Holiday Celebrations and Distractions!!!

The storms are coming in. The countdown is near. Where will Santa be??? Well, on his sleigh,
of course!!! I am on my way to visiting family for the holiday. I just wanted to extend some Christmas cheer. After I come back, it will be time to begin planning a preparing for the Don Freeman grant submission!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL!! Or, as they say in the South, "happy holidays to y'all!"

the digital process continues...

I am very fortunate to have a large family. My cousin is quite gifted in the ways of graphic art. He has been sending my links to help educate me in the ways of digital illustration. My education has begun. Sketch daily and often is the advice that was given to me by an amazing artist. His words inspire me still 

Here is another snowman that I created today. I started off in one direction and ended up somewhere completely different. I did a layering of snowflakes along with the snow. During my critique, i was encouraged to try my illustrations from different angles. I will admit that I am very tired after working on this. The advantage to this digital style is that I am able to use brighter colors with a far less mess. :) Here is the piece I put together today.

more doodles

Here is something new that I did today. I need to try to do a progressive. My cousin sent me a nice link to help me along with my new style of illustrating. It is all about trying new things!

Something new for me...

At the conference, I learned a lot about the need of a Wacom tablet. I was gifted a gently used Intuous 3 about a month ago. Unfortunately, I had NO idea what to do with it. Well, I finally uploaded paint.net and elements. Here are my first attempts at using my wacom tablet.

 I played with a few features. I first changed the tip on the pen to the grey tip that has the spring in it. I love this tip! Some of the balloons are free hand and some are using the features to
manipulate lines. Fun times!










The next piece I did was primarily free hand with overlays. I am excited to try some more with different techniques. I am a bit confused with the layers, but am excited to read up on them! The tablet is very easy to use. I thought I would have a hard time working with it due to screen and tablet orientation, but it is really quite simple!

The holidays!!!

They are upon us and I am just as crazed as y'all. Please bear with me as I will be updating in the near future. I am still trying to work on my web page and plan to have it up and running before the New year! Happy holidays to you all and may your winter bring a merriness to you soul.

Happy Holidays!

in the works...

Sorry for the delay in posting lately. I have been very busy trying to figure out a way to set up a web page with Wordpress. It is not very CDunbridge friendly. It brings about a ton of frustration and is a virtual time suck. That being said, it is going to be fabulous when it is done. I am also working on a new story about a dog. I am using the tools that I gained at the conference. Really, I am quite lucky to be able to draw and write. It really helps the writing process. I sketched out the main character for my inspiration. I have been reading a lot about breed selective legislation, pound pooches, and what their futures hold (if any). This is my driving force for my story. When inspiration hits, go with it! It has his hard.. I continue to sit on the Andy story and Super brothers Adventure Club and will work on it in the near future, but for now I am cultivating my inspiration. SCBWI southern breeze region has a great set up for critique groups. I think I may have found an online one that may work for my needs. Finding an illustrator group is too difficult. For now, I write!!!

I am still working on some Christmas illustrations for friends, but I am waiting for a photoshop program to incorporate my wacom tablet. Has anyone tried Paint.net? I am struggling with the page and how to load it without picking up an ad instead of paint. net. If you have any input or tools that are helpful, I would love to hear about it!
Until then, still aspiring!
CDunbridge

the to-do list

the to-do list is huge. Artistic ability comes with a clean house for me. I now have a wacom 3 intuous tablet and am very excited to see what it can do. On my desk, I have illustrations that inspire me. I have 5 Serendipity books, my Emily post books for adults and kids, books on illustrations of faeries and other forest creatures, and my collection of SCBWI magazines. So, before I begin with the art, I must first clean the house. Then I am going to fix my domain to a server with a dear friend, Ray Hill's help. Watch out, world. I am learning from you and my aspirations are still huge. They say it takes a village...Well, yes. I concur. My mom is huge support of my aspirations.  My mother in law, Vicki, is a constant inspiration and huge support, My husband who placates my need to share every doodle or story idea. A mentor of sorts that has no idea that he is that to me whom resides in my state. He offers critiques that inspire and help me expand the way I view my artistic world. Then there are the friends. Without them, I would be lost. I have never been one for accepting support, but I have learned that nothing is ever completed to its fullest potential independently. It takes a village. I love my village. Thank you, Village.

Still aspiring,
Cassaundra Dunbridge

the domain project

I must admit that I am a bit gun shy when it comes to the world of technology. It took me a long time to feel comfortable with setting up my blog. Although an aspiring author and illustrator can't hide behind blogspot forever. It is time to buy my own domain and create a website that is everything I want it to be. I have purchased the domain, www.cdunbridge.com . Now comes the fun. What do I do from there??? Well, I am starting to research web site builder sites to create  my perfect web site and portfolio. I have a Wacom tablet coming this week to help expand my illustration abilities. Technology progress is happening. One thing that I took from my previous conference was to measure your progress. Are you plateauing or progressing? A year ago, an agent changed my life. She gave me time. Her time was a catalyst for new adventures. From those new adventures, my art has grown 10 fold. I have taken a class on children's story writing, applied for a grant, entered my work for cover illustration, and more. Now mind you, I have not won a grant or received the cover illustration spot light, but I put my work out there. My work was on display at an illustrator gallery and I received some great feedback. Life is a school and I am forever the willing student. I am very excited to take on the domain project and see what I can bring to it.