Illustration Friday: Jump

Oh my goodness it has been a while since I last did an Illustration Friday piece. This was a real quick doodle done in Photoshop.>

New painting

This Spring I decided to take my first oil painting class. I've painted before in acrylics and gouache, but never in oils. Something about how slowly the paint dries always intimidated me. Also, I don't usually work "realistically", but my years of drawing seem to have paid off. I've been pleasantly surprised by the results; and, think that I've fallen in love with this medium!

Better blogging

It's definitely been a while since I last posted an entry. I started a new job and after spending all day in front of a computer...my laptop stays pretty quiet at night. I've been doing more traditional art after hours. Now that I have the blogger app on my phone, it will definitely be easier to post a quick entry!

Scary Stories

Aaaahhhh--- I've been in hiding for a while, haven't I? I'll get better about posting regularly. At least, I hope I will.

Anywho.... the other day, I got an envelope in the mail with two very scary stories (from my nieces). It is always fun to get unexpected stories sent to you in the mail. So, I decided to illustrate their stories and turn them into one page comics. Here they are for your reading pleasure! (I think I smell a budding writing partnership! ha ha)

My First, Illustrated Children's Book

It's officially here! My first, fully-illustrated children's book.

I've been working on it, off and on, for quite a while now and am really excited to say that it is now for sale! It's paperback with 32-pages of colorful, fun pictures! You can purchase it here for $15. (The thumbnail may not be showing on the shopping page, it takes a bit of time to show up after building the page...hopefully.)

In about 6-weeks, the book will also be available through Amazon.com and through other distribution channels for libraries, schools and bookstores. But for now, if you are interested you can purchase a copy on my e-store.

It is the perfect book for any father and his daughters.

This is the story of two, very busy, little ladies who decide to put on a ballet about astronauts flying to Mars. The ballet, of course, stars their father as the scary, alien guy.
With charming, colorful illustrations our story starts early in the morning and follows the two girls, and their father, throughout the day as they prepare for their "Night at the Ballet"!

Here is a sample spread from the book.

Character Illustration: Thank You

I've been using the same image for Thank You Cards for a while now. I like this guy's pot belly and earnestness,but I decided to change things up a bit with this new guy...

Mr. Rah Rah Rah Tiger!

Typography Discovery

I love a good display typeface. Who doesn't? I am continually inspired by well designed typefaces used in innovative and creative ways.

I recently stumbled upon Lost Type, a typography co-op. Not only are there beautiful, retro-inspired typefaces, but they can be used on a pay-what-you-can basis. Besides being affordable options for typefaces you may only need to use once or twice, the payment goes directly to the creator. That's a pretty good thing.

Hopefully, people will pay appropriate, real-world amounts for the use of these designs. There are many beautiful fonts here