Excess

Excessive- Illustration Friday 11/28.

EXCESSIVE amounts of candy canes make elves do crazy things like EXTREME snow sculpture!

Artists notes:

I really, really enjoyed making this picture! The various "thug snowmen" were a challenge but creating different personalities was fun. Sorry, no colour until I get my new 'puter hooked up and get the hang of Adobe Photo shop and my Wacom.

Zoo Doo- Unique Holiday Gifts

The Zoo - Prompt from Illustration Friday for November 23. So you say you have no idea what to get Aunt Matilda for Christmas. She has EVERYTHING...well, I'm betting she doesn't have this...it's Zoo Doo or Poo Pets. Endangered Feces.They are animal feces that have been heat treated (so there is no smell at all) and formed into animals. You set them in your houseplants and water over them. They slowly dissolve and provide your plants with a fertilizer that will enhance the health of your plants!

I still can't imagine the guy that comes home after landing the job at the "Zoo Doo" plant. "What is it you do again, honey?" "I do doo. I sculpt doo doo into animals!" "Really...and they pay you for that?!"

Other Poop-ular sites:

Poo Pets

Ranger Rick Article (includes Moose Poop earrings)

Doody-Heads at Woodland Park Zoo

"Fall Fecal Fest" Zoo Doo Drawing Contest- Sorry you missed it!

Super-stitious or just a little-stitious?

"Andrea didn't really believe herself to be superstitious by nature; but, if she didn't start her holiday shopping on 'Black Friday' she felt she would have bad luck the rest of the season!"
Superstition- Illustration Friday prompt for November 16.

Scales

Scales- Prompt for Illustration Friday, November 9, 2007.

I did this for a prompt in 2005 for I-Fri. I can't believe I have been with this site that long. Actually since the beginning of I-Fri in 2004. WOW! I have NEVER gone as far as I have with my art until Penelope started this site. Well, being out of work for eight weeks and finding "HysterSisters.com" also helped. Thank You Penelope...you have my vote for the patron saint of online artists for sure!!!!!

Hats

"Harold was always prepared for his cases right down to picking the 'winning' tie; however, he had the worst luck with picking out 'winning' hats!

Trick or Treat- Illustration Friday

"Trick-o-Treat" - Illustration Friday's prompt for Oct. 26, 2007.
Since I dedicated the prompt "Extreme" to Trick or Treating two weeks ago...I thought I would finish this fall piece I started last week.
Hope you had a Happy Halloween!

Grow- Illustration Friday

Grow- Illustration Friday challenge for Oct. 19, 2007.
I was walking with my dog gathering fall leaves to put on my art table for inspiration when I decided to paint this leaf. I wanted to "immortalize" it's beauty for all to see. To me Fall is celebration of growth.

Extreme...Trick-or-Treating

Extreme- Illustration Friday prompt for October 12. Whew! My computer has been acting up and I almost didn't get this in on time. Frustrating when you have it done days earlier!
"Tommy invented "Extreme Trick-or-Treating" last year when he got that new camera with the zoom lens for his birthday. He shows up the day before Halloween and extorts candy from his neighbors!"

Open...Canvas

"Open" -Illustration Friday prompt for October 5th (My daddy's birthday! Happy Birthday Dad!)....as you can see this is a culmination of four year's worth of Illustration Friday's. I call it "Open Canvas." All my characters from past pieces are lobbying for "lead role" in my next Illustration Friday entry. I will be adding colour to this later.
Thanks for looking...you art voyer you! ;)

Blue- Illustration Friday

The Blues- Illustration Friday prompt for Sept. 28,2007.
Harold was anxious to get home. He was going to get his telescope out to look at the blue moon. Being the only kid in his class who was born to smurfs, he was the only blue child in the whole school. Most of the time he was picked on because of his blue colour. But, tonight would be different.
He was convinced that anything was possible under a blue moon... and this evening he would test that theory!
Artist's note:
Not happy with this piece. I should have left it with out colour and added it in the computer. However; thanks to a dear friend I now have Adobe Photoshop 7.0 to go with my Wacom tablet! Yesterday, after reading Wynlan's "The Giraffe has Five Legs" newsletter I have hooked up to Mike Tackett's tutorial on using layers effective in Photoshop and Painter. I hope to have something I'll be more proud to show next week...that is if my scanner starts working properly again!

Juggle

Juggle... Illustration Friday challenge for Sept. 21.
A dedication to an old friend....Rest in Peace Marcel...rest in peace.

Alpha-Bets Illustration Friday

Alpha-Bets- Illustration Friday challenge for Friday August 31, 2007.

As you can see there are simple ways to look at these challenges and then there is my way of looking at them.

Sorry I have been away for so long. Another wedding in the family, several yearly committments and some new ones have all taken some of my time. I think I will hang around for a while now that it is fall again! I am excited to say a recent project I have an illustration in is now published!!! My book that I am writing and illustrating is coming along, and the CD album cover is near completion. There have been other arty stops along the way and I will share at a later date. I miss I-Fri and am glad to be back!

Geeky for I-Fri and Introducing Kristen Smith

Illustration Friday Challenge- Geeky.

Geek- geek (gēk) Slang.n.
A person regarded as foolish, inept, or clumsy.
A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept.
A carnival performer whose show consists of bizarre acts, such as biting the head off a live chicken.tr.v., geeked, -ing, geeks.

Keeping this in mind I was going to draw a bunch of "nerds of the animal world" with glasses and pocket protectors... when I came accross this animal and figured he needed no modification at all. He must have been treated like a" geek" by other monkeys! LOL!!

I travel a lot going from store to store checking my company's product and setting displays. Occassionally I am in the right place at the right time and I find/meet a gem. Last week that gem was a young lady named Kristen Smith of Maryland. While sitting and chatting I discovered we both have art in common. Right away I asked if she knew about "Illustration Friday" and she said she did but was committed to Deviant Art. We chatted about art while and looked at my art that comes up on the screensaver of my laptop. She asked for a pen and paper and proceeded to draw this picture...which she gave to me. (This will be framed and hanging in my new studio as I love to have other artist's work hanging to inspire me!) I was so impressed with her talent I thought I would share with you. Please stop by her site and give her encouragement! http://nightshade-lacrimosa.deviantart.com/

Camouflage- Illustration Friday

Illustration Friday Challenge- Camouflage.
Margaret was very proud of her new line of clothing. She called it..."Camouflage for the Urban Jungle!"
I'll add colour later...getting ready to drive 7 hours North this week end to my nephew Mike's graduation Luau in NY!! I don't think we'll be wearing any of Margaret's clothing line though! LOL!!

Rejection- Illustration Friday

"Mildred probably shouldn't have eaten the entire cake. She could see how her daughter had rejected her decision. But, there would be no more making comments about her daughter's eating habits from here on out! That's for sure!!!"

Catchup!

OK , So I have been slacking in the art department lately...but our daughter is getting married again, my nephew graduates this year and my four year old grandson seems to need more attention than he did when he was three for some reason. But I have still been sketching out each word as they come along in Illustration Friday. So that has to count for something. Right? Crude as they are here are some of the past few prompts Citrus and Car along with the current one- Suit.























Since the popularity polls have the President at an all time low in relation to the War in Iraq he decided to try alternate methods of trying to find a solution about what to do.
"Oh great one......I'm in need of your wisdom....I'm needing help with my Iraq situation.....I'm needing a sign of which direction to head....I'm...I'm...I'm...Peach? OW!"

Remembering Neighbors

Remember/Neighbor- Illustration Friday challenge for 4/27 and 5/4.

When we were young we did a lot with our neighbor's the Pierce family and the boy down the street Randy Hess. Wayne, Betty, Tammy and Doreen were the Pierce kids. What I loved were the shows we had in the back yard for all the neighbors to see, playing baseball in the side yard, selling mud pies door to door and of course the "Fleming Flop" club house. It didn't look exactly like this but you get the idea!!

OK...this is the past two Illustration Fridays combined. I have been busy on a few projects. One is a book I am working on that I can't wait to share with you all soon. Another is described, somewhat, below. Apologies about the roughness of the pic. I'll finish and post another day.

Cartwheeling Kids

I have been holed up working on a challenging project for some time now. You would think it would be easy..."draw kids cartwheeling." Right? Well this turned out to be a bit more of challenge as you can see in these drawings.

You can see the actual evolution of this project in the sketches I share here.

Running, hopping, maybe even swinging from the trees I could handle. This cartwheeling thing had me for a while.

More on this project coming soon.....

Polar

"Next on Montel...the confusion BI-Polar Bears face and how global warming effects them in their decisions."
Sorry about the photo but I'm still in Philly. The Tut exhibit was out of this world awesome! I am going to look at dinos this afternoon.

Green Fortune

"Now that the fad of the Eastern art of Feng Shui is fading there are more and more of out of work three legged frogs in western civiliazation that are not native to this area!"

FENG SHUI WEALTH CURES
The Art of Feng Shui involves the placement of sacred objects in relationship to our surroundings - in particular our home and business. In Asia, a Feng Shui Master will even be consulted by the Architect n the planning of the relationships of rooms, doorways and windows to themselves and the forces of nature. It is truly believed that the proper, or improper, positioning and association of all these elements will have a dramatic impact on your life. Here we offer the sacred objects with their meanings for your own Feng Shui collection.
Depite being an au courant fad, feng shui -- pronounced "fung shway" -- is nothing new to the Chinese. In fact, feng shui is a millennia-old practice.
The Chinese have long believed that if a home or business had a harmonious and positive flow of ch'i, which refers to cosmic breath or energy, those living and working there would benefit, thus enjoying health, happiness and prosperity. Palaces, farmhouses, temples and even entire cities were laid according to feng shui's precepts. One element of Feng Shui is placing certain objects in "key" corners of the room like the "Three-legged Money Frog."

THREE LEGGED FROG WITH A COIN IN ITS MOUTH, or, MONEY FROG - Named Chachu will attract plenty of wealth into your home using three-legged Frogs with a coin in its mouth! This auspicious creature attracts good fortune into your home. Place the frog in any of the corners diagonally opposite you front door for best effect. At the very least, you should have one frog facing out to collect the money and one facing in to bring the money back into the house. You can also place him in view of your front door. Every morning turn him towards the exterior. Turn him towards the interior in the evening to prevent him from becoming exhausted, or, letting your money escape. Keep you frogs below the table, behind the couch or in other discreet areas of your home. Some people keep theirs on top of my computer at night facing into the room and facing toward the window beside their computer during the day.

Angel's Tattoo

This is a tattoo I just finished for someone who is about to be married in Key West. Good luck to the happy couple!!!!

Snappy Soup

Ok...though my computer ink crapped out on me on the print out...here is the cleaned up version!

"Snip, Snap, Snoop! There are turtles in my soup!!

Snap- Illustration Friday prompt for March 31.

I had several sketches for this idea. All different. The one I am sharing is my favourite. I kind of "threw" colour in there so excuse the primativeness of the piece. I have been very busy on other projects!!

We have several little boys coming over to the house Saturday for an Easter Egg Hunt so that will keep me busy as well.

Oh, if anyone has an idea on how to get a robin to stop ramming into my window PLEASE let me know. It has been two days and lots of noise! I put a sun catcher in the window and that didn't help. My cat , Casper, is loving it of course! No, the cat doesn't stop him either. HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!!

I Spy...I-Fri!

OK...here are a few pieces I just did for a couple of stories TBA.

I spy a frog, a worm with teeth, a turtle, a ladybug, a dragonfly, a grasshopper, a squirrell, a slug, a bird, a boat, a blob, several hearts and seagulls. Can you find them all?

Llama Llama

Llama,Llama...This is done with watercolour pencils- LOVE THEM! I did this when a friend of ours gave our grandson a book called Llama, Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney . It is a very cute book.

My partner and I were toying with the idea of raising llamas.

Totally Wired/Totally Jungle!

Totally Jungle! Illustration Friday's challenge for March 16 (my birthday), 2007. I give you a totally new look in watercolour. The colours are so washed out with scanning, but you get the idea!
"Frankie convinced everyone last year that pet dogfish and pet catfish would be very popular; however, this year he would have a hard time convincing fish that he could harness electricity by being wired to an electric eel and talk in a little hand held device to other fish wired to eels all over the ocean!"
Totally Wired! OK...so this is the week before's prompt (wired- Mar. 9) but by the time I finished the piece the second word was out!

Hidden Treasures

Art of Bev Doolittle: Check out her site and see how many hidden images you can find in her work!! http://www.bevdoolittle.net/

"Though he had many treasures Tommy was always saving to buy more. He kept his money in a treasure chest his grandmother gave him hidden under the bed."

Hide- Illustration Friday prompt for March 2.

Of course one of my favourite artists is Bev Doolittle. http://www.bevdoolittle.net/ She likes to "hide" images within her art. So do I, many of my pen and inks have hearts in them.

Gravity of Communication

Gravity- Illustration Friday prompt for February 16. Yup...late. But with good reason...the displays I have been working with at work this week (and last) are extremely heavy and my body is taking quite a beating! I am sure I took at least ten years off my life these last two weeks! Thank GOD for Hydrocodone/APAP!!!! Don't miss "Communication" below!!

Communication- Illustration Friday prompt for Friday February 23, 2007. (I can't believe I have been doing this every week for almost three years!)

What else would a fossil collector/hunter choose for communication? This is "Our Ancient Earth" done in old fashioned pen and ink. I just love that fossils communicate the past to the future. Often times I wonder what will be fossilized for people 1,000 years from now to find.

Crash

"Stanley was sure he could pin this on Sabastian but just then Mr. and Mrs. Jones came home....earlier than expected!"
"Crash"- Illustration Friday challenge for February 9, 2007.
Artist notes. This scanned horribly...But I did enjoy working on this topic. My first idea was a four year old crashed out on his bed with toys everywhere but someone else did a kid on a bed. Can't help wanting to be unique...that's what I do best.
Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Stay warm!!!

Sprout

Illustration Friday Challenge for Friday February2- Sprout.
Better late than never I say!
"The problem with turtles planting gardens is...they move so slow everything has sprouted by the time it's done!"

Red Faced

Illustration Friday prompt for January 26- Red

Harold was sure the bean borrito was out of his system before his date with Lola!

(Read with lots of sarcasm and a Mae West accent)---->" Oh lover boy! I see "LOVE" is in the air...lucky me!"

Artist's notes:

This was drawn in pen and ink then scanned and more ink was added via the computer. Later detail was added with more pen and ink, oil pencils and coloured pencil. "I enjoy adding detail to a piece. Such as the dead fish, tiny bird in the distance, ant on a leaf and the dragonfly (my favourite)! This was after the audience has enjoyed the laugh they can further enjoy finding something new in the piece!!"

Post Script: Can you find the five hearts in this piece?