By: Paula Becker,
on 12/2/2008
I got some samples in the mail last week for a piece I finished up back in late August for Clubhouse Jr.’s November ‘08 issue. I had posted a little about it here, but below is the final product. The art director wanted me to use a tighter, thinner line for the project so that’s [...]
By: Paula Becker,
on 12/1/2008
Hmmm. They’re not really in a sharing frame of mind, it seems.
By: Paula Becker,
on 11/20/2008
Pretending to listen.
By: Paula Becker,
on 11/3/2008
By: Paula Becker,
on 10/31/2008
Well…I felt I should put something up Halloweeny-related before the day passes. Here’s a greeting card created for RSVP cards. I’m personally not fond of how it turned out (too rigid, too tight, too overworked again–sigh.), but there you have it. And so here, below…A halloween joke/riddle/pun that you can share with someone else on [...]
By: Paula Becker,
on 10/28/2008
I wanted to reuse these characters from a previous illustration job I did last year, so what better place than a seasonal header? It sort of evolved into these monsters being at a cocktail party, since Wolfman was already holding a glass of wine. It’s a quick, late-night, pulling together, but I like it. It’ll [...]
By: Paula Becker,
on 10/27/2008
Sometimes the repair guy inadvertently offers a bit of entertainment to his customers. These two ladies had a chuckle at the expense of their plumber.
By: Paula Becker,
on 10/22/2008
A sweet little tiger drinking tea…in the jungle. Wonder who she’s waiting for? I have those mugs, by the way, only in an cream color; a 4-piece set from Pier 1 that I found at a garage sale. My husband wants them gone because they’re chipped a little here and there and have that crackled surface [...]
By: Paula Becker,
on 10/21/2008
One things I’ve noticed about the way I work is my preference to keep backgrounds simple–or not deal with them at all. I like to hone in on the object or character verses house that object/character in an eleborate setting (I’m trying to work on that some, pushing myself to care more about the setting). [...]
By: Paula Becker,
on 10/14/2008
I decided to stream something from off the PBS NOVA site tonight while I was working, something a little different than the usual NPR or PRI programs (one can only take so much discussion about the economy, war, and election, etc.). The program entitled, “The Elegant Universe” looked appealing, and so I did in fact [...]
By: Paula Becker,
on 10/14/2008
Back in the day when I could–or would– wear a string bikini, I don’t recall mine ever being this skimpy. At least not the bottoms. I was tremendously shy and body-conscience back then. So never would I stroll on the beach wearing merely a bathing suit–of any kind. But I WOULD wear a bikini top [...]
By: Paula Becker,
on 10/2/2008
Another random choice of a rough from a greeting card I’m working on. I like doing my roughs in a thick, almost clumsy digital calligraphy pen. It keeps me from getting anal about the look and to achieve that loose sense I long for. I should just stop at my roughs. : ) So much time [...]
By: Paula Becker,
on 9/29/2008
This was a character study for something I’d been working on. One of my favorite tools in Painter is the Dry Ink Brush in the calligraphy section. It’s tough to control but I love how it makes me stay loose. I also played around with the digital watercolors on this. Colors seem more intense to [...]
By: Paula Becker,
on 9/28/2008
Remember Hildy? Well, she finally got fed up with her rooster-husband’s (husband #3) philandering ways and gave him the boot; sent him packing. Turns out he’d been packed and ready to go for a good while, that old gigolo. Good riddance, Bust-a! So Hildy’s single again…and looking.
By: Paula Becker,
on 9/23/2008
Work I did months ago has finally been published, so I’ll be posting a couple of these things. By the way…I didn’t realize I could see Up-State New York (i.e. the Adirondacks) from here (here being Montreal). I always noticed a bit of mountains in the distance across the shore of Lac St-Louie but I assumed [...]
By: Paula Becker,
on 9/10/2008
My father called yesterday to let me know that Ike had changed his plans to go to Galveston/Louisiana and was now on a bee line to Corpus Christi. Not that I’m down there right so there’s not much of anything I can do but worry. If I were, we’d be stocking up on water, batteries, [...]
By: Paula Becker,
on 9/9/2008
Putting away clutter.
By: Paula Becker,
on 8/8/2008
The roughs for the spread, below. Couple of changes by the designer here and there, but, for the most part, it was good-to-go.
By: Paula Becker,
on 8/5/2008
silly, rambunctious fairies, having a playful fight.
By: Paula Becker,
on 7/31/2008
Over at Jonesapalooza, Doug Jones and his beloved sock monkey, Socmo, are celebrating the Discovery Channel’s announcement that it’s Shark Week. All things, sharky, I guess. So watching him do shark cartoons all week had me itching to participate. And apparently, Bill Ross wanted to play with the sharks, too. as you can see here. So [...]
By: Paula Becker,
on 7/30/2008
This is Happy. He likes Summer. Happy is Happy it’s summer. We definitely have that in common. A drawing just for fun.
By: Paula Becker,
on 7/28/2008
I couldn’t do an on-sight sketch of this event since I was holding an umbrella and there wasn’t enough light to see what I was really doing. So the above is more of an impression, I guess. It’s how I remember what I saw. I did scribble a quick sketch, though, to try and recall [...]
By: Paula Becker,
on 7/24/2008
Another greeting card created for RSVP. A valentine one this time. I didn’t write the copy or come up with the concept. Just followed the art direction to have a bear blowing bubbles, some kind of border, and the copy you see on the front. Cover copy: “Love is in the air!” Inside [...]
By: Paula Becker,
on 7/23/2008
A somewhat recent greeting card, created for RSVP. The copy says: Front–“Hear you’re moving on and moving up!” Inside–“If we weren’t so envious, we’d be very happy for you. Congratulations on the new job!” Below: A close up of image area: Below: The initial thumb idea and some roughs working up to the final. I like the [...]
By: Paula Becker,
on 7/22/2008
Never enough love to give to my Bobbykittyboo-boy! Just a quickie; too much work and not enough time. But I like ‘em when they’re quick anyway, so this works for me. Enough blathering already, right?
Nice work! I like the title on the finished piece better than the one on the sketch. Good call on somebody’s part. I got some samples recently and was amazed again by the difference the paper made. The color was dead on one book and looked great on another one. The good paper makes such a difference!
This is so cute!
I’m totally blown away by having to redraw the piece, conjure up the magic that was in the rough in the final. My sketches usually look better than stuff I work at. But there is often a fatal flaw in the sketch, something not ready for Prime Time.
At least writing I can fix if there is time, though computers help with the pictures. Still, I’m mad at not having a nice original to hang.
Cute! Cute! Love the jammies!
that is adorable!
This is completely gorgeous.