The Curious Concepts Project: WIP "Devon" and ..."Colors"

I was working on these two over the holidays, and now it's time to post my progress so far.

As you may remember, Devon's request was a picture of Neil.
So, of course, Neil's request: Devon.

Once again, I was told to grab a photo off of Facebook.
Not sure who took the original, so I'll start by posting it after I already started painting in Photoshop.

It's going to look goofy before it looks awesome. 

Always remember that when using Photoshop.

Flat Colors! 

Not sure about the orange background, but it works for now.

Starting to shade with the burn tool.

More shading, and painting in details.

It's getting there.

 

I also started an illustration using Vittoria's color choices:  

Navy Blue, Purple, and "Silver".

 Silver is in quotations because it's going to be more of a gray. Although printed on metallic photo paper, it might look silver-kinda hoping that works out because Vitt did request silver...

My plan for this one was to just start drawing and see what happened.

I ended up with a ship sailing into infinity.

neat.

As you can see, no actual coloring done on that one-yet. I think it's off to a good start though.

Cute Stuffed Animals For Christmas

Yeah, I just used the word, "Christmas", in the title of a January post.
(Happy New Year, btw).

I mentioned back a month or two ago that I had to cut back on blogging so that I had time for other projects, one of which was a Christmas present for my pint-sized niece. I thought some of you might like to see what I made;

Cute aren't they?

I was looking around the internet for some kind of toy that I could make as a gift, here is the blog where I got the patterns from; http://whatmadeleineloves.blogspot.com/2012/05/felt-project-animals-my-very-first-felt.html

I made some changes, of course. Instead of gluing down little pieces and googly eyes, aka choking hazards, I stitched and embroidered in all of the details. And instead of felt, because I don't have/rarely ever use felt, I used printed cotton fabric and treated each piece like it was a tiny pillow that I was making. In sewing, the blanket stitch is my best friend.

I have no idea how well these will hold up against a toddler and her two little dogs, but every other gift I've made so far was a decoration or something to grow into-It was time for some toys. Anyway, my niece seemed to like them, they got a collective hug as soon as she pulled them all out of the box, and she wouldn't let anyone have them until she was allowed to open another present. Her uncle (one of my brothers) somehow got her to give up the pig so he could get a closer look at how I made them. She realized that he had it and got a little upset (so he gave it back). In closing, I'd say Christmas went well.

Should I Call It a Thank You Sale?

Thank You to all of my followers/customers this year (and all years previous).
You are a BIG part of why I can continue making small things. And Illustrations. And artwork in general.

As Thanks, from now until the New Year, everyone is welcome to take 10% off orders placed at my Etsy shop.

At checkout, just enter coupon code: SAVE10TODAY

Etsy Shop; https://www.etsy.com/shop/KyleLefort

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I am planning on having an after the holidays catch up mega-post up soon (loaded with neat pictures and everything), but I didn't want any of my blog readers to miss hearing my Thank You, or the coupon. So you're getting this post first.

Talk to you all soon,

~Kyle

The Curious Concepts Project: "Neil" - Painted and Ready For Proofing

Yay! I finished another illustration. 

The last time you saw this one, I was debating what to do about the eye in the shadows.
I went with the eye patch;

Now he's a space pirate.

A little cropping, and some more shading.

Even more shading-Annnnddd...Done.

Neil.

Another illustration ready for a test print, and 3 more illustrations to go.

Special Holiday Offer!

 Just a head up, I don't plan on being online much this week. Working on some handmade Christmas gifts, (would love to show you, but can't until I give them out-It's not a surprise if the people I'm giving them to see their gifts online first) a few other things, and of course-Thanksgiving. So until I post again, please enjoy this mild attempt at online advertising;

For Artisan Miniatures, Art Prints, Postcards, Ornaments, and Jewelry-Check out my Etsy Shop; https://www.etsy.com/shop/KyleLefort

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***Hey Holiday Shoppers!***

From now until December 4th, 2013, Take $1.00 off of your order! At checkout, Just enter coupon code,

HOLIDAYSHOPPER2013

And along with this offer, while supplies last;

Purchase any Digital Art print or postcard from my Etsy shop, and receive a postcard, as a free Thank You gift with your order.

OR

Purchase any miniature, jewelry piece, or ornament from my Etsy shop, and receive a small free mystery Thank You gift with your order. -Possible mystery gifts may include; a postcard, small crafting supplies, and miniatures, (items may be store bought or my own handmade creations not currently listed on Etsy)

(Offer expires on 12/4. Limit 1 per household, Thank you)

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For Artisan Miniatures, Art Prints, Postcards, Ornaments, and Jewelry-Check out my Etsy Shop; https://www.etsy.com/shop/KyleLefort

The Curious Concepts Project: "A Skydiver" - Painted and Ready For Proofing

For the first time in, oh, about two months, I wasn't up to my eyeballs in commissions, meetings, shows, or any other work that could take priority over this project. Don't get me wrong, I need all that art/design work to keep coming in, but I really, really wanted to keep going with this project. So the break was nice.

After working on A Skydiver for several hours I noticed that I was zoomed in 400% and painting in tiny details, which is a pretty good sign that I'm reaching the end of a digital painting. Yes, I still kept working on it, and I have a good feeling that I'm going to need to make some minor changes before I send this piece out to the printer, but for now, we're calling this one finished;

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So, what has changed since the last update? Well...

First, I decided that something wasn't quite with the composition, and after sleeping on it, I figured out that there was just too much extra background space. Didn't need to be there, made it tougher to finish the composition, and after double checking the printer's size requirements I found out that my diensions were off by a half inch. I work in layers, so it was an easy fix. Added a temporary layer showing the new size and then re-sized/slide everything into its new space.

So that I didn't end up cropping out possibly still needed background painting, I created another temporary layer (the black section), so that I could see the final composition without being distracted by the extra pieces. Still sliding things around in this screenshot.

Still sliding things around here too.

This is the last round of shading on the individual skydivers. Now that the sun isn't being moved around anymore I could focus on creating a more realistic lighting effect. Had a slight problem with the black section, it was tough to gauge how dark to go with the shading with it there, so I changed it to what I like to call, "Photoshop Gray". It shows up here, but in Photoshop it looks just like the stage area of the program.

Bubbles!

Finished up the shading on the skydivers, painted in the rest of the ground, added scales to the fish, did some more work on the whale, and finally painted in the lines attaching the skydivers to their parachutes.

Cropped off the extra space, and there we have it, 

A Skydiver.

Now that it's done I will be printing it with my basic home printer so that I can proof the colors, fix any rough spots that show up in print, and adjust anything that might still need it. Then off to the professional print service it goes.

1 illustration down, 4 left to go. ^_^

The 2013 Mini Gingerbread House Series

Here they are, ~*~ The 2013 Mini Gingerbread House Series. ~*~ , by Kyle Lefort

(If you're new, I'm Kyle- hi)

The "Big" difference from the last two years-these are quarter scale.

Here, check out the size difference from last year;

One inch vs. Quarter inch. Neat, isn't it?

So why the dramatic scale change? Well, I sort of made an unofficial promise to some local people that I would give quarter scale a real try this year. And try I sure did. Consider this the official opening of the Quarter Inch Scale Minis section of my Etsy shop. Not sure if I'll have time to make anymore quarter scale anything for a while, but it's a start. ^_^