Party in the Park 2013!

 Out with the the old and in with the new!  I anticipate much excitement in the new year, as fresh as the first fallen snow in a woodland grotto.  It's a  good day for a walk and writing stories, rich with the scent of fir and odorless skunks.

My Little Chickadee

actual size

enlargement

  One of my facebook friends, Mary Anne Lloyd, organized a silent art auction to help raise funds for Casco Bay High School, a public expiditionary learning school in Portland, Maine. Mary Anne is also a cool illustrator who, among other things, is a keen observer of felines and turns cats into characters I particularly adore.  www.maryannelloyd.com  She asked me to contribute if I had time and sent me a tiny wooden ornament. Well, who could resist?

  For 26 tiny pieces of art they raised a record amount of $1500 which goes directly to their expeditions, which are kind of like learning adventures. Here is the school's facebook page about the event where you can see all of the artists' pieces along with some photos of the presentation. 

  This is smaller than probably anything I have worked on for some time. (height: 3 3/4 ").  Pencil and gouache, sprayed with several coats of fixative. The wood is a good quality birch, with a darker stain on the edge.

 I've just ordered more ornaments and may be able to offer them for sale for the holidays. I hope I can do a few more.  
 Addendum: Looks like I'm too busy with other work this month to make any more of these, but I will have a head start for next year! 

Grounded Witch and The Other Side

A  rough sketch... hope to finish it for next year!

   
A  2- sided paper mache' and cardboard box I created for an auction event several years ago. Not great photos; I wish they were a bit less fuzzy, but I had fun doing this and would love to make more 3-d stuff someday. On this not- so -happy day after Halloween I am thinking of those that are struggling on the east coast with the aftereffects of the storm and hope that they will all come out on the other side. Some I have not even heard from.  My heart is with them.

Fish at Work

  An eel that lets a cleaner wrasse clean its teeth, a blind pIstol shrimp that teams up with a goby for its "seeing-eye dog" ... I  never realized that fish had these symbiotic interrelationships.   It was great fun creating these characters for Ranger Rick magazine.

These two are an example of Mutualism, when both species involved benefit from the relationship.The wrasse gets its food from the eel's teeth, the goby gets a burrow that the shrimp digs out.

Oh... and see that shrimp's claw? It can paralyze its prey with a supersonic bubble blast that reaches the temperature of the sun. "Really?" you say....Check out this video.

And the dentists of the deep will also gladly service your mouth if you've forgotten to brush and floss before your dive.

A decorator crab uses bits and pieces of shells, plants and debris to disguise itself as a defense against predators. 

             A tilefish builds walls out of staghorn coral.

  A damselfish tends its favorite crop of algae while weeding out the less tasty variety 

and giving the stink eye to a parrotfish. 

 These guys make me feel lazy. Back to work now! 
And good luck to everyone who is bracing against Hurricane Sandy!

Jungle Jams

 Hot off the drawing board (and has it ever been hotter?!) A cover for High Five. Pastels on Mi Tientes and digital.  I really wanted to add a little beetle playing a tiny black baby grand in the right foreground to balance out the black and white zebra. There will be an overlay in that area when printed, so  I couldn't; but perhaps I will later, for myself anyway! Maybe add a snake playing a harmonica too. Can't wait to see it printed. Art directed by Kelly Cunningham, who generously gave me carte blanche. 

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.