Oh, Pinterest. Why do you do me like that? I don’t even know how I got there, but I guess that’s how Pinterest works. You save a pin to one of your boards, and it leads you down this wormhole of awesomeness. Or crap. Like, do I really need my feed filled with 5 billion charcuterie boards? Why yes. Yes, I do.
Sorry, I’m hungry/love salami and got distracted. Somehow, I stumbled upon this Australian illustrator, Lauren Carney, who combines her talent for graphic design with photographic self-portraits, and the results are ah-mazing. Better than I could ever do right now, but I could at least make a corny attempt, right? Her designs are colorful, whimsical, and pretty.
It was also November when I discovered this crazy medium of illustrating cartoons over photos, which means holiday prep and photo card anxiety. Not over what clever photo I would have Charlotte and our adorable boxer Fredo pose for, but getting the damn holiday cards out on time. Amiright?! Half my family is over in Sweden, so in order for them to get them in time for Christmas, I literally have to mail them in September, hahaha. I’m kidding, but not really.
10 years ago I used Tiny Prints for thick cardstock holiday cards, paid extra for rounded corners and not-shiny finishes, and I waited 3 weeks for my order. Charlotte was a baby, and I spared no expense. Now? Walgreens.com photo, thank you. I can upload one day and pick up later that eve, more Make! My Mistake speed if you ask me.
The other issue this year is that Charlotte is in middle school now. 10 going on 14, and cute holiday outfits are “kind of embarrassing, Mom!!” Insert eye-roll-here. So I showed her my Pinspiration, and I guess because it was a real artist and not me, she went for it!
Early one Saturday morning, still in PJs and not terribly cold out, I announced suddenly from the couch, “ Let’s get outside-quick! No jacket! Throw on any shoes, barefoot, I don’t care! Let’s take some pictures with Fredo!” Since I knew I’d be drawing over her outfit I didn’t mind what she was wearing, I just did a quick glance and made sure it was somewhat fitted/not baggy. Chocolate milk stains? Meh, that was fine too.
Then, comedy ensued. Never work with children and animals, right? I probably took 30 pictures on my phone, mostly because I had no idea what I was doing yet, and neither would cooperate at the same time, dammit.
Here’s my advice on holiday card photo taking:
- Try various poses and angles
- Look for non-messy background (trust me, less photoshopping later)
- Take posed and candid shots
- Try both close-ups and wide shots
Once I had my photos I chose my favorite one and decided on a theme for the drawing – Nordic Elf! We both love Scandinavian holiday crafts and decor so it seemed perfect.
I quickly drew out the photo in my sketchbook and added the silhouette of their outfits so I had some direction before I sat down at my desktop. I then loaded the original pic into Photoshop first to enhance the color, remove the bird poop on the tree stump (hee hee), and take out the logs on the ground that I thought might busy up the design. I then saved the new photo, cropping it tp a 5 x 7 aspect ratio that will fit a greeting card, and loaded it into Illustrator to start the cartoon design process.
I chose a warm grey color palette with some deep reds and gold and went to work! I started drawing over her clothes, added a crazy gnome-elf hat and pointy shoes, and exaggerated the waistband and cuffs to be extra cartoony. For Fredo, I knew he had to be a reindeer but more caribou style, so I added a thick blanket more like a saddle pad, extra large horns, and a jingle bell with some ribbon for extra holiday goodness.
For a cartoon style, for each color I add 2 extra shades – a high and a low. So for example, main red, then a lighter version for highlights, and a darker version for shading. It’s a simple formula that worked for me. Also, outline everything in black, play with line width, and add heavy black shading in rounded corners and joints. Finally, try to exaggerate perspective, like the ribbon on Fredo’s antlers getting wider at the end as it gets closer to the viewer.
Finally, add a clever (or cheesy) greeting, save as a jpg and upload it to Walgreens Photo in their custom card section, and you’re done! Just get them finished in time you procrastinator; otherwise you could be sending Happy New Year’s cards like I did last year!
Make! My Mistake 