Category Archives: Illustrator

Two Things Challenge – Stars & Stripes

Diane Clancy Art Blog Posted on by

I like to enter the 2 Things Challenge each week. This week is Stripes / Stars. This is my second entry for Stripes & Stars – I call it Stars & Stripes.  I had to get past the idea of the flag (US) to make this one. I hope you like it!!  This is one of my vibrant, colorful paintings – sort of in traditional Easter colors – you can see more at my Etsy Shop.  Here are the entries for last week’s Shadows / Patterns. Anyone can join in, and I hope you give it a try!! We would love more people playing with us!  Poems, photos, paintings, writing, songs are all welcome!!  Details are at this link above.

Stars & Stripes

Stars & Stripes, Digital © Diane Clancy

Sometimes I get very insecure about what I am creating when I am switching modes of HOW I am working.  This was created in Illustrator … and it was giving me a lot of problems.  Tools wouldn’t switch from one variation to another.  I wasn’t being able to have the control I have had in the past.  And when I haven’t worked in a particular style for awhile, I am sure that what I am creating is junk.  Do you go through similar angst?

I would love to hear how you are doing. Thanks for coming by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: , , , , , ,

Printing Issues & Puppets

Diane Clancy Art Blog Posted on by

This is the image that I have spent a day and half printing this little ACEO (2.5 x 3.5″) ..do you believe it? Wild huh? But lines kept coming out in different places that didn’t belong there. I got it printed correctly on the 7th … yes, you heard me, try. But I have lots of little seconds now that I can give away when someone buys one of my ACEOs.

Creation I

Creation I, Digital © Diane Clancy

I created this in Illustrator .. sometime I will explain the difference between Photoshop and Illustrator. One is vector and the other is bitmap .. when I feel better I will explain it .. it is a fun explanation. But I tricked all the programs and at last it is gorgeous!! The print quality is so so much better that it is worth all the work. But I got it ..

Right now I am missing a Greening Greenfield show that we worked on for months. I did the program for the show and it should be so much fun. There are people there in corn, carrot, apple, and 2 other fruit and vegie costumes. Sunny Green, a solar puppet, is there and there are 16 foot high puppets that are doing the show. The foyer is going to be a show in itself before and after the performance!! What fun I hope everyone has!!

I hope you are well!! I appreciate so much that you are still commenting when I am so behind. I am hoping to catch up … thank you!! And I am so glad you are in my life.

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: , ,

Violet in Butterflies

Diane Clancy Art Blog Posted on by

Violet looks like she is surrounded by butterflies with spring in full force! This digital painting from my enhanced animal images was created in Painter as explained in the post Freckles in Flowers I and the post Abby in Butterflies that discuss this method of layering. This is the first you have seen of this special animal companion, Violet, my sister’s dog.

Violet in Butterflies

Violet in Butterflies, Digital © Diane Clancy

These butterflies are created from nozzles that I made myself from clipart that I have rights to use. I used Illustrator and Photoshop in creating this image while working with the nozzles and layers. I enjoy the almost 3D quality of this painting.

These images I have created using companion animals are some of my most popular images for cards. Many times when someone sees “their” kitty or puppy, they immediately want the card or print. It is fun to feel like I bring happiness to people as they see a touching image of their special friend.

Some people have asked me to make these paintings from photographs of their own animals. Because I use layering, I am able to keep the cost more affordable. I have also created specific backgrounds for people’s companions. I am happy that so many people like these paintings so much!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Flowers XVII

Diane Clancy Art Blog Posted on by

This is an example of a type of my digital painting that you haven’t seen yet. It is part of my design series that I created in the computer program Painter. I like the colors, flowers, and sense of Spring.

Flowers XVII

Flowers XVII, Digital © Diane Clancy

The creative process was fairly complicated – I started with vector clip art. I then brought the images into Painter and made nozzles out of them. The post Nature Reflections II talks about the difference between vector and bitmap images. The post Freckles in Flowers I discusses nozzles.

Once I made the flowers and such into nozzles, then I created the pattern. It is a 4-way repeat. Painter has cool tools so it is easier to get the corners to match up when repeating a pattern – using it more than once – in a seamless way. As with many thing, once I get the rhythm down, it is simple and easy. But then I have to relearn when I go to use this process again.

I really enjoy the colors and the sense of movement in this image. Several stores have bought this painting as a card to sell in their stores. I like looking at the flowers in this image – I think they are very interesting.

Thank you for looking and reading. In the comments there is a discussion started about licensing and more technical details about creating this kind of design.

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: , , , ,

Nature Reflections II

Diane Clancy Art Blog Posted on by

I am being inspired by Sue O’Kieffe’s mandalas to share this digital painting with you today. Sue’s mandalas are very different from this, but tonight after looking at her blog, Sacred Circle Mandalas, the vibrancy in her latest mandala sent me searching for a similar “feel” in my own work.

Nature Reflections II

Nature Reflections II, Digital © Diane Clancy

This image was created in Studio Artist (SA) from a pretty photograph of yellow and blue birds. This program specializes in transformation of images. If you would like to see another variation made from the same photograph, you can check out post Nature Reflections I. There you can find the start of the following conversation.

I have been asked the difference between SA and Photoshop. SA is vector based, like Illustrator, rather than bitmap or pixel based like Photoshop. In a vector based program, one can make a circle and it is determined by a mathematical formula. If one enlarges it to as big as a house, it is still a perfect circle since it is created by a formula or vector.

With a bitmap image, when one increases the size, the circle will get ragged because it is based on a certain number of little squares next to each other. When one makes those squares bigger, all the jagged edges of the squares are more obvious. Truly the circle never was a circle, but a circle drawn by squares.

More about this another day … I love the vibrancy of the colors – especially the purple.

– Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,