Sketch for IF: Haunt

Here is my sketch for this week's Illustration Friday topic, "Haunt".   I hope you all had a Happy Halloween! Welcome, November! 

IF: Shiny

Hello all!

I've been keeping busy - preschool graduation is around the corner, and a few top secret work projects on the go.

This week's Illustration Friday topic is "Shiny". I started this character to be part of a larger piece, but since the subject matter suited the IF topic, I thought I'd go ahead and upload what I had.  Consider it a work in progress.  :)

Happy Father's Day on Sunday!

Ink for IF: Popularity

Hi folks! My schedule is crazy these days - juggling work projects, packing lunches for preschool, trying to fit a run in somewhere, and my baby still won't sleep through the night! So, I got to the inking phase for this week's Illustration Friday theme, but am very sure it won't be painted in time. I want to do this one in acrylic when I have a spare minute!

Hope all is well in happy drawing land! Until next time!

Sketch for IF: Suspense

I probably won't finish this by next Friday, but here is my sketch for this week's Illustration Friday, "Suspense".

IF: Forward

I'm still playing around with ink & acrylics. This technique keeps me loose, which I love. Here's my painting for this week's Illustration Friday:

Until next time!

IF: Prepare

I finished painting this one.  In case you missed it, the sketch is here.  Enjoy!

IF: Twirl

So, I was not able to finish digitally painting last week's "Prepare", but it is coming along alright and I hope to finish it sometime soon.

I've been playing around with brush inking & acrylics lately, so I tried out this week's Illustration Friday, "Twirl", in that style.  It was a quick exercise for a Sunday afternoon, and I had fun painting it. 

Here's the sketch:

Incidentally, the red panda is my favourite animal.  :)

Sketch for IF: Prepare

I hope I can paint this one this week!

 

IF: Boundaries

Quick sketch for this week's Illustration Friday topic, "Boundaries". No further comment. ;)

Have a good week, everyone!

IF: Influence

My 4-year-old copies me when I do yoga or crunches in the living room. 

And the sketch:

IF: Swell

My summer has been very busy! Vacations, family visits, play dates, feeding two growing little ones, losing the baby weight, not to mention.. getting back to work! I've been drawing a few very fun projects this past month and hope to talk about them at a later time.

The busy summer has left me little time to draw just for fun, but I managed to squeeze in an Illustration Friday for this week.. Went with the first thing that came to mind when I saw the word "Swell"!

Note: I have only surfed once my entire life.

Here's the sketch:

IF: Remedy

Summer is here! I hope you all see as few scraped knees as possible this summer. At least we know the remedy, right?

Here's the sketch:

IF: Swept

Hello! I've been finding tiny pockets of time to draw while the baby sleeps. My husband also took our preschooler to see Kung Fu Panda 2 this afternoon, so I managed to squeeze in an Illustration Friday piece! And they brought back popcorn! Yay!

Here's the sketch I did for it:

And here's another sketch I did for this week's topic:

IF: Asleep

Playing around some more in watercolours.  Sleep is slightly elusive at the moment..  ;)

IF: Warning

Helloooo internet universe!  How have you been?  Everyone in my household has been sick for the past while.  I hope you are well!

Here's a quick one for this week's Illustration Friday, "Warning":

And here's the sketch. I imagined him to be shouting, "TEACHER'S COMING!"

IF: Chicken

Seeing how the lovely Jannie Ho requested this topic, how could I not paint something this week!

This painting took a bit of time, seeing as I was crocheting some baby hats last weekend:

You can see the inspiration as I seem to be in "nesting" mode myself these days!

Sketch for IF: Deja Vu

Happy New Year everyone!

I'm still digging myself out of my to-do list pile, sketching and painting and mothering and getting kicked in the ribs very frequently!

Here is my sketch for this week's Illustration Friday, "Deja Vu".  I want to paint it in watercolour/digital. I will do my best to have it completed by Thursday night, but shall make no promises. ;)

I see many of you writing your 2011 goals. With baby due in April, I don't want to set any soaring expectations that I'm very unlikely to achieve. Once he or she is here, my only plan is to play everything by ear. Until then, my primary focus is to beef up my portfolio and client list. Good luck to everyone - I have good feelings about this year!

IF: Savour

Happy December! For this week's Illustration Friday piece, I thought I'd try again at digitally painting over a watercolour base painting. It was fun to do. :)

Here's the original watercolour:

IF: Burning

Wow, it's been a month since I've updated. I've heard many times that freelance illustration work is very much "feast or famine", and true to the saying, my past month or so has been very very busy with projects!

After working long hours on the tablet for the past several weeks, my right wrist is starting to bother me when I'm drawing at the computer. I've ordered a new stylus grip as well as new drawing nibs, and hopefully they will alleviate some of that repetitive strain. In the meantime I'm sticking to a good regimen of applying ice, seeing a massage therapist, stretching often, and using muscle relief patches on my arm. I'm really picking apart the way I draw and sit at the computer, too, so I hope to resolve this issue before it gets any worse.

Anyway, because of the wrist pain I started experimenting with my process (for personal projects only - clients, please don't worry!). Drawing with anything other than the tablet doesn't hurt me, so I brought out my pencils, lightbox, and watercolours. I tried this week's Illustration Friday piece, "Burning Up", using this method.

Sketch, (drawn during my daughter's swimming lesson):

Watercolour underpainting:

And the finished piece:

Ultimately it saved a bit of time on the tablet, but I think that the style is too different to act as a substitute for my fully digital work. Still, I think this process and style have potential, plus it's FUN, so I'll keep playing around with it.. When I have time, that is!

Thanks for your continued patience with the sporadic updates on my blog. :)

Bump in the Night

A while back, I spoke with the illustration coordinator at our local chapter of the SCBWI.  She mentioned that she wanted to create a monthly illustration challenge with a blog to showcase our local talent.  This month is our first challenge with the theme, "things that go bump in the night".

I confess I'm not Halloween's biggest fan, but this piece was really fun to do!  Check out our group blog at Go Bananas Illustration!

Edit: I just noticed this week's Illustration Friday topic and decided to use this piece for that, too!