SCBWI - DANCE

     The prompt word for the SCBWI online newsletter this month - DANCE. I've been working with a gypsy theme for myself, so this month's word worked right into my practice. I wanted light and movement in this one. This is mostly watercolor. I admit that I went in and tweaked it a little digitally. I'm currently working on another watercolor of the seated gypsy that I did for my postcard. I've already completed a couple black and white versions of her and I'm hoping to share as early as tomorrow.

     

Gypsy - self promo

    I've spent the last couple of weeks working on a self-promo package for myself. I went with a gypsy theme for a couple reasons. First, I've always been fascinated with gypsies. Though a homebody myself, I find the idea of wandering the world with little or no geographical ties extremely romantic.  I would love a handsome gypsy man with long dark hair and a golden earring to fall in love with me, but I would be unable to live the life. (And my husband wouldn't like it.) The second reason is that being a freelance illustrator gives a person a rather nomadic profession, peddling services from one client to another in a sort of gypsy-like fashion.

     I posed for the reference photos, so the girl is kind of. . .  (sort of) me, many years ago, with bigger eyes and longer hair. I'm not portraying myself dishonestly, just taking advantage of the perk of being an artist. 

     Here is the letterhead I designed:

And, last but not least, a postcard:

Now, please wish me luck as I send my gypsy caravan out into cyberspace and through the good old-fashioned American mail system in search of my future.

Illustration Friday - SMART

"Lars climbed atop the books and sat for a moment in contemplation. He considered himself a smart fellow. But, for the life of him, he couldn't figure out the reason for plastic fruit."

     I have been playing with clay recently. For a short story I have been working on, I created this guy:
                                                 

I did the piece in colored pencil first, then scanned it in to Corel Painter. This is what the original drawing looks like.  I'm still not entirely happy with the face, so I'll probably go back and rework him in a week or two. 

Afraid of the dark

    I did this illustration for my friend Haley who's working on a children's book idea. This is her main character and he hasn't been sleeping well lately. She wanted to see her character on the page and I wanted more experience in illustrating someone else's story.

    I wanted to do a nice polished portfolio piece so I spent time designing the monsters in clay and considering where the they would have come from. The bat-like guy behind him could be the nightmare version of his neighbor's hairless cat. The brain creature is something he's currently studying in science, and the eyes . . . I just like drawing eyes. Maybe they represent a girl in his class who he's afraid to talk to.

Illustration Friday - SPIN

Watercolor sketch with a bit of marker.

This is a quick glimpse into the psyche of a vegan.  Or maybe I'm a closet sociopath.

My daughter, Louisa, describes it as "disturbing."

Goldfish

     This is just for fun. It's on an 8x10 canvas board that I used for a simple acrylic mock-up. I liked the way it looked so I got out my oil paints and gave it a more finished look. How cute can one fish be?