Discover Magazine Issue 2

  I did an illustration for another story in the magazine - 

a fascinating look at the history of paper.

This is how it appeared in print...

New book - I Love My Dad

Written by Ghada Alo,

this book is about all the things a boy named Adnan 

does with his Dad.

Illustration for Azizah Magazine

I'm so excited!

The creative director of Azizah contacted me 

about this painting of mine - 

she wants to use it in their next issue!!!

Discover

Okie dokie, here's more work I did for the magazine:

An interactive coloring page,

more postures for the four main characters,

a double-spread for a story about soccer...and sign language.

I find the articles amazing - this second issue has 

a fascinating story about the history of paper,

and the differences between papyrus (reeds),

parchment (animal skin),

and ancient paper (tree bark and rags).

Working on the soccer story pics, I discovered that

while ASL uses only one hand,

British Sign Language for the alphabet is two-handed!

So cool!

No wonder they decided to call the magazine "Discover".

Breakfast

Sourdough bread, cream cheese, tea.

:)

Discover Magazine

Working on the characters:

I colored the first pic using Illustrator,

while the second one was done in PhotoShop.

It's interesting to see the differences in effect.

Which one do YOU prefer?

New project!

So, my textile piece for the Niagara Region is all done - whew!

Meanwhile, our house is still in a shambles from the move,

but it's slowly starting to become somewhat organized.

Thank goodness I don't have a deadline for THAT!

While I was still busy with the textile project,

I was offered the opportunity to work with

and upcoming children's magazine, out of the U.K.

All I could think was WOW!!!

Also, does it have to be NOW???

With my hands full of paints and beads and a looming deadline???

Luckily, the editor gave me time,

and with the textile project all done and submitted,

I'm ready for this new challenge!

There will be four main characters

who will appear in every issue.

This is my first sketch based on the

character briefs they gave me.

The magazine will be called Discover.

Isn't that a lovely name?

All pieced together

My deadline is only a couple days away!

Here's what my piece is looking like now.

I've laid it out on our dining table - 

the two layers are stitched together

and all the beading done.

The tree branches are paper cloth.

I painted it in greens and browns,

then coated it with ModPodge for a lovely sheen.

Then I went over it with free-motion stitching 

in gray and brown for texture.

I think I'm done!

Skipping ahead

Actually, skipping a LOT ahead,

since I forgot to take pics of some steps in between.

To fill you in, I finished painting my flowers,cut them out,

and then stitched them on to batting to create a quilted cutout.

Now I'm adding all the beads.

The dense brown center of the flower is yarn

that bunched up and machined down.

The twirly pink things are paper,

twisted, twirled and stitched down.

I used the beads in different ways:

as random scatterings,

in long lines,

and in clusters.

This was very fun to do!

Getting there!

A few quick pics:

Beads coming soon!

Painting the flowers

OK!!!  Time for color!

I started painting the flowers on white muslin.

I'm using plain ol' acrylic paints, and it was easier than I thought.

The flowers layer will be a separate layer altogether.

Once I finish it, I'll stitch it on to the green background.

At least, that's the plan :)

Meanwhile, the background is coming along as well.

The base was muslin that I painted in greens and browns,

on which I had layered the cheese cloth I dyed in the same colors.

Now I'm adding circle cutouts from my paper cloth that

I created earlier - just to add interest.

Notice how wonderfully stiff the paper cloth is?

This was a really good thing to try!

It cuts like paper and doesn't fray,

but is pliable and sew-easy, like medium weight fabric.

To add even more texture, I'm making large,

random stitches with embroider floss.

And then, to jazz it up, my lovely water soluble crayons 

are adding color to the stitches.  It's like I used 

variegated thread, when it's actually only solid green.

More next time!

Textile Project: Backups and tryouts

Things are heating up for our house purchase

and impending move - two days to go!

I have some work done which I haven't yet taken

pictures of but meanwhile I want to share

a few things I'm doing...

When I decided to do the paper cloth idea,

I also made sure I had back up with familiar material,

meaning just fabric, since I wasn't sure how

the paper cloth would turn out.

So while I made the paper cloth,

I also painted two more pieces of fabric,

one with glue and paint,

one with only paint.

This way I have three green backgrounds

to choose from.  Also, the background I don't choose 

would still be painted over for the flowers,

which I would applique on to the background.

I'm going with the just-paint fabric background,

using the glue/paint material for the flowers

and the paper cloth for the tree.

Here are some things I was trying out:

Cheesecloth - dyed and painted
(fun)

I made this to give the background an out-of focus look.

This was the trial piece; the actual piece is already on the background.

Dyed, glued, sewn - another tryout.

Free-motion stitching on a trial piece.

Fabric leaf on fabric background.

Paper cloth leaf on paper cloth background.

Next: pics of what I'm finally going with...

Stay tuned!

Color - Textile Project

Continuing on, I've covered the green tissue 

with yellows, browns and more green.

The texture of the paper has given the paints a wonderful depth.

The paints blended beautifully,

but they have left the fabric paper/paper cloth

stiffer than before.

After everything is painted,
I will be adding hand and machine stitching 
as well as bead embellishments.

I'm going to try sewing a part of this material
to see how I can work it.

I've roughly painted in one flower.

The paper cloth is still doing great.

Once all the stamens and other details are filled in,

I hope this will come alive!