New seasonal mailer ready to print

I ordered the seasonal mailers today. They will be here in time for mailing to select publishers and a few friends.    Henry was kind enough to pose for both the front and the backside.  He does get along with cats, but there are limits to his patience.

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY ~ HIBERNATE

©Ginger Nielson

Just as the last leaves fall,  a mother bear leads her cubs to the den she has carefully chosen.

Winter is coming and the reluctant cubs are nudged gently to their safe haven.

This new layout I used earlier is an experiment. I may want to change to it at some point but not just yet.  I wanted to keep my link lists, and be able to change the background color. Those elements are not available for the newer template design. Hopefully blogger will address that issue in the near future.

And Now for Something Completely Different

Using the visit to the Friendly Farm for my first sketches, I am beginning character studies for a fun picture book.  Meet Maxwell.  He is a little pig with a big appetite.... for cookies!

His story will be submitted to the editors for review and revision, but I think he has a chance to end up on some child's bookshelf in the future.

And now for something completely different

©Ginger Nielson

This is a scene from a dummy I have been juggling for a year or more. I have changed the story but the characters remain the same, they just keep asking for script changes.

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY ~ TRANSPORTATION

©Ginger Nielson 2010

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY ~ CONFINED

©Ginger Nielson

No longer CONFINED to earth the travelers set off in the safe CONFINMENT of their hot air vehicle. The theory is to keep the cat busy, let the dog be the lookout and make sure you have an accurate map. There is a job for everyone on this flight.

One step at a time

Scientific tidbit:

When an elephant raises it's trunk it is threatening or intimidating a predator or intruder... as if to say.."You better get out of here."
When an elephant lowers it's trunk and runs at you.... "YOU'd REALLY Better Get Out of HERE!"

I am moving very slowly along the last few spreads of my dummy. The story is finished...somewhat. I have a habit of working inside out. That is, I write, then draw then maybe change a word, a line a paragraph, and that affects the drawing a bit.

This way works for me, although it may not seem even sane to others. Having the control over both the manuscript and the illustrations is a blessing and a curse. So far, as one of my artist friends pointed out, there can be multiple changes to a sketch or painting before we see it as done.

This particular sketch depicts two paragraphs from my story and it has changed several times since I first began to visualize the moments and movement. Now I think I am happy. The text changed along with the illustration... as often happens when one has Ultimate Control...but I am moving on to the last three spreads. Maybe by this fall I'll be able to say, Dummy done! Then what?

A week's work

What I am working on this week, in addition to cleaning up in the studio, is revising and repainting some older sketches.

In my cleaning and culling process I often find sketches that I have previously scanned and painted...often in too much of a hurry.
This week I will work on these three. I have the benefit and gift of more time this week. (did someone say "slow economy")
I will truly enjoy taking my time and dig deep to create beautiful paintings from these sketches. Stay tuned....