Mouse Adventures Continued..

This is a piece I sketched and painted today telling a piece of the story of the mouse's adventures as he travels all over the world on balloons. I have not come up with a name for mouse yet. It did not scan great because it was done on watercolor board but I will take a better picture of it tomorrow and put it up. This is a new piece, so any feedback and critique is welcome! Enjoy!



Mouse's Adventures
8x10"
Ink, Watercolor, and Colored Pencil
© Heather Soodak 2010


Rough Sketch Below:

Windy Sketches

I have to catch up on my posts, so more stuff to come but for now I have a couple of sketches to share inspired by the cold, rainy weather. Not my usual style, but kinda fun to play!

Winter Series

I will be showing artwork in galleries and artwalks in the area soon, so I am painting away! This is for a series of winter cards that will be sold at gallery Viotlethour this Friday night in Fullerton. Enjoy!

Happy Fall!

I hope everyone is enjoying their time of marigold leaves and cooling winds! Here is a sketch that I created today with ink and colored pencils!

Halloween Sketch Day

It was Halloween Sketch Day at Marilyn's last weekend and we sure had fun sketching the little rascals in their costumes!

Adam's Birthday Card

It was my friend Adam's Birthday this weekend and I wanted to make him a specialized b-day card so I saw that his recent facebook photo was of him and his baby on his birthday so I did a cat version of them.. Enjoy!

Website Brainstorm Sketches

I must get heathersoodak.com running! I am designing it and doing some rough sketches for each page this one is for the bio page, and I was just thinking about who I am in these. Since my printer/scanner broke this copy is not as good quality but I will probably redo some of these anyway. More to come!

Postcards of Laguna Mural Submission

My entry for the "Postcards of Laguna" Mural Competition. The sketch is 10x14". I found out about this last minute, and LOVE murals, so decided to scrounge and go for it! So I ran down to Laguna in the midst of my crazy schedule, took a bunch of reference pictures- running from one side of town to another, fighting the sun going down I was so proud that I got what I needed. I did a collage type deal, combining my experiences from my art school days in Laguna Beach. It's not my favorite sketch in the world but I am proud I did it in such a short amount of time. I won't find out for a month or two, but I'll keep you posted! Thanks for looking!

Sketchbook Excerpts: 1st week of school

These sketches help describe last week a bit:

It was the first week of teaching art and it was hectic!
I worked all day until I went to sleep and I couldn't sleep
very well because my mind was full of work.


So I worked really hard until I crashed.



Then I got sick and watched a lot of burn notice.

Now I am reminded to take it a bit easier. I was glad for the 3-day weekend. Hope this next week goes a bit better.

SCBWI Summer Conference LA

Before it gets too late, I want to post these pics from the SCBWI summer conference, where illustrators, authors, agents, art directors, editors, and anyone in the children's book industry get together. It was amazing, I got to meet tons of awesome people, hang out with my illustration buddies, and see wonderful presentations and portfolios, and party! I definitely have enough information to get me jump started for next year which I will attend the full four days! Here are some pictures from the "Heart & Soul Party":


Photo by: Rita Crayon Huang, Copyright ©2010, SCBWI.
My talented illustrator friend Katy Betz and I. She sure makes me giggle! See her art at: http://www.katybetz.com/iWeb/Illustration/Home.html



The gang chatting it up with Arthur A. Levine his website can be found here: http://www.arthuralevinebooks.com/


Enjoying the party with Cara, another talented illustrator, check out her fantastical art:
http://www.caranilsen.com/



What a treat to dance the night away with Kim (http://www.kimdwinell.com/) and Erin (http://www.erinoshea.com), both talented illustrators!


Alice and I were lucky enough to speak with E.B. Lewis and Ashley Bryan (whom I was not fortunate enough to see his keynote talk), E.B. Lewis is an amazing accomplished artistrator and has illustrated over 50 children's books! His keynote talk touched my heart as he took us on a journey through his process. See his work at: http://www.eblewis.com/illustration/eblewis.html
Alice is also a very innovative illustrator check out her work at: http://laminaooz.blogspot.com/



My complete highlight of the conference was meeting

Jon Scieszka, my very favorite humerous children's book author EVER! If you have not seen his books they can be seen at: http://www.jsworldwide.com/yeah_he_wrote_em.html

What a treat!!

Ma Bird

I painted this today! Enjoy!

Emily at the Thames

Here is a going away card I made for Emily yesterday, who is going to live in England soon, I imagine her and her husband feeding ducks in the park at the Thames river....

Business Card Design

I wanted to update my old business card for the SCBWI Summer Conference coming up so I painted this yesterday and came up with a design shown below. Dandilions represent lighthearted nature of childhood, and the millions of ideas that flow in the creative process so I feel it will represent me well. I hope you like it!

The Unfortunate Icecream Event

Garden Girl

Girl growing in the garden
waiting
growing
roots seeping below
hot summer sun

Yoga Dogs

This is how I feel in yoga class sometimes. Did a quick sketch with a calligraphy pen and applied digital color.

Zebra Horse

I am way behind on posting my work, it sure has been busy! Here is something I painted yesterday, hope it makes you smile!

In the Garden

Here is another sketch I did in the garden today, it was so nice painting in the sun! I am just getting my garden started, so it is partly my vision for the future.

Dandelion

Here is a sketch I did today! I really like the idea of blowing dandelion seeds because it reminds me of being a kid and always wanting to pick them and make a wish! Don't tell anybody but I still do that.

Marvin the Magician Seahorse!

Quick Sketch!

Daydream Girl

A sketch for my good friend Leanne, who is an amazing artist and
photographer, here is a link to her blog: http://leannesargeant.blogspot.com/

Giraffe Explorer

This is the painting I have been working on for the past 2 days. I am not sure if I am completely done yet, so critique is encouraged. This is part of the "cool pet" series. The 1st one was the Tiger at School. Thanks for looking!

Back of Postcard

Here is an image I finished today for the back of a postcard for self-promo. This is supposed to compliment the balloon mice piece. Here it is as a postcard. Critique is welcome!

Sketching at the Lake in Yorba Linda

I met my friend at the lake to sketch last week and it was chilly but got a few sketches in. Have a look!

pastel sketch

Quick sketch I just did playing around with soft pastels which I have really been digging lately. This was a random picture I saw online, which inspired me to draw! Dandelions are a symbol of my childhood and I have been wanting to illustrate this!