The Net

I needed to create a huge fishing net for a project on which I am working.
First I started out drawing every strand and adding knots at each junction.

I had some fish to catch.

THAT... was driving me craazzzy to say nothing of my eyes feeling like they had been punched.

Fortunately, Painter allows illustrators to create their own patterns. So with a little canvas about 300x300px and 72dpi I drew and painted a very small fishing net.

Then I named it and placed it in my Patterns library. I was now able to "brush" it across the areas wherever I needed a net.

©Ginger Nielson 2010

And that is how I "caught my fish."

The evolution continues

For about a year now, I have been working on and off on a story that I wrote and will illustrate. Although I have done a number of illustrations and revised the story quite a bit, the basic theme is still there. It has just taken on a new form. I kind of like this last version and if I still like it in a month ... after letting it sit quietly on my desk for a while, I will find the time to create a dummy.

Basically is is a very new twist...really twisted.. version of a timeless fairy tale. But that is all I will say. My heroine is a little girl and she has a few "tricks" up her sleeve.

The HEAD count

I have been working on illustrations for some books for Stemmer House Publishers in NH and for 4RV Publishers in OK.
For each assignment I had to create a number of characters of all ages. I used some reference material from my professional library and went back into my files to find "models" of children I had in standing poses just to check the "head count."
What I found was interesting. Although the reference material I used suggested a slightly larger or taller individual I think I came close enough with my style to create a chart that I can use for reference.

Of course all this changes when you have a model running, jumping, sleeping, eating, sitting, skiing, chasing, swimming, but it is still a good thing for me personally to have as a handy reference. I printed this and laminated it and keep it on my bulletin board.

I still use real people as models whenever I can, but sometimes it isn't that easy to find a model willing to sit in the lap of a huge brown bear or stand on one foot for an hour or so. *:)

Another kind of snow

Let's see... first there was snow, then more snow, up to 19 inches. Then the rain came and with it the flooding, and then...Oh yes, more snow. Just how many kinds of snow are there?

This time around we had "lumpy" snow. It looks so blue out there because the sky is still gray and all you can see is WHITE all around.


There is no way out the back door on the deck level, so we use the lower level to go outside, but there again, you have to shovel your way out.



The lower branches on the maple tree have bent to the ground and the swing hasn't seen a visitor in months.


Living at the edge of a forest means we are always surrounded by the incredible beauty nature provides.

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY ~ PERSPECTIVE

Taking a page or two from My African Bedtime Rhymes, by Brettell Hone, published by Shamwari Publishing, the first illustration shows a fly resting on the water.

Soon to be chased by two young trout he finds a safer resting place above.

©Ginger Nielson

Check your Mobile Phone

You can now find selected images from my portfolio on your iPhone, Blackberry or other internet accessible cell phone.

The address is http://www.gingernielson.com/mobile

And for this I have to thank Dani Jones, who figured it out and pointed the way. She posted a complete tutorial and you can follow along and create your own iPhone presence.

The key is a short code placed after the head code and keeping your images no wider than 300px and optimizing them for the web.

EggsTravagant Playtime

Just for fun at the end of a long day of drawing and sketching I created an image hose of some of my egg designs,
and a pattern from the same designs....

then I put them both together and had some fun ...EGGSactly what one needs to end the day on a happy note.