Fairy Dolls

    Crazy week with kids out all week because of  the chilly chill.  

(I have also been sick with this allergy like cold that is driving me 

nuts!)  My girls got the idea to make fairies.  We used polymer clay

and made jointed arms and legs by making holes through the torso 

and attaching with wire.  Back in November I wrote a post

about a visit we made to The Black Sheep Fiber Farm.  I bought 

a mixed bag of a beautiful rainbow of mohair.  

The tiny pieces were perfect for wigs for  our new friends.  

This is Violet, made by my daughter.

This is Krystal the borrower, made by me.

I am working on an illustration for my 

Gnu story.  I didn't manage to get it finished in time for this post.  Hoping to feel

better soon so I can finish and post sometime this week. 

This is Thorn, also made by my daughter.

Have a great week!

Hold on to Love

    Didn't get a chance to work on my gnu comic this week.  Wanted to
show you this sketch study I did yesterday.  It's a little more sophisticated
and a little stray away from what I normally do.  If you have been following
my blog for a while you know my style is pretty versatile.  I know that is
not necessarily a good thing in illustration and I am trying to stick to one
or two looks.  This being said, I just really love this girl.

                                                                   














    If I were to do a final illustration of this I would revise the composition.
I was just sort of playing around when I sketched the first girl, then thought
it would be cute to have her pull the balloon down and hold it.   So,
to fix the composition I would flip the first girl to face to the right, in
most cases it is not good to have character facing toward outside of
the page.  She maybe should be moved down a bit too, to be across 
from last girl. I would also flip last girl so her face and foot point to center 
of the page.  Tracing paper comes in handy to work out compositions.
    Showing through the dress you see the lines of the torso and body.
I had a little trouble sketching the angles of the legs, so I used an old
trick I learned in fashion drawing.  Sometimes with clothing it is hard
to figure out where those angles are, so just lightly sketch the torso to
help you sort out how the legs should face in accordance to the body.
  Bear with me on my posts.  My ideas and mind are going a mile a
minute and it's tough to keep up with it all.  Last night a craving for
caffeine almost sent me to hospital in panic-while drawing this I ate
like 20 chocolate coffee beans.  Chest pains afflicted me all evening.
Warning, take coffee beans in low doses!!!
Be careful with your heart.  *u*

It's a Breeze

    Hello Everyone, Happy Saturday!
Here is my entry for the Tomie dePaola Award.  It is painted in watercolor with details
in watercolor pencil and touches of pastel for the softness of the hair.

  I enjoyed working on this piece.  It was a real challenge and it taught me a lot about planning
and listening to assignments.  I thought I had my design but then reworked it twice.  First
the main character was a bunny.  Then I remembered something about the prompt saying
we live in a country with diverse ethnicity, so I developed this cutie.  I didn't want her to  
look too girly, but the flower kind of makes her so.  I like my results but now looking at it 
from afar I can see the two large flowers are too close in size.  They sort of compete, which
is one element in design you have to be wary of- duplicating size of elements.  I also recommend
taping your project up at eye level and then standing back and really looking at all the elements
and how they  relate.  It has been a while since college, but we always did this for critiques and
I sort of forgot.
  The winning entries for this award were announced yesterday.

You can view them here...http://www.scbwi.org/awards/tomie-depaola-award/  This is my 

third time entering this contest and I am not upset about not winning.  Really!  I think I have 

finally grown a bit, developing that "thick skin" they say it takes to be in this business.  

    I promised more of my gnu illustrations.  I did this sketch, then realized the layout was 

way too much like the first illustration (see last post).  Then after creating this store, Love Above,  I thought although I would love to shop there (I really want the giant bird head display holding the purse), a bookstore would be a better idea.

 So I reworked it.

The idea being that this gnu girl 

is a lover of books and needs a job so perhaps it's a perfect fit. When I started drawing this 

illustration I really liked the look of the pencil.  I wanted to make this a weekly story, but 

honestly started to get bored with it already.  I think it would be fun if I explore this story in 

whatever way I feel could be interesting.  It could go anywhere and keep you guessing.  

So be it.  Have a great night and wonderful week!

New You, New Me

    I have a bunch of excuses for my late post but won't waste your time with them!
Searching for my plastic bin of art supplies (a fishing lure box, it is great to grab on
the go) I came across the little Christmas illustration I lost.  Maybe the box was

misplaced so I could find the painting?
This happens to me a lot!
    Here's a peek into my art box...
    The big watercolor brush is a
number 12 Princeton and it really loads
the water, fabulous for washy skies.
    Kneaded erasers scream "You need
me!" to all artists.
    Those Derwent Drawing pencils are
water soluble and indispensable.  They
come in a range of wonderful browns
and plain or pencil, which is the
shortie I love there on the left.
 
    Finally, here's the Christmas tag.
I like the simple look more than my drawing
and may do a watercolor in this style with the full sketch in the future.


I wrote this short poem...

New Year
New You
New Me
Who knew?
A gnu?

The words made me think of a comic...
it is in the rough stages but I would like to
to post and maybe fine tune and post again next week with another panel.  I thought
this would be a fun continuous project for my blog.  Now I better get out of here before
this winter blast knocks out the electric!
Snuggle up, goodnight!