Category: Illustrations

fantasy illustration, Illustrations, simple photoshop, t-shirt design, thoughts behind the work

Love and hot cocoa t shirt designing

Michele B. Naquaiya

More line art and experimenting with a few coloring details and playing with fonts. I drew this in photoshop and used a quick method of coloring under the line art. This is not the professional way to do it but…I redrew this so many times, I just wanted to finish it. For a comic book the professional way is to make the flats first and then color, and then render.

I know this art is pretty flat and there is no light source and no rendering, but…. I wanted something quick to try out a few shades of separate colors to see how they would stand out on their own on various fabrics. I am happy with the four shades of green and the four shades of blue in the fairy’s wings. They do give the art a little depth. I think the shades could have been a little stronger with each step though. It did load well and you can see a distinction in the colors on all kinds of fabrics. I put a lot of thought into placing a heart above her head to show what she is dreaming about–love. I had one more heart but decided that one was better than two–less is more. The cocoa cup color repeats in her dress. I’m hoping the cup starts to resemble a magic globe that she is dreaming into.

I’ve been studying the art of the tshirt for a while now. Aside from the obvious there is a lot to this medium. I am happy today as I had a lightbulb moment last night, looking at some of my favorite t-shirt artists and making mental notes on their thought processes.

I’m hoping to do this again and to see if I can build up a little speed. Another note is that the text and image can’t have much space between them because when it’s printed as a sticker, the parts should always be connected. I did color animation cells al long time ago and we had similar issues. fun.

Here’s a link to see the product

humor, Illustrations, kids, whimsy

Valentine kid rescues a white cat drawing

Michele B. Naquaiya

So here we are facing February 14. This watercolor sketch is a sweet kid who has rescued a little white cat. He is surrounded by pink hearts. I love to draw this way. with the addition of fonts and fun. Of course the background comes in whatever color you wish. See it here

fantasy illustration, Illustrations, landscapes of imagination, thoughts behind the work

A paper mosaic garden

Michele B. Naquaiya

This is a watercolor that I did when I was in the process of building my house. I was working with real mosaics which I manufactured and installed myself. It was a very difficult process and many times was physically very painful. I did it as an act of love because I wanted to personalize my house and leave a stamp on it for history.

How sweet is that? I hope I will always be so naive as to think I could make any difference in this world. After the storming of the capitol in Washington D.C. yesterday, I was not at all surprised. I fully expect nobody will do anything about it. No answers will come as to why the police opened the gates to the anarchists and let them in. I don’t have much faith is the longevity of U.S. democracy. I don’t like to make political comments because people generally don’t want to hear them and deal with it in their own ways. I get that. The whole world is now confronted with massive injustice in most countries big and small.

Finding myself of my own accord living in another country that I love is a double edged sword. But for me, I had little choice but to do what I had to do considering my worn out circumstances and condition. I will never regret the move. Now that I have been here just shy of three years, and I have done everything in my power to secure my remaining days with what protection I could muster, the question for me now is…..what do I do now with my time?

With little or no power to change who I am and edit my history, I realize that for me one of my main talents has always been drawing and painting. That is something that no one could take away from me. Now above all the times in my life when I need it to hold on to, it has become a resource that gives me great joy.

Someone asked me why I’m doing print on demand. I guess it’s because it’s a forum that I can learn from and it gives me a good reason to go to work every day. It’s also fun to get a little feedback on my journey. I have always been a hard worker and at this stage, I could never change that habit. So here’s a little quote I wrote on my facebook page today which kind of sums it up…

“This is what I do to preserve my sanity. It’s about keeping up with technology and does not have much to do with art except in the simple process of art 101. It’s about learning new things. How can you be aware of what is going on in the world while realizing how few your options are to change it.? You do what you know best and hope sometime it might make a simple change for the better for whoever is willing to receive it. I think that is all any of us can do. For me drawing brings me to a higher place where I can escape and find peace.” I am focusing on silly stuff as well as trying to bring awareness to all the animals of our beautiful planet that are becoming extinct in my lifetime. In my lifetime and I can’t believe I am saying that. That’s hard to realize.

So here’s to positivity and hope for a better world.


fonts, Holidays, Illustrations, Revising Old Work, scratchboard drawing, whimsy

Kissing lips for valentine day

Michele B. Naquaiya

Once upon a time I drew this artwork in scratchboard and colored it with liquid acrylic. I’m guessing it was about 10 years ago…omg…. I drew my own lips. funny right?

Now I have reworked this art into a tshirt and other products, masks, etc. I tested myself to see if I have gained a little speed and yes, I have. I am having a stupid problem in photoshop because I don’t seem to be able to get my old settings back where I can load my artboard so that it lines up with the measurement grid….yesterday I wanted to cry and almost did. Like all things digital, if you could describe the problem accurately you could probably fix it. It’s kind of like going to the doctor and he says what’s wrong, and you are suddenly stumped. grrr. language throws me.

So here’s the new artwork in transparency for textiles. This is a new site for me “Tee Public” and I’m loving their interface. check it out. any comments as usual are appreciated. gracias.



alphabet, Illustrations, kids, whimsy

A B and C alphabet party kids

Michele B. Naquaiya

Once again I find myself working with the alphabet. I think it’s my destiny. I have closed my office door because the cats have captured some poor critter under my rolling tool cabinet. I never thought living in this sweet place would yield me so much wildlife havoc with my loving, merciless cats. Lately they are constant hunters. I don’t mind as they have caught quite a few mice and a couple of rats and a hefty squirrel. sigh
So back to the design of the day. I’ve been working on coloring my line art. This is a png file slightly reworked. View the collection on my products.
It’s kind of hard to jump around the world marketplace especially with so many venues and so many millions of designers. I have added another POD site which is very useful as it gives me additional perspective. Consider that people seem to care only for trends and that is now the name of the game. Overwhelming. Redbubble has six million views a month and I think Amazon merch has over 20 million a month. That is more than my little brain can absorb. So I press on because I am doing what I really enjoy so that’s what I’m doing during the pandemic. I do what I can with what I have. I think that’s a line from “The Aristocats” movie, somewhere in the ’70. Maurice Chevalier and Za Za Gabor voice overs. delightful music I remember.