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Friday, December 31, 2010

art for WaWe and IF (resolutions)

The prompt this week for WaWe is artist’s choice and for Illustration Friday, it’s resolutions. My choice this week was to do a painting of a football playing moose that I had sketched a couple of years ago (and had always wanted to do something with). It also works for the IF prompt, because one of my New Year’s resolutions is to play more with my art, to make something of those sketches that look fun, but aren’t for my portfolio or a specific project. I know that playing with my art helps it to move forward and helps me to grow as an artist. Plus, this image reminds me of tonight, with the starry skies and fresh snow, both of which seem to promise that all my shiny, new resolutions will be kept all year.



I’m still trying to figure out what my other resolutions are …

What are your New Year’s Resolutions this year? How do you make sure you keep them?

Happy New Year!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Mail for IF

The prompt for Illustration Friday this week is, “mail.” I thought about all the holiday letters that are being sent this month and came up with an image of swirling mail. (Or maybe it was a dream I had about not having my cards in the mail yet!) Here it is:



Here’s a detail:



Hope a letter or two is on its way to you!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Winter Activities for WaWe and Phenomenon for IF

The prompt this week for Watercolor Wednesdays is Winter Activities. I painted this image at the beginning of the month for this prompt. Then I got an email from Illustration Friday with the prompt for this week, Phenomenon, which I thought also worked for this painting. It would be a big phenomenon if penguins started to ice skate! Maybe they’d even start a penguin Olympics! Okay, probably not. Here’s my penguin skating with his birdie friends:

Monday, December 13, 2010

Holiday Book Drive for LitWorld

Just one book can change a life, so imagine what a difference that one book would make if it were put in the hands of a little girl or boy who had never before held a picture book, let alone had one for their very own.

That’s why I’m hoping you’ll be kind enough to donate children’s picture books, sending or bringing them to one of three drop-off points in New York. LitWorld, in partnership with The International Book Bank, will fill a 20ft container with the books (around 3,000 are needed) and ship them to Liberia and Sierra Leone. There, the books will be put straight into the hands of children (see picture below of LitWorld Ambassador Kimmie Weeks reading aloud from book donations). Some of these children will never have seen a picture book before; the majority are used to sharing what they do have: one book is shared among 75 children, on average.



About LitWorld: LitWorld is a non-profit organisation that advocates for global literacy. LitWorld believes stories are life-changing and sharing stories will create connections that have the power to change the world.

LitWorld works closely with teachers all over Liberia, providing professional development around reading and writing. We also provide schools with much needed books, supplies and school materials.

Currently the ratio of children to books is 75:1. Our dream is to change that to 1:1!
About The International Book Bank: An organization that has been delivering free books and educational materials to developing countries since 1987, with the goal of increasing literacy and advancing education.

About Liberia: As you may know, thousands of people were killed in Liberia’s 16-year civil war, leaving the nation in economic ruin.  Many places are still without electricity and running water. Unemployment and illiteracy continue to be endemic. The country is attempting to rebuild and recover from this long and arduous war. A large part of this effort is rebuilding the educational system. In order for that to be successful they need an increased supply of books and materials.
About Sierra Leone: Though Sierra Leone is well known for its diamond industry, it was ranked as the poorest country in the world in 1998. The dispute over the control of the diamond mines erupted in an 11-year civil war, which began in 1991 and ended in 2002. Sierra Leone faces the intense challenges of reconstruction, with poverty and unemployment leading the major issues. The Civil War deconstructed 1,270 schools, leaving 67% of children in 2001 without an education. Today, two thirds of the adult population in Sierra Leone are illiterate.

Info on where to mail or bring books: please visit the LitWorld website - http://litworld.org/holidays/bookdrive/

Connect with LitWorld online at www.litworld.org, on Facebook, and Twitter.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Winter Wildlife and Dec. Banner for WaWe, Tradition for CBIG, and Prehistoric for IF

The prompt for Watercolor Wednesdays this week is winter wildlife. I was thinking about a girl starting to make a snowman when I wondered what would happen if a baby polar bear crossed her path.



If you go to the Watercolor Wednesdays site this month, you’ll see the banner I did for the site:



Here’s a crop of my three favorite sand-snowmen that I’m posting on the CBIG blog this month. The prompt is tradition … it’s a tradition for my husband and I to go out to the beach on New Year’s Eve at midnight to welcome in the new year, which is what I imagine these three are doing:



The prompt this week for Illustration Friday is prehistoric and I couldn’t help wondering what a brontosaurus would look like made out of snow. Then I wondered if the giraffe and the brontosaurus are related (I’m a visual person and the long necks of both of them make them related in my mind). That’s how I came up with this painting idea.


The snow dino and giraffe don’t really look like snow creatures though. They both just look white. Maybe they rolled around in the snow before this picture.

p.s. Did you know that a giraffe is called a twigga in Swahili? (According to my MIL after her trip to Africa.)