New Year's Eve - Party Frog Painting

“Man can only become what he is able to consciously imagine.”
– Dane Rudhyar

YES!



Party Frog
2.5″ x 3.5″ ATC

You had to know I’d have a party frog in my collection.  I cut this little watercolor frog out and glued him on to an ATC that I dabbled dimensional acrylic paint onto.

I hope everyone has a safe New Year’s Eve, followed by the most joyful 2011 that you can stand!

I don’t really do New Year’s resolutions.  I have spent the last 100 days working on my goals and putting everything in place for an amazing 2011.  It has been rewarding and eye opening.  I’m especially working on my focus.  I sometimes have so many things going on at once that I focus on nothing.  I plan to rotate tasks, rather than multi-task,  to give each day a better concentrated attention to the things that are important.

How about you?  Resolutions?

About Dane Rudhyar

Dane Rudhyar was a respected modernist composer as well as a pioneering modern psychological astrologer. He was born in Paris in 1895 as Daniel Chennevière and immigrated to the United States in the early 1900′s. His music utilizes dissonant harmony; he claimed to be inspired by the cadence of speech. His work influenced a group of composers known as the ultramodernists. He also wrote a number of astrology books, including the seminal Astrology of Personality. He died in 1985.

Oh Sunny Day - Frog Painting

“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision.  The ability to direct individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives.  It is the fuel that allows common people to obtain uncommon results.”
–Successories Print



Oh Sunny Day
2.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor ATC

I can’t swear that this frog was pink.  (he he he)  I don’t remember, but I kinda doubt it. 

About Successories

For over 20 years, Successories has been the leader in motivational products fueling the passion of high achievers and top performing teams with our stirring images and uniquely inspiring messages. Tap into the powerful possibilities in you and your staff – shop our complete collection online today. Most motivational items can be customized with your logo or personalized for award presentations or gift giving. Motivational Posters – over 200 exclusive motivational posters, inspirational posters, sports motivational posters…

Mickey - Frog Painting

“Recognize how far you have come today.  Recognize how much you have changed, how much you have grown.  Recognize the good in you today.

It is a day to take positive inventory.  It is a day to recognize your progress.  It is a day to celebrate yourself today.

Today I am taking the time I need to look at my growth and progress.  I celebrate being alive.  I celebrate the good in me.  Today I celebrate me.”

–Ruth Fishel
Daily Affirmations



Mickey
2.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor ATC

I love this little frog against the black.  My blog friend, Linda Halcomb, says that these frogs remind her of spring and to keep them coming.  You got it, Linda.  I have more! 

About the Author

Ruth Fishel is the co-founder and co-director of Serenity, Inc., a multifaceted alcoholism and drug treatment program for women, founded in 1974, in Natick, Massachusetts; as well as of Spirithaven of Cape Cod, a healing program for women in personal growth and recovery. She writes and presents workshops and retreats throughout the country, guiding people on their spiritual journey with the tools of meditation, affirmations and visualizations.

Malcom - Frog Painting

“I think in terms of the day’s resolutions, not the year’s.”
– Henry Moore



Malcom
2.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor & Gouache ATC

Yes, it’s another frog.  I have been creating art, but it’s for the licensing end of my world.  I’m going to be in Atlanta in just 2 weeks!  I have 8 collections prepared out of the 12 that I promised myself I would have ready.  That’s why I haven’t been getting around to the blogs or to WetCanvas.

I’m flying, too!  Yesterday, we flew to Tulsa International Airport.  Of course, my CFI wouldn’t let me do the landing.  I think he is more nervous than I am.  He has some trust issues that we need to work on. 

About Henry Moore

British sculptor Henry Moore is known for his voluptuous abstract figures. He was born in 1898 to a poor mining family. After Moore served in World War I, he became the first student of sculpture at Leeds School of Art; a sculpture studio was set up specifically for him. As he studied primitive arts, his own work became more abstract. He established The Henry Moore Foundation in 1977 to promote public appreciation of art. He died in 1986. His work can be seen in public spaces all over the world.

I’m Falling For You

Words that do not match deeds are not important.
–Che Guevara



I’m Falling For You
2.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor ATC

The name comes from the way he looks like he’s about to fall.  The frog in the photo really was this color!  Isn’t nature amazing?

I hope everyone who was celebrating Christmas had a nice weekend.  I was sick all weekend, but we didn’t have any plans anyway, so the timing was probably good.  I’m guessing it was just all the sugar I consumed last week.  Sugar and I don’t get along so well. 
 
Ernesto (Che) Guevara was born in Rosario in Argentine in 1928. After studying medicine at the University of Buenos Aires he worked as a doctor. While in Guatemala in 1954 he witnessed the socialist government of President Jacobo Arbenz overthrown by an American backed military coup. Disgusted by what he saw, Guevara decided to join the Cuban revolutionary, Fidel Castro, in Mexico.  More….

Christmas Turkey

“Be bold. If you’re going to make an error, make a doozey, and don’t be afraid to hit the ball.”
– Billie Jean King



Christmas Turkey
5″ x 7″ Watercolor

Have a very Merry Christmas!

About Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King, the American tennis champion, is best known for “The Battle of the Sexes,” her 1973 match against men’s champion Bobby Riggs. Her win gave women’s tennis a new legitimacy. She was born in California in 1943. She won her first Wimbledon title at age 17, was ranked number one in the world for five years, and is considered one of the world’s greatest tennis players. She was also the first American athlete to reveal publicly that she is homosexual. King launched the initiative GreenSlam in 2007 to encourage the sports world to be more environmentally conscious. She lives in New York and Chicago.

Merry Christmas - Frog Paintinf

“I long to accomplish great and noble tasks,
but it is my chief duty to accomplish
small tasks as if they were great and noble.”
–Helen Keller



Merry Christmas!

I  want to thanks all of you who have been following my little blog.  I feel so good about the growing friendships we are making.

Have a very safe and wonderful holiday!

Beth

I See You! - Frog Painting

“No man can think clearly when his fists are clenched.”
– George Jean Nathan

Do you think a frog can clench his fists? 




I See You!
2.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor and Ink ATC

I painted this little guy on a flight to Barbados in 2008.  I can remember it like it was yesterday.  I wonder why I never painted in the leaves? 

About George Jean Nathan

George Jean Nathan, the acerbic American drama critic, was renowned for what he called destructive theater criticism, which helped shape a more serious theatrical community and paved the way for modern critics. He was born in 1882 in Indiana. He and H.L. Mencken coedited the magazines Smart Set and The American Mercury. Although he found little to like in the theater, he became a fierce champion of the playwrights he did appreciate, including Eugene O’Neill and Sean O’Casey. He died in 1958.

Snoozing Frog

“Times of general calamity and confusion have ever been productive of the greatest minds. The purest ore is produced from the hottest furnace, and the brightest thunderbolt is elicited from the darkest storm.”
– Charles Caleb Colton



Snoozing Frog
2.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor ATC

If general “calamity and confusion” produce wonderful things… I should be on fire.  Normally, things kind of slow down a bit for the holidays and that has not been the case this year.  I have had an amazing run!  Many new and exciting adventures have been filling my days.   The next few months promise to be even more hectic, as I finish up my flight training and launch my licensing business.

I think it’s time to give myself permission to be tired.    One does not always have to be “on”, right?  I think sometimes our batteries just need to recharge.    Christmas for me is going to be quality time with my wonderful husband and a little well deserved rest.  What are you going to do on Christmas day?

About Charles Caleb Colton

English minister and author Charles Caleb Colton was best known for his book of essays, Lacon, or Many Things in Few Words. He was born in 1780 in England. He was an avid collector of both wine and paintings and was known as an eccentric for his lifestyle, which was both lavish and ramshackle, and for his church work, which was sometimes brilliant, sometimes slipshod. After leaving the ministry, he lived in Paris for many years. He died in 1832.

Freddy - Frog Painting

“Attempt easy tasks as if they were difficult, and difficult as if they were easy; in the one case that confidence may not fall asleep, in the other that it may not be dismayed.”
– Baltasar Gracián y Morales



Freddy Frog
2.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor, gouache and spackle ATC

Some of you may remember Freddy.  I used spackle to add the dimension to the ATC.  Of course, stuff that sticks out in real life, looks sunken in on the scan.  Hmmmm….?

About Baltasar Gracián y Morales

Baltasar Gracián y Morales, the Jesuit scholar and moralist author, was the leading Spanish proponent of conceptism (conceptismo), a method of expressing ideas through puns, epigrams, and other verbal devices. He was born in 1601 in Aragon. The Jesuit leadership frowned on his oratorical style, which included reading a letter from Hell to his congregation. His best known books include The Art of Worldly Wisdom and The Hero, which repudiated Machiavelli. He died in 1658.

Freckles - Frog Painting

“I don’t know what your destiny will be,
but one thing I know:  The only ones among
you who will be really happy are those who
have sought out and found how to serve.”

–Arnold Schweitzer



Freckles
2.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor ATC

Really…. I’m not kidding….  the frog in the photo was this color!  I am amazed by the wonderful little critter that is the frog!  Just when you thought you had seen everything….

I could find no biography on Dr. Schweitzer.  I just found that he was a Humanitarian and a Physician.

Feelin' Rosy - Frog Painting

“Your life becomes the thing you have decided it shall be.”
– Raymond Charles Barker

I really believe that to be true!



Feelin’ Rosy
2.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor ATC

Another little frog.  Can you imagine how miniature this little frog must be in real life?  Fun! 

About Raymond Charles Barker

Raymond Charles Barker was an influential American minister and author in the mid-twentieth century. He wrote such books as The Power of Decision and Treat Yourself to Life, on ways to change subconscious patterns. He became president of the International New Thought Alliance in 1943, a group practicing the religious philosophy developed in the late 1800′s by Phineas Quimby, with early proponents including Ralph Waldo Emerson. Unity Church and Divine Science are among its later offshoots. He founded the First Church of Religious Science in Manhattan in 1946 and served as its minister until 1979. He died in 1988 at the age of 77.

Fancy Legs - Frog Painting

“It is no good hearing an inner voice or getting an inner prompting if you do not immediately act on that inner prompting.”
–David Spangler



Fancy Legs
2.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor ATC

We are back to the frogs again.  I hope it’s okay.  The frog I painted this from, really had all those colors! 

Since 1964 David Spangler has been an author and teacher of spirituality.  He began his career at nineteen as the keynote speaker at a national conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on “Youth and the New Age.”  The success of that talk led to other invitations, and a year later he left college, where he was studying molecular biology, and under guidance from inner sources, moved to Los Angeles where he became a featured speaker at the Fellowship of Universal Guidance.   More….

Flying Over Oklahoma

“Nothing will ever equal that moment of exhilaration which filled my whole being when I felt myself flying away from the earth.  It was not mere pleasure; it was perfect bliss…”
–Professor Jacques Alexandre Cesare Charles

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”
–Napoleon Hill

Well, I guess you may have figured out that I had my first solo flight in a Cessna 172 yesterday!  It was wonderful!  I dreamed it, I achieved it and nobody can ever take it away from me.  Now, on to soft field landings and cross country training.  That first cross country (3 full stops at different airports, at least 50 miles apart) by myself will be huge!  A good pilot never stops learning and I still have a long way to go, but the first solo has now been accomplished.  YAY!!!!!




Flying Over Oklahoma
Four 4″ x 6″ Watercolor  & Acrylic Postcards

I painted this in November, 2009, from a sketch I did, looking out an airplane window on my way to Port Townsend, Washington for an acrylic workshop.  I painted it in my hotel room, while I was there.  I thought it would be appropriate for today’s post. 


Professor Jacques Alexandre Cesar Charles wrote this after the first free flight in a manned hydrogen balloon, December 1, 1783.  Note:  The exact adjective used by Professor Charles to describe the emotions is not “exhilaration” but “bilarite”, which can be translated exactly as ecstasy, exhilaration, joy and/or excitement.

See my shirt tail on Facebook!

In American aviation lore, the traditional removal of a new pilot’s shirt tail is a sign of the instructor’s new confidence in his student after successful completion of the 1st solo flight. In the days of tandem trainers, the student sat in the front seat, with the instructor behind. As there were often no radios in these early days of aviation, the instructor would tug on the student pilot’s shirttail to get his attention, and then yell in his ear. A successful first solo flight is an indication that the student can fly without the instructor (“instructor-less” flight). Hence, there is no longer a need for the shirt tail, and it is cut off by the (often) proud instructor, and sometimes displayed as a trophy.

Kitten Sandwich

The best place to find a helping hand is at the end of your own arm.
–Swedish proverb



Kitten Sandwich
4″ x 6″ Watercolor

I couldn’t resist this reference photo from Dewi’s WDE at WetCanvas.    When my husband first saw this, he thought it was two kittens in a clam shell.   
 
Here are some more Swedish proverbs, if you are interested.

Pennsylvania Farm

“You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; in just the same way, you learn to love by loving.”
– St. Francis de Sales

….and Land by Landing!




Pennsylvania Farm

9″ x 6″ Watercolor

I dearly loved the whole process of painting this.  I enjoyed the depth and shadows and the various hues of nature.  I started to put Christmas lights on the trees and changed my mind.  I guess because it’s sunny and it just wouldn’t be right for lights to show up well on a sunny afternoon. 

The reference photo is by Momomare at WetCanvas.

About St. Francis de Sales

St. Francis de Sales (1567–1622), known as the Gentle Saint, was bishop of Geneva. His motto was, “He who preaches with love preaches effectively,” and his religious texts, including Introduction to the Devout Life, have resonated with many non-Catholics. Pope Pius IX proclaimed him a patron saint of writers. Some consider him a patron saint of the deaf; he invented a form of sign language to teach a young deaf man how to communicate.

Hot Air Balloon

Character, not circumstances, makes the man.
Booker T. Washington

 

That is such a true statement!

 

 

Hot Air Balloon

6″ x 9″ Watercolor

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I painted this Saturday, from a reference by Pencilz over at WetCanvas.  I absolutely loved the experience!  I painted purely for the joy of it.  Fun!

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Yesterday was a good day.  My flight instructor finally liked one of my landings!   (My old brain is not taking to landings as well as I had hoped.)

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When I came back into the Muskogee airport office after my lesson, I was writing checks and not really paying attention to the people that just arrived in a beautiful little turbo prop plane.  Then I hear… “Beth?”.  I stood there face to face with an old girlfriend who had moved to Alabama!   She was only there because their flight got diverted due to clouds in McAlester.    What are the chances of that happening?  She looked great and her boyfriend was the cute pilot of that nice plane.  I took a lot of pleasure in seeing her so happy.  She’s had a rough couple of years.

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It just made my day!  It also reminded me of my own blessings.  It really is a good life! 

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About Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington, the influential American educator, was the first African-American to be invited to the White House; he also had tea with Queen Victoria. He was born in slavery in Virginia in 1856. After emancipation, he worked in the salt mines. When he learned of a school that would accept former slaves, he walked much of the 400 miles to get there. He became an outspoken advocate of education and hard work for African-Americans and founded Tuskegee University. He died in 1915.

Colorful Cows

“Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.”
– Thomas A. Edison



Colorful Cows
4″ x 5″ Watercolor

I had a little time alone last night, so of course I headed right to the studio.  I had fun playing with my watercolors on a piece of cheap paper.   Weeeeee. 

About Thomas A. Edison

Thomas Edison, the American inventor who made his early fortune with the stock ticker and the phonograph record, is credited with inventing the light bulb — although he simply improved upon the original idea by making the bulb burn longer. Edison was born in 1847 in Ohio. He was a dreamer in school; his teacher called him “addled,” and his mother taught him at home. He used the money from his inventions to set up a lab with a number of employees; he held a record 1,093 patents in his name. He died in 1931.

Bulls of Many Colors & Main Street Studio Opening

“Old unhealthy thoughts can block off inspiration and motivation.  Dropping them releases a strong flow of power through the mind.”
–Norman Vincent Peale



Bulls of Many Colors
6″ x 9″ Watercolor

I had a great time painting these young bulls!  I am in love with bright color!  Fun stuff!

Last night I went to the opening of the Christmas show at the Main Street Studio, here in Eufaula.  I have a group of paintings that will be there through January 6th.   The Arts Council wanted to fill the studio with art for the holidays and I love being included.  Here is a shot of my paintings.



The funny thing…. the light is out, right above my paintings and the lady who hung all of the paintings put mine there, because they really don’t need a lot of light to show up.  They do kinda jump off the wall at you, among all the conservative, realistic paintings.  he he 

If you’re in Eufaula, go by and look.

Norman Vincent Peale

Peale confessed that as a youth he had “the worst inferiority complex of all,” and developed his positive thinking/positive confession philosophy just to help himself. In 1937, Peale established a clinic with Freudian psychiatrist Dr. Smiley Blanton in the basement of the Marble Collegiate Church. (Blanton brought with him the “extensive experience” of having undergone psychoanalysis by Freud himself in Vienna in 1929, 1935, 1936, and 1937.) The clinic was described as having “a theoretical base that was Jungian, with a strong evidence of neo- and post-Freudianism” (Carol V.R. George, God’s Salesman: Norman Vincent Peale and the Power of Positive Thinking , p. 90). It subsequently grew to an operation with more than 20 psychiatric doctors and psychologically- trained “ministers,” and in 1951 became known as the American Foundation for Religion and Psychiatry. In 1972, it merged with the Academy of Religion and Mental Health to form the Institutes of Religion and Health (IRH). To his death, Peale remained affiliated with the IRH as president of the board and chief fund raiser. Indeed, Peale pioneered the merger of theology and psychology which became known as Christian Psychology.  More….

Beagle Puppy

“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”
– e. e. cummings



Beagle Puppy
6″ x 6″ Watercolor

I hosted the WDE over the weekend at WetCanvas.  I gave myself permission to paint just for the pure joy of it.  I had the best time!!  I love this little puppy.  I imagine I will paint him again.  I painted him in an hour and put him on a birthday card for my neighbor, Sue.  I did three other paintings, so I’ll have some fresh content for my blog this week. 

 There are some great reference photos in the link above, so go look and see if there is something you’d enjoy painting.  I included hi res links for each photo.  You don’t have to participate on WetCanvas.  Just enjoy the refs.

About e. e. cummings

The writer who became known as e. e. cummings was an experimental poet whose idiosyncratic typography complements the music of his poetry; he published more than 900 poems, two novels, and four plays. He was also an accomplished painter. He was born in Massachusetts in 1894 and entered the ambulance corps in World War I but ended up in a detention camp after expressing his pacifist views. He died in 1962. “In Just-” was his most famous poem.

Clyde – Frog Painting

“How simple it is to see that
all the worry in the world cannot
control the future.  How simple it is
to see that we can only be happy now.
And there never is a time
when it is not now.”
–Gerald Jampolsky



Clyde – Frog Painting
2.5″ x 3.5″ Gouache on Art Spectrum Colourfix ATC

Doesn’t he just make you wanna giggle? 

I’m hosting the Weekend Drawing Event (WDE) over at WetCanvas.  Come have a peek.  The photos are all from the Reference Image Library, and there are some beauties!  Even if you don’t play, have fun on your own, painting from the refs.
 
Jerry Jampolsky Gerald Jampolsky, M.D. is a psychiatrist, formerly on the faculty of the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco.  He is the founder of the Center for Attitudinal Healing in Sausalito, California, and a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.  Jerry Jampolsky’s writings have been largely inspired by A Course in Miracles. He currently lectures and writes with his wife, psychologist Diane Cirincione.  More….

Bubbles – Frog Painting

“No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, sailed to an uncharted land, or opened up a new heaven to the inner spirit.”
–Helen Keller



Bubbles – Frog Painting
2.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor ATC

Here is another frog painting for you.  I am recovering today, after eating an entire box of chocolates yesterday.  **argggh*  I have no self control! 

Helen Keller

Helen Adams Keller was born a healthy child on June 27, 1880, to Captain Arthur H. and Kate Adams Keller of Tuscumbia. At the tender age of 19 months, she was stricken with a severe illness which left her blind and deaf.

At the age of six, the half-wild, deaf and blind girl was taken by her parents to see Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. Because of her visit, Helen was united with her teacher Anne Mansfield Sullivan on March 3, 1887. After Helen’s miraculous break-through at the simple well-pump, she proved so gifted that she soon learned the fingertip alphabet and shortly afterward to write. By the end of August, in six short months, she knew 625 words.  More….

Betsy – Frog Painting

“Life can only be understood backward; but it must be lived forward.”
–Kierkegaard



Betsy – Frog Painting
2.5″ x 3.5″ Gouache on Art Spectrum Colourfix ATC


Don’t ask me how I came up with the names for these frogs.  I guess I just got to know a personality, while I was painting them.  Doesn’t she look like a Betsy? 

I love today’s quote.  It came from my little book by Mac Anderson, Charging the Human Battery – 50 Ways to Motivate Yourself.

Søren Aabye Kierkegaard was born in Copenhagen on May 5, 1813. Both of his parents were of Jutlandish descent. His father, Michael Pedersen Kierkegaard, was raised a shepherd boy. He experienced what is now considered to have been an event seminal for both father and son, considering the influence of the former on the latter. Michael experienced great suffering and loneliness while alone on the heath. One day, while still a child, he cursed God for his hardships. Notwithstanding this, his situation much improved when he turned twelve years of age, at which time he was sent to live with his uncle in Copenhagen. Michael succeeded as a businessman, a hosier. He did so well that he was able to retire when he was only forty years old. He lived quite comfortably until the age of eighty-two, and died in 1838.

Kierkegaard’s mother, Anne, was Michael Kierkegaard’s second wife and gave birth to all of his seven children. Her entrance into the household had been as a servant girl. While Kierkegaard wrote much in his journals about his father, he rarely wrote of his mother. She died in 1834 when Kierkegaard was twenty-one.

Aww, Shucks! – Frog Painting

“Twenty years from now you will be
more disappointed by the things
that you didn’t do.  So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.”
–Mark Twain

Yeah!!!
 



Aww, Shucks! – Frog Painting

2.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor from Anything Goes Exchange

I painted 24 frogs for this exchange in 2008.  Since I am busy working on my art licensing collections, I’ll share these frogs with you, in stead of posting new work.  I’m a little hesitant to reveal too much of my new stuff, before I go to the show.   

Mark Twain [pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835-1910), quintessential American humorist, lecturer, essayist, and author wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876);

“Tom did play hookey, and he had a very good time. He got back home barely in season to help Jim, the small colored boy, saw next-day’s wood and split the kindlings before supper–at least he was there in time to tell his adventures to Jim while Jim did three-fourths of the work. Tom’s younger brother (or rather half-brother) Sid was already through with his part of the work (picking up chips), for he was a quiet boy, and had no adventurous, trouble-some ways.” Ch. 1

More…..

Best Friends

“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”
– Vincent van Gogh



Best Friends
6″ x 9″ Watercolor

This is done from a photo by Catherine at WetCanvas.  It’s the first time I have been able to participate over there in a long time.  This painting will be part of my art licensing collection called “Patchwork Puppies”.  I only have 6 weeks before I go to the Atlanta show, so I am working like crazy on my mockups.  Fun! 

About Vincent van Gogh

The Dutch post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh worked as an artist for only ten years, but he had a profound and lasting effect on the art world. He was born in 1853 in Zundert. He briefly became a minister but was dismissed for caring too much about his impoverished parishioners. His brother, Theo, was a close friend and supporter. He only sold one painting during his lifetime. He is known for his heavy brushstrokes and strong colors. He died in 1890 of suicide.

Thank You Note from my Beach Series

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
– Ursula K. Le Guin



Thank You Note from my Beach Series
Photoshop CS5 Product Mock Up

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I enjoyed a day with friends and it was great!

Here is another one of my little product mock ups.  It’s a very slow process, from painting each little individual icon, then scanning it in, cleaning it up, removing the background and creating patterns and borders.

I have no prior experience with Photoshop CS5, but Tara Reed has published some great ebooks and videos, which I am using to learn and create these little mock ups.    She uses CS3, but I found the CS5 at a really good price at Buy.com.  I am such a babe in the woods in that program, but I’m trying very hard to enjoy the journey. 

About Ursula K. Le Guin

American writer Ursula K. Le Guin’s beautifully crafted, lyrical novels transcend the science fiction and fantasy genres; her books have been finalists for the Pulitzer Prize and have won the National Book Award and the Pushcart Prize, among many other honors. She was born in Berkeley in 1929, met her husband in Paris, and settled in Oregon to raise her family. Her best known novels include The Dispossessed, The Left Hand of Darkness, and The Earthsea Trilogy.