Illustration Friday - Mirror

It was my youngest sons 8th birthday this weekend. Looking through his wardrobe I realised he was in need of something smart to wear to his party - he lives in tracksuit bottoms, but I thought - just this once it would be nice to see him in something smarter.  Into town I went, to search for something that  I would like - and he would tolerate!:)

I found, what I thought was, a lovely shirt and pair of trousers. 
At home, later that morning he tried them on.

I braced myself for the usual " Oh but Muuum, it's not comfy, can't I wear my tracksuit?"
But no.....he looked himself up and down  said "Oooh, these are nice" and ran to the mirror in my bedroom to have a look. 

I have never seen him express much interest in clothes (apart from tracksuits , of course) - so it was quite a surprise when  he literally started jumping  up and down and dancing about  in front of the mirror - shouting "Yay! I look cool!" 

Well, that's what gave me the idea for this proud little boy looking into the mirror at his new party clothes. Funny how inspiration sometimes just comes at the right moment.




Mirror - The New Party Clothes

Illustration Friday 

Book

I gave myself a challenge  - Illustration Friday in 15 minutes. 

I imagined a little child - with all his life in front of him and placed him in a room full of the books he might read in his lifetime. 

Here he sits,  in the corner of that room. 

I wonder what sorts of books they are? 

What will he be when he's older?

What influence will these books have on the shaping on his life?

All those things entered my head whilst I was drawing - I guess I like to see the story unfolding. Do you do this when you paint or draw? 

I find that timing myself occasionally makes a really good exercise. It helps me to sort out what really needs to be on the page. 

I had the remains of a black coffee sitting on the table so I used that for the brown wash - my sketch book smells lovely!

To - do - list 


Yes  I have been making a to-do-list. Not one of my usual ones - Ironing, pay school trip money, cat food, haircut, etc. but one to help with my art career. So I thought I'd share it:

On going to - do - list

Daily
Find 3 new addresses for promo (2 publishers 1 gallery)
Draw in my sketch book
Updates on Facebook as needed

Weekly
Contact at least two publishers (illustration ) and 1 gallery (fine art)
Add new work to Etsy
Update my  Website – if needed
Illustration Friday
One illustration (portfolio quality)
Look at freelance job listing sites

Monthly
Press Release
Blog entry
Update portfolio

and now all I've got to do is stick to it....

New Illustration for book portfolio

Catching Butterflies


I have been trying to be a little more disciplined. Tricky as that is, I have managed with some success, to paint on my two days off. I pretty much ignored the washing pile - (which would have made Edmund Hillary, hang up his climbing ropes). I took no notice of the washing up, I thought about cleaning the bathroom  - and then decided that it could wait. Instead I went to the local artshop and bought myself some watercolour paper large enough to start a double page spread illustration on. 

I worked on this for two to three days - and I'm happy with the results. It will be another piece for my portfolio - which is bulking out nicely now. 
I wanted to show potential publishers that I understood the limitations of designing a full spread illustration and take into account the positioning of the gutter, creating a scene which moves the readers eyes naturally  across the two pages from left to right.

The Windy Day  - Update


As some of you may know I am working on a portfolio, focusing on the children's book market.
I have finished (finally) the painting I started a couple of posts ago - The Windy Day.
It has been rather slow progress - I am blaming this on the school holidays. The school holidays finish this week - boo! We have had such a lovely summer;  it hasn't left much time for painting - translate as.....   many pyjama mornings and fun days out with the kids - sshhh - dont tell anyone!



Anyway, sometime soon normal work had to commence so I  picked up my brushes and finished this painting. Thought you'd like to see.....

Daily Sketchbook...

15th July 2012

"After the Game.."