IF - Clumsy

Those clumsy germs weren't gettin' in that dressing change kit...

not if Mr. Clock Cop had anything to do with it!

Another one of my drawings from Infusion Time, original colored pencil, then I tried playing in photoshop to change the original white background color. Got a looonnnng way to go with the tech stuff!  Click for larger view.

MAD - Invisible

Red blood cells were invisible to the three friends...

until they found that magic boat at summer camp!

Here is my first post for "Monday Artday", the prompt is "invisible". This was really fun to work on, and I so appreciate the feedback and support I received from everyone - thanks!  I'm not 100% satisfied with this though and will probably come back to it at another time.  Enjoy!

Drawing In Progress - Part II

Thanks all of you for your feedback!  I wasn't able to make much progress today, but I should be able to start the colors tomorrow.  I can see Krista how you thought these were vitamins, they resemble that or cough drops!  Well, Jose did spill part of my inspiration - yes I admitt I did think of the magic schoolbus, but not originally!  My goal right away was to draw cells and include kids so this was the most fun way I thought of incorporating that.  Thanks for your comment Jose about the kid's legs, I see what you were saying, although I'm not sure if the image was coming through clearly enough, the kid farthest in the back is standing, the girl is bending over, and the boy in front is sitting.  I thought there was enough room to indicate the correct height, but if you saw something different, others might too.  I thought the best way around that was to just put the bottom of the boat completely behind the cells, so no one really knows how deep the boat is after all!  Now that it doesn't look like a canoe,  I'm just calling it a boat!  I actually like this better because it shows the water craft even deeper in the cells.  I also posted this a bit smaller so you could see the entire thing - I'm definitely going to crop in, just not sure how much yet.  Click for larger view. What do you think?

Drawing In Progress

Here is the unfinished underpainting for my drawing in progress for the Monday Artday challenge "invisible".  I have my own little story that goes with this and will have a snippet with the final piece, but I suppose it's fairly obvious what my idea is!  I'm realizing as a children's illustrator, I need to have more kids in my portfolio, so here they are! The original is done in a much more earthy red than what's here, I saturated and punched up the color a bit just so it was easier to see. I'm in the middle of this, so I know many values still have to be laid in, but was wondering if any of you catch any glaring errors in composition or anything else.  Just so you know, the right side is not cut off as close to the canoe, that was just how the software fit it into the space. Any thoughts are appreciated, thanks!

Calling All Artists And Writers - Ready to "Shack It Up"?

One of the many photo opportunities on the dunes, Provincetown MA

Now that we're almost to mid winter my fellow creative souls, here are a few questions for you: do thoughts of warm summer breezes, sandy beaches and cloudless blue skies with the cry of seagulls in the air tend to torment and distract?  Does the thought of two weeks or more of uninterrupted creative time peak your interest?  Does the question arise in your mind "Yes, all these things sound perfect, but how could I possibly afford all that?".  Well, my friends, you can!  Yes, if you are one of the chosen few,  you too can have all of this for as little as $200.00!  "Is there a catch?" you say......well, of course, there's always a catch!  If you don't mind a bit of sand, no indoor plumbing, no phone, providing your own food and a few critters and bugs here and there, that's it!  Oh, and also you have to apply, send samples of your work and be chosen by lottery.  Doesn't this seem a small price to pay for complete peace, utter serenity and breathtaking sunsets?  If chosen, you also have the distinction of joining the ranks of those who have "shacked up" before you.  Just to name a few...playwright Eugene O'Neill, authors Norman Mailer, Jack Kerouac, e. e. cummings, and painter Jackson Pollack have all had residences in one of the shacks and written or painted some of their best work while on 'Ol Cape Cod.  I have come thissss close to actually applying for the program, but utlimately what stopped me was my family - no way they could make it two whole weeks without me (and maybe the bugs)!  But if this is something that sounds like your cup of tea,  and you'll be in the shore areas of Southern New England this summer, here are a host of links to get you started,

A brief article about The Shacks,  The Shack's homepage and links to descriptions & applications,  "The Salt House" the story of one woman's summer experience in a shack, but hurry, applications are due postmarked February 15, 2010!  If just a visit is more up your alley, then I highly reccomend Art's Dune Tours, an extremely cool experience!

"You gotta have Art's!"

IF - Wilderness

Two samples from my acrylic portfolio.  These are two different views of a wall mural I created for my younger son's room.  I always feel peaceful when I look at them, like stepping into another world - click for an enlarged view - enjoy!

Dissection Of A Drawing - Part III, Final Step

Well here it is...the finished product...although I gratefully accept any suggestions or ideas if you have any to offer, nothing is set in stone!  There's not too much to explain about this final step, I basically added on the color in many, many, many layers.  Besides changing the angle of Cosmo's collar, the only other change I made is adding the little chipmunk to the left.  I wanted to add a bit of humor, like he's getting the best of Cosmo here!  Of course Cosmo would smell him and turn around in the next instant, but chipmunks are so cute I had to give him a break!  Any thoughts?  Well, on the technical side,  I don't have one specific favorite brand of colored pencil, in fact, I mix three kinds.  As I mentioned in my last post, my underpainting is done with Verithin by Prismacolor.  These pencils are the hardest on the market and are great as a first layer because they stay put.  Prismacolor's regular or lightfast line features many amazing colors, but they are wax based and the softest of all the brands and smudge very easily.  This is why I like to mix with two other brands that are oil based: Faber-Castell Polychromos and Lyra by Rembrandt.  You wouldn't think you could mix these two mediums, but luckily you can.  The other reason I don't like using all wax based pencils is you almost always end up with something called "wax bloom".  This is when the wax from the pencils rises to the surface of the drawing in a white film, making a haze and dulling the colors.  The only way to prevent this is to spray each layer of color with a fixative which I won't do.  Not only do I not like working with chemical sprays, but it also makes the layer completely permanent with no flexibility for change.  Of course this is just my preference, many artists enjoy this technique, whatever works right?!  Enjoy!

ps - Thanks Shirley for your tips on straightening out the type, I actually did try everything you suggested before-hand, and tried again, but it just wouldn't budge. Luckily this time it behaved!

Dissection Of A Drawing - Step II

Firstly, I apologize for how this text is broken up.  I've tried this morning to tweak it and no matter what I do I can't seem to change how the words are broken - anyone have any idesa? Thanks for bearing.....Here is the completed step two of my drawing process.  If you missed step one, please click here and scroll down a bit.  The scan didn't pick up many of the subtle nuances in the drawing, but it will have to do....In this phase I switch from graphite to colored pencil.  Unfortunately, it doesn't look too different than the first other than the monochromatic color, but I've found I get excellent results for my double-drawing trouble!  This is a technique many of you are probably familiar with called "underpainting".  For the benefit of those not familiar with this practice, it is an ancient one used by the great Masters dating back to the Renaissance. After selecting the colors I will use for the finished drawing, I then select an "underpainting" color. Depending on the effect I want it will either be a neutral or complementary color, for this one I chose dark brown. The point of bothering with the underpainting is to give the whole piece a common, unifying ground. I use "Verithin" by Prismacolor for this step. Here I get the 

overall tones of the piece, correct drawing errors and decide if I need to change anything.  

Already, I see the rock on the lower right corner looks sort of weird, almost more like a leaf or a shell - no idea how that happened! But it will be easy enough to fix with the deeper tones of the softer pencils as I add the full-colored layers. I will also be adding in a lot of ground/grass that I didn't use in my first sketch, hence the light layer around Cosmo. Stay tuned,

hopefully I'll have the final stage done within a couple of days!

IF - Confined

Our values are not confined when we choose to share them

This week for the theme "confined" I chose to reach back into the portfolio vault for something a bit different.  This is a poster I painted in acrylics for church for the annual stewardship fund. I still filed it under "children's art" as it was appealing to the kids too.  I had painted in acrylics for many years, including murals before I discovered colored pencil.  Now I'm discovering Photoshop too!

Semi-Weekly Sketch and Dissection Of A Drawing - Step I

It's high time I drew another picture of Cosmo.  Here he is sticking his nose in a neighbor's stone wall.  Many animals make their homes in these walls, especially mice.  Who knows who might've been there a moment before!  This is a double-feature for today, part of my semi-weekly sketch (which I admitt I have been delinquent of late!) and a small series which I will feature the step by step process of how I create a colored pencil drawing.  Thank you Karen W. for spurring me on to get to this!  The beginnings of my colored pencil drawings start simply enough in plain graphite pencil.  This sketch is done with an HB lead holder pencil on Strathmore 80 lb. recycled white paper.  I like to use the lead holders and lead pointer for sharpening.  This keeps my battery operated pencil sharpener a bit cleaner for my colored pencils.  Doing a complete black & white sketch before moving to color has many benefits.  Two of the most important are getting a feel for the tones of the drawing, and drawing the same subject a few times gives lots of opportunities to catch errors.  Next step coming soon, enjoy!

Just Peeking Out To Say Thanks!

Hi Everyone! 

Just wanted to take a quick break from drawing to say a big "Thank You" to everyone, especially this past week.  We are all so busy, especiallly this time of year, so it means a lot when you take time out of your hectic schedules to stop by and share your thoughts.  

As I've said before, each and every one of you inspire me and I'm grateful!

ps - yes this IS me, a very, very, very long time ago!

Just for fun - Photos of My Backyard

While I'm working on a new sketch, I thought I'd share these photos I took yesterday.  It was such a beautiful day, I couldn't resist capturing a few moments.  These were taken off of the deck looking out into the backyard.  The first was taken around 9:00 AM.  I love how the sun was peering throught the trees and glinting off the icicles.  The second I took about three hours later just to get a different feel as the light had changed.  I got a delightful surprise when I realized I had captured a bird midflight, zooming from the birdfeeder!  I'm pretty sure it's a tufted titmouse, but it's so blurred it could be a chickadee - any thoughts?  Enjoy!

Cosmo Considers - A Therapy Dog's Visit To The Hospital - Part III

Cosmo at home after a hospital visit - totally wiped out - until someone enters the kitchen!

After a little while we finally got off the winding country roads and entered the main road to the small city where the hospital is.  After circling the lot and finding a parking spot, Mom got out my special vest, looped it over my head an snapped it closed under my belly.  “Here we go Cosmo, ready for work?” she asked.  Was I ever!  My queasy stomach feelings suddenly melted away.  I trotted right alongside Mom as we made our way towards the hospital entrance.  My tail was wagging merrily as I held my nose up high to catch the many scents the wind blew my way.  The people who run the hospital have a special place where they like us dogs to do our last minute “business”.  We headed over to that particular patch of grass and trees and after I had lifted my leg a few times and sniffed some more interesting scents, we closed the distance to the automated front doors.  They parted for us with a “whoosh” as we stepped smartly into the carpeted main lobby.  This is the part of our day when Mom starts to sort of become invisible and I stand out a LOT.  Mr. Ambassador (head greeter and info. guy) all dressed up in his navy blue jacket and white carnation, greeted me warmly with a hearty “Well hello there Cosmo, great to see you again!” and a nice scratch behind the ears.  As we headed towards the volunteer room I got the same star treatment from the receptionists and volunteer coordinators.  They usually greet me by name too, and if they forget (even though it’s on by badge) they always ask.  They don’t seem to worry about Mom’s name though…..I don’t think she minds, except sometimes she grumbles something about being known only as “somebody’s mother” like when my brothers were little.  After saying our hellos, we stepped into the volunteer office.  While Mom shrugged off her coat and signed in, I did my usual padding around the room, sniffing in corners, in the waste baskets, and under the table in the middle of the room.  I always tend to circle back to this spot – you never know when a muffin or cookie crumb might find it’s way down here.  After Mom announces she’s all set, she grabs my leash and we head out into the main hall – ready to work our magic……

Monday Artday in the Works!

Me drawing at age two and a half, still can't get enough!

Thanks so much everyone for your wonderful feedback about joining Monday Artday - it really helped!  I just signed up and am awaiting approval and the official invite - see you soon!

IF - Renewal

The needle looks like a butterfly.

It has two small wings on the side.

Hold these wings between your fingers.

This helps your butterfly to glide.

The new theme for the New Year this week for Illustration Friday is "Renewal".  I immediately thought of butterflies and was once again able to use a piece from "Infusion Time".  For me, renewal has a double meaning here.  The lowly creeping caterpillar gets a chance at a renewed life in a glorious new body.  A young child learning how to infuse factor with the butterfly needle gets a renewed sense of independence and some sense of control over his body.  I also want to take this opportunity of the first day of the New Year to thank all of you for your new friendship!  I am inspired daily by the diverse talents of each and every one of you.  Your feedback, advice and support have become invaluable.  Cheers to all!