Square Root of Squirrel

Teaching math yesterday and thought of this silly thing.....first, I thought, "Square root of squirrel." That morphed into "squarel root." I decided to scribble it out, for fun.

Okay, now back to the work I'm supposed to be doing!:)

Illustrations

I've almost completed illustrations for my first children's book! Hooray! The author does not want any info posted, yet, but as soon as I can, I will. 

It's been a great learning process and I hope to continue doing this because I've really enjoyed it!

Looking forward to being able to put a picture of the book in my sidebar....

Cross Hatching Lesson

I've added a super cool cross hatching tutorial on my "Resources" page. It's fun just to see Dan Nelson's work! Just found it through a Tweet by Bob Ostrom.

Doodles of a Star Wars fan....

Something I drew, for fun.  I thought I made this up, but I think others have actually created some version of this concept, before.  I'm thinkin' it won't hurt to share it on my little ol' blog, though.....

Snowflakes and Enthusiasm?

It can be difficult to think highly of snowflakes, when you're covered in mounds of them, but....

The poet, Henry David Thoreau, wrote in his journal that a snowflake is the product of enthusiasm. "How full of the creative genius is the air in which these are generated! I should hardly admire more if real stars fell and lodged on my coat."*

Art is the product of enthusiasm, too.  I know that sometimes, when we're trying to earn a paycheck, we create artwork we're not necessarily enthusiastic about, but, at those other times, isn't it awesome to have something in your head that you just have to get out with paint, paper, canvas, sculpture, or whatever your chosen medium is? You hardly want to stop and eat, because you're so driven to complete the piece?

That is a product of enthusiasm!

And while we can't quite reach the capabilities of the Genius who creates snowflakes, it sure is fun to try!

*From The Journal of Henry David Thoreau, pp. 87-88

Heron Painting

Here's something I created this morning....it's my first "painting" done solely on the Wacom.  It was fun!

I could develop it some more, but am stopping for now....better work on other stuff.

Hmmmm

Just realized I said I wasn't going to post any more work, right now, because of my current illustration work, and yet, I have posted 2 new characters!  Well, okay, you know how it is.....I made some time to create them (and apparently, to post on my blog:).  Hey, I had to....they were in my head and I had to get them out!

Party Animal

Here's another one of my characters.....he and Carlos (below) are a couple of my original animals from that college sketchbook, just "amped up" a bit.

I don't have a name for this guy, but I do know he's a party animal.....

5 Reasons I Am Loving Digital Art

My new favorite tools -

1. Undo
2. Rotate
3. Eraser (big deal when you can erase PAINT!)
4. Layers
5. Layer Adjustor

Never thought I'd say this, but there are a lot of things I love about digital art! Above are the top 5 reasons why, right now.

Oh yeah, and the fact that I don't have to change my clothes to "paint".....I'm a messy painter!

Say "Hello" to My Leetle Friend

Meet Carlos, the penguin....

I just developed this guy today.  He's a character I came up with years ago; and today, have brought to life, I hope, with a new look.

I decided to name him, Carlos.  I don't know why. I just looked at him and decided he looks like a Carlos.

Artist Panic!

While I've been doing traditional art for a while, I'm new to the world of digital illustration, so....

Had a moment...okay, more than a moment, of panic last night....thinking, what in the world am I doing, trying to illustrate a children's book, as a newbie????? Am I insane??? There are so many talented illustrators out there, already....how can I hope to compete?

My wonderful husband reassured me...truthfully, which he's great about...he said that, yes, maybe people wouldn't like it....but maybe some, or many, will....just keep plugging...then, try another one....

In any industry, we just have to keep trying, and work hard. We'll be challenged, make mistakes, and grow.

As the guy in "The Water Boy" kept saying, in his great cajun accent...."You can do it!"

So, today, I'm back at it! Breathe...breathe....breathe...

Illustration Project

While still offering my paintings, (I recently completed/sold a gallery wrap of my "Grace" painting, seen below) I'm currently working on illustrations for a children's book. I cannot post any of my images or other information from this, yet, but as soon as it's published, I will! Soon, I'll post some more of my animal characters, which I actually developed years ago, and used to create greeting cards for friends and family.  I'm hoping to develop them further into more illustrations, greeting cards, and comics. 

This has been consuming all of my work time (which would have normally been my free time -haha) so that's why I haven't posted any new work lately.
 

"Hibiscus"

"Peace, Be Still!"

Sometimes, I write Scripture references on these, and sometimes, I let the elements "speak" for themselves.