Illustration Friday - Safari

If Animal Crackers had their way...

What I ate yesterday...

Happy Mother's Day

I have the most amazing mother who, by the way, is the most creative person and talented artist I know. Happy Mother's Day mom - I love you so.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful day, and that all mom's feel truly loved and appreciated today.

No Reservations - Haiti

One of my favorite television shows is Anthony Bourdain's 'No Reservations'. I illustrated this a couple of months ago while watching his show showcasing Haiti. It is kind-of a visual recap of the show, and I chose aspects that really seemed to impact him or strike me. I plan on painting it this weekend, and illustrating more of his shows in the future. 

Making up for lost entries

I am trying to get back to posting more frequently, so I wanted to post a small, quick sketch of a building on the U of A campus that I did this past weekend.

They Draw and Travel - San Sebastian, Spain

Nate and Salli over at They Draw and Cook have expanded their brilliance to a new website called They Draw and Travel where artists illustrate maps of cities that they love. Basically the idea is to illustrate the must see and must do places of a city...


Go check out my illustration for San Sebastian, Spain as well as some amazing illustrations submitted by others.


I have enlarged some aspects of my "map" below so that you can better see the detail.

Illustration Friday - Bottled

I start each week saying that I need to drink more water, but sometimes that tends to ween as the week goes on and flavor takes priority.

Oh happy day!

A little realism sketch of a mouth and nose... Although I drew someone else, I will be wearing a smile all day because today is my Friday. I am taking tomorrow off and am very much looking forward to a 3 day weekend!!

It's Farmers' Market time!

This is an illustration/painting that I did last year of a blue grass band at our farmers' market. The market starts this weekend which I am really excited about. We have decided that we want to try and buy most of our vegetables from local farmers this year.

Illustration Friday - Toy 2

I had originally posted a digital illustration, but decided to remove and post this instead after todays happenings. My husband and I bought a "squirrel-proof" pole to hold our bird feeder, as well as a few planter containers so that we could plant our herbs.

Well, the little creatures in our back yards decided to use our new purchases as toys. It was too funny watching the squirrels jump the pole and then slide down as if they were little firefighters. The big-bellied robins sat on our new planters and watched it all go down. I could have sworn they were smiling with me.

Fig Recipe Illustration - They Draw and Cook

So, 2011 is the "Year of the Fig", and Nate and Salli over at They Draw and Cook have provided another recipe contest, this time with their sponsor The California Fig Advisory Board. I love figs (especially with wine and cheese), and California Fig's website has tons of wonderful fig recipes and information on figs.


My husband and I picked a recipe from the California Fig website and prepared it over the weekend. My illustration of the recipe is posted on TDAC's website along with over a hundred other fig recipes. Click here to see all of the fig recipes entered into the contest. There are some really fun and beautiful entries.


UPDATE: Check out the winning illustrated recipes here. Thank you for the Honorable Mention! 

Snapshot of Spain - Tres

So, these are actually snapshots of France. We went across the border to Biarritz, France for an evening. I loved the food, architecture and storefronts in this town - so different than Spain...


We took a walk on the beach one morning and there was this lady in her 70's in a one-piece swimsuit/shorts ensemble. She simply stood there with here feet invisible, firmly planted in the sand. She just stood, watching the waves, completely fulfilled and happy to just be in the moment. It reminded me to do the same.

The waves were enormous where we stayed and there were huge hydrangeas everywhere! It all made for a beautiful environment both sound and sight. 

Illustration Friday - Stir

It's been a crazy past couple of weeks for me, so I am so happy to finally have a weekend at home. I am so excited for the time change and longer daylight!

I always draw my illustrations by hand, but this week I finished both in watercolor and digitally. Which is your favorite?

Doodle time

I don't really watch movies that much any more, but I do enjoy seeing the dress choices at the Oscars so I halfway watched on Sunday while doodling.

Illustration Friday - Swarm

Swarms of birds and fish freak me out a bit... Sailboats on the other hand...