New for Illustration Friday

My daughter and I have been working on collecting miniature furniture for the dollhouse and a fairy garden, and searching for little trees for the Christmas village. New little things have been on our minds. Drawing fairies is not usually my thing, so that's sort of new too. This is the "New Flower Fairy" delivering a blue aster, something I wish I had in my garden. One final post for 2012.

Stretch

When was the last time you were stuck in a gum puddle?

whiskers

Going a different direction for me. Trying something more "design" than pretty. Naturally the first thing I thought of for the theme "Whiskers" was a cat. I saw some other good ideas people were using: mustaches, mice and catfish, but mostly there were a lot of cats. I challenged myself to NOT paint a cute little cat picture. I am happy with the results, and even though it was sketched onto the watercolor paper by Monday, it still wasn't finished as early as I had hoped.

Zoom

As I often do, I discussed my illustration ideas with my son, and in this case for the theme of "Zoom" we both thought of cars first. A few others were tossed around until I finally came up with a road runner! That's one of my favorite things to see in the desert and I always enjoy drawing birds. Unfortunately, Thanksgiving was also this week so I posted late. Enjoy!

Tree for IF

A drawing from a year ago, I finally put paint to. My daughter calls her "Mother Nature".

Shy for IF

I've had a sketch of this bird on my fridge for awhile now, and found a way to use him in the theme "Shy".

Mirror for IF

My Niko bird, giving himself the "eye". Pencil, ink and watercolor pencil.

Book

It's been awhile since I posted, so here is one idea I came up with for "Book". The birds are based loosely on the cactus wren, who seems to explore everywhere. One day we left the screen door open and one even hopped inside the house. Bold move considering there were three dogs inside.

Carry for IF

Carry your own stuff.

Lost for IF

It is summer so I just wanted to have a little fun and do a playful illustration of a pigeon who lost his way and asked a horse for directions. Once I finished the piece I realized that I like to get lost in the color blue. I couldn't help but think of the painted ponies my daughter and I were admiring in a shop window this weekend. Enjoy!

Suspend for IF

Space for IF - Watercolor. I had a lot of fun playing with this design and letting it grow. I admit I usually do lots of sketches before a painting, but this time I took the advice of Jeanne Carbonetti and stopped listening to the "inner voice of criticism" and let loose the spirit of playfulness. It felt good.

Grounded for IF

Somebody's grounded

Highlight

The highlight of the trip was the camel caravan...