Thursday, April 19, 2012

newspaper picture of me painting mural


Here's an image of the photo posted in Champaign's paper, The News Gazette on Wednesday, April 11.Hard at work painting prairie flowers!

Homer Lake Nature Center Mural


This is only one section of a small mural I just completed for the Homer Lake Interpretive Center, a nature center near Champaign, IL. I really enjoyed it, haven't done a prairie mural in quite a while!

4th illo in the Wickiup learning center series

This was a lot of fun! I especially enjoyed creating the traffic light and the muddy flood waters. The "smear" tool in Photoshop came in very handy for the water's currents.
The final exhibit, the rest of my illustrations, and the coloring book, will be at the Wickiup Hill Learning Center in Iowa, once installation of the exhibit is completed.

3rd sample from illustrations for Wickiup Hill Learning Center (via Taylor Studios)


As you can see, the kids are having quite the magical adventure! In this scene they have become very small. If you are interested in seeing the final exhibit, the rest of my illustrations, or the coloring book, they will be at the Wickiup Hill Learning Center in Iowa, once installation of the exhibit is completed.

2nd illustration for Wickiup Hill Learning Center (via Taylor Studios)

Using a variety of Photoshop brushes and effects, I created a look of a watercolor wash behind the dragonfly.

1st sample series of illustrations for Wickiup Hill Learning Center


I recently finished about 36 illustrations that will be used in a natural history exhibit as well as a coloring book. The black line work initially started with traditional media, but changes were made in Photoshop and Illustrator. All color work was done in Photoshop. The client was going for a watercolor look, and felt these woodchuck babies were "too realistic"! I had so much fun making the fur however, that I couldn't bear to toss this version. This is just part of the illo- I enlarged it to focus on the cute fuzziness! Guess how I did the fur- used a custom brush meant for making grass and went crazy with it!