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I recently took on a part time retail job to earn a little extra money. When things are slow, I've gotten into the habit of quickly trying to doodle some of the strange people that I see wandering around in the mall.

Today was my second full day wearing a pedometer. I’ve been working hard on my fitness the past couple of months, and figured a pedometer might motivate me to keep active. Yesterday I managed 8500 steps, without changing my routine at all – which I thought was pretty good, considering my Friday routine involves a good amount of time at my desk. But today’s total is better – 11990 steps so far (at

Getting over creative blocks is something you have to get good at when you're in school or working and a deadline looms. Art classes were a place for me to learn to just going ahead even if I didn't feel inspired. I discovered that things sometimes look crummy for the first few hours because your mind is still in that left brain judgmental mode. When you're running around in the world trying to get things done it can become hard to turn it off. But if you keep working things can suddenly improve as you get lost in the process. By getting lost I mean the creative right brain kicks in and you stop trying to do something perfect and just enjoy sketching or painting.

This is a page from my sketchbook with the sketch for our current Halloween promotion. Earlier today I didn't feel inspired and couldn't come up with any clever ideas while thinking about it. So I just started doodling and the sketch evolved and now I quite like it. I was procrastinating about doing this, but once I got into it I didn't feel like stopping so I added a little sketch for one of the other blogs I post on, "Picture bookies", with the theme "asleep". And finally a little elf that may show up around Christmas!

Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who is faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. They agreed on a route and started off the race. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd stop to have a cigarette and relax before continuing the race.

He stood next to a big, impressionistically-drawn rock and fired one up. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ. The hare finished his cigarette, was diagnosed with emphysema, lived out his remaining days in an iron lung and died. Oh, and he lost the race.

The moral is stated at the end of the fable as: "Smoking will kill you".
Or something like that.

NOTE: I did this drawing last night. This morning I saw a commercial for Chantix, a new drug to help people stop smoking. They use the tortoise and the hare in their commercial. I had not seen this commercial prior to my illustration. Hmmmm...

This is a quick sketch I found while looking through my sketchbook. Ink and watercolor, Holbein sketchbook

Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who is faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. They agreed on a route and started off the race. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd stop to have a cigarette and relax before continuing the race.

He stood next to a big, impressionistically-drawn rock and fired one up. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ. The hare finished his cigarette, was diagnosed with emphysema, lived out his remaining days in an iron lung and died. Oh, and he lost the race.

The moral is stated at the end of the fable as: "Smoking will kill you".
Or something like that.

I'm busy at school lately, whether doing author visits or picking up or dropping off kids or going on field trips or sketching classes or showing a teacher my latest picturebook art. Here's what happened a couple days ago:

That's my grandson, who's in kindergarten, waiting for his aunt, who's in fifth grade, to finish her math so they can walk home from school. He's smart but disruptive.
And that's my dear friend, the fifth grade teacher, who sometimes puts up with a lot.
Her class is featured in the next Ellie book. Attending school is great inspiration!
Back to work...

Ink, watercolor, sketchbook Here's a little sketch for a story I'm working on.

Here are a couple of quick doodles from my sketchbook.

Here is a little sketch painting I did today. I only had the skin tone colors and blue so that's what I used. And, here is a bunch of doodles that were sitting around. Enjoy.

Edit: I just checked my stat counter and saw that 100,000 people have visited my blog since I started it. Wow! Thanks so much for checking out my lame little blog and for all of your kind comments. I really appreciate it.

I heard a strange noise.
What was it?
It was... screaming. Some kind of screaming, like a child's voice.
What did you do?
I went downstairs, outside. I crept up into the barn. I was so scared to look inside, but I had to.
And what did you see, Clarice? What did you see?
Lambs. The lambs were screaming.
They were slaughtering the spring lambs?
And they were screaming.

bon appétit.

When I work on pieces for Illustration Friday, I usually brainstorm a bit in my sketchbook until I get something I like. Sometimes the final piece will stick closely to the original idea or change into something completely different. I never really know how it will turn out until it is finished, which is part of the fun.

Here are some sketch ideas for the theme: Monster

Monster and girl?....


More monsters and girls...


What about circus monsters?.....


Yep, it has to be circus monsters...



And the final piece: Send in the Monster Clowns...

think.jot.draw

This is a great idea from Leeza Hernandez - a softcover book with lined and blank sections for brainstorming and sketching and then some really handy layouts for storyboarding thumbnail ideas for picture books. Mine has just arrived today - can't wait to start filling it.


You can get a copy here: thinkjotdraw

There is also a contest where you can enter to have a chance of your illustration printed as a limited edition on the cover.

As far as sketchbooks go, I don't really have a sketchbook devoted to my illustration work. For the most part, I sketch out my ideas on the computer which makes it easier for me to comport the drawings into roughs and then to finished art. I DO use sketchbooks, though, for the sketches from life that I try to do frequently; the landscapes, buildings, plants, etc.. The example below is typical of a sketching excursion. I have a few small 4" x 6" sketchbooks and an assortment of pens and pencils that I carry in a small bag which I can easily take with me when I go bicycling or walking, to events and activities, and so on. The sketches below were done this past Monday, when I rode my bicycle over to the yacht club and did a study of the boats in the water (sorry that sketch is upside down for viewing but that's the way it is in the sketchbook), and then over to a park where I've been doing a series of sunset sketches (the one below is colorized here).



Below: It's a little different, though, if I'm writing something to go along with a sketch. Below are my sketches and ideas for the Illustration Friday topic, "Poem". When I work like this, I tend to grab whatever paper is nearby. I must have done this at church, hence using part of the bulletin for my notes. Things like this I usually toss out, but perhaps I should keep them around for a bit? I really don't need the extra paper in the studio. And don't you just love the little clip art pencil and pad, demonstrating HOW to use the "sermon notes" page? ("Ohhhh...So THAT'S what you do with this piece of paper. I wouldn never have known!") Heh!

Mondays are when I showcase my book in progress, The Fairy Field Guide. It seemed fitting that I excerpted this page since my little grasshopper friend, Susan, crossed over today. I placed her on the big potted tree in our room yesterday. I wanted her to feel the sun--she didn't look very good. I heard her say "I am so high!" with delight (remember, animal communicator here). We talked a very long time before she passed.

I amazed she lived this long! She had only one hopping leg. I almost fell over when I found out online that grasshoppers live only 50 days. (We've had Susan living on our plant since at least March. :) Lots of love to my little friend.

Santa Fe
revisited:
At left is
how it
affected
my body.
(Below is
how my
fellow
travellers
affected
my attitude)

New Mexico looks very different from Lansing, Michigan.
You can see the polka dot trees from the sky.











And the art is different, too.




I want to go back!

I've been a Harry Potter fan since 1999, when a friend implored me to buy the first book because her family loved it and she knew mine would too. So I bought it, and we were hooked. We bought every book since then, usually on the day of issue.

This year I signed up to get the book at my local independent bookstore, but was intrigued by what the newspaper billed "The largest Harry Potter party in Michigan." My kids weren't available so I begged my reluctant husband to accompany me to it -- the Aria Bookstore Diagon Alley party in Howell, Michigan.

I picked him up from work at 10:30pm (he works crazy retail hours) with a picnic dinner and we drove to Howell, about a 45-minute drive.
It was worth it. Here's one of tonight's sketches:



(click to see it larger)
This is Aria Bookstore from across the street at midnight when they first opened the doors and let fans in to buy the book.

Charlie and I had fun walking the street and admiring the antique stores that were still open (for the party). Scavenger hunt questions dotted store fronts, and many stores featured Diagon Alley signs, props, and sidewalk drawings. It was pretty cool.
The way we see this, it's history.