Happy Holidays!!!

    Preparing for the holidays is wiping me out!  Haven't had time to do anything
new, but I finished my illustration for the SCBWI Tomie dePaola award Wednesday.  
There will be a gallery of the entries after the winning entry is made public and I will 
post my piece here on Jan. 11.  I look forward to seeing the gallery!
    I am thinking I will take a two week holiday break and won't be back posting 
on my blog until Jan. 4th.  Searched through my sketchbooks trying to find the 
Christmas bookmark I lost and I found this sketch.  I did it on tracing paper and it
is a little rough, but I didn't want to say Happy Holidays! without a little visual.  
May you have a wonderful, happy, healthy and safe holiday and new year. 
Peace and love,  Rachel 

Fern Fawn waited patiently for
Buck to answer the door. 

Floating About

     Hello!  Sorry for the late post, has been a very long day.  I have been working on my

entry for the Tomie dePaola Award.  http://www.scbwi.org/awards/tomie-depaola-award  

I did a lot of sketching for this one and changed my mind about what I wanted for the final

art after already transferring it onto my paper.  Sometimes I think I jump the gun a little and

don't analyse the work enough.  Showing my sketches will give away my final too much but

I did want to share a sneak peek of my tracing.  This is another thing I have learned along the way.

I wasn't sure what colors I wanted to use so 

put tracing paper over my final sketch to sort out the colors.  My palette of colors are bright, which makes me a little nervous.  I tend to stick with softer or natural color.  Coloring with pencils and

actually painting on the tracing paper also helped me figure out pattern.  I was going to make this

little doggie solid blue, then thought about spots, but then tried the tiny ones.  The tiny ones are cute 

but I hope it doesn't look like blue chicken pox!  The illustration prompt if you haven't read it is

a poem called "Sneeze" so maybe it is fitting.  Anyway painting with brights and working

on this made me feel so happy, and *thought bubble* This is why I do this.

More news is that I signed up for Lilla Rogers Assignment Bootcamp.   http://lillarogers.com/school/assignment-bootcamp

It starts in February and I am very excited.  I have been feeling lately like

one of those balloons you blow up, don't tie, then let loose to go nuts 

   about the room.  Perhaps direction will help me fine tune my style and 

figure some things out.  Until then I will be floating about

the room.  See ya next weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!

Outside Peace

    Hey Everybody!  Glad to be back;)  My birthday was really nice.  Had lunch
with my love and had fun with my little-ish loves in Columbus.  We went to COSI
and Magic Mountain Fun Center.  I would recommend visiting both, especially if
you have kids!  The recycled moth art by Michelle Stitzlein at COSI was incredible.
You can see pics of these here...https://twitter.com/RachelBollman  Keep in mind
these are massive!
    I drew this scene last night inspired by a little bookmark I painted a while ago.
Upset that I had lost it, I decided it was still floating around in my mind and I
should put it down on paper.  The girl ended up a little older than the one I had
painted, but still happy with the result.  I also added more to the whole picture,
the bookmark was only her face with the scarf and the one bird.  This is what I
have been trying to concentrate on and improve, completing a whole scene that
tells a story.   I am a little bummed that I started too close to the wire binding holes.
I suppose I was trying to conserve on paper but now have learned my lesson.  It
was fun doing this as a drawing, not sure if I am going to paint it, ink it and
color with pencils, or just leave it alone.  I would have to transfer to paint, and
sometimes the spontaneous feel gets lost.

    Recently I have been working on and thinking about eyes.  It is so tricky to get the
eyes focused sometimes.  Emotion is tough too, and at times I think my own emotion
shows in the eyes I draw.  If you are battling a little sadness it is hard to convey the joy
that everyone speaks of being such a necessity in children's book illustration.  You
really have to become the character and place yourself in their world.  It's a great
escape, and it makes me happy and thankful to be able to create such a place.  Peace.
   

Taking a little birthday break, sorry no post today.  See you next week!

Fancy Pants

    Just finished this little illustration I started last week.  I sketched by hand and
worked in Illustrator.  Unfortunately it was a rough sketch and all my lines weren't
connected so it took longer than I thought it would to color and finalize.
    Daisy is a bit upset.  Working part time as a clown at birthday parties just doesn't 
pay that well.   Her room mate Violet works at The Fancy Store.  
    Sometimes Violet is nice and will share her steak dinner.  

"Some people get steak, others get kibble, how fair is that?" 

  Suddenly Violet says "The Fancy Store needs a model.  Perhaps you would be willing?"

  "Hmmm....how much does it pay and what would I have to wear?" 

  "Well, it can't be any worse than 
 a clown suit right?"

   "Smarty pants."

  "Actually, I am wearing a dress."
  "Bet cha got smarty underpants 
   on though!"

Mermaid Skates!

    Inspired by the #twoodle game on twitter and the "Tresses for Wild Things",  

I  did this today on Illustrator.  I worked from a sketch I scanned in, redrawing each
element.  I added the rough sketchy areas later to make it  look a little less

"computery".  Happy with the final result, she will go well with the siren I

did a while ago (Siren Vision).

    

Where the wild fibers are...

    Last weekend at the craft show I met Pat, (the knitter who did the fabulous 

children's cardigans posted last week) who told me about Black Sheep

Fiber Farm, and yesterday my kids and I had the pleasure to visit.  I felt I had 

stepped back in time and discovered a national treasure!  Beautiful landscape was 

dotted with Lincoln Lock/Corriedale sheep and Mohair goats, creating a scene that 

could be the English countryside, far from rural Ohio.  We were given an informative

tour of the hay scented barn where the wool is cleaned, washed, picked, carded, blended, 

and dyed by the owner Kathy.  A sultry rainbow of curly colored wool/mohair bundles were everywhere, in various stages of the process, making a felting, crafting, dyer like myself swoon.

   My favorite purchase was the "Tresses for Wild Things".  Kathy has dyed the curly wool

in various punk rock-like colors.  Now I have to take a little hiatus from my illustration work,

these tresses are so inspiring!   

   

Apologies for the delayed post.  If you would like more information

please visit http://www.theblacksheepfiberfarm.com.  Also if you are interested in the beautiful hand knit sweaters please email me at raradesign@yahoo.com and I can get in touch with Pat.

Crafty in a good way...

    I've been crazy preparing for this craft show that was today.  Had so much
fun with my friend Amy and met a lot of cool crafty folks.  Some friends I haven't
seen in a while stopped by my booth, which was a nice surprise.  Pretty beat now
but wanted to keep up with my commitment to post weekly.  I'll leave you with
this little pic of my booth today...a bit blurry and I even forgot  to take a pic of
the other table.  Oh well.

P.S. There was constant traffic but I probably spent more than I made!

Can't help it, I love quality crafts.  I bought two adorable hand knitted sweaters 

and Christmas earrings (crystal trees and tiny ornaments)!

Everyone got a little nervous...

    I started this illustration a while ago and thought maybe Sally Spider was

a little too creepy with all the eyes, but after some positive feedback I decided 

to finish it.  (I was going to change the spider to a snake, but if you notice, the 

rug has a spider web look.)  The Pentel refillable cartridge color brush is fun to

use, but you have to be careful.  If you put in color after creating outlines it 

washes out.  I had to go over the lines several times to get the darkness I wanted.

Pretty happy with the results.  Some of the creatures in the circle are a little hard 

to figure out, that is, what sort they are.  I like to create ambiguous animals. 

It adds a little more mystery.

Everyone got a little nervous as Sally Spider told her story.

                        It was a small nightmare updating my website so please make my day

                                 and check it out *=* http://raradesig3.wix.com/rachelbollman

Vision

    I obligated myself on twitter by giving a sneak peek of this digital illustration
so here it is!  Doing that forced me to finish it this evening.  I am glad I pushed
myself.  Sorry if there was any confusion today, should have explained when
posting earlier that it wasn't finished yet.
   This work was inspired by the #twoodle game on twitter, with the words
Siren and Vision.  I work in Illustrator, creating patterns as I did for textile
prints.  I love Illustrator but do realize there are limitations to it and am getting
slowly tempted by the shiny allure of Photoshop.
    Saw a video by https://twitter.com/TracyBishopArt demonstrating Manga Studio 5,
which looks interesting.  It was posted on her blog which she shares with other great
illustrators, so check them out!  http://www.simplymessingabout.com/search/label/video
Checked it out on Amazon and it is quite reasonable
yet similar to Photoshop so I may try it.  Now you may be remembering a little
rant I went on about how I was getting into traditional methods.  How imperfections
are nice, so many people are doing digital, etc.  I think it's fun to use both,
besides the fact that some of my work  seems better for digital
and vice versa.  Sometimes I even scan in hand sketched or painted elements and use
within digital as many other artists are doing.
    As I obsess over learning the business of children's book
illustration I know I may seem a little all over the place.  Learning is like that
for me.  Immersed in it is the only way to go, just have got to be organized,
set goals, stay focused and keep...my vision ;)

Getting it Together

    Here are a couple more little (5"x 5")  Aquabord watercolors painted recently.
The process was like the one used for the previous post.  I transferred the deer and
the circles and shapes were added organically.  I wanted a holiday feel without being
too "Christmasy" and designed elements as I felt were needed.  Pull Pony was kept
sweet and simple.  I have been working on these and some needle felted chicks,
birds and owls.  I will tweet pics of the tweeters later this week.
(Follow me https://twitter.com/RachelBollman so you don't miss!)
 

     

    Although it's fun to do craft shows and I could use a little cash I fear I am just

getting distracted from children's book illustration.  My focus is on kid or kid-like

art, it's all related.  I am inspired by crafty works.  Time is being divided between

both worlds, and in doing so I know it will all make sense one day.  It's just the way

I work right now.  My art style is versatile, and I am embracing that.

    I am very happy that I finalized my book Buggie Boo, What Can You Do

At The Circus?  yesterday.  I am working on my website and will post my revised

(based on comments from conferences) pages by Friday.  Set some crazy goals the

other night, but I did manage to sketch, and have a digital illustration for my website

(http://raradesig3.wix.com/rachelbollman almost completed.   Decided to work on the website this

week.

    Please visit your local library!   Humans need books!  (I am reading Humans by

http://twitter.com/matthaig1 and highly recommend you and your alien clone friends check it out.)

First Steps

                           
                            Earlier this week I painted this baby bear based on a rough sketch.

I used the Aquabord I mentioned on an earlier post.  The surface is great

to work on and I highly recommend it.  It lends itself to the washy look and 

luminous feeling that I wanted to achieve in this piece.  I wish I had 

kept some of the rough lines and looseness of the sketch, which sometimes 

happens when transferring your sketch.  Try to loosen up by sketching

before preparing a drawing to be painted, this may help.

 If you are interested, following below is my process...

First I transferred my sketch with tracing paper onto the Aquabord.   

(Do this by first tracing the image with a softer pencil, such as 2B.  

Turn over the tracing paper and trace image onto the back.  

Then turn tracing paper right side up and tape down with removable tape.  

Retrace the image onto the paper or Aquabord.)  

The little guy looked lonely. 

I had scribbled "I'm all wibbley wobbly!" next to him which made me 

think of a baby's first steps.  I added Mamma and the wash tub and 

ducky to help tell the story of a baby's first steps.

 This is one of a small series I am doing for a show coming up

in November.  Artwork for children's rooms is another way 

for adults and children to enjoy your work!   

Window Shopping

    Here is a painting I completed yesterday in my landscape watercolor class.  I learned valuable
lessons about color theory that over the years I forgot.  Cool colors receed, warm colors jump
forward, and contrast draws the eye.  Notice the mountains and trees are cool colors,
and they blend into the background and draw the eye back through the scene.  The warm colors
of the building and street invite the viewer into the work.  The street lamp is the star of the show,
or maybe the car is, but the lamp directs the focus.  

 
    I had fun doing this, and learning how to create a scene with depth.  Of course it's not what I typically do, but skills I learned are helping with my art for children's books.


   This illustration I painted on Thursday.  While working on this I was thought about how my children's fashion experience influenced it.  It wasn't just that though, it was more
thinking that everything I have done up until this point has lead me to here.  What I wished all along to be, (a children's book illustrator) has finally come to fruition.  If you are an
artist or writer who is feeling frustrated with your career, remember the struggle is part of the puzzle.
It makes us stronger to be who we really are.
Nothing beats that.  

Compare and Contrast

    I painted a watercolor study last night from this photo I took.  I am learning a lot
in my landscape painting class, especially about the importance of contrast
and how to achieve it.  This is something I have had trouble with in the past.
Contrast is so important as it helps direct the viewer's eye.  It can draw you
into a painting, and help show depth.  It's tricky to get very dark with watercolor.
Use three colors to get the darkest color, and layer color as it dries and lightens.

     The drawing is a bit off and this painting feels a little lonely.  I really
like the effects I got with the wash.  I see hope on the horizon.
    Again, I highly recommend taking any art classes.  My class is taught at
the local art guild, and is very economical.  The teacher is an award winning
watercolor artist.   Look into classes in your area,  or just get outside and
paint or draw.  Go out when there is dramatic lighting, I found the morning
and evening hours to be the best.  Have fun!

Can I Play? Yes!

    I did this little artwork yesterday.  I started on it a few days ago.  The description
of my process may help other illustrators, so here goes. My first step was
transferring my sketch of the children onto the paper (Legion Stonehenge Pearl Gray).
Then I used a Pigma Micron waterproof pen to create the lines. While letting the
line art sit for a day I got this vision.  I wanted to do a series of fun pieces (for a show
coming up in November), kid inspired, with happy colors and glitter.
    A day later I filled in the color with watercolor/pencils.  Then I felt worried.  What
next?  It wasn't looking so happy.  The gray of the paper is subtle, but was a tad drab.
I kept feeling like I wanted to stamp (NO, not stomp) on it, but nothing I had was right.
Searching around my desk I found a clean white eraser, perfect for a hand made stamp.
I wanted a diamond shape, so did that first with a sharp blade, gradually thinking of and
adding stamp shapes as I went along.  I got a great set of neon-ish ink pads at Michael's
and I used those.  It felt risky to be stamping on my work, but thrilling and fun at the
same time!
    The work needed something else.  I searched for my pastel pencil with no luck but
found a box of pastels with wonderful white.            
                                                                                    Holding my breath, I started to write on
my work, making hopscotch boxes and numbers and words.  Suddenly I loved it.
It needed more, the final touch...yes, glitter.
This piece felt like a small
stepping stone. It inspires me and makes me
happy.
Here is the final work, you may have seen earlier on twitter.
I feel like in the age of all perfect digital art,
I have been wanting to work more
traditionally.  Maybe it is avoiding reality,
but I like to look at it like it's just me being
my rebellious artistic self.
I know how to do digital, it's just not very
appealing to me right now.  It seems like
so many artists are going that way, and I
feel a little sad about it.  Sometimes it is the imperfections in art that add interest.  I am learning
so much about value and color theory from my watercolor landscape class.  This is guiding me
as I do illustration.  I hope my posts are helping other illustrators out there who are finding
their way.  Please post a comment if this is doing you any good.  I will continue to give tid bits
of art tips as I go along.  Peace and love. + Now get out and draw!

Bold Cats

    Today I went to my first watercolor landscape painting class.  I have done
watercolors for years, but this was a big eye opener.  It made me realize how
much I still have to learn about value and color.  I think taking this class will
really help with my illustration work for children's books.  My struggle with
watercolors has always been that there is never enough contrast.  There's the
fear of going too dark, such permanence in it.  The teacher threw down color
with boldness that made me nervous.  When he was finished it was like a
miracle.  Perhaps that is what it takes.  Be bold.  Step outside your boundaries.
   What have I got to lose?  Quality paper that's all.  The thought still makes
me feel a little ill.  What am I so afraid of?
    Yesterday a close friend said to me that pursuing a career in children's books
was a huge risk.  Sure it is.  So is walking down the street or driving a car.
    I have been wanting to do this basically my whole life,  since 2nd grade
when I won the Caldecott Award for a class book project.   Somehow I got
sidetracked.  My parents told me the art world was so competitive, there
would be so many more jobs in fashion.  (They didn't realize that most of those
jobs are in New York City and I would have to move away.)  They are
right about art being competitive of course.  I didn't even realize how much
until going to SCBWI conferences and joining Twitter.
    My determination helped me learn to paint textile prints with gauche.
When designing on the computer became the way to go I taught myself
that, plus how to do repeat patterns.  The first instinct was a feeling that it
was impossible.  A big slice of cheese for you all...believe in YOU.
Nothing is impossible with hard work.  It is WORK, but I know one
day it will pay off.

I was going through my scrapbook from
grade and high school and I found these
sketches.  The depictions of the secretary,
principle, teachers, and a couple of my
friends still make me smile.   I think I was
inspired by Garfield, always loved that
cat!
Illustration is in my heart.
I just can't
tell it no.

Getting Bord? Aquabord!

  This week I was excited to get into a craft show that will be going on in November.
I am going to focus on doing some little paintings for children's rooms.  I will have to
divide my time between creating work for the show and a book I am working on, but
I think it will be good to have a little nest egg of finished work.  
    Here are some sketches of a few ideas.  Wanted to have a sweet look little girls
and boys might like.  A friend gave me the idea to personalize them (thanks Teresa!)

  I thought it would be best  to
keep it simple , since I am using
small Aquabord I just bought.
(It does come in bigger sizes,
just more expensive.)  I have
never used this but am
excited to try it.  It is supposed
to absorb watercolor like a
"fine paper".
   Recently I also purchased
Stonehenge drawing paper
which was recommended to
me by an art teacher.  It is so
heavy and feels great.  I am
almost  afraid to use it!

I bought these from Blick
art supplies.  The Aquabord
is affordable but the paper a bit pricey but I was getting let down by cheap paper
after doing so much work.  I will save this paper for final art.
  My art teacher also recommended drawing gum.  I bought Pebeo brand, though I
am not  sure of the quality.   It has been ages since I have tried it and I recognized
this brand.  Anxious to try out all of these but a bit intimidated.  It always feels that
way a little when breaking in new supplies.  Best to just go for it.  See you next
week, until then, happy, happy, joy, joy.

Dragon Music

  I was reading this week about Tasha Tudor.  If you don't know of her or
her illustration work I highly suggest checking her out.  She was a remarkable
woman.  Anyway, while reading The Art of Tasha Tudor by Harry Davis
found out something I didn't know.  She burned a lot of her work, including
drawings, watercolors and even oil paintings.
  A few weeks ago I felt like doing the same thing.  Then I read another
illustrator's blog somewhere (if you know pls. post a comment) that said
even if you have a stack of drawings in the trash, that's progress.  Each sketch
is one little step toward something better.   I'm learning from everything I have
sketched and painted.
 One day last week I suggested the kids brainstorm to come up with ideas for
things to draw.  I wrote Animals and Action at the top of a page and drew a line
down dividing them.  We wrote a long list of whatever animal popped into our
heads, then did the same with actions.  Then we picked one animal and one
action and drew the outcome.  Here is mine.
(The kids were cute too but are lost in clutter;(
Mine was Dragon Listening to Music as you can see.

           It later developed into the sketch above.  I think I made the boy a little too old looking to be fantasizing about being a dragon but it was fun to do.  Mistakes clear your vision, and as 

Jake from Adventure Time says, "Dude, sucking at something is the first step 

towards being sort of good at something." 

Sweet dreams...

  Last week I was upset that my design didn't get chosen as 

a top 50 finalist for the Lilla Rogers Global Talent Search.  A big 

disappointment but I am going to keep working, maybe even harder now.  

I realize I need to work on self promotion the most.  If no one knows my 

work than it doesn't matter how much I create.  I have worked on my online 

presence but have not sent out enough postcards/letters/submissions.  

This is the stuff I dislike doing the most so it figures. 

  When I started my studio designing childrenswear prints it seemed so much 

easier than trying to get into publishing.  I already knew so many 

people in the NYC fashion industry, plus had many friends in graphic design.
My biggest clients I found through knowing people.
I have gone to SCBWI conferences (three so far) and feel like a little lost
puppy scampering around for a scrap of food, among many, many brothers and sisters.
Try to talk to some of the professionals at conferences and they sometimes have 

this petrified look.  Everyone seems so desperate to get a connection and the 

editors/art directors know it.  Conferences are a great way to get knowledge 

about publishing, but it can also feel a little humiliating. There are so many 

talented people out there.  I think the key is just knowing who you are, and

that what you do and how you create is your own.  When I lose site of that

I get discouraged...I have only to open my sketchbook to remember.  

               I thought of this the other night, almost got out of bed to paint it, for fear of

      forgetting her.  A dog-like-grass-camouflage kinda gal nestles down for a nap among a

       print backdrop.  I don't know what it means, or who she is exactly, but maybe one day. 

Until then it makes me happy just to watch her sleep.  Good night. 

   

Love One Another

    Yay! A new post!  I feel on the ball but a little bummed.  Post contest blues I 

suppose.  Since I had no project pending I thought of one myself.  I got together

some items I love from my bathroom  and posted the pic on twitter earlier this week.

                      Here it is.  Most items are vintage.  The cute crab my 8 yr. old daughter made!

If you tweet an illustration inspired by it and post under hashtag #illustration 

I will follow you!  I hope you will follow me also.  I plan on doing these photo collage

inspiration sparkers occasionally and may offer prizes someday soon.  

I had done this little sketch in my mini sketchpad.

                                                              

   I decided to illustrate this sketch inspired by the colors, scallopy detail on the swan,

and the butterfly in the photo. 

Here is the final art, done in acrylic and watercolor pencil.
This was inspired by my chihuahua Daisy and our new cat Naya.
They are not the best of friends, so I envisioned a brighter future for them...

I think I should have used bristol board, the watercolor paper was a little rough 

for the pencil, but all in all I like the result.  I sort of freehanded the border (so it's a tad askew) and added at the last minute, inspired by Peter Brown's (@itspeterbrown on Twitter) work and a conference tidbit he gave.  I like how it frames the sweetness.  Happy drawing and life to you all.

Lilla Rogers Global Talent Search Final Art!

    Well, today was the deadline for the Lilla Rogers Global Talent Search.  

I decided to post my finished journal design.  

     It's very different from the other submissions I have seen on 

Twitter, which are all really neat. 

  If you want to check other submissions search #globaltalentsearch or 

@lillarogers.

I read on some one's blog there was something like 2500 entries. 

It will be narrowed down to 50 for the next round.  

The competition is fierce.  I tried to step it up by adding 

some of my craft work on Pinterest 

(http://pinterest.com/rachelbollman/my-sketches-n-such). 

I know Lilla Rogers studios reps artists that are versatile, 

so I am hoping that she will also look at Pinterest, websites,

(I also updated my website), and social media to help make their decisions.  

Maybe a needle in a haystack but had a lot of fun creating this little world.

Lilla Rogers Global Talent Search Continued...

    Merry Go Rounds are wonderful in an excitingly dangerous way, so I tried that too...

Then I thought of how I wanted nature to be a big part of my design.  I thought of teenie tiny 

magical people dancing in the moonlight, taking a break from their woodland chores.

       I surveyed my audience (family) and this was the most popular choice.  I said Really?
"Yes!" Since  I kept returning to it mentally I felt this had to be it.  I worked and worked and
worked.  Then the doubt crept in...those kids on the merry go round were pretty cute, I could do
a hopscotch pattern behind it...Sooo, before the brownie~pixie~fairy journal was finalized I
started on the other.  Here it is, unfinished.

   
    Late last week I realized the magical people had a special place in my heart, plus, I put so much work into the design, I decided and submitted it today. You will have to check back
after July 22 to see my final design.  Follow me on Twitter and I may show a sneak peak!  

Lilla Rogers Global Talent Search - Idea Process

    I have just submitted my design for the Lilla Rogers Global Talent Search.  (You can check
my tweets along the way at #globaltalentsearch or @RachelBollman on Twitter.)
The assignment was to design a journal cover with vintage playground equipment as inspiration.  This was fun for me as I love vintage anything.
    When I got the assignment (July 1, 2013) I started sketching right away.  Here are a few of my first
ideas.

I liked the characters, but for some reason felt a little bored with the underwater scene. Hmmm.....

 One of the suggestions was a tire swing, so I got my country on.  Cute, but still I wanted more...

Mushroom Love Story

    Ok, I've been on vacation.  Doodling here and there.  Found this neat contest I am
going to participate in this summer.  It is sponsored by Lilla Rogers Studio.  This is
an illustration agency that represents artists internationally.  If you do not know about
Lilla Rogers, check out her wonderfully creative site.  http://lillarogers.com/
    Finding this contest is a God-send I think.  I have been stumbling about going to
conferences and working on little bits of this and that.  Having a tough time deciding
     what I should send/finish/focus on right now.  Lilla Rogers Studio represents 
artists doing illustration for many products including children's books.  I do feel a bit
like I am putting my books on the back burner a bit.  I have no idea what
exactly the project for the contest entails, but I am extremely excited.
    So, I wanted to show you all a sample of what kind of sketching I have been doing.
I am trying to invoke (?) what this project will be...I am getting that perhaps maybe there
will be some print/pattern/textile design requested...so I am going back to the way I
used to sketch.  Little swatches of prints...starting with pencil.  I play around with
color, doing little palettes.  (When you find a pencil palette you like, put a rubber band
around, I found out the hard way with having so many pencils not to put them back.)
I like to color with watercolor pencils too, and then use my Pentel water fillable brush
(best tool ever).

You can kind of see the way my crazy mind works here.  I started with the girls.  Then I picked up 

my Non-Flowering Plants book and got those spikey mushrooms, that were realistic, but morphed into the cuteness in the middle of the page.  I also got the moss/seed heads ideas from this book.  I drew the eyeball type print inspired by the book/the idea of eyeballs looking at the girls, then along came the cartoon boy.  Somehow this will all make sense someday.  Until then, maybe in some way it can

help you, or at least make you smile:>

Natural Inspiration

   Keep breaking my promise to post weekly.  Sorry my life is nuts, what else can I say?
Maybe I am losing focus a little.  Maybe just taking a break.  I think I was/am getting a
little overwhelmed at the immensity of the publishing world and how complex it all is.
    I was a good girl for two days and reworked my board book Buggie Boo, What Can
You Do At the Circus? according to what I learned at conference.  Have to get back to that...

    Recently I picked up this great little vintage book called  Non-Flowering Plants.  It
has been a great source of inspiration.  I have been getting into drawing some little
nature prints/patterns.  I found that I miss the simplicity of creating prints...just playing
around with a few simple elements and being inspired by nature.  Not ready to post
any work from my doodles yet, not sure where I am going with it.
 I highly recommend exploring nature for inspiration.  Books are great but the real deal
is even better.  I don't have much time to sketch out in nature but have been taking a lot
of pics to resource later.

    This tulip tree flower was incredible.  I got lucky finding a tulip tree with branches that
hung low so I was able to take this.  Color story here...wonderfully delicious:)

Chicks in Love

  This was meant to be a doodle but once I got started I couldn't stop!
I loved the two ladies and sketched their bodies first, then decided to
give them chick heads.  One started to look boyish, so I got the idea
to make it like a wedding photo.  I added the arbor around and the
church in the back.  I used a Pentel brush pen (awesome tool) to do
the outlines and colored everything with pencils.  Oh, yes, I added
a "happy" filter as a final touch for that vintage feel.
  Hope to see yours on Twitter!

Art Exercise is NOT exhausting!

   I know how important it is to look at other illustrators work, but sometimes it's

a struggle to maintain my confidence.  There are so many great artists out there.

Remembering what I do and who I am sometimes gets lost.  I have to keep myself 

in check.  

  This morning I was so happy to find this book, Desire To Inspire by Christine Mason Miller.  

It truly did inspire me with art and thought provoking quotes.  Things about "showing

kindness and compassion for others by showing it for ourselves"- (ok, so I will stop 

beating myself up).  Also, asking yourself questions like "Is what we choose to 

share and express uplifting?"  

   I am going to choose to smother the green monster by giving advice and inspiration to you!  

Yes, the children's book world is competitive, but so is everything in life.  So I will pass 

on the sweet karma and "be a force of good" as the book put it. 

  So instead of a drawing I have a little exercise for you all.  Even if you are not an

illustrator, just for fun...take one element, or two, or three or more! from this scan I made

and do a little doodle sketch.  Make some art. Go on now.  You can do it.  

  Some little posies or dollies can brighten the bleakest of days;)  

I will post mine by tomorrow. Follow me on twitter @RachelBollman and tweet me yours!

What makes a Character who they are?

    I finally have my act together so without any further ado here

are my character sketches of Maddie Hatter.  These were done

for an Illustrator Intensive with Laurent Linn from Simon and Schuster

Books for Young Readers.   He advised me to show more emotion

and expression.  He liked some of my details,  such as the tea cup hat

with Maddie's hair "spewing  out"!  He also liked the fact that the bird

was holding his own little toy cat.  He stressed that "everything is a 

character" in illustration, meaning how and what you add to the work

helps show who the character is.  Styling is important. 

    I learned a lot from doing this project.  If you are an illustrator I highly advise taking an illustrator intensive at conferences if you are able.  If not, try choosing a popular fairy tale or character and reinventing it in your own style.  I am very interested in starting an online critique group, perhaps this would be a good way to start.  If you are interested please email me at pixiebprints@gmail.com.

My next step is to just start drawing faces with different emotions, from kids to critters. 

Stay tooned folks, promise I will be a more timely blogger!

Finding Freedom

    Here is a bonus entry since I was late...
This is the watercolor illustration I entered in the art show at the
Wild, Wild Midwest Conference last weekend.
    This work was inspired by the Middle East.  It is about how you can
find freedom, even religious freedom, with books.  This girl drifts to her
future sailing on books.  Strange and curious creatures lie in wait.  Are
they friends or foe?  Hmmm...this may lead to a story.

Illustration is Intense!

    I apologize to my faithful friends who checked in on Friday only to
be disappointed.  My only excuse is that this conference kicked my butt
mentally and physically.  It has literally taken a week to recover.  I
still haven't sorted it all out in my head.
    Here is my final illustration of Maddie Hatter.  She is actually the
daughter of the Mad Hatter,  a little less crazy and she carries the
millinery gene.

The Illustration Intensive with Laurent Linn was just fantastic.  It was neat to see so many different versions.  Mr. Linn's advise was veryhelpful.  His advise to me was to turn the umbrella top to faceMaddie.  He also said to keep details the same, such as all charactersshould have highlights in the eyes since Maddie does.  Mr. Linn also stressed was that "everything is a character".  Meaning everythingin the illustration helps form who the character is.  I tried to do this here, with the styling of hats, colors, and keeping the other charactersa bit wacky.    

I will post my character sketches of Maddie next week.  

Color Incognito

    I am off to the Wild, Wild Midwest Conference tomorrow.
Very jittery and tons to do but here is a quick word about color...
While working on my final illustration for the intensive I wanted to
downplay this character in the foreground of the scene.  To accomplish
this I made his coloring very subtle, so he fades.  He is very discrete,
incognito, as goat boy.  As it should be.

    Have a wonderful weekend friends, and send me good karma prayers
that I don't stick my foot in my mouth or commit some other social or
publishing faux pas.  It has been known to happen. 8{