Illustration Friday: Clumsy

Click on the image for a closer look.

The text reads:

Her new friend was so amiable and interesting that Margaret quickly saw beyond Emmaline's clumsiness, and barely even noticed the frequent appearance of her long, black tongue during tea.

This little pencil drawing is my submission to this week's Illustration Friday theme, "clumsy." My posts have been sparser than usual lately, as I clear away some cobwebs and adjust to some new things. I'll be starting all kinds of juicy new projects next week and will have many more good things to share;)

Wilderness Part Two

Here's the completed version of this drawing. It reminds me a little bit of Manet's Le déjeuner sur l'Herbe, only it takes place in a surreal sort of Hundred Acre Wood and no one is naked. It's been a productive week, and now I'm stuffed to the gills with Mexican food and ready for a nice, early bedtime. Bon Weekend!

Illustration Friday: Wilderness

Click on the image for a closer look, and stay tuned tomorrow to see the other half of this drawing. It wasn't quite finished when my brain gave out for the evening;)

I Never Knew!

I've always kind of dismissed Audubon's paintings because I thought they were sort of boring. But that's because, until yesterday, I'd never seen these:

Shenanigans galore!

I photographed all of these images from The New-York Historical Society's John James Audubon: The Watercolors for The Birds of America.

This morning at school I slipped and fell on the snow pack. It was truly spectacular: a plow truck driver stopped to let me cross his path, and as I stepped gingerly out in front of him, SWOOSH! Down I went, flat on my back. I kept sliding for a few feet after the initial impact, and did a sort of half-turn, spinny maneuver with my legs in the air.

Slow and Steady

That was the theme of the day. I started the morning with some slow, steady shoveling. My shoveling strategy is based on the idea that while I may possess limited amounts of brawn, my patience knows no bounds.

It was a slow and steady painting day as well. I worked on refining things and adding some details. On days like these I don't have any truly earth-shaking progress to share, but that's how the process goes sometimes. Beginning an image always feels so dramatic. Everything happens so fast. Finishing an image is not nearly as sexy, but it's a billion times more fun than shoveling snow.

Do you see how Marcus will get into the room to rescue Petunia?

I know, I know. The guy saves the girl? For real? What kind of Wellesley Woman am I? It was originally the other way around, but I can't fight the flow of character development. It's all very justified. I promise.

Heya

Here's an illustration that I've been working on for the past couple of days.....and a bit of paper towel as well.

There are all kinds of fantastic shenanigans going on over at Art Spark Theater this week, including this, this and this. And in response to that last link, I am one of the few green things around these parts today.

Five completely different shades of one color in a single outfit must be some kind of record.

Whoooo Lived Here?

I am captivated by this house. Sometimes I drive out of my way so I can peek at it as much as possible before it's torn down. Who do you think lived here? What do you think it looks like inside? My imagination can't top Edward Gorey's when it comes to creepy old house imagery. I bet it looks quietly sinister like this:

and this:

Both images are from Gorey's The West Wing, a work of pure genius.

Illustration Friday: Confined

Pen and ink on paper (with a bit of gouache used here and there as white-out;)). The caption reads "The indignity of her predicament got the better of her and she began to shout." Click on the image to see it bigger.

Illustration Friday: Renewal

A little flaming phoenix for this week's theme. I think she's looking forward to her rebirth.

This bird encyclopedia was a Christmas present from my sister. Looking through it, I get a rush of inspiration so intense that I almost can't breathe properly. This reaction might also have something to do with the fact that I've subsisted almost entirely on Christmas cookies for the past month, but I can't be sure.

Yesterday afternoon was all blue and orange out the window. My studio and the businesses that surround it are housed in a renovated old armory. Some industrial character remains–a gentrified, business-casual version of it, anyway. Another kind of renewal:)

Wintery

Winter is being beautiful this morning:

Don't the plants look happy?

Here's how this is coming along:

It's bizarre to work on summery scenes this time of year. Especially when things like this are happening outside:

My worktable faces our great, big window, so that even when I'm looking down at my work, I can still see the snow swirling around out there.

We put our tree up late this year, so we're not tired of it yet. I remember what Camilla Engman wrote last year on her blog: "It's so nice to put it up and it is always such a relief when it's gone." Out of all of her beautiful posts, isn't it weird that that's the one I remember well enough to quote? But it's so true. It's like having a beloved guest stay for a few weeks--you're so happy to see them and spend time with them, and when they go home it feels so nice to be by yourself.