Norwegian Cinderella

Someday (ah, elusive someday!) I'm going to turn this into a picture book; the Norwegian Cinderella with her rosemaled wooden shoes in place of glass slippers.

Pen & ink, ink wash, & watercolor

Reading by the river

Pencil sketch                 Pen and ink (traced from the sketch)               Watercolors

Tardis "Spoilers" journal

This afternoon I finished a Tardis-inspired journal for my sister. With 200 pages, there's room for plenty of spoilers should she ever have the chance to go back and hand it to her younger self. :)

Illustration Friday 2012

 

My collected Illustration Friday entries for 2012

The Light Princess

Pen & Ink, digital color

A Mucha-inspired art nouveau style poster for George Macdonald's fairy tale, "The Light Princess."
{Listen to "The Light Princess" free on Librivox}
 {Read "The Light Princess" free on Gutenburg}
This was a gift for a friend, so now that Christmas is past I can finally post it.

Happy 2013!

The Great Pumpkin

 All summer we'd almost forgotten about the giant pumpkin vine growing behind the rows of corn, so it was a surprise when this giant showed up! At about a foot and a half in diameter it really is a giant. Such an impressive pumpkin couldn't be wasted on a regular jack-o-lantern face . . . .

I looked around for carving inspiration in the style of Arthur Rackham's silhouettes and came up with this dragon silhouette by Aaron Pocock (visit his site for more great artwork!)

My sister and I decided would be perfect if we added a castle to wrap around the width of the pumkin, and set to work with our super-specialized carving tools . . . that is, x-acto knives and kitchen spoons.

A few hours and a high-powered light later (the walls are so thick that a candle wouldn't do the trick!) the dragon was ready to guard our front door.

There's another pumpkin waiting in the kitchen . . . I think Cinderella's carriage might be on its way.

Mrs. Gibson's Dinner Party

Graphite, digital color

Roger did not change his attitude or remove his hand from the back of his chair, and, impelled by curiosity to find out the cause of his stillness, she looked up at him at length, and saw his gaze fixed on the two who were near the piano.

--Wives and Daughters

Busy sketching . . .

Penrod's Friendly Letter (IF: Teacher)

The teacher calls on him, and Penrod realizes too late 

that the "friendly letter" he swiped from his sister's desk was written to her beau...

Just a quick pencil sketch--I'm planning to come back and add some color. If you've never read Booth Tarkington's "Penrod" series, you are truly missing out. (Says the unbiased bibliophile.) :)

They Draw and Cook: Herbes de Provence

Busy summer . . . but I did find time to illustrate a new recipe for They Draw and Cook.

(Here's my other recipe illustration which was included in the TDAC cookbook!)

Inked linework--her look is at least slightly inspired by folk costumes from Provence

Digital color in Corel Painter X