I made some business cards with the panda QR code!

I didn't really know where to put this, but I figured this was more appropriate in the "More Art Less, Craft Area."  After seeing  Trekky's Ribbon woven QR code http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=386599.0 I wanted to see if I could alter QR codes with color. I haven't really looked into QR codes before. I've seen them around, but I never really knew what they were.

Anyway, I decided to test them out with my iphone with the Redlaser and i-nigma apps. I think they work and when I print them out them seem to work as well.

Hope you guys like them, comments are always appreciated from fellow crafters!

Here's the first one I made in two different color themes. I like them both so it's hard to pick a favorite.





Then I decided to make a panda one



Then I decided to make a second dog one, this one leads to my blog

So I decided to giving Ampersand Pastelbord's (http://www.ampersandart.com/pastel.html) a shot. I was mostly interested in it for a couple reasons it can be used for colored pencil, acrylic painting, and pastels. I'm still researching using it as a platform for colored pencils and acrylics. (Apparently colored pencils can be varnished and possibly framed ...wait for it....without glass! GASP! I don't know if I would be so bold, but one can dream.) I decided to start with what the platform was designed for, pastels. I'm really happy with how it came out. It's 11x14 and I decided to title it "This Is My Happy Face"

Any comments are appreciated  

Hi Everyone,

So I just wrapped up a portrait of a Pit Bull for someone that I know. (I'm still waiting to hear back from her and I'm really hoping she likes it.). Her dog was dress up for a contest and she wanted to have a portrait of him in the outfit. It wasn't my first time creating a portrait of a dressed up dog, but my first drawing camouflage! I would love to hear some feedback, especially before I post it on facebook.



This is a close up of the face.



The size  is 11x14 on Somerset paper, I only used Prismacolor pencils and Art Stixs for this.

(close up of the portrait.)




Hey Crafters! I'm still freaking out a bit over this one. I barely slept last night and my stomach is still doing flips! I'm a pretty big Denis Leary fan. One of my favorite movies is The Ref (actually it's my family's holiday movie). I love Rescue Me too and have been following Denis Leary's standup for quite some time.

So there's a local bookstore that does book signings. I freaked out when I missed the opportunity a while back for one of his other books. On Sunday night, I saw that he was going to do a book signing for his new book the next day. I freaked and told the husband what where we were going (he's also a fan).

So I decided to take it a step further and draw an Irish Wolfhound for him. He has a love for the breed (which is one of the reason why I love him). He used to have 5 and one of them was even on Rescue Me. The one that was on Rescue Me, Clancy, passed away and I was trying to find a picture. His website had a little picture. I did find a video of his roast with Clancy in and that was helpful to find the right coloring. I worked on the portrait from 10am-4pm, scanned it, and then framed it. I wished I had a little bit longer to work on it because I see some things that I could have planned better with the drawing, but I think I like it. (Yeah, I'm a bit critical of my work. It's an 8x10 pastels on velour)

We get to the book signing and I start getting nervous. We had on layers of clothes because we assumed we would be on line outside (which is why we're pink in the picture). We got there early and waited around an hour inside. However, since I was nervous and over heating I was worried I was going to faint or throw up on Mr. Leary. Thankfully, that didn't happen, because I was able to get my breathing under control! When I gave him the portrait I think I said something like "Hi Mr. Leary, I know how much you like Irish Wolfhounds so I made you this. I tried to find a picture of Clancy so I could get the coloring right." He said "Oh Wow! Do I get to keep it? It looks really close to Clancy!" Then I handed him my card and said if he ever wanted anything else I would be very happy to make him something. I'm not sure if I should have given him my card, but I figured I might as well, but it was really awkward. I hope he did like it and wasn't just being nice. It would kind suck if it ended up in the dumpster at the bookstore. I guess that's the risk I was willing to take!

Anyway, he posed with a picture with us and the portrait, which made me SO HAPPY! I think it was one of the highlights of my life!

Thanks bonesaw! Mr. Fancypants looks a lot like my cat Simon (except for the coloring). One of my favorite parts of Simon is his broad chest, so I wanted to make sure that I highlighted it on Mr. Fancypants.

Here's a photo of Simon:

Hey Everyone! I just finished a pastel piece and I thought I would post it here. Yes, the kitty's name is Mr. Fancypants! I love the name! It's 8x10 on Velour paper. I'm really proud of it! It's been a while since I've been commissioned to draw a kitty! I also started a blog and I posted a tutorial in there with some pastel tips. http://ericavojnich.blogspot.com/2010/04/mr-fancypants-portrait-with-tutorial.html Comments and Questions are always appreciated! 

So I locked myself away from the public from a while so I could finish this. I was asked to create a piece for the National Zoo's annual event Zoofari. Hopefully it will be placed in their silent auction. I'm really excited about it because it's a pretty big deal and I was a nervous wreck about it. So I finally finished it. The mother is Mandara and the baby is Kibibi. It's 11"x14" in colored pencil. I can't believe I finished it. I'm so exhausted but I think it was worth it! I think I'm going to title it "Looking Forward."



Details of Mandara



Details of Kibibi

This was my first time making a costume. I'm ok at sewing, so most of this was constructed with my handy glue gun. I used an old dog shirt, felt for the ice cream and cherries, yarn for the chocolate syrup, and an old long sleeved yellow shirt for the bananas. Stella didn't seem to mind it. We wore it to a little doggie Halloween party. My husband and I went as Soda Jerks and we won best group costume.  

So last year I was invited by the National Zoo to donate some work for a silent auction to raise money for their pandas. Here's my post from last year http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=254275.msg2835787#msg2835787 My husband ended up driving to DC and going to the auction. We spent some time there and took loads of pictures (mostly at the zoo). I was asked to participate in the auction again this year, so I used one of my reference photos. It's 11x14 in colored pencil. It took maybe 20 hours to complete (I kind of lost count but all my free time was spent working on this for 2 weeks).



Detail of the face.



What it looked like in the 16x20 frame



I haven't heard anything about how it did at the auction, which was on Thursday. I emailed and called a couple people that were handling it but I haven't heard any word back. It would be nice to hear good news. I poured everything I had into this piece. I know that this is what I should be doing with my life, but it would be wonderful to get some reassurance that I'm on the right track. So craftsters, I'm asking if you could send me some positive vibes (or pray if you believe in it) that I hear some good news. Not just because hearing that it did well would be good for my career, but because I want to know that my art can make a difference out in this world.  Thanks for listening.