Illustration Friday: PREHISTORIC

"And the dogs were as big as dragons..."  

A fitting illustration for this week's PREHISTORIC challenge, from the book B is for Boy.

I loved playing with my intense ink pencils in this series!

Illustration Friday: EXOTIC

I struggled with ideas for this week's EXOTIC challenge as I am anything but exotic.  

Yesterday, a potential client asked if I could do up a sketch of a "Sad Sloth".  

I agreed and much to my surprise, a sloth isn't caterpillar-like as 

I thought (was I thinking, slug LOL?) but rather this sweet little creature.  

Now HE is exotic, and I hope he doesn't remain sad for too long.

Beginning Rain 

Feeling so inspired with a new beginning, committed to doing artwork for myself.  

And I just love the rain.  Don't you?

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY:  BEGINNING

I have been so fortunate this past year to have illustrated about 10 books for other authors... it paid the bills and a good time was had for the most part.  But... I'm bored.  As I work on the vision of others, whimsical little thoughts of my own creep into my mind's eye in the midnight hours.

As opposed to the big bold gouache and intense ink pencils I've been working with this past year, I am yearning for softness, a subtleness of sorts of simple forms combined with textures, collage, text.

And so I'm committed to do one illustration a week for me.  No deadlines, no vision of someone else's book, just because I want to.  How fitting that this week's Illustration Friday challenge is entitled "Beginning".  And so it is... my first attempt at pastels, text collage and the simplistic form.  I must admit that soft, simple forms are really a challenge for me.  But I do relish in a new beginning.  

Illustration Friday: FLUID

This week's challenge is "fluid", and my mind wandered 

to the fluidity of a little girl's dress as she spins around with joy.

This was a quick little marker and colored pencil sketch.

Illustration Friday: STAY

Sometimes, the forces of nature are just telling us to STAY (this week's IF Challenge)...

only those who are silent enough, will hear the call. 

I just got back from the beach, and my toes are missing the sand already.

I challenged myself this week to STAY the course of simpler images and bolder color.

~~**I would love to hear what you think ~ please leave a comment if you have stopped by for a visit**~~

Illustration Friday: REMEDY

This is from a book, Alphatorts with X-tra Yummy Zucchinis. 

When I saw the REMEDY challenge for this week, I couldn't resist posting this illustration. 

Afterall, when you are in Blueberry Court, with licorice hammocks, ingesting jellybeans and donuts

with a zucchini on the side, well, you ARE in need of a remedy!

I had a blast creating these illustrations with a gouache/graphite pencil combination...

the text was so language-rich, I decided to do more of a spot color on the black and white drawing.

~~**I would love to hear what you think ~ please leave a comment if you have stopped by for a visit**~~

Illustration Friday Challenge: Midsummer's Night

How can you not think of fireflies on a midsummer's night?

As Doodle and Deedle always have a late night adventure ~ the tide has turned on catching fireflies in a jar!

~~**I would love to hear what you think ~ please leave a comment if you have stopped by for a visit**~~

Illustration Friday Challenge: LAUNCH

And with much energy and enthusiasm, he launched himself into the orbit of the playroom space, calming his inner need for a good bounce.

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY: Asleep

Is there anything more precious than a sleeping child? 

Two totally different illustration treatments, and I couldn't choose between them, so I posted them both. The watercolor/ink illustration is from my Squirmy Wormy book, "Sometimes eVen when I'm tired... My arms and legs just feel like dancing... DANCE, DANCE, DANCE, DANCE, DANCE". 

The graphite illustration is of my husband and son. I find such great joy when I capture the minutia of detail on these "life's special moments"-type portraits. It's a feeling of beautiful intimacy as I create individual fingernails, or just the right curve of a face, or a foot. Does anyone else have that same feeling when capturing people or things near to your heart?

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY: Soaked

SOAKED SERENDIPITY

How great when a plan to play with bubbles is greeted by the rain and the garden hose...

a serendipitous cacaphony of bubbles, and a whole lot of soakin' going on!

I have a fascination, no passion, uh-maybe, obsession with bubbles, and when I saw the IF challenge was "soaked", well, you can see where my passion (or is it a fetish?) went to... 

I hope you enjoy "a little of the bubbly" as much as I did creating it.

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY: Beginner

**~~ Flights of fancy for the beginner dragonfly~~**

I started out this morning with visions of little "beginner" elephants blowing bubbles out of their trunks,

and somehow switched over to the beginner dragonfly...

the creative process, or a flight of fancy of my own??

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY: Lesson

Sometimes, it is just TOO hard to sit still for any lesson...

especially when it feels like those squirmy wormies are just crawlin' out of your pants!

And when those squirmin' worms are playing around and blowin' bubbles,

well, the alphabet lesson is just not going to happen.

Summer is near and I bet there is an epidemic of squirmin' goin' on!

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY: Bicycle

Sure, anyone can have a shiny red bicycle, but a two-wheeled, pillow-haulin', branched, riding pony handle barred, cardboard box is somethin' really special.  I was feeling very primary today, so I experimented with a primary combination that could have come from a little school paint box with a plastic, stiff-bristeled brush.  I'm thinking it is a little too elementary for my taste, but a fun time was had on a rainy day.

Medium Exploration

I had so much fun using graphite pencil with pops of vibrant color in gouache.  This was such a deviation from my softer watercolor/pen and ink illustrations.  Hhhmmm... so many choices.

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY: Journey

A crabby journey on the deep blue sea. 

Anxious to dive into my very first Illustration Friday Challenge!