ifriday: Polar (North Pole)

Coldilocks and the Three Polar Bears

Originally created for a charity exhibit benefiting First Book Philadelphia. Scroll down for my southern polar edition.

ifriday: Polar (South Pole)

Penguin Snow Angels

Being somewhat of a polar illustration specialist, I would be remiss to completely miss this week's ifriday topic, "Polar." I so wish I had time this week to create something new for the topic as I always find great joy in making penguins out of thin air (or paint). But alas, this has been the busiest week of the year so far with projects creeping out of every corner of my studio. So although I feel like I'm cheating, here are my penguin snow angels from nearly 4 years ago.

To make up for my inadequacy, I will post something for the North Pole as well. Forthcoming...

Illustration Friday: "I Spy..."

Click to enlarge

This was a scene from one of my walks with Maggie last week. I stopped when I heard a very noisy squirrel scolding us for walking by his tree. As I usually do when no one's watching, I greeted the squirrel.

"Hello little squirrel, sorry to bother you."

A split second later he had scurried down the tree and approached us, seemingly curious. He moved inch by inch closer so that he was just atop the snowbank in front of us. Maggie didn't notice until I said something.

"Maggie, where's the squirrel?"

Expecting her to lunge for it, I held her leash tighter. But instead of trying to pursue a chase, the two of them just stood there, looking at each other. It was quite comical. After a minute or two of the standoff, the squirrel retreated into the trees.

Illustration Friday: Wired

Wired, Kate Hamilton

Swallows remind me of penguins. They're just much smaller, lighter, and flightier.

Illustration Friday Blog Opens!

Illustration Friday has a new feature, the IF Blog. Created by co-founders Penelope Dullaghan and Brianna Privett, this new page replaces the "news" page on the site. It features fresh posts from Penny and Brianna, as well as other illustrators such as Rama Hughes, Steve Mack, Josh Sears, Melanie Ford Wilson and Amanda Woodward. Oh yeah, and me. I'm not sure how I was deemed worthy to share the stage with these stars, but I won't complain. For once in my life, was I in the right place at the right time, and prepared even?

The biggest perk in this for me (followed by the inevitable exposure and linkage) is that I am under the gun to produce. To illustrate. Now. Not later. So my lame excuses for not drawing, or not sharing my drawings to the general public now pale in comparison to this new self-inflicted pressure to feel worthy. This should, in theory, kick my arse into gear, as the thought of the general public questioning why I am part of the elite few is far too painful to dismiss. Yeah, so I am an acceptance 'ho. So be it.

Look for great inspiration, the stuff of dreams and maybe a few witty words, hopefully sometimes a few from me. :)

Happy Friday!

Illustration Friday: Communication

As usual, it's been a while since I contributed to Illustration Friday. As usual, I do not have time to paint something new. But I do have something in my archives that suits the topic, and that is not against the rules. This illustration is one of four I completed for a book called "Chanda's House" by Katrina Martin Davenport. Sometime after completing the first four Katrina and I decided to pull the title from the publisher that was planning to publish it. Long story short, it was not a mutually beneficial arrangement. I have hope that someday this story will find its' publisher.

The illustration depicts a scene where the main character, Katrina, has a talk with her mother about differences in culture. Specifically, Katrina has a friend, Chanda, who is Indian and after a scary first experience, Katrina is apprehensive about going to play at Chanda's house again. Katrina expresses her fears and her mother assures her that experiencing different cultures can be an adventure, which makes it all a lot less scary.

I haven't painted any children's illos in a long time. Not since this series in 2005. It's on my list of to-do's. Along with painting landscape masterpieces and becoming an expert skier. One thing at a time.

I'll be uploading some new pictures of Butters and Maggie to my flickr page soon. Butters is almost as big as Maggie!

Happy Friday.