Illustration Friday: Clear

Yes it’s Illustration Friday- uh, Saturday, again!

Agnes has been a little lazy about cleaning her aquarium. Now she has to work extra hard at removing all the delicate layers of scum and making the glass clear again. If you have an aquarium, you know what this is like. In fact, I did this Illo Friday piece INSTEAD of cleaning my actual aquarium! Don’t worry, the fish are fine…I try not to let the algae get to this level of maturity.

Can you tell what I used as algae in the artwork? Sea if you can guess!

Happy Halloween!

BOO!

Hope everyone has a great day today…here in New England we have the World’s Most Perfect Autumn Day, which really bodes well for the trick-or-treating kids tonight.

You know what that means? Plenty of candy for Mom, er, uh…the kids.

Yeah, the kids!

The picture here was a promotional piece re-worked into a greeting card- it’s always good to get extra mileage out of your art when possible!

Get out there and have some fun!

Illustration Friday: Ghost

Hide the lettuce, lock your carrots in the closet. Something sinister lurks in the shadows, preying on your furry soul…

Nah, it’s just a rabbit ghost. But who says ghosts are scary? Maybe it just wants to be friends, or to tell you the all-important Meaning of Life, which all dead things know. Never make snap judgements.

I love Halloween, by the way. Love it! This mildly diabolical piece incorporates a pattern that I found on a 1950’s apron. They just don’t make patterns like they used to!

RI Author Fest!

WOW! We had the great good luck of going to the RI Festival of Children’s Book Authors this weekend. I am SO GLAD the Lincoln School has decided to bring this festival back- I remember going to it years ago and having a blast (with and without kids), but then it stopped occuring for SEVEN years (why??). Well, it’s BACK and better than ever! Chris Van Allsburg (my old teacher from RISD!) and Andrew Clements, writer extraordinaire, were there. We were able to catch talks by the wacky John Scieszka, who made a huge impression on the girls. If you ever get the chance, catch one of his presentations- darn funny, and inspirational too, in an offbeat way. We also heard and met the amazing illustrator Etienne Delessert. If you are not familiar with his art, follow that link- it’s stunning, cerebral and psychological- and somehow FUN, too. Utterly original. The always delightful Jarrett was there, too- we were bummed out to miss his presentation, but the girls were set on going to “Harry Potter Day” at a local farm. I guess you could say we were booked that day (hehehe!).

The New Studio

I realized that I had forgotten to post a picture of the snazzy, brand-new studio that we spent many months (and moons!) working on. The work sucked up a lot of summer, but it was worth it! It is a joy to work in a place with lots o’ natural LIGHT, space, and TOYS. Yep, toys! And a few lunchboxes, and other highly inspirational things. Eric’s computer setup adjoins mine. You can still the see the giant oak tree outside- maintaining a view of it was a big part of our decision to practically take down the whole wall and open things up!

ABC Book!

“Shopping With My ABCs” is now available! I did the art for this book over the summer, very happy to have a project that was full of babies and food. The book is a tie-in with a cute batch of plush letters for babies to play with, so the letters appear throughout the book along with all the stuff you’d see in a supermarket. Together, they are called “My Traveling ABCs”. My talented friend Mary Beth is the one who designed the letters for the client. It’s awesome to have a joint product with her! When you have the chance, why not “travel” over and check out the book, the letters and the rest of the Babe Ease line!

Illustration Friday: Quiet

Today’s not-quite-Friday submission for Illustration Friday shows a boy and his dog partaking in one of the world’s quietest pastimes- bubble blowing. Just the gentle whoosh of air, the soundless popping of the ethereal orbs. Of course, bubble blowing, if you happen to have more than one kid involved, can be a pretty loud hobby full of happy squeals, clapping, and the inevitable “AWWWWW!” when the bottle spills. But that’s not what’s happening here. Nope. Just the quiet part.

Illustration Friday: Change

Well, I would have liked to do a new piece this week, but I have a deadline to deal with. So, here is a very recent picture of a cat who is changing out of his pajamas into his “day clothes.”

There are lots of clothes on the floor because, well…sometimes you have to look at ALL of the clothes to know which thing you’re gonna wear. At least that’s how it goes at my house!

This piece is a pencil sketch with black and white digital tone added- it’s part of a new dummy I’m working on, when I can.

Illustration Friday: Farm

This week’s theme was “farm,” which immediately triggered this scene for me. Here are my brother and I, circa 1974, playing with our beloved Fisher Price Farm set. Talk about good toys…check out the articulated cow and horse, and the little sliding doors where the chickens live! The best part of this set was that when you opened the doors, it mooed. I still have all the pieces, and my own kids found it just as fun to play with. They don’t make ’em like they used to- more toys should have open-ended playing possibilities like these! Anyhow- toy tangent aside, this piece is done in my usual real-sketch style, then scanned and colored in Photoshop, with real fabrics added in. Please note the 70’s vibe in the colors and patterns- what a great decade!

Illustration Friday: Safe

This is the first time for me to participate in Illustration Friday.

The theme is “safe,” which is why this bunny is wrapped up in his security blanket. It’s inspired by true events, and a certain daughter of mine who is addicted to her crib blanket.

The only thing better than being wrapped up in your cozy blanket is if you also have your favorite plush dog in there with you.

Trust me on this one.