wacky wedding

I came across this fun challenge to illustrate an unconventional or 'wacky wedding', over at scbwi (society of children's book writers and illustrators). I've never illustrated a children's book, but I'd like to and this was such a great topic, I'd thought I'd give it a try. I drew all the images, then scanned them and a bunch of decorative papers into Photoshop. The painting was all done digitally. I could have messed around with this for hours longer, but I finally had to say...OK, I'm done! Knowing when you are done with a piece of art is probably one of the hardest things for an artist, particularly when you are first starting out. I usually just know when a piece is done...but with digital, it's so easy to change and add elements. It's 'wacky'!

Illustration Friday - theme word - polar

Here's my Illustration Friday piece for the topic of 'Polar'. I know, I know, everyone will be doing a polar bear, but I love polar bears! I couldn't help myself! This was a hybrid...some drawing, a painted background and all put together in Photoshop. I was really happy with the way this turned out. I'd love some feedback from all you creative people out there who see this. Let me know what YOU think!

Illustration Friday - theme word - fortune

Here's my entry for this week's illustration Friday with the theme of the week of Fortune. This is a traditional piece using paint, paper, text, a fine point marker and even a little bit of brown shoe polish! I love to paint and draw chickens! I don't really know why - I don't have a particular fondness for chickens or even eggs. I've never lived on a farm and I don't have a house full of cutesy collectibles with chickens on them! Maybe it's the story of the little red hen that I like so much. "I'll do it myself said the little red hen!" A true independent chick and I admire her very much. She got things done!

city girl walks the dog

A quick little illo I started a couple of weeks ago and had some time to finish yesterday. I wanted to do something with the "people" I design for A Muse Artstamps , on a somewhat larger scale, so I decided to do a gal similar to the shopper girl stamp. I'll just call her 'city girl'. I did this on a 9" x 12" piece of canvas and found out it was a bit tricky trying to draw nice lines with my pen on the bumpy canvas paper! I think I'll go back to my nice thick printmaking paper, but then again I like the canvas paper because it gives a built in texture to the piece. Hmmm...so many decisions! Anyway, here it is...city girl walks the dog. Maybe it will be the 1st in a series of city girl adventures!

Illustration Friday - theme word - green

Here's my entry for this week's Illustration Friday with the theme word 'green'. I did this one totally by hand, no Photoshop! I kinda wish I would have, so I could have played around with the sizing and positioning of the elements more. I'm not 100% happy with this one, but I love the girl! I'll call her Bernice and the boy with the the new green hat that she wants is Milton. There's a debate going on around here on whether or not I should have included the word ENVY on her shirt. My daughter suggested it and I thought it would be a good idea, but my husband said it's too literal and I should have left it up to the viewer to figure it out. Let me know what you think! I'd love some feedback on this one.

another A Muse sneak peek

Now that Easter is over (almost!), it's time to change the display window at the A Muse retail shop. Here's a sneak peek at the props I've been working on. Out with the bunny and in with the little bird...with his bird cage, of course! It's going to be adorable with the bird cage hanging and the little bird perched on top of a scalloped edge display stand. And of course lots of fabulous A Muse products and sample cards to go with our spring theme. We'll try to get a picture of the actual window when it is complete. Tweet! Tweet!

middle of somewhere

I thought I'd share my latest fine art piece that will be shown at the Seattle Art Museum Gallery. This is an acrylic and paper collage that measures 18" x 36". The framed size will be 27" x 45". I call it 'middle of somewhere' because people use the expression, 'in the middle of nowhere' to describe a place out in the country. This piece had a sense of a place that I would like to be, hence, middle of somewhere. I'm really loving light teal combined with a light mustard color palette. So fresh.

illustration friday - theme word - snap

This is my entry for Illustration Friday's theme word - Snap. When I first heard the word of the week, I thought of the obvious twig snapping or a PERSON SNAPPING! Then, I remembered making rice krispie treats with my daughter last week and there is actually a little guy called Snap with a couple of buddies named Crackle and Pop! I had to do something with Rice Krispie treats! I got Nikki to model for me, then altered her image in Photoshop, did some painting and drawing, then the rest is cut and paste, the old fashioned way! I had a blast making this, although Nikki was not too thrilled with the outcome of her photo shoot.
1. She would never wear her hair like this.
2. She would never wear a dress with a funky little collar like this.
3. Her crown would be a tiara, not one like this.
But, I am the artist and I get to choose, so here it is. Enjoy!