Coffee Shop clientele

I'm not quite sure where the idea for this came from - though bits of the layout are reminiscent of my local coffee shop - but it was a lot of fun to paint. I painted the outline in black acrylic first, then added color with watercolor and finally used colored pencil to deepen the colors, make the figures a bit more three-dimensional and give the whole more atmosphere.

More Christmas ornaments

Paper mache angels this time - lots of fun to make.

Illustration Friday - shy

I did this earlier this year, but it fits the Illustration Friday word for this week. Her name is Millie and she has many different moods.

Illustration Friday - haunt

I originally did this for an online children's magazine. The little girl is haunted by two ghosts but instead of being scary they're just a nuisance. They're rehearsing for their band and won't let her get to sleep.

The Daily Hoot

I've been drawing birds quite a lot recently - not realistic but decorative ones - and somehow that became this portrait gallery, complete with owl enjoying a little drink and the daily paper. I started out by painting the lines with black acrylic, then coloring with watercolor. The lines looked very clunky and overly prominent as I was painting them, but with the color they seem just fine. I do think a painted line gives more energy than a line drawn with pen and even a line drawn with brush and ink.

PiBoIdMo

That strange title refers to Picture Book Idea Month. In the past I've come upon Tara Lazar's site at other times of the  year when the month is long past, so when I happened upon it yesterday just as the month was gearing up, I decided it was a sign and have in fact signed up. I'm committing myself to coming up with 30 picture book ideas in 30 days. They don't have to be shared, they don't have to be developed, they don't have to be any good, but the hope is that even that tiny commitment will get the creative juices flowing and SOMETHING will be worth working on after the month is over.

Making Holiday Ornaments

The Bennington Arts Guild will be having a Holiday Show starting the end of November so I made a few more paper mache birds. I have so much fun with them! All of the slightly different sizes and proportions give them different personalities.