Watercolor Wednesdays - 'pickles'

8x8, ink, watercolor & digital

"Great - it's burger night!" muttered Jeanette as she walked into the kitchen and spied the note on the fridge. She knew what that meant - her mom would be plunking a big, heaping bowl of those gross, green things on their dinner table. Her two younger brothers love pickles. They also love nothing better than to wave them at her and bite into them making loud, crunching sounds. They know how much Jeanette HATES pickles!

Finally posted an illo over at Watercolor Wednesdays - it's been ages!! I'm actually one of the original members from way back when they first started up and we are hitting the 3 year mark in July, wow!

A lot of fun with this one - and it was no surprise to me that the subject ended up looking like my daughter when she was that age. She was /is much like this character: very opinionated and picky (although in her case she loves pickles!)

And again I found out how important it is to work on your bkgd right from the beginning instead of leaving it until the end. I love working on my characters and tend to do backgrounds as an afterthought. Of course with children's book illustration you have to be able to portray many different settings, emotions and actions so the reader can connect with the character(s) . All in all I feel like this was a good stretch for me, much more work needed however :>

Wishing you all a creative week!

Illustration Fri. - 'shadows''

My offering for Ilustration Friday's word this week. I've had this illo swirling around in my head - much like images in a crystal ball - since visiting this place. I was travelling down an art-filled road with camera in hand when I happened upon a street sign that caught my eye. It spoke to a part of me that has always been a free spirit with a gypsy soul.

I immediately imagined gypsies and maybe a band of pirates meandering up and down the cobblestone road (it was paved, but as I said I was inspired). Of course to complete the scene a ne'er-do-well or two would be lurking in the 'shadows'.


'Gypsy Alley', 9x12, pen & pencil on bristol

I definitely want to explore this sketch further on canvas with acrylics or oils and maybe digital paint, we'll see....

Have a creative week and don't forget to check out all the talent over at IF!

Illustration Friday - "Geeky" / Artwords #60 "Cube"

'Floral Cubes' - carbon paper ink, color pencil on isometric graph paper

EDIT: Okay so I did another one cause I really wanted to see it in a warmer palette and with more drawing than cubes. Also for Tanya who wanted to see more florals :)


"Geeky" for patterns, color and design in this construction of pure geometry and abstract form. This appealed to my true design geek sense of order, interaction of color and form! However, it was a test in patience as a bit of planning had to take place before the actual color work began ( I like to skip preliminaries and dive right in!)

design details: 6 colors paired in 2's, alternating rows diagonally, cube's pattern color determined by the color of the cube to its' left

I initially had more in mind for the floral drawing in the first one below, but scaled it down a bit when I contemplated the time involved. However, it was fun and almost zen-like working on this so I decided to do another one in an alternate color palette and with a bolder, large- scale drawing as shown.

More 'geeky'-ness here: how stuff works