Field Day 2 in color

I did this one in watercolor. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I've got to redo the Field Day 1 illustration... the one with the kids and the tug of war... because I don't like the way the color turned out. I'll try to get to that tomorrow and I'll post.

Illustration Friday - Voices

Urgh. Do you ever have one of those days when you know somewhere deep inside of you, you're capable of doing great things, but you just can't seem to get it together? That's how I feel about my watercolor. I know I'm capable of so much more, but alas, I just can't seem to get it together lately. I really need to sign up for a watercolor class! Urgh. And double urgh. And even triple urgh! Don't you just love the beautiful mustard green hue?!

Anyway, this was my depiction of Illustration Friday's Voices. Little Violet is sick and tired of hearing the voices coming from her brother's radio, but she's even more sick and tired of hearing her brother's attempts at singing!

So hows the weather where you're at?
We're being pounded by snow. Last week, an ice storm that left 400,000 without power - some for a week or more, then a snow storm on Friday that left 8.5", followed by yet another snow storm today that has dropped 8" or more so far. NH does winter right!!

Illustration Friday - Enough

There is never enough of me to do all the things I'd like to do...

Illustration Friday - Sour

I love lemonade, but tend to like the sour variety... with fresh squeezed lemons. Mmmmm. Although, not everyone agrees with me.

Illustration Friday - Fierce

There is nothing fiercer than an angry mom looming overhead (except maybe an angry dad too). Eeeks.

Illustration Friday - Baby

Thankfully, our girls get along really well ... except when they don't. :) So, here is my contribution to Illustration Friday's "Baby" showing the conflict that sometimes arises when little sisters want to spend every waking minute with their big sisters.

Illusration Friday - Wide

I'm glad I don't have to share an elevator with this guy. Poor mouse.

Illustration Friday - Electricity

The first thing I thought of when I saw this week's theme was the School House Rock song "Electricity," the second was Ben Franklin and his kite experiment. So, here is my Ben, and his kite. BTW, his pal Tom Jefferson is the one ducking for cover - seeing as TJ is my favorite president (probably has something to do with a report I did on him in the 2nd grade), I had to put him in there somewhere.

Spring Cleaning

The latest SCBWI theme is Spring Cleaning.... "In a spring cleaning frenzy, the star of your story finally reaches the last closet. It hasn't been opened in a long, long time, and when the door is thrown wide...WHAT'S INSIDE? Send us an illustration of your most imaginative spring cleaning surprise. Really be creative in setting the scene: Where is this closet? Is your character a person? An animal? An alien? Is the surprise scary? Funny? Turn the idea of a long-forgotten closet on its head."

This is what I came up with... thanks Gill, for giving my creativity a jumpstart!

Illustration Friday - Seed

Yes, I know, I know.... I'm finally back. Miss me? I guess I just needed some time off from drawing. Life was busy, and I was finding that I was putting undue pressure on myself to "get my drawings" done, and then I realized, I don't have to draw if I don't want to. So, now, I feel like it again! Yeah!!

And I thought, what a perfect Illustration Friday theme - Seed. I've been so excited planting my gardens and getting ready for Spring (however, here in NH it's still only 48 degrees and it's May 2nd - sad, sad, sad!), that I couldn't resist adding my drawing to the mix!

Illustration Friday - Garden

I've not been feeling too well, so here is a birthday post card that I just did for my niece and I thought it would fit well with the IF theme of garden. I'm looking forward to Spring, not our mud-season spring necessarily, but the part of Spring where the flowers start poking out their little heads again, birds begin singing, and I can shed my coat and walk outside again. ahhh.

Illustration Friday - Leap

Here is a literal version of Leapfrog, my submission for this week's Illustration Friday. I liked the idea of childhood games like hopscotch, marbles (does anyone play them anymore), and of course leapfrog, although not usually with a frog the size of a small child, which would be pretty scary!

What do you think? Looking for some constructive criticism here -- I would really like to improve my pieces and am looking for advice from those of you with experience!! Thanks!

Illustration Friday - Multiples

My husband got a Lego Mindstorms Robot from Santa this year. And he and the girls really love building the robot to do different things. Our eldest daughter was hoping she could build him to make her bed, but unfortuately he's a little too short to do that right now. But knowing her, she'll come up with some way to create a robot to serve her needs. I just hope that the robots don't have the AI to build a robot for themselves, and so on and so on ala Mickey in Fantasia.

So, this is my submission for Illustration Friday - With Mulitple Robots, come multiple troubles.

Monday Artday - Getting Ready

Here is my submission to Monday Artday - Getting Ready. Getting ready to ... grow up? Hopefully, I can stave that off for a while longer!

Also, take a look at the Featured Illustrator, she's got some new work posted. Pretty creative!

Illustration Friday - Theory

I must admit, I felt a little stumped how to approach "theory." I automatically thought of calculus but decided I wanted to try something a little less common. So, the theory I came up with was the theory that I used to explain life to my baby brother - that he was born from a monkey and a crocodile, and that's why he cried, chewed on everything, and climbed all over the walls. He eventually realized that I wasn't being exactly honest with him, but thankfully we're still close despite my deception. I drew the image with my daughters in mind, seeing the similarities between me and my little brother and my eldest daughter and her baby sister.

Illustration Friday - Plain

This week's Illustration Friday theme is Plain, so I decided to do an illustration of three Amish children in the back of their horse and buggy. The Amish are sometimes referred to as the "Plain People," and I have always found the juxtaposition of the Amish among the "English" very interesting.