2011 Garden Round-Up {illustration}

Here are the twelve Water-wise garden illustrations I did last year. I thought I would put them all together and in order in one place to see how they evolved. One major change I noticed was the use of black in the first two. I guess once I went without black in the March illustration, it never really came back. I also feel like the illustrations got more complex as time when on - I started layering the colors on top of each other and rendering the plants in more detail. If I had to choose, my two favorites are March and April.  If you have a moment, tell me which one is your favorite.


Below, I've added the first two Garden illustration for this year. Can't wait to see where this new series leads me...

Water-wise Garden illustration for January 2012 - Strawberry

Water-wise Garden illustration for February 2012 - Kiwi

Photo Finish

Over the holidays, I used Photoshop for what it was invented for - a photo! I had taken a picture of my son with my phone and, for some reason, the file got corrupted {see top image.} I felt it captured such a beautiful moment. I loved the lighting and his expression was priceless - I had to do something. I emailed the photo to myself, opened it in Photoshop and started piecing it back together - pixel by pixel, in some places. I decided to keep a little of the color change that was happening and add another strip across the bottom to make it seem intentional. After a tighter crop, the bottom image is the final result that became a Christmas present for my husband! I'm so glad I didn't hit the delete button on my phone.