Sketchbook Project — Reindeer

I'm so excited about some of the sketches in my Sketchbook Project. So many new illos to color!

Sketchbook Project — Skiing Penguin

We had a record amount of snow in the Sierras this last week. Wish I could have gone skiing. This little fellow did get to hit the slopes, though. As you can see, I've hit the halfway mark on my Sketchbook Project. If I keep doing 2 page spreads, I should be able to finish by the deadline. Yay!

In CyberMonday news, I'm have a 20% off sale in my Etsy shop with the coupon code Thanx10 and on my Collage Portraits, so now's the  time to shop!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! 

I hope your holiday is full of warmth, love, and way too much food!

Sketchbook Project — Bunnies on the Brain

My poor sketchbook has been sadly neglected lately. I was busy on a project and had no time for it. The project was cancelled, so now I have time. If you look closely, you can see the next page I'm working on. It's more seasonally appropriate than bunnies.

We did a lot of celebrating over here this weekend. My in-laws celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and my oldest turned 13. In other news, my 9 year old son has discovered girls. More specifically, a belly dancer. You can see the appreciation in his face.

Happy Birthday Kiyon!!!

I can't believe that my little boy is  turning 13. How did this happen? He was just a teeny weeny baby yesterday! One thing that has never changed is his deep love of chocolate and his love of ice cream. We joke that his freckles are made of chocolate.

He is the best big brother…ever and we love him so.

I hope this is your best year yet. I so enjoy catching glimpses of the man you are becoming.

Happy Birthday!!!

I'm still here

This is a banner I designed for the school & church's Holiday Boutique. It's so fun to see my work so big! I'd really love to see my art on garden flags. Working on it!

This is the original art that I modified to fit the banner's dimensions.

We've been visiting different high schools trying to figure out the best fit for my soon-to-be-teenager. He saw a student's English project which had a few clay soldiers in it and that was all it took to generate hours of fun. He and his brother worked on these all Sunday afternoon. He wanted me to make sure you knew that one, they're not finished (I think he's planning on painting them), and two, that he made them, not me. He became concerned that I put my name and copyright on the photo. I told him that was just because I took the photo. Glad to see he's aware of his rights ;-)

 

We're really busy with various activities and work around here. The pressure can be crushing (pun intended). This is actually how I feel lately. Disclaimer: No children were harmed in the making of this photo.

The crushed one, pictured above, has been drawing up a storm lately. He's been working his way through copying Pokeman drawings. He learned shading by the age old method of copying. No worries, I explained copyright law to him. If I missed anything, I'm sure his big brother will fill him in. Recently, he has branched into creating his own robots. If he keeps going at this rate, he'll be better than me in no time.  I wish I had his focus. Did I mention he's only nine?

That's all for now. I'm working on a big project that I can't talk about, unfortunately.

Illustration Friday & Sketchbook Project — First Kiss Illustration in Color

First the kiss, then the flowers Afterwards. You may remember this from my Sketchbook Project. I've been wanting to make it into a full color illustration ever since I finished the sketch. I purposely used a limited palette on this one. This illo was colored with my usual Caran d'ache watercolor pencils on toned paper, clipped and collaged using Dioma Paper Textures in Photoshop.

This print is now available in my shop.

Checking In

Sorry for being MIA, but there's a lot going on behind the scenes. Some I'll be able to show soon, others later. I had to include a picture, so I took one of the newest member of my studio 'staff' — Woody. We cleaned out a few, and I'm sad to say, very few, toys from my son's room. I couldn't let go of Woody, so he's my new pal. He's seated next to Mr. Frog and a collage portrait of my mom's dog.

Sketchbook Project — Unwrapped

I couldn't resist posting just one more halloween pic. I have more in my regular sketchbook, but I'll save them for next year. I got some wonderful collection inspiration from all of this spooky sketching.