My dear friend Erikie switched over to WordPress from LiveJournal – and some other platform I don’t even know what it was (?? what was that?!). She’s been template hopping and sent me over a layered PSD file to code up a template for her. So I did, and so it is. Erikie is a sweetheart and an amazing artist, I was happy to get her going in a her very own design! Of course I know she’ll keep this one (wink-wink) because she’s the one that designed it, I just coded up the templates to make it work. We even made her a “friends” page, where all of her feeds are on her own blog for easy access! Who needs bloglines when you have WordPress and plugins?

I’ve been wanting to get that feeds page set up here on my own blog – but clients first, right? I’m sure it will become all the rage now, that’s just how it goes.

Go on over and say hi to Erikie!

I just completed a custom torch logo graphic, inspired by a “pass the torch” image that my client had seen. The pose is my own, my own makeshift torch (my gigantic gesso brush) my tripod and trusty camera – and photographed my own hand in two different positions to use as a reference for this project.

It all started as a sketch – after a couple of revisions I turned it into a watercolor painting.

From there, I scanned the painting in and started making some very minor revisions, and with my handy dandy wacom tablet and my favorite CorelX Paint Shop Pro, I created this digital painting:

So that’s what I’ve been working on – my client’s deadline was today, and I came in right on schedule, which I love doing (I’m an on-time-aholic).

I admit, I am excited to have artwork out there in a corporate logo format. Hopefully I’ll be able to show you some of the materials this will be appearing on soon.

I just finished up a design for EWebscapes, this one is really neat! It’s From Medskool. “The journey to and through”.

The (student) doctor graphic is a custom illustration that I completed a couple of weeks ago – then wrapped this nifty design around it. I just love how the “O” is being squeezed by the blood pressure cuff. The whole layout just came together exactly as I saw it in my “artistic eye”. I love when that happens!

Finally. After two weeks worth of wallowing in code to get the design just so – and endless hours of uploading information – typing, moving, pasting, recoding. It’s (almost) done, ready to launch at least. When my hand isn’t so much like a claw, I’ll continue on with some back end tweaking.

What’s going to happen to intricateart.com? Nothing! I’ve owned artistbynature.com for years. I needed a place to design “live” so I knew exactly what was going on, and could transfer files from one to the other. So I decided to double-domain. Once I finish the backend coding and get everything up to spec, I’ll overwrite my layout here at intricateart.com and have them running side by side until things are running smoothly. In case you’re wondering – I did all of that with one installation of wordpress, one theme. My brain needs this extended weekend!

I’ve desparately needed to re-organize my gallery. I offer so many things, and have so much available that it’s just downright hard to find. I do love to have my ducks in a row, and I think this new setup accomplishes that. Clean, professional, one of a kind unique gallery layout, and I’m all ready for some serious clients.

Please, check it out. Let me know how you like it!

I don’t doodle nearly enough. I should doodle more often.

It’s storming here today, and I’m always very cautious paranoid about my electronic equipment when lightening is nearby. So, while waiting for the orange blob to pass over, I doodled.

I started with the doggie, of course. Tucker was lying beside me and wouldn’t hold still for me to look at his nose, so I just guesstimated – it’s more of a caracature anyway. When he tore off the couch like a bullet, whipping around in the next room and using my face as his next launch pad to circle, I quickly finished his doodle and moved on to the cat. He kinda torqued me off, that little Tucker. (ahem.) He’s in his kennel now. Just in case you were wondering.

So, the cat. I do love to draw cats and paint cats. In fact, I painted a cat on Artpad once, did you ever see that? (Click Here) In case you never saw it. There’s a lot of fur, so you might want to watch it on high speed. Anyhoo, there’s something about cat eyes that I just love, love to paint, and love to make look glassy and glossy and dimensional.

Of course once you doodle a cat, you have to doodle a bird. Of course I doodled a hummy! I get to watch them so much, their little birdy bodies are embedded in my virtual memory.

Lastnight while I was hummy watching, Chickeymonkey came up beside me right at the window. I thought the little guy (actually, girl, I think) would have been startled off, but she just stopped eating, came down to Chick’s height in front of the window and hovered there as if to say hello. I’m talking inches. 3 maybe? Just the depth of the glass that separated us. Mouths dropped and eyes got big, as you can imagine. She did the same to me – when she arrived at the feeder I was already at the window, but I thought she was just looking at her reflection in the window. Guess not, huh?

So. Yes. After I drew the hummy I got to thinking about that, and started doodling the girl. The girl has longer hair than I have, and it’s curly, and in my head she’s a blonde. So I’m not sure what that all means, but hey. It’s a doodle. She’s also got one of those zookeeper’y nature type hats on (sans the net), and she’s wearing a shirt with my acronym. How cool, I didn’t know I sold apparel! Really. I don’t. Not yet, anyway.

Last, but not least, the wierd squiggly thing and the raindrop, because as I said earlier, it’s raining here today and the dang lightening bolt zig-zagged my retna.

There you have it, anatomy of a doodley doo by Leanne. If you’d like one of these doodles developed into a blog graphic or something just for you, just give me a holler. Actually, e-mail would be better. Yes, e-mail is good. No hollering, please. My head is still sorta reeling from being a launching pad.

This custom blog illustration has been tweaked, the line drawing is done, and I’ve colored it in. The blood pressure cuff is just floating there, it will be grounded within the layout of the blog design. I just love this guy! (He’s pending, there may be further and minor revisions.)

I love my job.

Here’s a rough (very rough) sketch of a custom illustration that I’m working on – this is the preliminary sketch. Things may change within it, but I thought it turned out so cute I just had to share. He’ll be incorporated into a blog design when he’s finished.

Fun stuff going on here in my little corner of the web today!

Hope you’re having a good one, I will catch up on my mail and your comments in the next day or two!

I’m proud to introduce you to The Smilly Family!

My baby girl (yeah, she’s still my baby) has been doodling The Smilly Family for several months. Her drawings and the stories that go with them are so creative and fun, it deserves attention. Of course common sense says you can’t get more attention than when you put something on the internet, so that’s what we decided to do with her stories!

She wrote her very first entry today while I was finalizing the design – so go on over and have a read, and welcome my little Smilly Girl to the world wide web!

Lisa over at The Shizzle is sporting a new custom blogger design today! I finished it up over the weekend and launched it just a little while ago for her, go on over and check it out! Today is also her baby girls birthday – what a perfect time then to stop by, wish her baby girl a happy birthday, and have a look at her pretty little makeover!