2012 Fairytale Project: January

Here's my first illustration for the 2012 Fairytale Project. January, check!

I must admit that it didn't turn out quite how I envisioned it. At the suggestion of my critique group I'm going to darken the background on the left and I'm not quite sure if its finished besides that. But it was fun to draw a new kind of character and to wrestle with the shadow under the bridge (which I think I might have to wrestle with some more).

For February... Snow White.

Illustration Friday: Forward

I thought that this illustration might work for this week's Illustration Friday prompt. I hope you all had a good weekend!

Black and White illustration

Valentines!

If you head on over to Between the End Pages you can download a pdf of four different valentines. Print them out and spread some Valentine cheer! And look for Tina's valentines too. They're wonderful!!

Weekend Sketches and an interview...

I spent the weekend nursing a cold and drawing character sketches for an elderly fisherman type fellow.

Despite my yucky cold I felt rather cheery on Saturday because I was featured on Kathy Temean's blog for "Illustrator Saturday". Thank you Kathy! You can read the interview here.

2012 Fairytale Project...

Last week I mentioned in my list of goals that I'm going to be working on a fairytale project this year. I was inspired by other artist's blog projects, especially Abigail Halpin's "1000 cups of coffee", so I decided to set a goal for myself. And by telling all of you about this goal, and by posting the results on my blog, I'm held more accountable than I would be if I just kept it to myself.

So, my plan is to do one illustration from a different fairytale every month for a year. Now, I realize that this isn't the most ambitious of goals. But its much more manageable than my original plan (which was to create 3 or 4 finished illustrations from the same fairytale each month, in addition to the other projects I'm working on). And by the end of the year I'll have 12 new fairytale based illustrations, which is pretty cool.

So here are my main goals for this project...

1. explore characters that I don't normally draw (like witches and trolls).

2. work on creating stronger contrast in my illustrations (I struggle with creating darks and would really like to remedy this).

3. use line more effectively (like to create textures and contrast).

4. have fun, feel free to play and experiment.

So, here goes!

To start the year off I've chosen "Three Billy Goats Gruff". Here's an in-progress image. I'll post the finished illustration by the end of the month.





















Also, I have a short list of fairytales that I'd like to do, but I would very much appreciate your suggestions. Please and Thank you. :)

I Want to be an Artist

My parents have been cleaning out their basement and this weekend they gave me several folders containing school projects from my childhood days.

Its strange and wonderful to read thoughts and stories written by my child self. Apparently I was really into the Easter Bunny. And there seem to be quite a few stories about talking bears. Maybe there's the seed of a picture book idea within these childhood papers.

Based on the page above, it seems that my 9 year old self would be pretty happy with how life has turned out... except for the "Animals Art" shop... haven't quite gotten around to that... yet.

Painting

Live Joyfully

I think good things are in store for 2012.

Here are some of my goals and plans for this year....

1. Spend less time lurking on twitter and more time drawing and painting.

2. Put more effort into my Etsy shop and add new items (like gift tags, note cards, and prints of illustrations) on a regular basis.

3. The 2012 Fairytale project (which I'll tell you more about next week).

4. Spend more time outside with my husband, hiking and running and camping.

5. Live more joyfully. Which maybe sounds kind of cheezy. But the other day I was reading about how our thoughts rule our emotions and our emotions rule us. So by thinking positive thoughts, we will feel more joyful. So that's what I'm going to do.

I hope the new year is off to a good start for you! What are some of your plans and goals for this year?

Happy New Year!