All done...

In my last post I wrote about the spring story

I'm illustrating for Discover.

This is what it looks like now.

I hope they have room to fit some of the story

into this double spread, with the rest of it

on a new page.  I have to wait for feedback.

I did this one while on my trip to Houston with the NanoBot,

who had a blast with her cousins,

and also enjoyed signs of spring meanwhile :)

Sadly, the nest time we saw them,

three of the ducklings were gone.

But the rest of them were flourishing.

Spring critters

The next issue of Discover magazine has a story about spring,

and these two lovely creatures are part of it.

 A blue tit and a hedgehog.

And this is what they look like, colored...

I still have all the rest of the picture to draw,

but it seems promising.

Flowers

It all began with me drawing a single petal.

Then it turned into this:

Illustrator is fun that way :)

Going sculptural

With a great big fabric bead.

I wanted to switch to something a little organic in shape,

and decided to try a fabric bead.

Well, for something so simple looking, this was a huge pain to make - it was so hard to get the shape right!  And then I couldn't encase it properly in the top fabric, and had to disguise the horrible creases with random stitches all over the bead. 

Luckily, those came out pretty neat, and give the bead a subtle coloration and texture.  Of course the teeny meeny beads add to the charm of the big mommy bead.  So it all turned out OK in the end, although it's not entirely finished.  I attached the chain to connector rings, which I simply pushed into stitches on either side, but I need to find a better way than that :)

I'm thinking of making my next bead with only the random stitches

and seed beads, no other ornamentation.

That will make it more sculptural, I think.

A story about friendship

Here's another illustration for Discover - 

a lovely kids' magazine from the UK.

and how it appeared in print.

I Love My Dad...ongoing work...

Written By Ghada Alo,

to be published by Creative Education and Publishing.

Illustrations for Greenbird Books

This is a story about charity.

It's called the Jariyah Jar.

I guess the British use cute terms like "scrummy".

It was in the story and I thought it would look good

on the awning for the cake stall.

Discover - Issue 3

Another illustration for a wonderful new magazine from the UK;

a story about an archery - a sport I would love to learn.

And this is how it appeared in the magazine...

Painting

Blobby bits of color - I like :)

Sauerkraut success!

My first batch of sauerkraut - 

10 days of fermented goodness.

And easier to make than I thought it would be.

Charlie and Lola style

I've never watched Charlie and Lola,

but I'm getting to draw in that style,

by request :)

Sample illustration for a new book - 

it was fun creating the torn paper effect.

New book...

about a boy and his dad....

and the things they learn and do together...

More sourdough

I'm using my starter itself as my pancake mix...

It positively roils with the addition of

a small amount of baking soda.

The pancakes come out beautifully soft - 

and you cannot detect the sourdough in them.

Perfect with cinnamon, raw honey, and 

a dash of pure coconut oil.

You won't find this in a store.