Gobble

This Mr. Turkey also made it through this Thanksgiving (I'm a vegetarian!) So here he is, enjoying a nice, quite and peaceful afternoon. ;-)

Gobble!

Gobble is the magic word

Maya could do lots of tricks with Thanksgiving leftovers.
All she had to do was say the magic words. Gobble, Gooble, Gooble!
TADA!!!!
Don't we all wish it was that easy. he he he
Happy After Turkey Day! Shop till you drop Ladies!

Gobble

Hopefully, none of you will be on the receiving end of Great Aunt Bertha's cheek pinches and kisses this Gobble day! Shudder. Shudder. I was experimenting with my watercolors, so it's a little different than my normal stuff. I'm a firm believer in experimenting.

I've also attached some other Gobble Day related illos I've done within the past few weeks.

Oh, and a word of advice for the upcoming holiday....pull out the maternity pants (with those stretchy tummy panels), kick back with fam and friends, and EAT to your heart's content!!! Me, I've got my eye on the Butternut Squash pie.... Mmmm!! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving guys!

Snow White Sketch from V

Hello everyone. I finally got a chance to do these two illustrations.
It's been more than crazy for me, but I really do love this blog.
You ladies are a support and what I look forward to each week. Let me
know your thoughts PLEASEEEEE!!!

Some Snow White sketches

Hey all,

Trying to find the time to make more posts, but right now - I'll take what I can, even if it's just a few minutes to show some of what I have been mustering for the Snow White prompt.

Here's a sampling of:
Queenie, Witchie and Dwarfie with his doggie ... I haven't come up with a suitable character for the fair maiden herself... but as you can see, I am trying to add my spin on this. Do you think the man in the mirror is too scary-looking for young readers? Too sinister perhaps, or does that make him good for the piece?

All comments are most welcome! I've still to add some background matter - just trying to nail down characters at this point.

Back to weekly prompts?

It seems to me that trying to work on portfolio pieces here, while being a rather ambitious undertaking, has been a dismal failure for most of the membership.

How about a show of hands to go back to weekly prompts and a fun place to blow off some creative steam? We can use the prompts to work on portfolio pieces if we want/need them.

All in favor?

Really rough draft Snow White

I didn't want anyone to think I'd fallen off the face of the earth (I kinda have but that's besides the point) I have been working in fits and starts on most everything on my to do list, which as usual is way too long and not nearly complete.

Here is the beginnings of my rough sketch for my Snow White portfolio piece. The blank space to the right is for the text. The scribbely stuff to the left is a rounded window with Snow White, below here is a flower bed and the far left is a curved door.

As you can see I have a long way to go, I also intend to put an ivy wreath border around the whole thing and a weeping willow or some kind of droopy tree behind the house. I also want to add an animal or bird or two or three. Then maybe I'll consider color.

I know it's kind of in a nowhere place but all comments for improvements are welcome. I hope other's Snow Whites are moving along faster than mine. :) Have a great weekend!

Illustrator reference books?

This is a little off topic, but a few weeks ago, I had gotten two great suggestions for books that have made great reference sources (Scott McCloud's Making Comics, and Bruce Blitz's The Big Book of Cartooning), and I was wondering, what books do ya'll have on your bookshelves that you find yourself constantly referring to?

Personally, I recommend - Writing with Pictures: How to Write and Illustrate Children's Books by Uri Shulevitz. It's very helpful in understanding the process involved in creating a picture book.

Snow White sketches

I don't have anything fancy today, just a couple of sketches to show you I've been working (I've been working a lot on my PB, actually, thanks to last month's exercise). The top illo is pretty obvious, the bottom will eventually be a part of a double spread with Snow White waving goodbye to the dwarfs off to work (I'm using the older Snow White, btw). This exercise is making me realize how much I draw children, not older people, and how I automatically start to draw everyone the same. The prince needs some work, but I think it'd be fun to show him startled when she wakes up.

Enough talking. My kids want attention now! Until next time . . .

Snow White - Sketch

See Krisztina - you're not alone!

Here is a sketch I've done of the scene where the dwarves have found Snow White asleep after having eaten the poisoned apple.

What do you think? I've left space on the right for text, and the top of the image got a little cropped on my scanner, but I think you've got the idea.

snow-white part two

knock-knock! i hope there's somebody in... i'm a little bit alone now. here's the second part of my work for snow-white: storyboard of 5 double pages, some character sheet for dwarfs and the first ready double pages (pages 36-37) of the book.

i will do you next! :)

Thank you!

Thanks to Krisztina for picking me as the October winner - what a marvelous surprise!!! Seeing as she loved Doggy so much I made him the focus of the banner along with my homage to the weather we had this past week which blew out our power for four days. No heat, no electric, no light and NO water!!! I am so glad to be back on track now though. *Sigh*

It's been a tough month with workshops and conferences galore. I attended a NJ SCBWI mentoring event last weekend and have posted my notes along with a few pictures on my blog if you are interested. These events pair you up in one-on-one sessions with editors form major houses - it's really great and you get lots of fabby feedback about your work.

NJ events are open to out-of-state members as well as non-scbwi members. Check the upcoming events out listed on the NJ SCBWI Website. Prices are reasonable, and the events are always tons of fun!

Snow White - first steps

okay, i've already started working. at first i post some sketches for character sheet. i would like to find a new, owner Snow White who is so beautiful and becomes with my style - in the same time. so it's not too easy for me! because i usually don't draw beautiful people - only create funny and interesting aliens with big nose :) it will be good for seven little dwarfs but not for beauty...

now i'm here:



...and i've tried some colours in the final sketch:



i'm in a little trouble with shadows so i'm going to work on it. what do you think? could be Snow White like this? thank you all of comments and can't wait for your posts! :)

Snow White - longer version?

I know it should be my job to post an exact text for this monthly prompt, so thanks Lyon for her post! I"ve found the whole tale here: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0709.html#snowwhite (better later than never...) . If you would like to put rich details of the tale to your works - here you are. Thank you for excusing and your patience, Linda must does it better than me :) Have a good job you all!

The Snow White Fairy Tale

Snow White Thought we could all use the same text, so I found the Brothers Grimm version online. What an awesome prompt. I have so many images in my head, it will be hard to choose!

I want to apologize for my absence last month. I had several events to travel too and when I returned back to the studio, I had mountains of paperwork that just wouldn't wait. I haven't had a chance to draw anything since early October.

I plan on doing better this month. No more traveling! I did sign up for NaNoWriMo, because I am insane, but on the top of my to-do list is a revamp of my portfolio site. So getting the prompts done will help move that project forward. I have old paintings up on the site from as far back as the 1990s! I really need to get them down and focus on my new style.