Simply Soaring Swan

  Since we are having the month of April off from Lilla Rogers Bootcamp
I decided to take a 6 week class at the local art guild.  I took a class from
this teacher last year and my drawing really improved.  I plan to work
on my drawing and composition skills.  
  Here are a couple little drawings I did this week.  The doll riding on the
swan was for the #twoodle game started by @aliciapadron on twitter.
I was inspired by the wonderful illustration of @KimieLampers
(http://www.kimlampers.com/#!Loch-Ness/zoom/cklj/image4mv)
and did the sketch of Dolly looking at the toy swan.

Imagination can take one in so many directions. ;)  Have a great week!

 

Jelly Print

  Here's a close up of the print I created for Lilla Roger's Bootcamp ( http://lillarogers.com )
Crazy things happen on the internet and the png I posted last week took on a gray film.
This one has the true color I intended.

Just Desserts

  Wow, another crazy week!  I have been working on this print for
Lilla Rogers and finished last night.  Here is the design I submitted with
a couple ideas for projects.  It took longer to complete than I thought
but I am happy with the final result.

My house has suffered a bit of neglect so I am off to clean.  Visit next week to see more art!  (This is underlined, doublespaced and blue below not because I want to stress this point but becauseblogger  is givingme trouble.  Mysterious quirks of a free website!)

Don't be blue, Berry, be sweet.

  It has been a rough week.  I won't go into details but tell you sorry for the
delayed post.  Working like mad on several things and I am up and down like
a roller coaster.  I will make it short and sweet, pardon the pun.
  Here is a tidbit from the textile print I am working on for the Lilla Rogers
Bootcamp, (see below for links).  I was happy to see the product for the design
was bolt fabric because this is basically what I used to do.  Designing for the
childrenswear industry was my profession before endeavoring into children's
book illustration.  The icons I sketched were going in that direction and it seems
like a good fit.  Anyway here's a sampling of what I am doing, now in color.

I am debating doing two colorways as I like both the color outlines
and the black.  There are also a couple coordinating prints I am
working on that are giving me a bit of trouble.  Editing is very
important I have learned.  Do you have any constructive
criticism for me?  Do you think the scared/sad/scary faces are
too strange to be commercial???  Comments appreciated.
See you next week with my final designs!

Sweets for Lilla

  Monday I got the March mini assignment from Lilla Rogers Bootcamp.  The theme
is Jell-o molds which so vintage kitch and just my style.  Had fun researching and looking through
a 1950's cookbook I found.  I started sketching very realistically with shading but then started to
simplify the lines.  These cute yet mischievous icons emerged.  Dare to eat one of them!

 

Today I finished this illustration Hold on to Love.  It came out dreamy, 

just what I intended.  Working with watercolor and pencils I painted and drew the first layer.  I wanted the feel of the playground piece I did a while 

ago (see Can I Play? below) and I felt the sky needed something.  Using a white eraser I cut

the flag stamps and inked the pennant flags.  The white pastel in the playground

piece added a mystical feeling so I added that too.  The final touch was a bit of

glitz, the flower sequins. 

Will post my main assignment results next week.  See ya then!

Carnival Preparations

  Recently I've been listening to Chris Oatley's podcasts. (http://chrisoatley.com,
@ChrisOatley)  He's a professional artist who worked as a character designer
for Disney.  He now offers online digital painting courses.
 The podcasts host many accomplished artists.  I have found that although I don't
intend to become a storyboard artist, animator, or character designer, children's book
illustration involves many of the same aspects.  (Take notes if you listen, as there is
a massive amount of valuable information!)
  One tip I took to heart while working and listening.  I believe it was the cast with
Chris Campbell.  He said he takes a week to prepare to do a painting, researching and
even making models.  Struggling with the body of the girl I was sketching I realized
I needed to look at a figure in the poses.  It looked off.  Preparation can make the
difference between a bad painting and a great one.  So last night I persuaded my
daughter to pose and took photos of her.  This helped so much, especially for the
arms of the first figure and the 3/4 view of the last.  I also reduced the figures and
played around with size and placement.

 My original sketch (see Jan. Hold on to Love) did not have the carnival in the background.  I was told at a critique that I needed more backgrounds so I thought it would be a nice addition.  You can see the final composition is more interesting.  I will do the final tracing based on this rough sketch.  Working digitally has many advantages when reworking composition,         but I felt this one would be best done traditionally.

 Checking out youtube yesterday lead me to videos about stenciling and making alcohol inks.  

I thought it might be fun to do this one in the mixed media method I experimented with a 

while ago. I will post the final art next week.  

The next Lilla Rogers (http://lillarogers.com) mini assignment will be given this week

 so I will post sketches for this as well.   

Now go explore!