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. ^_^

Miniature Halloween Challenge ~ Collected Scenes 2013

Hey Everybody! Happy Halloween!

A couple weeks ago I posted the Miniature Halloween Challenge, and now it's time to show off everyone's wonderful scenes.

So without further delay,
Here are some of the Awesome Halloween Mini Scenes of 2013!
(posted in the order I received them, If I've missed anyone let me know)

Marisa's scene;

 >>>Click Here to Check Out her blog: Steinworks<<<

Lenore's scene;

>>>Click Here to Check Out her blog: Rare Rabbits Designs<<<

Emily's scene;

>>>Click Here to Check Out her DA gallery: EmisBakery<<<

Lisa's scene; 

 >>>Click Here to Check Out her blog: Mini Addictions<<<

My scene;

 >>>Click Here to Check Out my blog post<<<

Jane's scene;

  >>>Click Here to Check Out her blog: MiniFanaticus<<<

Thank you to everyone who participated, and Thanks to everyone who's taken the time to enjoy this collection of tiny Halloween scenes. 

I do encourage all of my readers to follow the links under each photo and visit the blogs of these talented people. If there are any scenes that you really like, I'm sure that the original creators would love to hear it.

Hope everyone has fun this year, eat lots of candy, carve a pumpkin, and run around in a costume-party or not. Happy Halloween!

My Mini Halloween Scene - 2013

The big Halloween Challenge post will be up in a couple days, which means that it's time for me to post my Miniature Halloween Scene. ^_^

Didn't have a lot of free time this year, but I made a ton of real miniature leaves for local shows next year, so those became the inspiration for my scene. The Catrina and Octopus seem pretty happy dancing in the leaves, and I raided my Etsy Shop inventory for some pumpkins and Jack-O-Lanterns. Is it ever really Halloween without them?

Since I didn't even get a chance to make my scene until after my own deadline passed, I wouldn't be surprised if there are other people running late with their scenes too. If you had any interest in my, "Miniature Halloween Challenge!", I will be accepting late entries right up until I make the Challenge post on the 30th. If you already gave me your entry, it will be in the post, no worries.

Happy Halloween ^_^

The Curious Concepts Project: New Series Progress: "A Skydiver" and "Neil" Part 2

Time for a progress report on the Curious Concepts Project!

>>Click here to read the last project update first, if you haven't yet.<<

I was so focused on working on the new illustrations, I neglected to update sooner, so Illustration #1: Brandi's request, "A skydiver", has gone through quite of few changes since everyone last saw it;

Made some composition changes

Blocked out the colors

Painted in the Background

Shading

Still trying to figure out the whale

Starting to like the whale again, except it's too dark

Lightened up the whale

Shading all the little people, and the fish.

This one is taking longer than I thought it would, but it actually has a lot of little details, so I guess that was bound to happen. This is probably also going to be the largest illustration in the new series. I want to say it's almost done, but between still needing to draw in a plane and the rest of the rigging, I'm pretty sure this is only the half way point.

Illustration #2: Devon's request, "Neil".

Not as much progress with this one, but it is really close to being finished.

This is what it looked like last update,

And this is how it is now.

More shading and details. A few more left to do and then this piece is all done. I don't know if I've mentioned it before or not, but this composition's lighting blocks out one of the eyes-enough that I can't draw one in, but something needs to be there-So I was thinking about adding an eye patch, maybe. We'll see how it looks when I'm done shading, if the shadows aren't dark enough, eye patch it is.

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That's where the project is now. I'm hoping to be much further along at the next update. I've been scrambling to keep inline with my planned schedule, but if you read the blog or even just talked to me in person then you know that October has been one of the busiest months I've ever had in terms of art and design, and that's actually a really good thing. It do need to stick to my personal commitments though, hence the scrambling.

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Miniature Halloween Challenge!

One of the things I love about the dollhouse miniatures blogging community is the occasional friendly blog challenge. Read through my reading list of blogs that I follow and I haven't seen any for Halloween yet this year, so maybe that just means that it's my turn to host one. ^_^

I don't have much time for miniatures this month, so I'm just going to have to enjoy the hobby by encouraging you guys. This is a really informal challenge, so don't go crazy with it, just have fun!

(And this isn't a requirement, but if you're reading this and want to post a link to this challenge on your blog/sidebar so more people will see it, I would really appreciate it.)

Here's how it works;

1. Make a miniature scene for Halloween.
-You can make miniatures, buy them, re-purpose stuff you have lying aroung-Use whatever you want.
-Scale does not matter, but your work has to clearly be in miniature.

2. Take a picture.
-You can keep your work, we all just want to see it.

3. Leave a comment for me at the bottom of THIS POST, where I can find it.
-I need your name/screen name,
-a link to the photo you want me to post,
-and a link to your blog or website (if you have one)

4. I will make a super special Halloween post displaying all of your wonderful work.

No prizes or anything, this is just for fun. ^_^
-If you needed an excuse to make something for Halloween-You've got one now.
-This is a great way to advertise your blog/website-links will be publicly posted under your photo.
-And if you aren't a miniature artist, but maybe want to give it a try, this is a great no pressure way to start.

DEADLINE: Sunday October 27th. 
----Edit since even I am running late, I will definitely accept late entries.
I'm in New York, so remember that there's a time difference if you live somewhere else, if you live west of here, get your entry in early. I will accept entries if they're a little late, but on time works sooo much better.
I plan on having the entries all posted by the 30th. 1 photo/entry per person, please.

And a quick note about Copyright (I'm a designer, I can't help it);
By giving me any photos/info to post on my blog, A). You are guaranteeing that it is your work to post and in good faith I will post it as such. B). You are giving me permission to use your photo/entry on my blog. Aside from back linking to the Halloween post in the future, or otherwise using post content like any responsible blogger would, I'm not going to use your work without further permission. You will be credited for your work, and you remain the Copyright holder of your scene design and the photo that you took.

That said, this is the internet, so you are more than welcome to add a watermark to your photo-Just don't make it so distracting that we can't enjoy your work.

For some mini inspiration, here is a photo of my entry for Mini Mod Pod's Halloween Challenge last year;

You've still got about a week, so get creating!

Can't wait to see what you guys come up with. ^_^