A new coloring book

 Christmas brought with it a gift of a new coloring book - Bobbi has challenged herself to complete it all in 2024! That seems like a big goal, but we think the idea of getting to coloring every day is great for so many reasons.

This is the book...

And this is the first page!

He looks pretty great, doesn't he? My favorite is the bit of purple reflections in the sand on the right side - those little touches characterize Bobbi's use of color.

Yoda

 Love the texture on this one, and the shiny on the bowl!

For Rose

 This little cutie was created for Rose's birthday, and mom was recruited for the word/thought bubbles and lettering. The rest of the coloring is all Bobbi.

Back into coloring

 After a long hiatus, Bobbi's broken out the colored pencils again, and a good thing, too.

Nice example of a metallic finish on the armor, and filling the background beyond the line drawing with her own creation of a texture.

A quick one

 Bobbi colored this one in two hours! That's got to be a record for her! Usually she works slowly, and often over a few sittings over a few days, but this one she wanted to get done for the morning, so sat down and whipped it out! You can see that the strokes on the shirt are quicker and looser, but I think it is quite effective, and if anything, brings your attention to the face where things are a little crisper.

Again, she's working from a line drawing she found on the internet.

Enter: Photoshop

 Bobbi's taking a graphics class through. Lucky for her, her parents already have Photoshop on the computer at home, and know something about how to use it, so she can work on stuff outside of class. (Especially helpful because she was out of class for almost a week with a cough/cold, so got a bit behind.)

This was a joint effort, because she is JUST learning how to use the software, so lots of literal and figurative hand holding, but very much her conception, and lots of the execution was her, too, just with us guiding her step by step through which tool to use and how to use it. The assignment was to 1) play with scale and 2) combine elements from two different pictures onto a new background.

Still, pretty fun, huh??

(On the left is her very favorite Turkish music artist!)

A few more edited photos

 Bobbi sent me a few more of her favorites from this week. She's been using the pixiz app, and is enjoying picking the best filters to show off each photo.

This one is by far my favorite. I love the subtle colors, the balance of the texture of her hair with the texture of her sweater, and the way the background (funky light fixture on her ceiling) ends up being an asset to the composition instead of just what randomly happened to be there.

Her post-secondary program through the school district includes the opportunity to take some classes at our local tech school, and she's decided to try a graphic design class this fall instead of the cooking that she's done the last two terms. We're excited for her to get the chance to learn some software (like Photoshop) that will help her take more control of her digital art and take it to the next level!

Photo editing

Bobbi, in addition to her colored pencil artwork, also enjoys editing photos. She currently has limited options for editing software, but use what she has to the best of her ability. She is her most common "model" because, like her grandma pointed out, she's always available!

 

Happy cat

 The cat on this card is a nod to Bridget, our cat who died at the ripe old age of 19 - a gorgeous calico. Bobbi is enjoying using complementary colors - the green and the orange, and the more subtle blue and orange of the sky.

Princess Diana

 Dramatic lighting on a internet-found portrait of Princess Diana, colored as a thank you card for a teacher. Each of the students is pitching in in their own way for an end of the year surprise and Bobbi was chosen (no surprise!) to color a card for everyone to sign.

I may try to get a better photo in the daylight - the use of her favorite neon orange pencil on the crown just doesn't show well here.

Young man with a rose

 A birthday card colored on a drawing found on the internet.

Card for Tori

 

Another rendering of an image found on the internet - love the shadows and the sense of setting sun (it's a good-bye card), but also the firm brightness in his eyes and the warm highlights on the hair and buckle that suggest new horizons.

Easter Sunday

 This is a huge project - by far the biggest Bobbi's tackled to date. Our pastor's wife did the original drawing, but on a canvas with a surface rougher than Bobbi prefers, so I redrew it in pencil on a piece of mat board. That one just wasn't coming together for Bobbi, so I re-redrew it on the back side with variable width markers, and the more distinct lines provided a better base to work from. (The fat lines in the foreground also hid the markings on the back side of the board!)

In process - she tried something new with the sky...and didn't like it. At all. So, some paper and spray glue served to "erase" that (you can see it partway done in the image below) so she could start that part over again.

From here, she just kept plugging away, little by little, until she was not really happy with it, but satisfied enough to call it done. Right off hand, I'm so very proud of her for both tackling and finishing something of this size! It's huge! She usually works on the 8.5" by 5.5" scale, so going 24" by 36" is a BIG step up.

 

And here's how it looked Easter morning in church!

Cabin in the mountains

 A graduation card colored on a drawing from the internet. Soothing and satisfying.

Bright haired boy

 Another coloring done as a birthday card, colored on a drawing found on the internet.

Somber young man

 

Cabin on a cliff

A graduation card for a friend. (Again, Bobbi colors someone else's drawing.)
 

Rosemary's Room

 Fun, bright, yet calming colors in a bedroom (drawing from the internet).

House on the rock

 Drawing from the internet - colors all Bobbi! Check out the way she picks up the colors of the sky at the top edge of the cliff on the right side of the drawing, and the purples in the shadows at the bottom.

Girl in the green coat