Illustration Friday and Serenity watercolor

     This past weekend my husband took me to the Ohioana Bookfest in Columbus. I wasn't sure what to expect. I had designed a few bookmarks, for children to color, for the Society of Children's Book Authors and Illustrators, and I wanted to see what other people had done for that display. I figured there would be some books for sale and maybe an author or two. (I did not do my homework)  There were close to a hundred authors and even some illustrators!!! I sat in on four of the 30 panel discussions, the last one of the day being the one related to children's picture books.  I might as well have been sitting in the presence of rock stars. Jeffrey Ebbeler, Tim Bowers, Jane Dippold, and Tammie Lyon were so friendly and down to earth. I was so inspired!
     So. . . now.  At last.  I'm feeling more focused.  I keep saying that I am going to put together a good illustration portfolio. I keep planning to redo certain pieces or fix some of them up and polish them up a bit more. Well, I'm not just thinking and talking about it any more. I'm going to do it! I'm pulling back out some of my favorites, including many from Illustration Friday, plus I have a short list of new pieces I want to do. There's a SCBWI conference in Northern Ohio that I want to attend in September and I want to be prepared.

     This is Serenity, my first redo.  I had done it previously, and rather roughly, in colored pencil.  Today I did it in pen and ink with watercolor. 

I also finished this. I owe a debt of gratitude to the website Illustration Friday for all the Friday prompts. A section of my portfolio is going to have my IF submissions so I did this heading.

Sea Zendoodle

     This is what I've done in the evenings since giving up the video game - Bejeweled. I did it with a Bic medium point pen on a piece of my sketchbook paper.  I worked an hour at a time here and there. I had a lot of fun with it and would like to move on to another. Next time - a little nicer quality paper and a different pen.  I'm sticking with black and white for a while but I have seen some absolutely gorgeous zentangles in color.

Illustration Friday - WINDOW

     Nothing better than reading on a rainy day. I've never had a bay window myself but I've fantasized about having one some day. So this is a future picture of me reading to my future grandchildren on a stormy spring day.

Baby's First Easter

This is my son, and today is his 22nd birthday. He is now 6'5", somewhere over 200 pounds and has a pretty bushy beard on his face.  I, personally, think he's cute no matter what.  This is a from a photo taken somewhere in the vicinity of his first Easter. Dressed like an Easter egg, he looks to be having a great time.

Bookmarks for SCBWI

     Here's a few bookmarks I designed for the Ohioana Book Fest in Columbus on April 25.  The local chapter of the SCBWI asked for some bookmark designs that kids can color in the children's area that day. Hope the kids like these. They were fun to do!

Illustration Friday- OUTSIDE

     It is almost time for this!!!  I have to say, I'm one of those people who enjoy winter.  I like the snow, and feel like a kid when there's a big snowstorm coming.  I live in Ohio, enjoy all four seasons, and each one helps me appreciate the others.  But, the approach of warm weather, not having to bundle up to go outside, going barefoot, and the smell of that freshly mown grass. . . aaahhhh (deep sigh here) - nothing like it.  I always forget the energy boost I receive until it rolls around again. 

     I've posted this image to my blog before, but this is yet another updated version of it.  You'll probably see it again someday with even more tweaking done.