Fiona Sansom - Illustration

How To Centre your AP Div website in Dreamweaver CS4

2010-01-16T21:37:00.005Z

I was having a bit of difficulty trying to find out how to center/centre a website made with AP Divs in Dreamweaver. But I finally sorted it out and decided to write how to do it down - just in case I forgot. If anyone else is interested here is my way how to do it spelled out HERE.

More Life Drawing

2008-11-18T20:03:00.009Z

Here are a few more images that I did in pastel and charcoal a few months ago. The life class I attended was canceled this term due to lack of numbers... so I'm going through a bit of a withdrawal.

The pastels were about 45mins and the charcoal about 30mins.

Life Drawing - Reclining male

2008-04-28T23:47:00.002+01:00

I did this a few months ago at my life drawing class. Done in soft pastel on Murano Paper. About 45 mins.

Clouds and sunbeams

2008-04-25T15:58:00.005+01:00

I had my wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago and my husband took me away for a night or two to Chester. While there we went across to see a National Trust property, Lyme Park, and went for a walk in the surrounding countryside.

There were some lovely cloud formations all over so I took some snaps.

Life Drawing

2007-12-07T10:40:00.000Z

Here's another pastel drawing I did in Life class. 50 mins on A2 sugar paper with Unison pastels (and a few Stabilo Carbothello Pastel pencils)

Life Drawing

2007-11-23T13:04:00.001Z

Here's one of the images I did in Life Drawing this week:

45 mins - pastel on sugar paper

Life Drawing Pastels

2007-11-22T20:35:00.000Z

I've been very busy of late, so have been amiss in putting anything new up. Here's some recent pastel drawings from some life drawing classes that I've just about been able to squeeze into my schedule.

This one was done over two 45 minute sessions

And this one was just 45 minutes:

I wish the poses were over a longer time.

Thinking of sketching reminds me of life drawing..

2007-08-19T17:36:00.000+01:00

Thinking of sketching reminds me of life drawing and that I miss doing it. I was going to a life drawing session that got canned because the venue was closing. So then I tried to go to one that was further away, which was really good because it was longer and had two models... but it was late on Friday night's and very inconvenient to get to, so I stopped at the end of last year. I'd really like to get back into it.

Here's a pastel sketch from one of the last sessions. Because of the longer class length I was able to do colour work where previously I'd only been doing short pencil or charcoal sketches:

I've got most of my life drawing up on this thread HERE on the CGTalk website, if anyone's interested (obviously loads of nudity!)

Trying out ArtRage 2.5 with a Sketch

2007-08-14T12:09:00.000+01:00

I thought it was about time I put up something else here. This is a made-up face I did to try out the ArtRage 2.5 paint program.... I did the above sketch using the Pencil brush on the face (well, plus the eraser!), and the chalk brush on the hair. I used the chalk brush because the pencil brush does not enlarge much and stays as a relatively small line.

I was testing out the Pencil brush because it was recommended by Frog as a very good sketch tool and I can't resist trying out paint programs.

I decided to purchase the full ArtRage (I already had the free version but never really used it) because the v2.5 looked a lot better. I have to say that I really like the pencil and chalk tools. Feels much more like using a real pencil as you can actually shade properly (can't do this very easily in any other program - you end up with a load of lines not proper pencil shading).

The only problem I found was that you have very limited control on texture the darker you get. Especially with the Chalk. You can adjust and change the paper texture which will affect the brush texture, but it's not particularly intuitive, and I would like a bit more control over the brushes themselves. However for roughly £15(incl vat)(US$25) I can't complain. It will be very useful for doodling out rough ideas.

I did find that exporting to .psd did make the image come out slightly darker (I was only using black and white), but exporting to .tiff did not affect the tone. However this could be easily corrected in Photoshop using levels.

There's some niffy stencil and ruler options and the ability to rotate the canvas is great.

However some of the functions are not obvious and hard to find.... ie if you want to permanently flip a layer you have to click on an arrow next to the selected layer, select 'Transform Layer Contents', then a tool bar will pop up, then you have to click on the side arrow and select flip horizontal or vertical. Admittedly, after you have selected 'Transform Layer Contents' you can just hit 'H' or 'V' but it's a bit longwinded. Hitting 'H' or 'V' in normal circumstances will flick your image either horizontally or vertically while you hold the key down, which is handy, but you can't draw on the flipped image. Plus there's no selection function, so you can't cut and paste parts of a layer, although you can rotate, scale or flip the entire layer through the 'Transform Layer Contents' function.

I'm less keen on the paint tools - bit too hit and miss for my tastes. I'll be sticking with Painter X there still. You can get rid of the impasto look on the paint by hitting the F5 key (PC), you loose the paper texture on the screen, but the pencil/chalk/crayon textures still work. I personally found the brushes cluncky when it comes to subtle blending and I still wanted to be able to tweek them more to my taste. So for sketching... yes, for painting (me personally)... no. Though it's a great introduction for anyone just starting into digital painting, without breaking the bank.

Inspired by Drawing Board Jam

2007-05-22T14:11:00.000+01:00

This image was inspired by the Drawing Board Jam for May. I liked the models pose and thought I'd give it a go. Done in Painter X.

Thank Gawd for Google!

2007-04-04T19:10:00.002+01:00

I build myself a new PC in the last few days, as my old system didn't have enough ooph anymore to cope with the large files I have. Everything went fairly smoothly apart from the old cut here and there from sharp parts (why do so many bits that go into a PC seem to have razorlike edges?!?) and a few swear words when screws didn't want to screw in properly... but it was up and running almost with no hitches or major crashes.

So after fiddling around with stuff and updating stuff I think to myself... well it's time to knuckle down and draw something. So, I try to boot up Painter X.... and up comes this error message

"This copy of painter has been damaged or illegally modified. Please reinstall from your original disks".

"What!?!? " I say to myself "oh oh"

So I try to repair it. I uninstall it. I reinstall it.

Still I get the same bloomin' message. I know this isn't the end of the world. Painter IX.5 still works fine.... but I HATE it when things don't work and I don't know why. And I'd only just bought the upgrade too....

So I Google it. And thank goodness there is one English response with exactly the same error message. It was on a Dealtime review here (basically search for and delete all registry entries called "Protexis" (I think it was about 2 entries), being carefully not to touch anything else in case you completely wreck your PC). Thank you theuerkorn who ever you are.... you saved my bacon! After doing what you said Painter X is now working fine!

Phew!

*****

Just thought I'd add a little update for anyone with this problem. I passed on the info on another forum board (TalkGraphics.com see thread HERE) and it seems you have to delete the Protexis files after installation, but before trying to open the program.

So after uninstalling and then reinstalling Painter, do START>>RUN>>typeREGEDIT Search for all PROTEXIS files [two of them] and DELETE (being careful that's all you delete - remember to backup the reg first just in case). And only then open the program.

Maybe that's what I did without remembering I did it. Ah well. ;o)

Princess Stencil Book

2007-03-09T16:05:00.000Z

We'll here's a bit of shameless self promotion.... but what the hell.

Aimed at anyone with a girl child around the age of 7(ish) a bit of stencilling fun, illustrated by ME! Yes it is true... I do pink and purple with twinkly bits very well. ;o)

It's not available just yet (to be published in April 2007) but you can pre-order it.

Purchase on Amazon.co.uk
Purchase on Amazon.com

2007-02-16T23:47:00.000Z

Well it's been a while since I've posted, so I thought I'd pop up the last picture I was able to do on the course at the CGSociety. I wouldn't call it finished but I thought I put it here anyway. I'm rushed off my feet at the moment so it was a struggle to finish anything. Ah well.

Monster With Four Legs

2007-01-18T20:34:00.000Z

Well... it's a monster... with four legs (and a bit of hair) and that's about all I can say about this one. I admit I got bored with 'im after doing the face, so the rest was a bit of a struggle to finish. Sometimes you just run out of steam and inspiration takes a holiday. :-/

Stubby Monster

2007-01-09T09:33:00.000Z

I have the flu this week. A delayed Xmas present from my Husband who had it first - how kind eh! So I'm not feeling brilliant, but onward and upward, as there is no rest for the wicked, as they say... tho who 'they' are, I've no idea.

Anyhow, last week I was too snowed under with freelance work to get any monsters done, but there was a little pause in the work flow last night so I did this monster to get it going again. I hope to get another one done quickly too.

Christmas Bears

2006-12-20T15:22:00.000Z

I haven't gone to any Christmas Parties this year. The one drawback of being freelance is that there isn't even a Christmas do! So because I'm feeling the distinct lack of Christmas cheer, here are a few Christmas Polar Bears (which I actually did last year - but as I haven't got time to do any Christmasy images at the moment, they'll have to do).

Monster Fur

2006-12-20T10:19:00.000Z

This week on the workshop I'm doing (at the CGSociety) we're looking at texture, which includes hair/fur. So this is my first quick hairy monster (and friends).

Little Green Monster

2006-12-18T14:03:00.000Z

Here's a little green chap. He's waiting for something, but don't ask me what!?

Go on... just one more monster

2006-12-13T15:20:00.000Z

Well I squeezed in one more monster of the horn/tooth variety. This one was relatively quick, as I did it between midnight and 2am. Who says you don't have time for art?! ;o)

Tooth and Horns Monster

2006-12-11T18:49:00.000Z

Here's my monster for the final of the Teeth and Horns week. I can never seem to do really scary monsters.... it's most frustrating. Oh well. Practice make perfect (maybe).

Gruesome Gums

2006-12-08T11:38:00.000Z

Following on the teeth theme, here's a mouth for you. Lovely gubbily eh!! Really fun to paint, but hard to chew with!

Monster Teeth

2006-12-07T17:11:00.000Z

Ok... so here's my go at monster teeth and drool. I looked at some ref pics first, but didn't refer to them after the initial gander. Feel the drool!

Horns - not trumpets!

2006-12-07T17:08:00.000Z

This week on my online course is Teeth... but horns come under the heading too. Here was my attempt at a horn. No ref used.

Many Eyed Monster

2006-12-07T16:37:00.000Z

I tried to do a many eyed jellyfish type of monster. But I don't think I quite got the jellyfishness. I had to do it on my laptop at my mothers house... that's my excuse! ;o)

Plus I had no reference material and had to rely on my peanut brain.

Eyes 2

2006-12-07T16:32:00.000Z

Here are some more eyes using reference. Again done in Painter IX.5 inbetween 30-50mins each.

Eyes

2006-12-07T16:22:00.000Z

I'm doing a course on CGTalk at the moment 'monster painting'. First week we looked at eye's.

Here's some practice eye's that I did using reference. They're all in Painter IX.5 and took 30 - 50 mins each to complete.

Halloween

2006-10-31T18:09:00.000Z

A picture for Halloween.

Worn On The Head

2006-10-24T22:20:00.000+01:00

Archery anyone?! Worn on the Head was another weekly/fortnightly sketch topic, set by Jonathan Cusick this time. I was trying to think of something other than a hat. I was thinking of a mask, but couldn't get rid of the apple image in my mind, so decided not to fight it.

Funny Bird

2006-10-18T18:17:00.000+01:00

This is a pic I did for the theme 'Funny Bird'. I'd already done the sketch (just a doodle) but I thought it fitted the theme, so coloured it.

Another Old Master Copy

2006-10-15T00:50:00.000+01:00

Well, here is another go at copying Mr Rubens using Painter IX!

Here is the original

And here is my go:

This is a reaaallly bad .gif of my working stages.... the file size is bit big...sorry. You can see it a tiny bit better if you click on it.

Silhouette Doodle

2006-10-10T19:57:00.000+01:00

This is a quick doodle I did today... feel the breeze!

Copying old masters

2006-10-10T19:32:00.000+01:00

I've been copying some more old masters... well bits of 'em anyway, inspired by the "Anatomy Lesson Series - Body Part 2: The Torso" thread on CGTalk.

I wanted to study skin tone as well as anatomy, because I never seem to paint in life drawing, I only use charcoal.

I've alway liked Rubens so I did a few of his. This is part of the orginal:

Here's my go:

Mr Rubens No. 2:

And My attempt:
Click on mine for a closer look. Hopefully I'll do a few more... I must admit I enjoyed doing them.

These were done in Painter IX. Previously I had trouble trying to do skin in painter, but I think I've got the hang of it (sort of)

Swordsgirl

2006-09-26T19:18:00.000+01:00

I did this because I simply have a soft spot for Swords and... well... swords women too I s'pose! Who hasn't eh!?

Fiona Sansom Square on the AOI Digital Tapestry

2006-09-21T17:25:00.000+01:00

I've joined in on the AOI Digital Tapestry. The theme is Love & Affection. If you want to join in you book 4 175x175 pixel squares from the AOI either horizontally, vertically or in a square. I chose a square just because I thought it would be easiest.

As you can see below the square that appears on the screen is quite small... 80x80 pixels.

This is it at the requested resolution of 350 x 350 pixels.

The below was the whole of my original idea... but I thought that there was probably too much going on for such a small image, so I cropped it.

Oh well. ;o)

Click on image to enlarge

The final Tapestry should be interesting!

Paulo the Pirate

2006-09-14T22:49:00.000+01:00

I have just participated in a Travelling Sketchbook with the theme of 'Travel' (funnily enough) with a group of other illustrators. It's still doing the rounds.

My husband was very keen for me to do a pirate, so my entry for this project was Paulo the Pirate.

I had to do a spread, so I separated it into two pages.

Check out the Travelling Sketchbook blog for more.

Movie Icons

2006-08-30T12:25:00.000+01:00

Rudolph Valentino

This was done for the theme of Movie Icons. I'm not a big fan of the silent movies, but Charlie Chaplin sprung to mind under the theme of 'movie icon', but the problem for me there was I can't stand Charlie Chaplin movies. So I thought I'd go with my idea of Valentino.... not that I've actually ever seen one of his movies.... he always looks rather sulky to me. heh heh!

Ghastly Great Aunt

2006-08-30T12:09:00.000+01:00

I created this image of a Ghastly Great Aunt for Frog and his blogsite Monsterosity. It was good fun to do.. so thanks Frog for asking me!

I had some rather nasty Great Aunts (tho none, I hasten to add, were quite as bad as this one), so when I was asked to do a monster, this theme sprung quickly to mind.

Needless to say click on the image for a closer look.

Illustration Friday - Opposites

2006-07-27T15:14:00.000+01:00

Opposites:- The Amazon and the Poet

Here's another Illustration Friday topic (late again.. ho hum!). I went for the obvious "opposites" I suppose (so sue me)... body size and occupation. Click on the image for a bigger view as it's a bit hard to see here.

Skyline - House on the Hill

2006-07-20T14:21:00.000+01:00

I started this for Illustration Friday theme "Skyline" but never got around to finishing it in the week the topic was live. Here it is anyway.

Anatomy practice - Copying the Masters

2006-07-20T12:30:00.000+01:00

I've been doing a few heads based on old masters paintings and sculpture (initiated by the CGTalk board anatomy thread here . Check out the thread to see more of the original images). I've only done a few so far, because they always take longer than I think.

Here's the original image:

And my interpretation. I thought I'd do it in colour... make it harder for myself, why don't I. I'm a glutton for punishment! ;o)

Original:My go:

Below, I decided to try some pencils (well, actually it's still drawn in Painter), because the colour heads were taking too long ('bout 2hrs each). And I was supposed to be doing something else.

Original:

My attempt (I actually think it may have been easier in colour!):
It's quite strange drawing from old masters. You tend to notice all sorts of discrepancies in the anatomy. For instance I found the right eye of the girl in the painting to be very low...but it looks ok in the painting. However trying to make my black and white image similar without looking like her eye had slipped down her face was tricky... yet this is an exercise in learning from copying, not in correcting what you think is wrong, and who am I to correct an old master anyway! It's a fun exercise!

More One Hour Paintings

2006-07-20T11:42:00.000+01:00

Here's a few doddles with a one hour time limit, inspired either by a photo or a word (on the AOI website) .... to see how much I could get done in the time. All were done in Painter IX.5.

This one is for "Alien"... a bit obvious really ;o) . Needs a bit more work to be any good, but I really felt the one hour limit on this one!

This one was for the word "Sullen"

This one was inspired by a photo of a wolf. After the one time limit was up I felt the upraised paw looked a bit funny, so I gave myself an extra 5-10 mins to fix it.

And this was inspired by a photo.

I decided to give it another go but with a different feel.

The Saucy Devil

2006-06-19T18:13:00.001+01:00

Well, another 'Devil' theme here. This image started off as a one hour exercise. The above image is as far as I got in an hour. I didn't think she looked saucy enough tho, and too wide-eyed, so although this was only supposed to be an exercise I've finished her off (see below). Well, as finished as I have time for ;o) .

Click on the above image to enlarge.

Illustration Friday - Cake

2006-06-02T01:50:00.000+01:00

Well, again, better late than never. I didn't think I'd have time to do this one, but I had a free moment this afternoon, so did this as quick as I could. I wish I could eat cake and still be slim.... oh well.

Illustration Friday - Sorry

2006-05-23T14:09:00.000+01:00

Here's my interpretation for "sorry". I had all sorts of ideas that were really too complex to do in a week, so I did something that is pretty straight forward. It's not always the little kid that breaks the toys!

One hour paintings

2006-05-19T19:31:00.000+01:00

I thought I'd put up these quick one hour paintings done digitally in Painter to practice getting things down quickly. These were based on photo's supplied for the purpose by Frog on the AOI disscussion board. I quite enjoy skies.

Angels and Devils version 2

2006-05-19T19:25:00.000+01:00

Well I've tweeked the Angels and Devil picture a little. Added a few more shadows and highlights. Nothing too much, but it made me feel better.

Illustration Friday - Angels & Devils

2006-05-18T23:39:00.000+01:00

Here's my illustration for last week.... better late than never I s'pose. It took far longer than it should have and it still isn't perfect... oh well!

Illustration Friday - Fat

2006-05-07T13:18:00.000+01:00

I've needed to produce new work and I thought that the topics set by the good people at Illustration Friday would be a good place to start.

Here's my first topic: Fat.

Hi! Welcome to Fiona Sansom Illustration Blog

2006-05-07T13:15:00.000+01:00

Hi there. This is Fiona Sansom's blog. A place to put up my sketches and illustrations.

Wish me luck!