Illustration Friday: Homage

I discovered something called Illustration Friday this past week. I'm surprised I hadn't discovered it before, as it is a wonderful way for artist to come together, be inspired and show off their work. Every Friday a theme is posted and artists far and wide create pieces to fit the weekly theme. I hadn't planned on entering this week, as I only just discovered the IF site, but I thought about the theme for the week, Homage, and I knew just who I wanted to pay homage to.

My husband Will is my rock. He is my number one. He loves me and supports me and never lets a day go by without making sure I know it. With every harebrained scheme I come up with, Will is right beside me. For every disaster that befalls me, Will is holding my hand. For every joy that I have celebrated, Will busts out the champagne. And for all the day to day mundane activities... well, Will is usually on the couch watching TV. But the point is, he is there. Always there for me, always rooting me on.

I know Will and I are not technically rabbits. We are people. Trust me on that. But we like to joke around about the fact that, in the three years we have been married, we already have two babies. Like rabbits. So, while the illustration is simply sweet.... it definitely represents us as a married couple!! Plus, he has a small and cute nose, and mine is much bigger. Guess which rabbit is me!!

This picture is colored pencil on Strathmore drawing paper, collaged onto acrylic painted vintage sheet music.

An Unexpected Apprentice

Fourteen month old Annelie decided to help me out with my latest drawing. A little bit unexpected, of course. She has begun climbing things lately, but I never expected to walk into the kitchen area and see her sitting in the middle of the table happily drawing all over my picture with some red colored pencils.

But there she was: My little artiste, colored pencil clenched in her fist, happily scribbling away.

And to add insult to injury, the dog was under the kitchen table chewing on one of my colored pencils (Tuscan Red, for crying out loud. I love that color!!!).

It is amazing how quickly kids at this age grow. And get into trouble. It is so true when people say, "Oh you can't take your eye off them for even a split second." Because that is seriously all it takes for little ladies to climb up to your drawing board and scribble away!!

In the end, I think Annelie did some good for my picture. I hadn't expected to cut out the airplane flying sock monkey, but I refuse to give up on a good drawing. Luckily she was using red, so I was able to blend most of her handiwork into the airplane and then cover the damage with more shading. She also drooled all over the monkey, which I hid with some black shading. I hadn't expected to use so much black, but that color certainly did the trick.

As for the background-- I think I like it better with acrylics. And the blue from colored pencil doesn't always show up nicely when I print my pictures, so it will make for a nicer print anyway.

And as for the devastation of having a picture scribbled over... well she is easy to forgive, especially when she crawls into the TV stand drawer to watch "Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus." Pretty cute, for a little hellion!

Playing the Fool

I will fall for anything.

Seriously, anything.

"Did you hear that they are removing the word 'gullible' from the dictionary?"

Yup, I fell for that. In fact I even argued that the word 'gullible' is still a frequently used word in the English language and the Oxford English Dictionary would never dream of making this word archaic.

Talk about gullible!

I'm not really that into April Fool's Day. I'd like to say it is because I am such a level headed person and trickery just isn't my thing... but that would be a huge lie, as I always wish I could come up with brilliant April Fool's Day jokes and not fall for a single one.

Hmmmm.... not this year. I've already been fooled. And as for trickery of my own... I guess there isn't a lot I can do. I did tell Gracie that she was adopted. And that Will was dying of a terminal illness. She just ignored me and asked me to play Barbies with her.

And I told Annelie that I put melted lard in her bottle instead of milk, but she just stared blankly at me and finished drinking it.

I'll have to get a little more creative next year. As for playing the fool -- well I'm sure I will always be hopeless!!

The Birth of a Silly Sock Monkey

I thought it might be fun to share my creative process when creating a new painting. My latest craze is sock monkeys and I am trying to build up a sweet little collection of them. Here is the birth of a Silly Sock Monkey: the new and adorable Jeffrey and his plushie pal, Ellie.

Meet Jimmy. This was the first sock monkey I ever made, using original Rockford Red heel socks. I sold him back in the days of my baby boutique, Tootsie and Grace. Luckily I took pictures, because he is the inspiration behind my collection of Sock Monkey paintings.

For every picture I create, I have inspiration from something. It might be as simple as a sweet tooth which can never be filled-- which led to my Delicious Things collection, or a random line drawn into my sketchbook, which looked like a snobby nose-- and led to my Elegant Snobbery collection. She Wore a Beehive for a Hat was inspired by a picture of a bee hive I saw in a Country Living magazine, and from that, I also sketched several other unique hat wearing ladies. And my Miss Muffet picture came about when I saw some cute little illustrations in a vintage children's book, and I wanted to create a collection using the vintage pictures in the background. It doesn't take a lot to find inspiration!

Here are my tools. If you are familiar with colored pencils, you will notice I am using Prismacolor, which are not my favorite colored pencils, but certainly do the trick. My collection of Design Spectracolor is wearing so low, that I am trying to be a big girl and wean myself early, so I don't have a nervous breakdown when the last of my most fabulous pencils in the world are gone. I'm handling things pretty okay, I think!

What you see here are:

* The pencils I will need for the picture. I like to plan my color palette before I begin, so I don't end up with some crazy color issues once I have started.

* My pencil sharpener, which I use every 35 seconds as I am a compulsive pencil sharpener.

* My kneaded eraser, which I use to dab over my illustration, first to pick up extra graphite and later to pick up extra colored pencil dust, so that I don't end up smearing the pencil dust as I work. Colored pencils are permanent, and even the smallest specks of pencil dust will make the picture look smeary and awful!

* Solvents (which are very toxic, and even the fumes are flammable, so be soooo careful when using these! Make sure you don't have candles burning nearby and ventilate your workspace well) which melt the colored pencil into the paper and create an almost watercolor effect. I use q-tips and tortillons to apply.

* Colorless Blender, which is the tan colored pencil with the clear tip. This is the pencil I use to blend my detail areas into the paper. It is pretty fabulous!!

Tracing paper is an artists best friend. I draw all my sketches onto tracing paper, because it erases beautifully, and doesn't leave my sketch paper filled with hard to erase pencil marks. From the tracing paper, I use a light box to transfer my drawing to my final paper. My friend Brian uses graphite paper to transfer his drawings, so really it is up to the artist. I adore my light box, though.

Pencil lines are permanent, no matter how light you get them. I need to transfer my work on a paper that has no previous pencil lines or eraser marks, because the colored pencils will pick up every single mark etched into the paper. Really annoying, so I can't mess up!! After the picture is transferred, I use the kneaded eraser to pick up all extra graphite, so I have very faint lines that wont show up as I add my color. I then have to tape my work to my drawing board, so I don't slide my picture around. I have been known to ruin pictures from crinkling the paper while I draw, so this is a HUGE step for me.

Here is my "ugly picture" phase. It is a good thing that I know my picture will eventually look alright, because this ugly phase is looooong, as I apply and blend layer after layer of color. I generally work small areas until they are done, but sometimes if I am not sure of my color palette, I will work the whole painting at the same time. There is nothing more annoying than finishing the foreground, and then screwing up the color in the background!!

You can see better in this picture what is finished and what isn't. I still have some work to do on the shading of the monkeys body, the blending of the grass, the background and the lollipops, but the elephant is completely finished. I usually like to finish my favorite areas first, and I thought that elephant was pretty cute!! Layering the colored pencils takes awhile for me. I love layers and with colored pencil, you have to start light and then work darker and darker. I generally just layer an area until I get bored, so luckily I don't usually go too overboard with my color!!

And here is Jeffrey and little Ellie, all nice and finished!! I think he is my favorite sock monkey yet!!

What do you think?

My Very Modest Muse

**Night Performance** Brian Nishimoto

Children's book illustration is where I hope to end up some day. I have wanted to write and illustrate children's books since I was young and still have a whole slew of Young Author's Faire books written by yours truly on my book shelves.

Some of my favorite artist include Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things are and In the Night Kitchen), Mary GrandPre (illustrator of the American Harry Potter book covers, as well as several other children's books), Holly Hobbie (Toot and Puddle), Arthur Rackham (Peter Pan, A Midsummer Night's Dream) and John William Waterhouse (Okay, so he wasn't a children's book illustrator but The Lady of Shalott is my all time favorite painting... and stunning to see in person!!)

But my favorite artist is, without a doubt, Brian Nishimoto.

** Into the Woods** Brian Nishimoto

I discovered Brian's work at my local library a few years ago. My library had a gallery set up for local artists and when I saw Brian's amazingly beautiful watercolors I just could not stop staring! I got his email address from the librarians and sent him an email asking if he gave lessons.

While Brian didn't give lessons, he was looking for a painting companion and he found that in me. For a little over a year, Brian and I met every Thursday and painted together. Now, I'm no watercolorist. After a year of getting my hands dirty with Windsor & Newton, I called it quits and went back to my Design Spectracolors. But in that year I learned a lot about the creative process. I also finally gave myself a chance at being an artist.

**Rat Lullaby** Brian Nishimoto

Brian and I entered a competition together. I found the W.I.N Competition in a book on children's book publishing and we each entered. I entered in the Dummy book category (the requirements were to write and illustrate a 32 page children's book with 4 full color spreads and the rest in black and white) and Brian entered in the Illustration category (the requirements were to send in one full color book cover).

I didn't win (though I did hear that I made it into the top ten in my category-- hurray!!) but Brian was given an Honorable Mention... and picked as the editor's favorite! Very well deserved!

Brian is a very modest guy and will be horrified to read my incessant praise, I'm sure! But before I go, I have to show off some of his work, which you can find on his website ModestMuse.com. I'm sure you will be just as blown away as me! When my family packed up and moved to Texas a year and a half ago, ending my Thursday night painting sessions with Brian was one of the hardest things I had to do. We still keep in touch and show each other our latest work through emails, but it sure isn't the same as sitting across from each other each week and watching sketches come to life with each layer of paint.

I hope you enjoy his work as much as I do! I know Gracie is a fan. As a parting gift, Brian gave me a framed copy of his The Little Mermaid illustration (my favorite!) and it hangs in the girl's room.

**The Kiss** Brian Nishimoto

**Familiar Strangers** Brian Nishimoto

**No Vichy For Me Please** Brian Nishimoto

**Once Upon A Time** Brian Nishimoto

Even his pencil sketches are a work of art!! And another note before I go: the sketchbook Brian gave me (another parting gift) is where each of my elegant snobs was born. We may not paint together anymore, but I am still inspired!

ACEO Crazy

I'm back on an ACEO kick. I just can't help myself.

For those of you who are not familiar with ACEOs (or ATCs), they stand for Art Card Editions and Originals or Art Trading Cards, and measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches. They are wonderful little collectibles and the perfect way to own original work without breaking the bank. They are also highly addictive to make and highly addictive to collect!

I love getting my fingers messy with collages. These little things are very satisfying and don't take hundreds of hours to put together. Plus, they are so tiny they can just fit in your pocket. I am a firm believer that tiny things are the cutest things.

I have also been itching to use the vintage children images that I purchased from Art-e-ology a while back.

***Sold***

This card is made with vintage text from a 1904 copy of a Shakespeare play. The little girl image is copied from a vintage photograph and embellished with ink, acrylics, pencil, the rub on word "Miracle" and three Swarovski crystals.

This ACEO is made with vintage sheet music. The little girl image is copied from a vintage photograph and embellished with ink, acrylics, pencil, rub on word and three shimmery Swarovski crystals.

***Sold***

This ACEO is made with a vintage mermaid children illustration and text from a children's book published in 1908. Embellished with acrylic paint, ink, pencil, rub on word and Swarovski crystals. This one is my personal favorite, as I am a mermaid collector. I secretly hope no one buys this one, so I can covet it forever!!

I wanted to be more loose in my drawing style with this ACEO. These cards are great for experimentation, and usually my style is very controlled and precise. This one was fun for me!!

This sweet cake is drawn in colored pencils and drawing pencil, on vintage sheet music and acrylic paints. A sweet little birdie sits on top and reminds you to love!! Again, I was having fun with a loose style. I think it turned out pretty cute!

If you have never made an ACEO before, you gotta try it! Throw your inhibitions to the wind, pull out whatever art supplies, glue, glitter, whatever you have and play around. You just might become an ACEO addict, too!

Its Never Too Late for Glitter Eggs!

Egg decorating came late in our household.

Not as late as our Halloween pumpkin cookie decorating which we didn't start until mid-November. Or our Christmas gingerbread men cookie making which we didn't start until February.

But we did only just open the Glitter Egg decorating kit this morning. Gracie didn't mind. I guess to a three year old, glitter eggs are magic no matter when they are created!

The best part of our egg decorating, was that Gracie could pretty much do the whole thing herself. The eggs and dye were placed into baggies before covered in glitter, so the project was fairly mess-free.

And Gracie was so proud of herself and her shimmering, glittery eggs, that she actually smiled at the camera without bribes and begging!

We may just have to hit up the store for their half price after-Easter egg decorating kits, so we can make some more next week!