Bunny Stationery

The original pencil drawing, about
2-3 inches or so in my sketchbook. 

I was about to run out of stationery and preparing to spend $4-6 on a new pack when it hit me: "Wait a minute, I MAKE PICTURES."

Sometimes I just forget, I swear.

So I drew up this enchanting, fuzzy lady sitting at a desk with a bird nearby. I added some lines to guide my letter writing and viola! Personalized stationery! (Hey--I'm pretty excited about it, at least).

I colored the pencil sketch by "staining" the lines in photoshop. I love this technique, I've done it for several years in strictly browns. I scan a pencil sketch and bring it into photoshop. I size it however I want, choose a medium brown hue, and turn the airbrush in photoshop to "overlay". Then I bring the size of the brush to 1500-2500, big enough to hit the whole work evenly. I only spray it 2-3 times, and it's the last spray you have to watch for because it can yellow the work if you're not careful. (And not in a good way, it looks like a mistake because it is). After this I go in with a smaller sized brush to target the specific lines and areas I want darker, and then adjust with the dodge and burn.This was this first multicolor drawing I tried out. It started off just being brown, but I couldn't resist giving her a rosy nose and pink ears. Then I tried out her eyes. The stickers and the rest just happened, and I rolled with it. Don't be afraid to play, it's a good way to discover results instead of looking for them.

Bunny and Bird, colored.

I think I like this technique so much because it's a modern way to make an illustration look old fashioned, if that makes sense?  It takes an evenly hued sketch and just kinda scratches and weathers it up a bit. I'm left handed so a lot of my penciling gets smudged, and this works with that issue not against it.

Family and close friends, yes that is "the" Bunny. How I have always seen her, anyway. I can't wait to write some new notes!

A example of the upper corner of the page.