MIA!

It's been a long two months! I'm sure it's been unnoticed since traffic here is usually pretty low...

I have an illustration job! I'm working on creating illustrations for children's song charts for a friend... here's a few examples so far:

Short and sweet... off to WaWe to say 'hello' and then back to painting!

waaay behind!

It's the new year, so I'm starting out by still catching up on 2009! I don't even remember when this topic was for, IF: hatch... I ended up turning it into a project for Watercolor Wednesdays.

New years art resolutions:

1. complete projects on time (if at all possible)

2. create more art

3. be intentional

still catching up

I have more art to post still, but this was for IF: entangled (never got posted until now... ) I just laugh at how Alice got herself entangled in that silly unbirthday tea party with the crazy mad hatter!

this is a close up scan before it was finished... I didn't get to scan it before I gave it away to my sweet friend for Christmas

IF: "crunchy" & WaWe: "Let it Snow"

Henry trekked up the hill in the crunchy snow to meet his friends. With the first snow of the winter season came the tradition of sledging, snow-duck-angels, and new memories to be made...

Double dipping this week for IF/WaWe. I tried adjusting the color in PS but the accent/shadow areas are just very light from the scan... not like the original. Oh well. Lot's of new art to post... just have to find the time to do it amidst packing/moving. Oy!

the birthday prince

In 2 months my son will turn 2. He's definitely not a baby anymore... he looks like a little boy. My little prince :)

WaWe & sneak previews!

WaWe (Watercolor Wednesdays) is a blog I am just starting to contribute to. Similar to IF with weekly topics... I'm a bit behind in the month, but the start of November was "Wild THing" and I've only just sat down to scan this watercolor into my computer, even though it was finished on the 7th!

http://watercolorwednesdays.blogspot.com/2009/11/wild-thing_5753.html

Working on some preliminary sketches for some illos I have brewing in my mind... delightful ideas! They're not very clear scans, but previews don't need to be in my book :)

I have a few thoughts on her name, but not sharing yet...

...the picture to follow...

And for something different... the birthday prince :)

Will be back soon with more WaWe and hopefully an IF post!

IF: "germs"

This week's topic for Illustration Friday is "germs". How appropriate! We have all been battling colds and as I held my little boy and wiped the boogies from his nose I realized I was holding my inspiration for this week! :) Stuffy nose + blankey + pacifier = germs!

PS my son hasn't used a pacifier in months, but I thought it was fitting for this illo.

In other news, I am now a member of Watercolor Wednesdays! So in addition to IF, I'll be posting WaWe illo's as well. I'm thrilled at the opportunity and eager to work on the challenges for October!

Pumpkins!

One of my new favorite websites to follow, besides Illustration Friday, is Watercolor Wednesday - an artists blog on blogger. They are a members only group, but I love the work (and would love to aspire to be as skillful as those artists!). For extra practice, I thought it'd be fun to follow their topics and participate on my own blog. For today, the topic was 'pumpkin madness'.

I had this concept idea of photographs of a couple during the changes of season in their lives... get it, changes of seasons? The first illo they are engaged, second they are married, third they are pregnant, and fourth they have a baby. In part, it is biographical of how my life has changed these past four, almost five years!

I used Picasa 3 from Google to create the collage above, giving it the feel of Polaroids.

"Oh, bother..."

I think of Winnie the Pooh every time I say that. Silly old bear.

IF's topic this week was "pattern". In spite of numerous ideas from the inspirational word, I had absolutely no time to think about IF this week... oh, bother. SO, I'll just give a sneak peak for something I've been working on, which I think happens to work for "pattern". Whew.

I prestained the paper with black tea for the background color. Everything else is pencil and watercolor (and watercolor pencils).

IF "infinite"

Wow, tough topic. Infinite can be such an abstract concept... I think I'm getting the hang of this blogger business. Here's my submission for this week:


And two close-ups:

That's 'Sammy' gazing at the infinite number of stars in the night sky.

getting into a rhythm

Meet 'Sammy'. He is the character I've been developing over this past week. His personality is inspired by at least 3 other 'Sammy' dogs that we know. The character itself is drawn after the looks of a Boston Terrier, but obviously the color is different.

This week's topic was: welcome. Again the ideas gave birth to mounds of sketches and ideas, but two rose to the top as favorites as I also considered 'Sammy'.

I used watercolor in both these pieces, with the exception of ink on some of the details.

The squirrels ran up the tree away from Sammy. They chattered, "You're not welcome here!"

back in the saddle again

After toying for a while with the idea of working from home in art/illustration, I've finally decided to commit to it and give it a go. I'm learning the complexities and challenges of attempting to work from home, all while maintaining my role as wife & mommy - support from family & friends has been a great encouragement!

Illustration Friday is a great website that a friend introduced me to, at least 6 months ago or more. They send out weekly topics to inspire and motivate new artistic creations. I'll be sharing my projects here on this blog and I'd love to hear from you!

This week's topic was: magnify.