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Thursday, September 24, 2015

a mermaid swimming in leaves and an ice cream loving elephant

Since the Illustration Friday prompt this week is: mermaid, and yesterday was the first day of Fall, I couldn't resist drawing a mermaid in a sea of leaves, reading a book. (Only black and white for now. I didn't have time to do color this week, but hoping to add color in the future.)


Did you know that Tuesday was Elephant Appreciation Day, and also Ice Cream Day? When I found out, I sketched this ice cream eating elephant and his two friends. (Only b/w for this one too, but thinking about adding color in the future.)


If I get a chance to add color to these two drawings, I'll come back and update the post.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Marshmallow Villains

The Illustration Friday prompt this week is: villain. The only thing I could think of after I read the prompt for this week was an old fashioned cartoon villain. I posted about that and several friends had suggestions for what I could draw. Many thanks to Jodi Moore, Kelly Fineman, Jayme Carter, Kimberly Sabatini, Barbara DiLorenzo, and Diana Murray and her daughter* for the suggestions! And that's how I came up with this trio of marshmallow villains, The Mustache, The Flame, and The Masked Mallow (now they want me to put them in a book):



* Diana's daughter was the one who suggested evil marshmallows.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Lloyd from Say Anything (for IF), a unicorn, and Smart Dummies

The Illustration Friday prompt this week is: old. My first thought was to think of something old that people don't use much anymore. I saw someone with a boombox recently, so I started sketching boomboxes. That made me think of old music, which made me think of old movies, and eventually Lloyd from the 80s movie, Say Anything, popped in my mind. I couldn't resist making a quick drawing of Lloyd. I liked it so much I decided to make it my official drawing for IF this week:


Ever since I drew that, Peter Gabriel has been in my head singing, "In Your Eyes." Here's the scene from the movie, in case you want to see it again, or for the first time!

Smart Dummies is a challenge for illustrators to complete a picture book dummy in September. (It was started this year by Dani Duck.) There are guest posts every day, with some really good ones up so far. Go here to see most of the Smart Dummies posts.

Note: My guest post for Smart Dummies doesn't show up on that link, but you can find it here: Three Ways To Make A Picture Book Dummy. I also made art to go with that post, including this unicorn, who has now taken over my Zazzle store! (I was just going to make a shirt for me, but there was an easy way to add the unicorn to lots of things, and the unicorn wanted to go home with other people, so I tried it.)



Looking for something fun an unicorny to wear or for your house? Please check out my Zazzle store here.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Fall leaves, Illustration Friday, and Smart Dummies

On my walk this morning, I saw my first Fall leaf! 
There are other leaves on the ground, but this one changed colors before it fell.


Happy Fall everyone! 
Some people think Fall starts after Labor Day, Sept. 7th this year, and others think it starts on the autumnal equinox, Sept. 23rd this year. But if the leaves are falling, it must be Fall, right? (Even if it feels like summer with this heat wave we're having!)

Smart Dummies + Illustration Friday = Cows!
(It's always cows with me. What else could it be?

What does that mean? The Illustration Friday prompt this week is: work, and Smart Dummies is a challenge for illustrators to complete a picture book dummy in September. (It was started this year by Dani Duck.)

I wrote a guest post for Smart Dummies (Three Ways To Make A Picture Book Dummy). I also made art to go with that post. The cow illustrates one type of dummy you can make, and it also illustrates the IF prompt of work. (I love it when two things go together like that.)

Here's my cow working on a picture book dummy:


There's also a cat and a unicorn! 
(The unicorn is also my new avatar for September.)


How do these three relate to making picture book dummies? Click here to find out!

Are you participating in Smart Dummies or working on a portfolio?
Here are a couple of other posts I've written that might help:

* If you're having trouble figuring out what to draw, here's a post on ten tips to help you choose what to draw and ten ways to find inspiration.

* If you're just starting out, or are trying to get your work to the next level, here's a post I wrote for illustrators on five things that helped me (and will hopefully help you too) on my path to my first picture book.

* If you're an illustrator (or writer) and want to write a picture book, but aren't sure where to start, here's a post on how to write a picture book in twelve easy steps (the title is tongue in cheek, but the post is hopefully helpful).


Happy September and Good Luck with your picture book dummies!