This is Beatrice, the second of The Letter Sisters. In naming her Beatrice, I decided to make Scrumptious Jayne’s adorable but erroneous-at-the-time assumption that “Letter Sisters” meant “letters of the alphabet” somewhat true now. There are no letters of the alphabet in the sketches, but I think I’ll name the girls alphabetically. The first sister was Ada and now we have Beatrice. I’m going with more old-fashioned names because I think the girls have an old-fashioned feel to them.
Beatrice, sadly, did not scan all that well. Or the shrunken-down version I’m forced to use on the blog became pixellated in translation. Or I’m a goober. Poor Beatrice.
Each of these sketches is a jumping-off point for things I have in mind for them later — once I’ve, oh, taught myself Photoshop, which I’m getting — installing — downloading — whatever — this weekend. I’ve taught myself a graphics program before, one that is now obsolete, just by flipping through the manual and playing around, so I don’t really have any fear of Photoshop. I completely realize how arrogant and puffed-up that sounds, but please do not say anything to de-poof me or make me a’feared. The few times in my life when I’ve stormed into a situation with blind ignorant confidence it has worked out really well for me. Do not open my eyes in any way, shape, or form. I must sally forth undeterred and undisturbed in my ignorance. It’s really for the best. Thank you.
Oh, and yeah, Beatrice ain’t got no legs either. This was purposeful. I mean, sister Ada is legless, so it didn’t seem right to give Beatrice legs and start a whole sibling leg rivalry or be accused of favoritism or cause the dread sin of covetousness. I mean, I don’t need my sketches turning into high-maintenance divas. I’m the boss, girls. I decide if and when you get legs. And if you’re not nice, I will give you cankles.
Don’t think I won’t.
(image copyright Tracey/BTP 2008 — do NOT copy)
Hahahaha! Welcome, Beatrice! I love the old-fashioned names – I think you’re right about that, that the drawings have that feel.
Oh, and also, I think that “Sally Forth” would make an excellent sister in your eventual “Misspelled Ordinal Number Sisters” collection.
Just being Scrumptious… 🙂
May I be one of your cheerleaders? Keep up the good work.
Jayne — Scrumptious as usual. 😉
Ken — Who would say no to having a cheerleader?? Thank you.
Ohhhh, I love Beatrice, too! And…. do I see the slightest tinge of sadness or regret? (It’s possible I’m just projecting. Lol.) Anyway these sisters are fabulous and I hope you do producce them on a greeting card line or something. Honestly.
Maura — That’s so interesting you say that. I think she looks sad, too — sadder than Ada. I don’t plan it when I sketch it; I draw what I draw and it’s interesting to see their little personalities come out.
The bow on her dress makes a “B”. 🙂
B for Beautiful!
You’ll have a good time with Photoshop. No fear.
I love how she’s looking off camera. Like, “I’m sorry, there’s something terribly interesting over there at the moment.”
Cullen — Thank you! I’m totally banking on my ignorant confidence.
Her outfit is fab. She’s kinda workin’ that pixellation.
BTW, and I’m not sure if this would be a tip you can use, Tracey: I’ve been using picnik.com instead of Photoshop, so I don’t have to load any more programs on my little laptop. Haven’t explored the extra features yet–they’d probably be a piece of cake for someone with your skills, though.
I meant to put this up earlier:
Are you interested in using Photoshop because it’s the industry standard or just because you want something to manipulate digital images with?
If it’s the latter, there is a freeware program out there that’s very powerful called GIMP. I’ve used it some, but since I use Photoshop at work and it’s what I’m used to, I didn’t want to learn another program.
But it’s free.
Online at www DOT gimp DOT org
Tutorials at www DOT gimp DOT org SLASH tutorials
Try it out and see if you like it.
Kate P and Cullen — Thanks for the tips! I’ll check them out.