Season's Greetings

Wishing you peace and happiness and all good things for the New Year!

The First Snowfall

It was snowing like crazy when I snapped this photo, but you can't see the flakes. My backyard gate has a quilt of wet snow covering it. Just in time for the holidays, we got plastered with a storm that left between 10 to 15 inches of snow in Minneapolis, depending what part of the state you live. It started around eight o'clock on Friday night, and snowed steadily for almost 24 hours straight! Over a thousand cars slid off the roads throughout the day, and the usual fender benders occurred. I was so happy I didn't need to leave the house yesterday. I am not so happy today because I DO have to leave the house. SHOVEL SHOVEL SHOVEL!

Catalog Sketches 3

 

This is quite an elaborate play setting for our little princesses, one of which has just read the fairy tale about an enchanted frog who turned into prince with a kiss. This fairy tale has sent a lot of girls into couples therapy when they grow up. A frog is a frog no matter how many kisses you give it.

Catalog sketches 2

Another preliminary page of the catalog, sketched out in black and white. The treasure chest and other toy in the background mysteriously vanished in the colored version. What is that girl on the right doing?? ......IT'S NOT HER TURN! Do kids still play hopscotch? They must, since I was instructed to illustrate it.

Catalog sketches

Catalog Cover (rough layout)

PAGE 6 sketch

Page 6 mock-up

Now that we are through digesting the turkey, the December holidays are fast approaching. I decided that I would get a jump on my usual New Year's resolution to clean up my act, and began sorting through old papers, sketches and the general collection of ad layouts that I keep until I'm sure I won't be needing them anymore. I guess I can throw out this 2005 layout for a catalog I did for a very familiar company headquartered here in Minneapolis. After 8 years, I suppose they won't be needing any revisions - hah! These sketches were for a Christmas catalog advertising toys, and I (and many other artists) contributed the preliminary black & white sketches for product placement purposes. I absolutely love sketching kids. The world needs more cute! So this assignment was my cup of tea! This is page 6, and I'll be showing you some additional pages in the next posts.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a lovely day and gave thanks, no matter what your situation.  It's a day of relaxation and a time to embrace your relatives, friends and other blessings!  I'd love to credit the photographer of this photo but it was forwarded to me in an email without a credit.

ART ATTACK 2012

Peace and love, who could ask for more?

Well, OK, I'll ask for a little more. Come visit me during the big Art Attack Open Studios event! The festival starts this coming Friday and proceeds right through Sunday. My building will be open to the public, and since there are over 250 artists, you can spend all weekend immersed in a wide variety of arts and crafts on display! Free parking, food trucks, who could ask for more?

Well, OK, I'll ask for more - how about a little Peace and Love!  

ART ATTACK

Friday, November 2 – 5:00 to 10:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 3 – Noon to 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 4 – Noon to 5:00 p.m.

STUDIO 350
1500 Jackson Street NE
Minneapolis, MN   55413

Sketches

I'm working on another Mod Girl illustration, and the background is going to be a tribute to the great 60's psychedelic poster artists, including Wes Wilson and Bonnie MacLean. I've abandoned my sketchbook to doodle on pieces of tissue paper, so I can rework and rework (and rework) my images by laying the paper over the previous image. Above are some of the scraps of paper I found laying about, depicting the wrestling I did with the imagery of a dove, fox and bunny. The piece is entitled "Peace and Love" but I was not very tranquil as I reworked the sketches!

Fall's Arrival

 

A blackbird thinking things over in my ash tree.

I'm thinking I need to get out my rake.

The day after I took this photo, all the leaves fell off the tree in one day, floating down like bits of yellow rain.

Illustration Friday - Water

This week's theme in Illustration Friday brought to mind this painting I created years ago, entitled "Moving Day". It pretty much sums up the confusion in a transition, and the deer with the blindfold came from a dream. I think it symbolized myself, as I was feeling "blindsided" (like a deer in the headlights) by the move I was making from one part of the country to another.

Armadillo Girl

I haven't worked on any collages lately, so when I ran across this collage that I created a few years back, I got all nostalgic! Where are my scissors? Where's the glue? Let's head for that strange world of collage where anything can happen!

Autumn garden

Autumn is one of the most spectacular seasons for color in the Midwest. I remember planting this tall grass "Miscanthus" in the spring when I first moved into my house 15 years ago. It was a plug of dirt with a tiny 4 inch wisp of grass. "Don't plant it too early", said the garden center expert, "it hates the cold and is slow to root." Well, it has certainly adapted and thrived, and I love the variety of color it provides. It stays this color all winter long, and if a blizzard buries it under a blanket of snow, the plumes will struggle until they stand upright again. A little weird if you ask me, but you gotta love a plant with such spirit! The pink sedum attracts bees and butterflies, and it's one of my favorite varieties of plants.

Farewell dear flowers

As fall is approaching, I might as well say goodbye to the flowers, and hello to falling leaves - another motif to explore!

Bucket purse pattern

Remember this Mod Fashionista that I created a while back?

Since I'm experimenting with designing patterns, I thought I would create a pattern to go along with this illustration. A pattern that might look good as a companion illustration (I'm thinking about the licensing market) and a simpler version than my previous attempt.  I love simple shapes and bright colors, so I came up with this. It really was a fun and interesting project! HOWEVER now that I see the two illustrations together, maybe a flower motif would have been better. Well there you go, I've just decided on my next experiment, a flower motif.

Assorted Purses Pattern

 

Every Fashionista needs the right purse for every occasion, so here's a pattern to satisfy her need for variety.

Illustration Friday - Burst

She is just bursting with emotion. Or a sugar high... My favorite part of this illustration is her hair, made up of cinnamon rolls topped by a banana split. My kinda gal!

Fun with Fashion

This was an assignment that ranks right up there on my list of MOST FUN EVER jobs! I had to re-submit the first drawing though, because it was decided that the scarf was too realistic in comparison to the rest of the sketch. I knew that would probably happen but I enjoyed tinkering in Photoshop, and re-drawing the scarf by hand was a quick revision.

Eyvind Earle

Eyvind Earle certainly had a unique perspective of the world. Born in 1916, he had his first solo show of watercolors when he was 14, and continued to his express his creative visions in a variety of mediums until his death in 2000 at age 84. His experimental graphic style enhanced Disney Studios animated films in the 1950's. When asked about his art, he stated that his influences were all the art he liked - "the Oriental, the Gothic, the Persian in it, as well as the moderns like Van Gogh". He lived by the Chinese saying, "Never put anything down on canvas until a year after you see it -- so that all you paint is the memory of it". I like the fact that he remembered cattle as being rectangles and trees as ovals, and long shadows lent a certain mystery to the landscape in his mind. Images are courtesy his website, where you can read more about Mr. Earle: www.eyvindearle.com

Chrysanthemum Girl

The trees are starting to show a few yellow leaves - it's only September 7th, how can this be? It's too early for Fall to start unveiling its color show! With this transition in mind, I thought some mums in the background would perhaps get me more in the mood for Fall. It's not Fall that I mind, it's Winter which is attached to Fall like a shadow.

We Love Boomerangs

This has gotta be my favorite shape, the dependable non-expendable bendable triangle! I think I'm obsessed with it because it was the Formica design on the countertop in my parent's kitchen when I was growing up, and I spent many happy hours watching my mom prepare meals and treats over that countertop!