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Tuesday, June 30, 2015

alligator vs. bunny = danger

The Illustration Friday prompt this week is: danger. I had an old sketch of an alligator trying to eat a bunny (from a picture book dummy I'm thinking of revising) and decided to make a new drawing:


 Poor bunny! Do you think she'll get away?

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

panda sketches - small for illustration friday

The Illustration Friday prompt this week is: small. I did a few panda sketches (didn't know pandas were so hard to draw!) for a friend, and the panda on the right side is feeling so small compared to the other two pandas. It's hard to be the littlest panda (or child in the family, or kid in the class):


Poor small panda!

Don't worry though. Small panda will grow up to be a big panda before you know it!

Monday, June 8, 2015

last day to bid on children's book art for the ABFE auction

Update: Now that the auction is over,* I wanted to post an update to say: Thank you to everyone who bid on art in the auction! And thank you to everyone who wasn't able to bid, but helped to get the word out! And an extra thank you to the people who bid on my art! To the people who won art in the auction: I hope you love your new art and it brings you joy whenever you see it hanging in your home or office.

Would you like to support free speech and get some great children's book art? Today is the last day* to bid on art in the ABFE** auction. Items have different auction closing times throughout the day/evening, so check early for more choices.

Click here for the link to the auction.

I have two pieces in the auction this time. The first is the painting, Once Upon A Time Birdies. It was created for the auction on Tell A Story Day (for my unusual holidays series). These little birdies are telling a story, and reading a story (EWE AND AYE). (note: the colors look better in real life than in the scan). Click here to bid on the Once Upon A Time Birdies.




The second painting is in honor of Judy Blume (the person ABFE honored at their BEA auction this year). I had several ideas about what to draw before deciding to paint a girl reading a Judy Blume book (ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET), with more Judy Blume books to choose from when she's looking for another book to read. Click here to bid on the Girl Reading Judy Blume Books.



* The auction is over, except for two Chris Raschka pieces, which you can bid on until Thursday.

** From the ABA website: "The American Booksellers for Free Expression (The ABFE Group at ABA) is the bookseller's voice in the fight for free speech. Its mission is to promote and protect the free exchange of ideas, particularly those contained in books..." Click Here to read more about ABFE.

Friday, June 5, 2015

an airborne cow, cat, and donut: new postcards, unusual holidays, and Illustration Friday

Today's unusual holiday is Donut Day,* and yesterday was Hug A Cat Day. I combined those two with the Illustration Friday prompt this week, "airborne,"to create this portrait:


Cora (the cow) is from a book I'm working on, and also my new postcard.** She searched for her cat Marmalade yesterday to give her a hug for Hug A Cat Day, but Marmalade likes hugs almost as much as she likes Cora's pogo stick (not at all). She got a hug today and a ride on the pogo stick too, but no donut. Poor Marmalade.


Marmalade is swishing her tail in annoyance. Cora better watch out when they land!

* Which way do you spell today's tasty treat: Donut or Doughnut? Spell check says donut is spelled wrong, unless it's plural. Guessing spell check likes to eat donuts by the dozen!

** My new postcards featuring Cora got mailed*** out yesterday!


*** FYI to illustrators: postage rates for postcard stamps went up on Sunday to 35 cents (which they didn't tell me when I bought 150 postcard stamps on Saturday). I was able to buy 1 cent stamps (had to go to two post offices to get enough), so the postcards are on their way. WooHoo!

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

superhero bunny vs. candy corn monster

It's a bit monstrous out today (still cold and rainy), so it seems like the perfect time to post monster art (and a cute bunny too).

The Illustration Friday prompt this week is: monster. I didn't have a specific monster image in my head when I started drawing, but given how much I like Halloween, it didn't surprise me that my monster turned out like this:


My monster looks like a giant melted candy corn crossed with a crab wearing furry slippers!

The little superhero bunny is not sure what to think. Will they be friends? Does the monster like to eat bunnies? (That claw looks like it's about to pick up the bunny, doesn't it?)

Here's a close up of the bunny:


The more I look at this picture, the more it seems to represent my life. Sometimes I'm the bunny, other times I want to dress up like a monster and go trick-or-treating. (Yay Halloween candy!)

How's your day going? Hope it's not as monstrous as the weather!