Fox and Monarch Butterflies Watercolor

A gentle fox is number two in my new Woodland Animals series of watercolors.

Woodland Animal Illustration

Happy Easter! This is the first painting in a new Woodland Animals series.

Dave's Bunny

NEWS: Children's Book published on Amazon

A children's book that I worked on last year, The Tale of Josephine Rose: A Horse’s Magical Neigh, by Kristen Halverson was published this week and is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. 

Josephine Rose is a noble Clydesdale horse that moves from Canada to the rolling hills of Iowa. When she meets the other horses, they realize how different she is. Although she wants to make new friends, some of the other horses push her away and won’t let her play.

Watercolor Coneflowers

I started teaching watercolor again this past weekend at Fine Arts on Fifth in Malvern, IA. It was cold but we had a nice class who were all ready for spring and eager to paint this pretty coneflower.

The Verdict is in!

Omaha was getting ready to shut down on Monday night but Snowmageddon didn't happen. I think we got about 6 inches total, but we did get 2 snow days = 2 nice long uninterrupted work days for me.

Need Some Fresh Painting Inspiration?

I've been saving color swatches from Design Seeds on a color board I have on Pinterest for a while and today I decided to use one as inspiration for a new butterfly baby painting to add to a collection I'm working on.

I know designers make inspiration boards all the time and I've made a few when I have designed scrapbook paper collections, but I think this is a great exercise if you need some fresh painting inspiration.

As you can see, I went for really simple and I got lucky. My butterfly reference is very similar to my  inspiration palette, though I'm not convinced that this is a real butterfly species. I think someone may have tinkered with their butterfly photo. Anyway, if I hadn't found the right color, I would've just used my reference for the drawing and then painted it with my inspiration colors.

This was a very satisfying little experiment and I hope this gives you a little encouragement if you're ever stuck on what to paint. Just go to Pinterest or Design Seeds and find some inspiring color palettes and reference photos. You might want to set a timer though so you have time to paint. ;)

Pink & Yellow Butterfly Inspiration Board

The finished baby butterfly

Four years later....

What if you could step back and see the full value that challenge has added to your life? You would seek it out endlessly. ~Ralph Marston  greatday.com

Yesterday I realized that just 4 years ago I was getting ready to quit my job so I could attend school full time and finish my degree in graphic design. That time in my life feels like so long ago but then it doesn't seem like so long ago. Looking back I would never have guessed that I would be in the middle of illustrating 3 children's books four years later, but that's what I'm doing! 

I just finished the first one about four horses. The author was a pleasure to work with. My clients have been extraordinary. I really am so grateful.

Finished illustrations for The Tale of Josephine Rose: A Horse's Magical Neigh

Next on my plate involves a little bee and a disgruntled pig and then a precocious little girl who loves math. Both should be lots of fun. 

Wishing you a safe and happy 4th of July

Happy Father's Day to all you Dad's out there!

This is my son and husband on a recent night fishing.

A peek at my latest illustration project

Here is a peek at my current project - three children's illustrations centered around a big black Newfoundland dog. 

Tiptoe through the Tulips

It's spring and the robins have been hopping around in my garden winding their way through the tulips and daffodils in search of unsuspecting worms. Thought I would do a series of birds after I finished the meadowlark for a client. So this is the second one. Even though I love doing splashy loose things with watercolor I find I have a natural tendency to paint "tight". I decided I'm going to quit fighting myself for now and go with it. Trying to decide what my next bird should be... If there is anyone still reading my blog, do you have a favorite? :)

This is the first bird painting I did earlier in April - a meadowlark I started for a client and ended up redoing much looser at her request, but this was my preference.

Illustration Friday: "Ruckus" Yay Spring!

I've spent that last couple of months with my many Snowmen friends (see all on Facebook) and last week sadly said goodbye to my snowmen for a bit and transitioned to Bunnies with this illustration - since I realized the other day that Easter is TWO WEEKS AWAY! Yikes.

The Illustration Friday theme this week is "ruckus" and I think this little Illo could fit. These bunnies first appeared in a my second Snowman Magic illustration and I am becoming very attached to them. I wish you all a very happy first couple days of Spring!

Illustration Friday "Ruckus"

St. John Ogilvie Children's Illustrations

March 10, 2015 is the 400th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. John Ogilvie of Scotland. The Jesuit Insitute in London commissioned me to do nine watercolor children's illustrations to accompany the story of St. John's life that children in their school were writing. It was really a great project and the priest I worked with was a wonderful client. You can see more of the illustrations in my portfolio gallery or go here to see the project on the Jesuit Institute website.

I'm celebrating today...

I'm celebrating today because...

1. It's Friday

2. I just finished a children's illustration project for the Society of Jesuits London about the life and martyrdom of St John Ogilvie that I've been working on for the past 4 months (some pics are posted on my website), and

3. It gave me a reason to paint another snowman ;)

Have a nice weekend!

January = Snowmen in Stripey Scarves

I've decided to post my blog both here and on my website so here I am. ;)

Snowmen are one of my favorite subjects to draw and paint so I thought after coming off of my "25 days of Santa" project in December which I juggled in between client projects, that January would be a good month for a smaller project.  (See the whole 25 Days of Santa Project on Pinterest.)

I have had a photo that my sister took years ago of my nephew standing next to a snowman that they built so I decided to finally do something with it. That first snowman was cute based on the one they built, but it wasn't very lifelike so I gave the next ones much more personality. I posted about six on my Facebook page and also listed them as a clip art collection in my Etsy store...And since it's just started snowing in Nebraska after a balmy January, there still may be a few snowmen to be born. 

I am most active on my Facebook page, so come on over if you want to see more watercolor illustration. ;)

Latest Watercolor Portrait and Studio Update

My summer has flown by and it's back to school which makes me sad. I've had almost two weeks to start adjusting to the back to school carpool schedule which is sometimes a welcome break in the afternoon.

I just completed a portrait for my aunt and uncle, two of the most photogenic people in Rhode Island. Everyone is delighted with it including myself - especially since it ranks among my most difficult portraits. The reason is because the image I had to work from is a 72dpi 100kb black and white file from 1966. My mission was to transform it into an 11 x 14 colored watercolor. The color part was actually the least of my worries. I spent hours trying to get my drawing correct working with this very blurry black and white photo. I wouldn't do this for someone I didn't know because it really helped that I know what they look like and had other photos to use for reference. I had my moments of doubt, but I pressed on.

And I am so glad I did. 

Other fun things I have been working on this summer include a Country & Western and a soon to be released Dance/Gymnastics scrapbook paper collections for Big Busy B's as well as some clip art collections I've added to my Etsy store (Back to School, Halloween, Black Cats and Sunflowers, Pumpkins & Mums). 

And I also took the plunge and participated in Lilla Rogers' Global Talent Search. I'm hoping to make it to round 2 and as soon as the gallery is open for the first round, I'll be able to share my wall art design.

Clown Fish Watercolor

I thought I'd continue with the aquarium theme that I started with sea horses. This painting was actually more fun and I think maybe it's because I liked the close crop and definitely the happy orange color. It's 8 x 8 on Aquabord. Original available in my Etsy store here. (Prints and digital download also available in my Etsy store.)

Seahorses & Clownfish Watercolor on Aquabord

I said I'd be part of a project on Facebook that is 101 days of painting and on about Day 4 I realized it was messing with my head and the perfectionist in me started to rebel. Then I was bummed out and at a standstill. I was working on a client project so that made me rethink my focus which is really more about getting actual illustration jobs and licensing rather than pleasing my few fans on Facebook. Around the same time, I came across two articles which gave me reassurance that not checking into FB every day, hour, minute is OK. I'm so glad because being the introvert that I am, I'd rather not worry about all that social stuff on a daily basis. I loved not being on it actually. So I took a look at my calendar and planned my week. Then I picked this painting back up and really focused. It's been a good day.

New Illustration - Kids Climbing Trees

I have been thinking about doing this illustration ever since I snapped some pictures of my niece and nephew while on vacation. It brought back memories of climbing trees and I was just really interested in playing with the composition and colors. Like most things I had a vague idea in my head but wasn't sure what the final painting would look like. I was pleasantly surprised to end up with something pretty close to what I was thinking. Below are two progress shots and the final. It measures 12 x 18 inches.

More ideas started popping into my head as I finished this painting. I don't want it to be a stand alone so I'm thinking of doing a series. Last night I started sketching and my next version which will definitely include a treehouse!

Illustration Friday - Universe

I started with a circle and the idea of looking through a telescope then I decided to just play and see what happened. I worked wet in wet, dropped in alcohol, salt and spattered paint. Then I fooled around with the background a little bit in Photoshop and stopped when I thought it looked interesting. It sort of looks contained so I'm not sure if it reads "universe" but I like the spacey design and texture.  ;)