Tag: design

alphabet, dogs, horses, cats, fonts, Illustrations, kids, simple photoshop, step by step, how to, thoughts behind the work

You’re On a Roll

Michele B. Naquaiya

youre-on-a-roll-web

When it comes to humor, everybody has an opinion.  The world revolves around people putting opinions of  other people’s creative work into a niche.  Critics enjoy this because they can sit outside and look at it and not be threatened as they are only observers and not the creators.   The truth is, corny or not, people laugh at puns and somebody always will–so let’s move on.  What’s the fuss about all this?

Well, this was an idea I had and was reluctant to proceed because it is a classic “pun” or “play on words”.    My thought was to put a baby in the hot dog bun and draw that.  I got cold feet.  So I did this instead.  Call me a coward but I’m trying to put fonts and images together as a self-motivated interest and I’m trying to stay true to my goal.  That’s my newest M O, so for the sake of being a little more traditional and not wanting to offend anybody, here’s the newest drawing.
I sketched the hot dog in the bun with a ball point pen and scanned it in greyscale. Then opened it in photoshop and painted it in with a few semi-transparent shades of various colors, making a layer for each major item: hot dog, bun, and of course the text.  Did the same for the little dog.  For me, drawing simply like this in photoshop is super easy and very rewarding.  When it was completed, I saved it as a psd file and then removed the background and saved it as a png. Then I combined all the artwork layers.  I am sure this is not the preferred method, but I just plow ahead and do whatever works.  When I grow up, I want to be able to use AI and know what I’m doing.  After years of PSD, I just keep trying and keep learning.  I hope to learn one new thing every day.

When I studied graphic design in college, I drew in AI all the time and was never intimidated. I remembered putting images on to a thumb drive and then bringing them to a professional printer and staring in awe and these gorgeous glossy huge prints spit out my artwork.  I was in love.  Now after all these years, the program is scaring me.  But Adobe is  making improvements that certainly make it more intuitive.  I will continue to plow ahead in the hopes my memory comes back and I can learn new things.

The wonderful font is Hansel  Texture and I think it’s great.  I will be using it more I hope but this is the first time.  I am keeping all these images super simple and super big.  I like seeing them big on t-shirts and I like seeing them on kids’ onesies too.  That’s where I’m at and wow, how fun would it be to see this on adult onesies, if there were such a thing.

Here’s the art on some stuff.

animals, fantasy illustration, flora and fauna, Illustrations, Pen and Ink Drawing

Chickens exotica

Michele B. Naquaiya

chickens-tile-web

Chickens are all about color and attitude.  After all, who has more feathers?  Maybe a peacock.  Peacocks are fancy and exotic. Chickens are commonly seen everywhere, in every place on the globe.  That does not mean they are common animals.

To me, anybody that only has two legs and can’t fly high or far, and who needs their wits about them to survive deserves some kudos for living so long.  I designed this artwork as a ceramic tile, hoping someday I could see it on a tile.  This may never happen but I think none-the-less it should be in somebody’s kitchen.  Make sure you check out the little hard boiled eggs in the borders.

Right now, this image is available on lots of neat stuff here.  Check it out por favor.

animals, fantasy illustration, Illustrations, Odd Little Stories, thoughts behind the work

Cat clouds good night

Michele B. Naquaiya

cat-clouds-heart-th

Have you ever lost something and found it a long time later? Well, here’s one cat I remember drawing way back in 2004.  I found this little guy in a zip file that somehow got saved from disaster.  So I know he’s not very well drawn but this art came at a time in my life when I almost died.  I was recovering from major surgery and was trying to remember who I was as I had lost a lot of my memory.

I remember sitting in a little travel trailer and painting these little cats by the hundreds. I painted some on wood and some on paper. Most were just simple watercolors no bigger than 6 square inches.  I did some on scratchboard too.   Some survived.  They helped me clear my head, get my bearings and be optimistic for the future.  I love cats and this therapy did work.

Eventually a lot of my memory came back but I still don’t know what day or month it is most of the time.  My friends are very patient with me.

Here is the little guy on some products.

fantasy illustration, Pen and Ink Drawing, people, thoughts behind the work

Dear Aunt Lydia

Michele B. Naquaiya

aunt-lydea-th

If you have ever had an aunt Lydia, you might enjoy this post.  She is a caricature  from my imagination.  I think she could be in anybody’s life at any time if they were lucky.  I never had one of these, but I actually have been her to some people.  I hope you enjoy this character as much as I enjoyed creating her.

This was all drawn with a speedball nib in an old fashioned pen holder.   I use red ink very often and like the kind they still sell in a bottle.  If you are lucky enough to find some, try it. I have three shades of red ink. Art supplies and yarn have always been my go-to collections. I’m done with books after changing countries, but inks and pens are still small enough to fit in a suitcase.

The original work was the separate oval pen and ink –a highly detailed drawing with a crow quill nib.  The center was another oval I left blank.  I scanned the drawing into photoshop and then layered another red ink drawing of the lady that was done with a heavy speedball nib of Miss Lydia.  I put her into the center and then I just played around in photoshop– tweeking the images to present something unique. She makes me laugh.

After being without Adobe for a few years because my life was so insane, I am back on my computer and can’t wait to do more.  It is so much fun.

If you want to see this in print check out my online store.