
I guess it’s part of a detective’s job to see what others have missed.

This is a piece I did a year ago on a (very) small canvas board (it’s the around the world trip of a Chineese flea in her VR); I wasn’t super happy with the results, so I did some not-so minor changes into Photoshop, but I’ve tried to keep the texture and the collage effect, I didn’t want to have it too digitalized ^_^
You can see the before after shot below. Do you think it better pre or post Photoshop?

I’m linking this week’s IF theme with something that reverbated deeply into my core self this week, and it’s the tragic yet brilliant Olympic Saga of Joannie Rochette. Her determination and courage made her win a gold medal in the eyes of everybody watching her performance yesterday. In the face of grief, she didn’t give in the black crows of despair, but instead reached inside her to light and inspire us all with her outstanding human performance. Bravo Joannie. (click on the image for full size)

This week’s IF theme is propagate; this is an illo I made a while back for a book (to be published someday). This is the part where the main caracter, in an effort to release all her anger, let go a scream which propagates and is echoed by the howling wolves.
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Can you guess to which story she will drift to sleep? ^_^
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Have you entered yourself in the I HEART DESIGN awards yet? There is an Illustrator category, amongst other thing! Only 2 DAYS LEFTS and then it’s VOTING TIME!!! YAY!

For this week’s Illustration Friday theme, muddy, I’ve finally created a new illo, I hope you like it! It’s a Mud Cake!
::: Ingredients :::
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
250g dark chocolate, broken up or roughly chopped
1 cup hot strong coffee, can be strong instant
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup Chelsea White or Raw Sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
2 eggs
::: Chocolate Ganache :::
400g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
1 cup cream
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:::Method:::
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line the base of a 22 – 23 cm spring-form tin with non-stick baking paper and spray with non-stick baking spray.
Mix the lemon juice with the milk and set aside for it to sour the milk.
Place oil, chocolate and hot coffee in a microwave bowl or small saucepan and heat gently, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and the mixture smooth. Cool.
In a large bowl, mix the flour baking soda, baking powder, sugar and cocoa.
Mix the eggs and soured milk into the cooled chocolate mixture, combine thoroughly, and then whisk into the dry ingredients.
Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour. When tested, fudgy crumbs will still adhere to a skewer. This is the desirable sticky mud cake consistency. Cool for 15 minutes in the tin, then turn out and cool further on a wire rack. When cold, cut the cake in half using a serrated knife, ice the centre and top with thick Chocolate Ganache icing.
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::: Chocolate Ganache :::
Place both chocolate and cream in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Cool then refrigerate for 30 – 40 minutes until the mixture is a thick spreading consistency. Chill the frosted cake and serve with softly whipped cream or thick yoghurt.
LINK :: Chocolate Mud Cake
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Just wanted to add, just to stir up your taste buds, I would like to do ALL of the recipe on THIS WEBSITE. Also, don’t forget to participate in my I HEART DESIGN awards! Have a nice weekend everybody!
For the IF Focused theme. Nothing matters when you are focused on the ones you love ^_^.
LINK:: Bigger version and prints
Clumsy love is always better than no love at all ^_^ My son’s latest clumsy love episode: eating my nose (ok, he’s 9 month old, maybe that doesn’t count?).