re not the best photographers!) so in this course, we teach the fundamentals of enhancing photographs—from improving the overall look (like exposure and contrast) to fixing your complexion, to combining photographs (like a head swap). Mike has been using Photoshop for well over a decade, but it is an expensive program if you’re just interested in fixing your own photography. Photoshop Elements is a fraction of the cost of Photoshop, and we were blown away with all the features that you get for that price! This was a fun class to do, especially since Mike and I teach it together.
We hope to see you in our classes one day!
This is the Blackham family whose matriarch Melanie, commissioned this portrait from me. Full disclosure: Melanie is my darling little sister. She has been wanting me to do a portrait of her family for some time. She finally made it very clear that she was a serious paying client, and that I should NOT treat her as just a family member that wanted a favor done. She wanted hers to be a more cartoony style of her family in front of their house. I liked that idea, and so she sent me photos of her family and home separately. It will be displayed in her home as a 16X20 canvas print.
Thanks Mel, glad you like it, it was fun.
{Mike}
I was contacted recently by an individual named Melanie, who lives in Florida and turns out to be a really cool music blogger who co-created and writes for a blog called The Ruckus, which has been a great resource for me of lesser known music acts. Anyway, she contacted me because she had a beloved dog named Delilah that passed away recently, and while that is obviously sad, she commissioned a portrait from me to honor her memory.
Delilah was not just ANY dog, she was also pretty darn famous, appearing on SAYMedia for Dogster, and her image also graced TypePad‘s business cards. Needless to say, I was more than honored. Melanie chose an iconic image of her, the one that was used in the ad for Dogster, actually.
Here is the image used:
AND the portrait itself:
Thanks to Melanie, and to Delilah for being such a fine canine.
{Mike}
These two portraits are ones I did of our kids to develop a different approach to my portrait. I feel this approach is fun and graphic, where basically the skin is rendered but everything else is presented in flat solid colors. Hope you enjoy them!
I was able to do portraits of an entire family for the first time not too long ago. It was a great experience. Jane, who is great, commissioned them from me.
She chose to go with the more graphic versions I offer, where the subjects are depicted a solid white, with a contrasting solid color in the background.
You can read about them here, on her blog as well.
Thanks Jane!
We just discovered we neglected to post about a handmade print we created for Maggie Mason‘s Mighty Summit last year. Maggie writes a great and well read blog called Mighty Girl.
We were asked by her to provide the handmade print that the attendees of the summit received as part of their basket of goodies. And speaking of baskets, a basket of blankets was among the suggested imagery we were given to work from, so that’s what we chose as a subject matter for the print.
This one was a true collaborative effort on our parts. Alma did all the design work for the print, and I did the color work–watercolor rendering. We even got Nicole Gerulat to shoot the process, as well as shots of our studio space which we will eventually submit as a before and after to a site or two. Thanks Nicole! Thanks especially to Maggie for the opportunity. Hopefully it was enjoyed by those who received it!
You can read her post on the giveaway here:
I have been doing some more portraits, which I am excited to share when I can. Here is the next one, which was commissioned as a Christmas present by none other than my Father -In-Law for my Mother-In-Law. Yes, I am just now getting it to her, but I admit, because they are family, I somehow allowed myself to get behind on this one. As a principle though, I won’t allow myself to do that anymore.
This one is based on this image which is an iPhone image we took of our son Ollie, and his two cousins below:
The finished result:
It was taken soon after Alma got her iPad, and of course the kids commandeered it because it IS the best toy for kids and adults alike. Anyway, the picture should speak for itself, and it ended up being a family joke/great memory, and my father-in-law thought it would be a good memory to preserve as art.
Anyway, I agree.
My favorite TV personality by far, is Stephen Colbert. Nobody makes me laugh harder, and more often, than he does. His humor is always SO pitch-perfect that I am consistently thinking, why is he always THIS funny?
So, when I was watching an episode recently and heard him talking about his “Art Me Up Challenge“ where he invites his viewers to submit retooled versions of his portrait. I immediately decided I HAD to do one in the little spare time I have.
My version is based on my amusement of the massive crowds that go to see the Louvre MOSTLY, to see the Mona Lisa. It’s like, the painting itself is only like 25 X 33 inches, it’s also behind THICK bullet proof glass and you are also crammed into a big crowd trying to catch a peek. Good luck enjoying THAT.
When I saw it a few years ago, I remember thinking: Man, this is for the birds! I also had a lingering feeling that it may not be the real one anyway because it’s been stolen many times.
Anyway, all that to say, that there is some inherent humor in that situation, and knowing Stephen’s character on the show, he would feel the throng of people around his portait is fitting.
So here is the original one I was supposed to work from….
…and here is my finished one:
Here is the non colored (in progress version) of the portrait itself. I knew it would only appear small, but I can’t draw well that small.
Anyway, if he likes it enough there is a chance that it might appear on the show, that would be cool, but what are the chances. Mostly I did it to honor the funniest man on television…according to me.
I finally finished my next album cover in this series. I finished it between answering questions questions from today’s ETSY blog article, which I have to say, it has been fantastic to read the comments from it.
About the cover, I just wanted to say that I was never into Bowie’s drag phase, it was also kind of out of my realm as a kid, and even in Labyrinth, he kind of freaked me out. But I have to admit, this is a cool album cover, and always will be.
