Cheer Up, Hug-a-Pup!

Welp, this has been tough week. So there have been extra hugs in my house. I of course am grateful for my hubby, but also I realize having a puppy really makes a difference in cheering up! So... if you are feeling blue...Cheer Up! Hug a Pup!

SCBWI Summer Conference 2013 Excitement!!

Yay!! I just got my ticket to the 2013 SCBWI Summer Conference!!!! I went once before in 2010 for the Saturday and it was fantastic but I kept saying to myself " One day is not enough, I need to go the whole time next time!" So here I am, minus 525 dollars later (half-of-my-teaching-paycheck-for-a -month) and I will be on my way. So, you know how I told you that I work best under pressure? Well, this will be the ultimate challenge preparing for the conference. I not only want to create my official website, but create new pieces for my portfolio, create a new business card, a t-shirt for the black and white ball, and possibly a book dummy."What?!" you say? "Yes, " I say, "it can be done!" I am especially excited for these speakers: Jarrett Krosoczka, Jon Scieszka , and David Wiesner.
This Ted talk by Krosoczka was especially touching: http://on.ted.com/Krosoczka. There will be so much more! I will be so inspired that I quit my job to make room for more drawing and then I'll start eating paper because I can't afford food. I can't wait! I can't wait! I can't wait!!!

Sketch of the Day- Happy Mother's Day!

"Mother's Day" 3x5 Ink and Watercolor

Sketch

the inspiration

Happy Earth Week!

Wait isn't every day Earth Day? I was listening to StarTalk radio podcast and Mike Massimino, the astronaut, was describing what it was like to see Earth from space and how we feel stable when we are here, but we are really quite vulnerable and out in the middle of space. Not only do we have outside dangers in space such as asteroids and the sun, but we ourselves are destroying the very delicate ozone, the oceans, the forests, and more! It made me feel afraid but also appreciative of the beauty we can enjoy, and hopefully help preserve for as long as we can. Like Valter said from the movie Wasteland on recycling, "One single can is of great importance. Because 99 is not 100, and that single one will make the difference." But more than recycling and reusing-as scientists, artists, engineers, etc we need to dream about about a better future, with more innovation to help reduce waste instead of create it. I know we can do it, we first need to dream it, as Walt Disney said. Earth, this one's for you:

"Take Care of Our Planet" Ink and Watercolor 3.5x3.5"

Pen Added

quicky idea sketch

Eggcellent!

This chicken worked overtime, so put these eggs to good use during these Spring holidays! This is my second digital mixed media project fresh off the press! It is really fun trying out different mediums! I will also submit this to Illustration Friday in this week's "egg" theme- I am excited to see the other artists' submissions! For this digital collage process I took photos of eggs, then did a sketch, and then completed the rest in Photoshop! See the process and inspirations below:

egg photos

Chicken that inspired original sketch

Original, "hard copy" sketch

Equality!!! Sketch of the Day

Molly's Birthday Weasel!

This drawing was for the lovely Molly's birthday last week! Her request was a long-tailed weasel,  here it is, he's a "spicy" one!