I was so happy to see your post up on IF! These are great.

love them all Marion :D

Great kids! They should be in a book!!

Thank you, jk, k.h., and Judy! You never know, Judy!

That's how my son feels. It's not even really hot here yet but he is wishing it were winter again already ;) Nice to "see" you Marion :D

Nice to hear from you, k.h.! I'm so NOT a fan of summer, so I'm with him!

<>What's the temperature at your place<>

Hello, bopaula! Today was perfect, about 70 F. But the day I posted that photo it was in the 90's and miserable! Hope it's nice where you are!

love this Marion

oh, and Merry Christmas!

Beautiful!

A lovely peaceful mood has been established with the piece! Great job, my friend! Have a lovely holiday season.

Thank you all for the very kind commments! Hope your holidays are bright and special.

All is calm, all is bright in this serene snow scene! Merry Christmas to you! :o)

It's great for librarians, too--lists of subject- related books, crafts ideas for kids' programs, decorative bookshelves, etc.

Hi Diane,
Thats what's been most surprising to me! The different ways it ccan be used. Your page is a fantastic examle.
M

I like what seems to be an inner glow they radiate,

Hi Rob! How'd you get here so fast? lol! You really surprised me! Thank you so much. Inner glow is good. I like that.

That's hilarious Marion! Love it!

He he... I loved the pierced carrot-nose and spiky hair too!

Thanks so much, Karen and June!

I love that bug bed!

Thanks, Rob! Truth be told, I kinda like him too!

I love them all, but the bedbug and the family pot are my favorites :D

Fun drawings! That's an interesting procedure, using the shadow instead of just the layer itself.

I like using the filter shortcut tool. That's where you select the layer and then hit 'v'. Next hold down the option & shift keys with the left hand and then hit the + key and the - key to quickly sequence through all the possible outcomes.

Photoshop fun!

Thanks, John! I'll have to try that. I love that there are many ways to do things in PS. It's always good to learn alternatives. Thanks for taking the time to eplain that!

Photoshop fun, indeed!

Karen, thank you so much. I never would have come up with those 2 drawings, the bug and the tree, if I weren't just fooling around. Hoorah for fooling around! Tonight, I'll start another batch, or maybe just one image this time. I like the IF prompt for the week: Lost. But even if I don't finish, I'll have fun trying it out.

Thanks from one of those baby-steppers, Marion. SO MUCH to learn!!!!

Looks good! Thanks for the baby steps :)

Thanks for the tip! I really like to hear how other illustrators go about getting to the finished piece. And what a wonderful piece it is! I just love your style!

Thank you very much Cheryl, Elizabeth Rose and Mary Lou! I'm so glad if any of my baby steps might be helpful to others! There IS a lot to learn. I'm lucky to be able to ask specific questions at my Apple 1-2-1's and glad to share.

Thank you also for the kind words about the piece!

So, so cool, Marion! I LOVE your sketches, and your post is really inspiring. I carry a sketchbook around all the time, but rarely feel motivated to 'doodle.' Now I'm fired up! This totally makes me want to wake up my imagination by putting pencil to paper. Thank you for sharing your art, ideas and inspiration. You rock!

Wow! Thank YOU, Rebecca! I've never been good about regular sketching either. But these were done a little at a time, late at night, when I hit the recliner to read. Usually watch a little TV first, so great time for drawing! Might cut into my reading time a bit, but could be as little as 15 minutes a night and it adds up. Thanks SO much for such a lovely comment! I'm THRILLED if you feel fired up! Can be contagious!

love your sketch doodles Marion! I should really do this. I never doodle any more.

Thank you, Karen! I'm having a good time with it. Also, will be trying out some variations, like a page o' pigs, etc. It's so nice to just have a free flowing time though - even if only for a few minutes a day. Thanks for stopping by!

Great characters, and a fun exercise! I've done this kind of thing in my sketchbooks in the past, this gives a reminder to do it again, thanks!

They are so Clever!!!

Thanks Rob and Sherry! Whatever you have done and/or are doing, Rob, keep it up - you have such spectacular results!

That's very kind of you Sherry! I loved seeing yours too.

Some of my After Hours Drawings are a bit like this, because they start in a somewhat similar way. Just a swipe of the pencil across the page with no idea where I'm going.

Hi Marion! I think my fav is the guy on top with the striped hat. These are so much fun!

Thank you, Elizabeth! This was fun. I found out, after the fact, that most people used the same shapes. That would have been interesting to compare. I just made up my own. Either way - good warm up and who knows? Might come up with something to run with - especially if it's done often enough, I'd think. Thanks again!

I use the same tools, except the blur tool. I haven't experimented with that one yet. I love the cloning tool, it comes in handy sometimes. I'm also still in CS3. I haven't felt a need to upgrade, maybe someday. My daughter had to be the one to inform me about the keyboard shortcuts, she was frustrated watching me click everything. Yeah, It was a huge timesaver. Looks like you're having fun. Keep it up.

They are great time savers, when I can remember to use them, LOL. I go back and forth between a mac and a pc and I get out of the habit, but it really does make things faster. Love the nutcracker :)

Thanks very much Rob and Karen!

I can imagine that switching between a mac and a pc would make it harder to remember to use the keyboard, Karen! I forget myself sometimes too and I don't have that extra layer of complication.

I really appreciate what you said, Rob. I've been networking with a lot of illustrators over the years and it seemed to me that there were a number of us that had come late to learning to work digitally. So, I hoped that as I learn these small things that seem earth shaking to me, that they might be helpful to other late digital bloomers.

I try not to use the blur tool very much because I think if it's overdone it can make for a very slick look. But I do like to try and soften some edges and do a little blending with it. Hopefully not too much.

Thanks again to you both for the encouraging words! Very much appreciated!

Thanks for posting these digital baby steps. You've really come along with your technique! I'm a late-bloomer, but still learning!

Oh, you're very welcome, Marilee! I'm so glad to know that what I'm learning might be of help to you! And thanks for the kind words!

Recycled snowmen :o) Now there is a thought!

Lovely to see such colour in this piece.

What a great way to think of it, June! Now I like the idea even better! Thank you!

Greetings from California!
It's possible that your cute snowfolk vacationed here recently- Shortly after spring arrived, we were having winter like temps- Go figure!
Love your little guy- He's always welcome here, no matter the season! :o)

Love it! It's so very whimsical!

Thanks so much, Diane! I have total fun with these After Hours things!

I love the picture, and it was interesting (and helpful!) to read about your process. I like the picture a lot the way it is, but I'd be curious to see how you develop it!

Nice Marion, I love the light coming through the door. Can't wait to see what else you do with it. :)

Thank you very much, Claire and Karen! I'm so glad if you found something helpful here, Claire. I'm anxious to finish the color! Would love to do it right away, but I'm lucky to have an illo job that I need to get back to. So, it may be awhile. Maybe I'll be able to work on this while they are looking at my sketches! Thanks so much for stopping by! Much appreciated!

Great to see a new illo AND find a helpful Photoshop tip :o) I shall look forward to watching this develop, and hear more about your app!

Thanks, June! The app is moving very, very, very slowly. I never seem to do anything the easy way. It's not the technical stuff - haven't even gotten there yet. It's the artwork. Someday maybe I'll do a short app. I have one in mind. The one I'm working on now is picturebook length and being done between other things. I'm having a good time with it though. Thanks for stopping by!

I really like your after hours work, Marion! I look forward to seeing how this piece progresses.

I love your take on forward--what a nice style you have!

"Command Z" and I, are quite good friends! Thanks for the tips~

Awesome, Marion! All the motion! All the curves! I find the sky so very soothing...

Love the rabbits ears going with the wind, too! Nice feeling of action - very well done.

This is lovely, Marion! Love the color palette and sense of motion.

Love the colors and all of the textures...beautiful.

Can't live without "Command Z"...so much so, that I wish I had a "Command Z" in real life!

Thank you so much, Mary Lou, Diane,Patrice, Jennifer and jk! Such lovely, encouraging comments! I'm so pleased if you think the sense of movement came through. And, yes! Cheers to command Z!!

This is beautiful! Great motion. Save, undo...two of the best! I'm baby-stepping right now too :)

This is really interesting and lovely. You've framed it so nicely, and the colors are outstanding. And it seems to be a magical time of day.

nice work Marion, yes, I use command z quite frequently, I think it is my favorite thing about digital, no eraser droppings ;)

what a charming snowman - hope the alcohol doesn't make him too warm!

Thank you, buddhafulkat! I love your name!

This is quite fun! I like how you dressed him up and gave him a bit of the booze :) Happy New Year to you!

Thank you so much, Mary Lou! I love what you said about a bit of the booze - made me laugh!

Best wishes Marion!