Cuttlefish

Our ocean-themed stamp sheet has been delayed, but not forgotten.

I think I have a final version of a cuttlefish that will be included (above), along with the squid and shell images. Loden is gathering some seaweed elements as well.

Part of the delay has to do with the fact that we both have many ideas for ocean-themed images, as well as older artwork that can be reworked for stamps. So deciding how to group the images and which images to work on first slowed the process down a bit. Needless to say, we will definitey have more ocean-themed stamps in the future!

Squids

Loden showed me a new way to "clean up" images to prep them for stamp sheets. It is great, but it doesn't seem to have cut down on the time it takes me. Really, much of the time spent is due to the irresistible urge to keep changing little things, here and there. A curve, width or slant of a limb, etc.


This squid image, at least, is done. The images on the left will be the stamp images. The ones on the right are reverse-value to see, roughly, how each stamp would look on velvet or stamped light on dark.

I still have to clean up one more squid image. We have an image of a cuttlefish that will probably be included as well. Between the two of us we also have sea weed, shells, a sand dollar and a horseshoe crab. We will have to play with sizing and layout to see what makes the cut.

Other ocean elements

A couple more draft versions of works in progress.

Squid-dle-y doo

Drafts

I have been grabbing time here and there to work on an ocean-themed stamp sheet and have been caught up in an image of a squid. Questions about size, detail, how much "artistic license" to take in order to make it work as a velvet or clay stamp. An earlier version had much longer arms, but squid arms are not as long as those of octopi, in relation to the body.

Hope to wrap this up today, as I have many other ocean elements to get to. Want to get sheets into production before the ad comes out in Rubber Stamp Madness.