On the left, a self portrait (yes, the chicken obsession was already evident) and on the right, a gouache painting for a concepts class.
This illustration is ok- cute enough, but nothing too special. I was lucky in that I had (and still have) an awesome agent to help me improve on this piece. The cat needs to look more like a cat and the mouse needed to look more like a mouse (even if they are drawn in my style). The most important thing of all is that an illustration tells a story. What story was this image telling? Is it loud and clear?
The new and improved version. Besides the new details in the room (curtain, lampshade, etc.) There is more of an element in story telling; the cat is now holding a fork, there is a mouse trap with cheese. The cat is definitely on the hunt for mice.
I've done way too many alphabet-related projects to really do a new piece for this topic. So I hope you enjoy some of these oldies but goodies. These were done for a little book for Educators Publishing Service.
I also have a book out in the Fall called The Mixed-Up Alphabet written by Steve Metzger, illustrated by me. So thats plenty of alphabets already! But I thought about doing one as a quilting project-it might be pretty cool. If only I had some more time...
A blue wee bunny for a friend's baby boy! This is my first stuffie and it was harder than I thought it would be- the bottom is circular and that was the hardest to sew on. Free pattern from Wee Wonderfuls- but most of you probably know that already!
A super quick one this week. Getting busy now but I still wanted to put up something new. I thought about all these bugs that visit my apartment during the summer time..and by wintertime they are gone. I wonder where they go?
Vroom note pad, 4" x 6", 50 sheets. Illustration from this piece I did for Illustration Friday.
I'm a rockin' girl! Both Anja and Zari.zhm gave me the rockin' girl blogger award. Thank you so much, ladies! I love Anja's color palette (colorful yet sophisticated) and Zarifi inspired me to do this-combine illustration with photos. You two are rockin' too!
They are Claire, Paula, Jenn, Susan, Anette and Holli.
I made a house tissue cover! The awesome pattern is by My Paper Crane from book The Crafters Companion. I basicly picked up this book mainly because of this pattern. So cute. The chimney was a little tough to put on though.
I originally wanted to make a bunch of these fabric collages and sell them. But now I am not so sure. I am, however, taking steps to open an etsy shop. I have some fun stuff in the works! More soon.
Combining two IF topics = happy result!
I'm thrilled to be a contributor for this comics anthology that Friends of Lulu put out to promote female comic artists. There was a book release party this week and I finally got my copy! The hilarious cover is by Miss Lasko-Gross, with more than 50 female cartoonists contributing.
Its amazing to see how my art has evolved since 4 years ago!
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Math boy and I are off to vacation for a few days. Math boy is leaving behind the math books and I am leaving behind my laptop (GASP!). There are a few things I need to wrap up before I leave, so I won't be able to participate in Illustration Friday this week. Although I have some great ideas for this week's topic and its already in my sketch book.
The samples are here! The samples are here! The Mixed-Up Alphabet, written by Steve Metzger and illustrated by yours truly. Published by Scholastic, out October 2007.
It was alot of fun to work on, coming up with different "personalities" for each alphabet. Adding little details such as lightning bolt "zaps" on the Z, plaid on the P, and making C into a cowboy. It wasn't long ago that I had these guys as sketches up on my wall. Now they are in color and in a book. I feel like a proud mama.
I'm so happy that so many artists are selling prints of their work. Now my drab walls now get a fresh make over with these short order chicken art prints by Stumpytown. Now these are my kind of chickens! Aren't they hilarious? I got these prints a while back and it took a long time to get frames for them- I finally found these that were perfect from Pottery Barn.
For all your pains and aches,
Stock up and save!
Last friday, I got two big boxes of samples for the Cranium Ultimate Book of Fantastic Fun & Games. I took part in designing this book and also did the illustrations (besides the Cranium characters, done by Gary Baseman.) I worked with awesome people over at LB Kids and Cranium. They gave me so much freedom to do what I wanted, now thats one great design job!
This book should be available in the fall. Yay!
After I did these greeting cards out of fabric, I got a bit obsessed over doing more fabric collages. Here's a little bit more experimentation. This little tea guy is about 4 x 4 inches. (nothing too big so I don't feel like I am wasting fabric.)
And its so easy in Illustrator to break up the shapes, print it out and voila- you have a pattern!
Eureka! For the past few IF postings I 've been discovering a new style and a new way of working. I feel very free. I worked straight on the computer with this one too. The topic "Discovery" immediately made me think of a bunny pirate discovering a treasure box full of carrots...well, the carrots never quite made it there.
However, I fell in love with the characters and eventually gave them names. Then I thought it would be cute if they had a discovery club of sorts and so here is the logo I made up.
My photograph doesn't really do these cards justice. Her soft, fine drawings are so delicate and wonderful. I got them a while back and didn't get a chance to post these. They are so lovely, thank you Kathy!
Another mock cover I am doing. Although I wished there was some consistency with this, it was fun to do more experimenting and playing with my style. For this I worked straight on the computer, it turned out to be more vintage-like than I intended.
