tree

I got to visit thousand year old trees recently and you could just feel their age and wisdom while breathing the forest's fresh air.  How wise these trees must be, after seeing, hearing, and experiencing so much.  I wish they could share their stories with us!

shy

Even the shyest of clouds will come out to enjoy a good soak in the warm hues of sunrise.  

This week, I had the privilege of catching a few gorgeous sunrises and sunsets that really got me out of this blue mood I've been feeling lately.  Thus, I thought I'd share a bit of the lifting view with you as well :).

Also, I just wanted to remind folks that I'll be signing books and giving a talk about A Moment in Time at the Book Passage store in Corte Madera, December 8th, 11am.  I hope to see you guys there. . .a polaroid camera may or may not be making an appearance at the event.  You'll just have to swing by to find out!

A Moment in Time

Hey all.  . .as I've mentioned before, the book I illustrated called "A Moment in Time" is available at my Etsy shop.  It is also available at the lovely book store called Book Passage in Corte Madera:

I'll also be giving a talk there on Saturday, December 8th, at 11am.  Click on the Book Passage icon above for more information.  I hope you all can come :).

water

Did a quick sketch on my iPad for this week's Illustration Friday.  Grass bunnies are happiest when you water them every day :)  They are close cousins to mushroom bunnies and thus, have amazing camouflage abilities!  I got the idea for these creatures while witnessing a role playing game with friends hehe.

Sorry I've been absent for so long. . .did a lot of traveling these last few months which involved:

Sketching at Burning Man

Painting a Car

and picking out a pumpkin from the Great Glass Pumpkin Patch of Palo Alto :)

I hope to post more frequently during the next few months so come back soon!

teacher

One of the greatest rewards of teaching is when students find their own special way to show their appreciation.  On my last day of teaching at Sacred Heart's Sophie Scholars summer program, one of my students gave me a Pudgy Puppy Zombie Dog doll that she had spent weeks hand-sewing.  My heart instantly melted.

As a reminder, here's the original Pudgy Puppy Zombie Dog:

I showed kids the process I used to create Pudgy Puppy to teach them the basics of cartoon design.  I think my student did a pretty good job at replicating him don't you think? ;) 

freeze

You might freeze while belly sliding through snow, but racing penguins looove it. . .especially because they get to fart snowflakes! 

I designed this logo for my boyfriend's 24 Hours of Lemons team, since their theme is "arctic explorers."  I'll also be painting a belly sliding penguin on the side of their car. . .woo hoo :)

In case you want to color your own snowflake farting, belly sliding, racing penguin, here's a free coloring page:

Sorry for the long absence from blogland.  I'm about to wrap up my last week of workshops at Sacred Heart Atherton before going on a few personal trips to LA and then Burning Man (yikes).  I'll try to put in another post somewhere in there but no promises!

carry

I just spent a wonderful weekend playing board games at a friend's family cabin and there was a charming gnome chilling outside the entrance.  I decided to reinterpret him for Illustration Friday's "carry." I figured blueberries would be the perfect thing to carry for the summer season :)

I went for a less saturated look and I think I may have gone too far. . but hey, that's part of the exploration process right?  And here's another free coloring page, so you can try out your own color combinations!

I'm not sure when my next entry will be.  I'm in the middle of teaching cartoon workshops again to some very bright and talented kids.  You may remember the results from last year here.

Also, I'm excited to announce that I'll be giving a talk about my picture book A Moment in Time at Book Passage on Saturday, December 8, 11am.  I'll be talking about turning moments into memories and memories into universal stories (through pictures and words).  I hope to see you there!