Practice Illustration for Book Character....and a fairy

I've been working on illustrations for a children's book character I have in mind. The styles and faces are vastly different as I audition different things to see what I like best.















I colored in some with watercolors to see how they would look finished.

I drew the Violet character from Steve Breen's book, "Violet, the Pilot", to get a feel for a different style. I love Steve's book and illustrations and discovered that he's an award winning political cartoonist. His charactures of politicians and events are wonderful and hilarious! What an amazing artist! His caracter, Violet, is the one on the top half of the page.

I needed to practice drawing noses and am working on profiles...something I've not done and badly need practice with...

My character eats cereal in the morning...I'm not sure if this is the image I'll use...I just wanted to practice making her look a little dishevelled with "morning hair".

These were actually inspired by photos of my little girl when she was younger...

...and a fairy. I'm not really a fairy person, but got a book for my daughter and couldn't help trying one of the illustrations in it.

Artwork Over the Past Few Months

Left: A drawing I did from photo (right) from the WetCanvas site. He has such an interesting face, it was fun to do!

Trying to fit in art time in my studio has been a tough thing this year. I bought a coffee shop the first of the year after a stressful legal battle with the previous owner/partner and a mismanaged franchise. The result has been a fresh new atmosphere, both physically (new decor) and emotionally (a fun and relaxed atmosphere for me and my employees).

The downside has been the vast number of hours required to start and run a small business, made even more challenging by the current economy. I do find times to do some art, they are just not always in my studio. I often take my journal to the shop and find a little time over the slower periods of the day to draw.

(Above)This is a face I drew out of my head.

I used watercolor pencils and watercolor brush pen.

This piece was inspired by the story of "The Princess and the Pea" when I took part in the '08 Summer production of "Once Upon a
Mattress". The princess arrived from the swamp and climbed the castle wall in her haste to meet the Prince! She turned out a little sexy here... don't know that that was what I was going for.... lol!

This is a little sketch I did of a local boy, James, who lost his battle with cancer. I got the photo from the blog his mother keeps.

I was waiting for my daughter, Peggy, at a theatre rehearsal one day with nothing but my journal and an ink pen. No one around and no photo references, so I began this little folk-art piece out of my head, using cross-hatching pen strokes for shading...something I've not done before.

Tiny Canvas piece

"Mother & Daughter" 5x7 canvas board (Mixed Media: collage, acrylic paint, old text)

I painted this one day when I began to wonder when my daughter would stop wanting to hold my hand, sit on my lap or cuddle with me... it was sad to contemplate and some of that meloncholy came out in the mother's expression here, I think.

Art Journal work of "Bannister"

This is a drawing that I did of a band named Bannister that played at my coffee shop recently. I later added watercolor and some pastels.

If I didn't work in my journal every day or two, I wouldn't be doing much "art" lately... it keeps me trying new things and keeping my feet wet at a time where my business is commanding so much of my time and attention. But meeting and listening to performers like these neat young men is one of the perks of my job, for sure!