Serenity cover sketch

Sketch for the cover.

Current project - Serenity

   
     I haven't posted for a while but not because I haven't been busy.  I am very excited about my current project.  I wrote a children's book manuscript about a little witch named Serenity.  For the last couple of weeks I've been working on a dummy book.  These are rough acrylic sketches. Each spread is 9"x6".  I'm in the process of dropping them into the computer for some extra tweaking and for adding the type.  My goal is to be done by Monday the 16th (my birthday!).  Then, I'm going to work on a nice, more polished looking cover and redo one of the interior spreads into a more polished looking version. THEN, I'll send it off into the world to see if I can get it published!!!
     Writing and illustrating children's books is what I've always wanted to do and I am having a blast.  Can't wait to get started on my next one.

TEMPTATION OF CLAIRE

     The 2 feet by 3 feet size of this monster is strange after spending so much time on my 2 inch by 3 inch minis! And it took much longer to finish. I tend to paint sporadically, going gung-ho for a few days, then taking several days or a couple weeks off before coming back. I started this piece in November and then it sat lonely and half complete through the entire holiday season. 

     I had planned to paint from life but had to rely heavily on my photo reference because . . . well, it's hard to paint in the dark. I wanted the piece to have a heavy light source in a dark environment. (There's probably a way to do this and maybe someday I'll figure it out.)

     The inspiration for this piece was the masks. The black and white one on the left belongs to my son, who picked it up as a souvenir in Italy. The red one is from a mask-shopping-spree I went on around Halloween a couple of years ago. The rest of the objects are there because they are just so pretty! I'm not one to go for deep meaning in my artwork. I just like things that sparkle. :)

This is what it looked like after the first day I worked on it.

Illustration Friday - NEFARIOUS

I was in the mood to do some sketching in my sketchbook.  This is a collection of nefarious characters from Hollywood. Freddy doesn't look so scary without his makeup does he?

Taylor Swift

    I pulled up several photos of Taylor online and did a couple of sketches of her first to get used to her facial structure.  This was the third attempt at a caricature and I'm happy with it.  I'm getting more serious about putting together a portfolio and I wanted to have a few more caricatures in there.  I think they're fun to do and I've always liked doing portraits.

Illustration Friday - PUPPET

8 x 10 oil on canvas

My daughter got this mask last year in Florence, Italy - the birthplace of Carlo Lorenzini who is the author of Pinocchio.  I did the painting over 3 - 2-hour days, working from a still life set up.  Much different than working from a photo and, for me, easier to keep a looser style.  This painting is serving as an exercise for a larger painting I want to start working on soon.  The largest paintings I've done over the last several years have been 12 x 16 and I'm in the mood to go bigger and hopefully more dramatic.