Another Week of Greeting Cards

This week, I continued my lessons with Adobe Illustrator. The program is so easy to use that my cards were soon over processed! I'm trying to keep the painterly effects while designing professional looking cards. I'm working toward a marriage of art and design.

A Week of Learning Adobe Illustrator

We  just returned from 10 days in Puerto Rico. This week, I'm teaching myself how to use Adobe Illustrator to make greeting cards. I love it! It's a very user friendly program. 
I found that when printing the cards, my painterly effects were lost. I edited them out and created new borders in the Illustrator program which printed nicely.

A Week of Greeting Cards

Last week, I applied watercolor techniques to my oils. This inspired me to work with watercolor again. I found a few greeting card companies that accept freelance submissions. I filled the cards in an interesting way with  lively negative spaces for text. I wonder if this will creep back into my oil paintings?
Next, I'll think of interesting, inspirational, happy text.

Taughgannock Creek Bridge, Route 89, Ithaca, NY 2

My quest for a looser style continues. I am in search of  simple composition, texture, dark vs. light, larger brush strokes while maintaining the calm quiet emotion I like to portray.Why? I don't know. All I do know is that the Art Muse is pushing me in a new direction.

Portage Bridge, Letchworth State Park, NY 2

Today, I was much more successful at a loose style. I used the drawing for this bridge that I did a few weeks ago and played with my oils as if they were watercolors.

Suspension Bridge, Ithaca, NY

This is a walking bridge near Cornell University. Last week, my husband ran in the Boston Marathon and my daughters, father, brother and niece were in  Boston to cheer him on. Some paintings paint themselves. This one had a struggle being born.

A Bridge in Ithaca

 I took the picture of this bridge while visiting family in Ithaca. My sister-in-law drove me on a wonderful photo trip of bridges. Unfortunately, I didn't write down the name of it and I can't find it online. I added spring green in anticipation. It is still snowing in Western New York.