Peek-a-boo...I see you!

Just a swift illustration this morning just for fun! I had a great time with this one..hope you all have a great rest of the week!

Shirley

Caution, Miss Goldilocks!

"wrapped" process..the trials, the tribulations!

interesting to go through the design and layout process over and over and over again...sometimes it clicks, sometimes it doesn't...and then something sticks. Here is what went through about 3 days worth of thinking about "wrapped"! And in the previous post, is the finished illustration. Thanks for stopping by!

Wrapped - Illustration Friday

..kitty was also enticed by the smell wafting from within the newspaper-wrapped item. Can you tell what that might be?

** note..this was an exremely difficult illustration for me..I just couldn't for the life of me draw this one "right"...but many, many attempts later, this is what came of it. I'm happy that I tried. I'll be posting the other attempted sketches too...feedback is ALWAYS appreciated. Thanks for stopping by!

Something new..

woke up this morning and decided to try a new style...something softer, but with some linework...what do you think? As compared to the recent posts...thank you so much for any comment you leave, and for taking the time to stop by...!

3: Scamper, shuffle-shuffle, "squeek!"...

...Piggy and Mouse decided that they should keep on walking as they knew that it wasn't just Bigsby, nor Chef Ramsey Rabbit that were making the little "shuffling" noises that they kept hearing along the tunnel's path. Eerily, they felt as though they were being watched by multiple sets of eyes down the dark windy bits. With the candle growing smaller, they turned to each other and nodded, "Yes, we will keep on!" they vowed, as they neared the damp turn to the right...

"OH! ..."oh!"..."oh!"...."oh!"...."oh!"..."oh!"..."oh!"..."oh!"..." exclaimed Mama Bun and her babies.

"Thank goodness it's just you, two! Mama squeeked, as baby after baby pounced and scampered in excitement. "Whew!", Piggy and Mouse both said with relief.

2: After satisfying their tastebuds with a braised carrot or two...

...Piggy and Mouse ventured further...only to hear the "slurp, slurp, slurp" ing, and satisfying "smack, smack" sound that was coming from baby Bigsby bear, who decided that a late night dip into the honey pot might satiate his grumbling tummy. "Ohh.....iss juss yooo... no mo honey...dis is all mine!...smack, slurp!"

1: "The Adventures of Piggy and Mouse" ....The discoveries begin!

...as Piggy and Mouse ventured further down the tunnel's path, their nerves eased a bit as they sniffed the delicious smells coming from....Chef Ramsey Rabbit (though not related to Gordon!) who was deftly braising vegetables to perfection before his morning test at the infamous cooking school, Le Cordon Lapin. "Oh my!", said Chef, as he quickly turned to spy his viewers whilst waving his spoon in a defensive gesture. "Thank goodness it's just you two!", he said with relief as he offered up a ladle to taste.

With Gratitude!..the Bella Sinclair Award

A few days ago I was completely floored to have received an amazing award from these talented, wonderfully supportive people: Cheryl Lynn at dreamoutlouddesignstudio; Ako at artfanako; and Brigitte at atelierbrigitte ! Thank you, thank you, thank you, you lovely ladies, for your kindness and sisterhood.

This award is named after an amazingly talented children's book illustrator, and artist, Bella Sinclair. I recently stumbled upon her blog, as well as Ces's blog and came to discover these amazing people who share so much about themselves and inspire all who come to visit. Truly, they are blessed with the gift of words and art, but most generously their gift for sharing and caring for others in a refreshingly bold, sometimes-sassy and fun sister-like fashion. Please do visit their blogs if you have not already. And I too, am sending my thoughts and well-wishes to Ms. Sinclair and her children during this time of sadness (as they have suffered a great loss this year with the death of her husband and their father).

Below, you'll find some of the most wonderful artists who have encouraged and supported me through their visits to this blog - and so I thank them and pass this award along. Some of them already have this award , but I wanted them to know that their words mean so much to me, too.:

SquirrelGirl

Vanessa

Jack

Ella

Amy C

Sarah

Sherry

Nicola

JustDoodleIt

Shipra

Peter

Cheryl Lynn

Ako

Brigitte

I wanted to end this post with this thought:

One of life's lessons that I truly believe in, and try to live by each day, is to enjoy the journey..for it's on the path that we make discoveries and learn about ourselves. The path twists and turns and may grow dark in parts, but this blog is a brightly lit path that I eagerly walk on each day. I get to join amazingly creative people, see inspired pieces of work, brilliantly crafted works of art, and beautifully written passages. And so I thank you for joining me on my path...you are all like fireflies lighting the night sky!

Impatience - Illustration Friday

Poor Chip has four months to go! Why did Granma have to send something so early?! : )

What are they reactin' to? hmmmm...

I still can't answer this...but this is a recent sketch, then illustration today..just to keep practicin'...what do you think it might be that they see? or hear? or smell? hmmm...

hope everyone's having a great week - can't believe it's already Thursday!

Modify - Illustration Friday (and please let me know what's not working here)..thanks!

That unmistakeable sound would make you want to modify your bicycle too. : )

(click to enlarge if you'd like)

Hi everyone...bonus points for constructive criticism here... if you could write about what is missing in my work in regards to children's book illustration (color? layout? white space? originality? too complex? perspective? too close, too far away, that sort of thing)..that would be super and I'd love to hear it. Really, don't hold back....