Chillin' Moves

  Just completed this illustration for High Five magazine. This was a great visualization to beat the heat. Kelley Cunningham, AD extraordinaire. There are 9 hidden F's in the scene. If you can find them, you win a popsicle and a free dance lesson at Thaw Paw Studios. 

Spicy, Sleepy and Wiggly.

 I just completed this art for Ranger Rick magazine last week. It's a riddle! Can you guess what the answer is?  I bet you can! I had to have Mexican food after I drew this. If you look at it too long, you will have to eat Mexican too.  I'm not sure, but I think that wolves are not allowed to have Dos Equis. Too bad.

"let's have breakfast!"

  This is part of an illustration for a rebus page for Highlights which I altered a bit after the fact. The background had to be light in the original piece to accommodate text and spot art.  It was satisfying to add the shadow afterwards since it is dawn. The cat sits on the boy's feet, chest or knees to wake him up.  Irritating and cute at the same time.

A friendly snake to help a baby do yoga in High Five magazine. I decided it also looked like an emblem for yoga gear. A t-shirt design, perhaps, for kundalini kids. Inspired by an albino burmese python I once met named Sponge Bob.  Someone said he needs a fez! I think a baby rattle too.....

All of these assignments were completed in the last four weeks,  along with some personal work which I hope to show soon.

My First Fairy?

 I 'm not positive, but I think this might be the first time I was commissioned to illustrate a  fairy.  I don't know why.  I like drawing fairies. Of the stranger sort.

 This is Lazeena, who grants wishes to the lazy. Here she is offering to take over mowing the lawn. In exchange, the homeowner must sleep in his hammock until she completes the job. Of course he agrees, but is not too happy when he wakes up a year later. One of a series for Highlights. Graphite and photoshop color.

 I think I channelled  the spirit of Carol Kane in Scrooged. Not one to be fooled with!  

Easter Parade

Fooling around with combining images I created a little while ago for High Five. The bunny and the inchworm were each separate pieces on their own, but I combined them to see what would happen and added the text.  Whether you hop or crawl, Happy Easter to all!

Nests for Humans

Just recently finished this illustration for Ranger Rick magazine to accompany instructions on nest building. That sounds like such a fun idea; I think I will try it this spring. There's an amazing artist, Patrick Dougherty, whose work is shown below, who does installations that are essentially large scale nests. I'm currently reading Survival of the Beautiful by David Rothenberg, which  also includes a discussion with Patrick about what he has learned from the bowerbird.  The male bowerbird goes to extremes to create his art, and actually paints the structures as well as traveling many miles to find just the right decorating accents... but I will save that story for another post. The book is fascinating reading; I highly recommend it.

 

Patrick Dougherty

'Tis Better to Have Loved and Lost...?

A few valentines I created ( well, repurposed actually) for the broken-hearted. These were originally drawn for Ranger Rick to illustrate some very sweet children's poems.  Call me jaded, but  I couldn't help seeing them as "cards for the lovelorn".  In all fairness I think the kids' poetry deserves to be shown;  it's quite good... especially the jelly reference.

 

Balancing Act

    Life is in constant flux.  We try to seek balance.   But there is no perfect balance.

"The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next."- Ursula K. LeGuin
"Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold."- Helen Keller

Just spent several days purging the studio of 4 to 5 years worth of administrivia and ephemera.  A little lighter.  Found inspiration in many things, one being this illustration sequence for Highlights which was still in single pieces.  These critters said "Could you put us all in line please? Oh... and do something about that white background while you're at it."  Pencil and photoshop color.