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Well, you can bowl me over with a feather! I just won the first monthly trophy at Monday Artday! Egads! This is something to be enormously proud of as there are some absolutely incredible artists there. How did I win? I suppose it was all the bribes hard work. Honestly, I never expected to win – I was just there having fun! Thank you Monday Artday and thank you Bearuh for running it and designing this really cool little trophy! (click it to see it full size – ain’t it cute?)
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“Hurry back! Hurry back! Be sure to bring your death certificate, if you decide to join us. Make final arrangements now! We’ve been dying to have you!” Thus moans Little Leota at the very end of the Disneyland Haunted Mansion ride, after you’ve left the “hitchhiking ghosts” and are on the moving walkway. She’s tiny and for some reason some people feel they must throw pennies at her. Poor little thing. She’s named after Leota Toombs, an imagineer at Disneyland that acted for Madam Leota (the head in the crystal ball) and Little Leota – Madam Leota’s voice is another actress but Little Leota’s voice is Leota Toombs.
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Well, I couldn’t resist adding these 2 cartoons to the Illustration Friday’s cars themed week. These were my original ideas and I thought they were both funny so I added them to the “cartoon” style section of “IF”. The first is mine but the second, of course, is a parody of the wonderful book by P.D. Eastman.
Illustration Friday – Cars
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“Bonjour, mes amis! Lovely day for a drive, no? If only these silly boys would get out of my way!” Illustration Friday is asking for “cars” this week. Okay, here’s mine. 10 minute sketch, 4 hour PhotoShop. [click... for bigger pic]
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Ha, ha, ha, ho, ho, ho, hee, hee, hee, hoo, hoo, ha! Here’s an illustration I did for monday artday’s “laughter” challenge. Actually, this one is a little different. I thought the girl’s blue shorts in the original version pulled the eye away from the center. Check out the original one and tell me what you think (click either image for larger view).
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Signs! I remember as a kid how scary this point in ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ was. It’s the start of terror. Shortly after this a ghost dumps the tin man and flying monkeys tear the scarecrow apart. The cowardly lion chants “I do believe in spooks, I do, I do!” I always knew if I ever saw a sign like this, I’d definitely turn back. The signs in the movie look exactly like this except that the word “witch’s” is “witches” – a terrible grammar mistake. Terrible. Sketched out and inked by hand, scanned and painted in PhotoShop. 7 hours.
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Monday Artday illustration for the “build” challenge – building a nest! I sketched this out by hand, scanned it, and painted in PhotoShop – less than 2 hours. I was going for a “little golden books” kind of feel. “Twitter-twee-twee!”
Okay, the deal is someone in the Illustration Friday gang decided it would be a good idea to play tag. I’m not sure if the rules changed as the “tag” was passed around but the rules I got are I need to post 7 things (presumably about me) and then tag 7 other people. The great Alina Chau tagged me so I guess I have to do it. But this is the only time, you hear?
1) I am a gourmet cook and a gourmand eater. I love good food and have it every day! Eating is too wonderful to waste it on bad food. I am the cook in our house, breakfast, lunch and dinner.
2) I have one trashy-food weakness. I love chilled vienna weenies smothered in tabasco.
3) I love cute. Whether it’s the spooky cute of Margaret Keane and Mark Ryden or the sweetly cute of Mary Blair or Hello Kitty. It’s a sickness but I don’t want a cure.
4) I want a home in Bali.
5) I am not a professional illustrator. Yet.
6) I stood at a urinal next to Ray Bradbury once.
7) The first book I ever read was Moby Dick.
Okay. That’s it.
I won the illustration challenge for the “mother” topic at Monday Artday! To be honest, I am completely surprised. The other entries were incredible and I am overwhelmed and more than honored to have been chosen. Thank you to Bearuh, Monday Artday, and all those inspiring artists who participated. You all deserved to win. Congrats, too, to Kim Coles for winning the painted furniture challenge.
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“Arrgh! My car is a lemon!!!” exclaimed Mr. Lion. I’m just throwing out another idea for Illustration Friday’s citrus theme. For those that may not know, in the U.S. (and other countries, I’m sure) a “lemon” is a new car that turns out to be a very bad one. Poor Mr. Lion. Next time I’m sure he’ll get a grapefruit. 5 minute sketch, 20 minute PhotoShop.
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Citrus!!! Run!!! I whipped this together in about 2 hours on PhotoShop. Click it to see it better! I was inspired by the works of Jeff Soto, who is in turn inspired by (among many other things) Japanese monster movie posters. Of course, there’s a lot of artists that are doing similar work, but Jeff Soto, I believe, is first and best. This is my first Citrus effort – the next one is very different.
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This is a drawing I did recently in one of my sketchbooks. I like to draw in ink – for some reason I often get better results than if I sketch it in pencil first. I scanned it and added some quick color and a background in PhotoShop – about 1 hour. Yee-HAW!
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A few months ago I drew Bubbles of the Powerpuff Girls. I put a dead rabbit in her teeth (much like Salvador Dali’s ‘Freud’s Perverse Polymorph’). My 6 year old daughter did not like it. She actually made me draw another picture showing the rabbit is okay and is even friends with Bubbles, helping her defeat monsters. The moral is, enjoy what you draw but know your audience.
Okay, I’m just posting a thumbnail of this because I want you to go to the original post with this illo. The Tart begged me for a little mermaid of her own and her plea melted my hard heart of icy stone. So I came down from my ivory tower long enough to do something for the little people. Ahem. Or I just couldn’t resist a fan. Anyway, check out the illustration I did for her and check out the rest of her blog (drawings, photos and writing). She has an artist spirit a mile high with roots a mile deep. Be sure to leave her a haiku.
