Valentine Specials

I've been working on this piece on and off for a couple of months. It was done digitally in the Procreate app on my iPad. I've done a lot of experimenting, changed background elements, and created a mood. 

Below is the soda fountain illustration I did nearly five years ago. As you can see I kept some of the same elements, but I would say I have learned a thing or two. 

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March, you crazy month

Ta-da! "March" is done and it's still . . . MARCH!!! Look at me go! 

This was done in the Procreate App on my iPad, where I can sit in a comfortable chair, not get my hands dirty, and not think about the fact that I'm pretty much giving up on my basement studio. I did an under-layer of color with the airbrush tool and then worked all over the top of that with the technical pencil tool at the highest size setting to make it look non-digital. (I hope you think it looks non-digital).

March weather, here in Ohio, has been ridiculous - snow, thunderstorms, freezing temperatures, warm pleasant temperatures, rain, and wind - all within a span of two or three days! I pulled out my old "March" piece which you can find here. I added the child, who may not look it in the drawing but is extremely hyperactive (who else would hug a lion?) to express that this March has gone beyond the lion and lamb into new hyperactive territory. Also, he's really cute.

Practice, Practice, Practice

      Thank goodness, spring is around the corner! I mentioned in my last post how long and depressing this winter has been. Enough of that! I am pulling myself out of the winter blahs and "march"ing ahead! These are small exercises I pulled from my sketchbook. I've been doing these as creative warm-ups. They are not all on the same sketchbook page (I've just thrown them together here to make myself look like I actually can create a sketchbook page like this) and I am amazed by artists like Jeremy Hoffman who I follow on Instagram @theheartofjeremyhoffman where he shares the most amazing pages of his own, perfectly crafted and composed.
     These little darlings above are referenced from a book "Facial Expressions Babies to Teens" with the exception of three. The grumpy baby on the top (who was very upset with his parents on shot day) and the handsome baby in the bottom middle are both my grandson and future academy award winner, and the pretty girl in the middle right is my granddaughter.
   
Meanwhile, I have a few projects going on right now.

I posted this on Instagram last week, a detail from a piece I'm painting in acrylics. I'm cropping into the digital composition I did a couple of years ago (below), and giving it a little more energy.

Then there's these two enjoying a Valentine's Day milkshake. It's a work in progress and it will have a background when done.

Last is an image I did a few years ago - March coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb. Sticking with my idea for a calendar this year, I'm doing some more revamping.

Here's how I'm starting. I found a couple of lion images on the internet- one for the body, one for the head, did a quick sketch of a kid (who was originally hugging a big dog) and threw it all over the top of my original. It is currently a hot mess but today the sketching begins.