GUESS WHAT ??!!!!

©GingerNielson2006

All during the year illustrators and artists have the opportunity to enter the

FLAX ART AND DESIGN

catalog cover contest. Your entries are viewed and if selected as a finalist you receive a wonderful gift certificate for items in the catalog. If your finalist entry is subsequently chosen for an actual cover you receive the honor of the cover and a HUGE gift certificate for items in the catalog. What makes this so special for an artist is the great stuff in the catalog. For artists and illustrators and even kids interested in art this catalog has wonderful items to offer. There are also unusual and unique gifts.


And WHY am I telling you all this? Because my artwork will be featured on the next cover *:) It is due in homes in about 3 weeks, and I can't wait to get my complimentary copies! ( and order some wonderful art materials and gifts )

If you want to enter the contest, just type "cover contest" in the search window at the top left of the website for Flax Art and you'll find the rules. Or click

HERE.

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY ~ RED

It was always my favorite color.... but then there was that awful RED LETTER Day! I guess there's going to be a lot of homework from now on!

©GingerPixels2007

And I think I might lose my cool!

Never a Dull moment

I am never quite sure what Blogger will think up next to confuse the heck out of me. I have noticed on my blog site and occasionally on others, that the images go missing. Maybe I am trying to make them too large..... maybe it is just a blogger thingy, or maybe it is the bad fairies. Don't you just hate when that happens!

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY.......

FEARLESS.... never FRIGHTENED...... "Fenton the Ferocious" can leap over giant lilypads in one bound.

©GINGER PIXELS

The new iCEPOD

©GINGER PIXELS

Nice Weather for Penguins

Very nice indeed. It may reach 20 today, but the penguins don't seem to mind. This image is from the book I illustrated,

'Princess Caitlin's Tiara'

by Kim Messinger and Michael LaLumiere.

When everything freezes...exercise your brain!

This evening the solution to RUBIKs CUBE was shown in detail on ABC news. I had to go find mine and look up this neat solution animation..... but I think my brain is full..so I'll try again tomorrow.

CUBE SOLUTION

Be sure to scroll down and look for the spinning cube on the lower right.

ICE

We are among the fortunate people whose power has been restored. Hopefully it will stay on. Much of the ice is still hanging on the branches and trees may not be able to take the added stress.
I felt so sorry for the tiny birds looking for good food after the storm. They had to navigate between and under the icicles to get to the feeders. You can just make out the little guy on the far right under the icicle umbrella that covered the bird feeder.

Illustration Friday AND ..Picture Bookies Challenge for January 2007

My friend Julia Kelly a fellow member of the

Picture-Bookies Writer/Illustrator group

challenged our group with this phrase "Out with the Old, In with the New" . This is so appropriate for the new year as we say goodbye somewhat reluctantly to the past with a brief look over our shoulder and make way for new events in our lives in 2007. May you all have a fantastic 2007!

You can see more from the Picture-Bookies on their blog

HERE.

The Illustration Friday Challenge had me thinking for a while, but I remembered my favorite dance music and dance of the 80s the Electric Slide. Gosh that is fun...for me more fun to watch than to try to remember which is my left turn or right turn, but fun at all levels. No time today for a biggie, but merely a kinda sketch, and the instructions to the dance, in case you want to get up from your chair and give it a try!

GingerPixels

WELCOME US CITIZEN YURI !!!!!

Добро пожаловать в америке ЮРИЯ

Last Friday my good friend YURI became a US citizen. YURI is originally from Russia and is working for the company I once worked for. I want to take this opportunity to WELCOME YURI to the US as an American Citizen, and wish him all the very best!

the Reading Room ...continued

The reading room is now ready to ENTER... it is the new frontpage of my website.

©GingerPixels2007

Reading Room

Sometimes your mind just takes you to some strange places. I began this sketch and had no idea where it was going... it is still a work in progress....maybe a new story to come.

©Ginger Pixels 2007

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY ~ BUZZ ----- NOT the 80s

I apologize if your Illustration Friday link led you here.... you should be going

HERE

Although it can look like a humming bird and it is often mistaken for a bumblebee, the Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis)
is really a moth. It lives most of its life as a horn tailed caterpillar and then creates an ugly looking brown pupa from which it hatches as the Snowberry Clearwing also known as the Humming Bird Moth.
I found one in my garden one afternoon as it tried to land on the flowers printed on my sister's skirt. It creates a fearsome buzz and I would expect that can keep most predators far enough away for it to take its time in any garden.

©GINGER PIXELS

Found in the "WHAT IF" department.

What if animals gave each other Christmas gifts?

Ice Lanterns

This Christmas my niece gave us a wonderful and fun gift. We are enjoying it as long as the cold lasts and will make more of these remarkable ICE LANTERNS when the cold returns for good. This picture is not our house, but the lanterns we made are just like these.

The process is super simple. Just pour water into the mold. Freeze indoors or outdoors for 24 hours and then unmold by pouring a little warm water into the cavity. Actually my ice lanterns just slipped right out. There is space inside to place a candle or battery operated light and the effect is just fantastic.

To see the product page you can visit:

ICE LANTERNS

The concept is from Norway.

Resolved.... Goals for 2007

In the coming year I want to create an environment in my studio that resembles more order and less chaos...but only if it works for me.

In the coming year I want to concentrate on the colors I use and allow them to coexist in harmony...but only if it works for my art.

In the coming year I WILL workout more often. An illustrator's life can become a one way journey if you don't get up and dance once in a while!

In the coming year, I hope to: find an agent, find a publisher, find time for the books I want to write, find more new friends in this exciting field.

In the coming year I want to learn much more about: painting, drawing, illustration, portfolio priorities, queries, other illustrators, new techniques, and myself.

In the coming year I will accept new challenges, create with renewed energy, expand my horizons, attend conferences, go to lectures, and share my experiences in the form of school and library visits, and always remember to thank those who have helped me along the way.

Another interesting Blogger issue

I found that you can customize the colors on your blog using the blogger tool:
FONTS AND COLORS, or you can add new colors that you want that aren't currently displayed in the blogger palette, by substituting the proper HTML code for the colors of your choice.

To find your perfect palette of colors just go to this site and pick your own :

PICK YOUR COLOR

This should work for any of the options listed in the Blogger menu. Hope you have some fun...it would really be interesting to see what some of you concoct.

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY ~ PHOENIX

©GINGER PIXELS2007