Steps in Creation ( How Art can become a Photo Card )

There was someone who posted recently about her steps in the creation process for art licensing. I thought it was an interesting post, because I assumed we all did it the same way. But just like cooking, the basic recipe is there, but all cooks have their own take on it. I'm a big fan of traditional art, but love to enhance it in Photoshop, so I always start out with a traditional hand drawn illustration that starts in my generally whimsical mind. Compared to art created in the time of the dinosaurs where any little change was cause for a totally new illustration, or patching the art, Photoshop opens up the possibilities to so much more, and makes the creation process so much easier, especially when it comes to client changes.

So in light of "the process," I thought I would show how I come to the final art. Below, is my original watercolor for a custom photo card I designed for Christmas. After it was scanned and cleaned ( because I can be a total art pig ), I felt like it needed more, and the style in which I drew it had a very vintage feel. Knowing that "Vintage" anything is a trend right now, I looked through my purchase of "Lil Owls" backgrounds, and found the perfect vintage floral pattern to place over the art. It was just the perfect touch the art needed.

Then the card was made into a PNG file to enable the buyer to add their own photo to the front of the card.
It went straight to my Greeting Card Universe store which made it available immediately. You can visit it there by clicking on the card below. Onto another card.... do you think kids still like to color? I think so, and had that in mind for my next Holiday card.